Reach Out (Four Tops album)
| Reach Out | ||||
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| Studio album by Four Tops | ||||
| Released | July 1967 | |||
| Recorded | 1966–67 | |||
| Genre | Soul | |||
| Label | Motown | |||
| Producer | Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Smokey Robinson, Clarence Paul | |||
| Four Tops chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Reach Out | ||||
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Reach Out is an album recorded by the Four Tops, issued on Motown Records in July 1967. It was the final Four Tops LP to be produced by Motown's main songwriting and production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland, who departed the label in late 1967 over money disputes.
The group's most successful studio LP, Reach Out includes six of the Four Tops' Top 20 singles: the #1 hit "Reach Out I'll Be There", the Top 10 singles "Standing in the Shadows of Love", "Bernadette", the Top 20 "7-Rooms of Gloom", and their Top 20 covers of Tim Hardin's "If I Were a Carpenter" and the Left Banke's "Walk Away Renée") both of which reached the UK Top 10.
Rounding out the LP are a pair of Monkees covers ("Last Train to Clarksville" and "I'm a Believer"), a cover of The Association's "Cherish", and the originals "Wonderful Baby" and "What Else Is There to Do (But Think About You)". Reach Out was followed one month later by a Four Tops' Greatest Hits album, which contained all of the group's hit singles to that point.
With The Supremes I Hear a Symphony and Reach Out album releases, Motown forever confirmed that they were a major crossover player, never to be thought of as simply an R&B indie only under Berry Gordy's reign.
Track listing
All tracks produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier, except for "Wonderful Baby", produced by Smokey Robinson; and "What Else is There to Do (But Think About You)", produced by Clarence Paul.
- "Reach Out I'll Be There" (Holland–Dozier–Holland)
- "Walk Away Renée" (Bob Calilli, Michael Brown, Tony Sansone)
- "7-Rooms of Gloom" (Holland-Dozier-Holland)
- "If I Were a Carpenter" (Tim Hardin)
- "Last Train to Clarksville" (Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart)
- "I'll Turn to Stone" (Holland-Dozier-Holland, R. Dean Taylor)
- "I'm a Believer" (Neil Diamond)
- "Standing in the Shadows of Love" (Holland-Dozier-Holland)
- "Bernadette" (Holland-Dozier-Holland)
- "Cherish" (Terry Kirkman)
- "Wonderful Baby" (Smokey Robinson)
- "What Else Is There to Do (But Think About You)" (Stevie Wonder, Clarence Paul, Morris Broadnax)
Personnel
- Levi Stubbs: lead vocals
- Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson, Lawrence Payton, and The Andantes: background vocals
- The Funk Brothers: instrumentation
References
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