"Don't Bring Back Memories ..."
So, last month, a soul giant passed away. No, I'm talking about Rudy Ray Moore (although, RIP, Dolomite) - but Levi Stubs.
I've never been the biggest Motown fan on earth. I mean, yes, I love Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye (I'm not dead inside) but the large majority of Motown tracks were too ... pretty, too clean for me. I need some damn grits in my soul, thank you very much. Because of that, the only Motown group I've ever truly loved was The Four Tops - and that is solely due to the voice of Levi Stubbs.
When I was kid, my father took me to an amusement park to see the Temptations and the Four Tops. To be totally honest, I agreed to sit through the Temptations and the Four Tops in order to be taken to the amusement park.
The Temptations were pretty much what I expected. 60-minutes of low-grade Vegas vamping (remember, this was the eighties). In fact, I thought it was really funny that it wasn't "The Temptations" so much as 1 or 2 Temptaions and 4-5 african-american friends of theirs. So, yeah - less-than-impressed.
The the Four Tops came on - and The Four Tops, not Levi and his cousins or something. Levi opened his mouth (he must have been in his fifties by then) and wrung every ounce of soul out of every word that left his mouth. Levi wasn't performing - he felt that shit and we just happened to be watching.
From that day on - I was a full-fledged Four Tops - and more importantly Levi Stubbs - fan. Levi Stubbs had a voice that's hard to put into words. It was more gravelly, passionate, joyful, hurt ... more ... manly than any voice I'd heard before. Probably more than any voice I'm likely to hear in the future.
It was disappointing - if not all-together un-surprising - that this giant left the world with the world barely noticing. So, In his honor, this month's mix is an hour of my favorite Levi Stubbs performances. Many songs are well known, some less so, but all of them are equally felt
This can be downloaded onto your iPod, you can listen to the individual files, or listen to the whole mix here. Hope you enjoy the tunes, and RIP Levi.
Levi Stubbs, 1936 - 2008
CruelNails Radio
I've never been the biggest Motown fan on earth. I mean, yes, I love Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye (I'm not dead inside) but the large majority of Motown tracks were too ... pretty, too clean for me. I need some damn grits in my soul, thank you very much. Because of that, the only Motown group I've ever truly loved was The Four Tops - and that is solely due to the voice of Levi Stubbs.
When I was kid, my father took me to an amusement park to see the Temptations and the Four Tops. To be totally honest, I agreed to sit through the Temptations and the Four Tops in order to be taken to the amusement park.
The Temptations were pretty much what I expected. 60-minutes of low-grade Vegas vamping (remember, this was the eighties). In fact, I thought it was really funny that it wasn't "The Temptations" so much as 1 or 2 Temptaions and 4-5 african-american friends of theirs. So, yeah - less-than-impressed.
The the Four Tops came on - and The Four Tops, not Levi and his cousins or something. Levi opened his mouth (he must have been in his fifties by then) and wrung every ounce of soul out of every word that left his mouth. Levi wasn't performing - he felt that shit and we just happened to be watching.
From that day on - I was a full-fledged Four Tops - and more importantly Levi Stubbs - fan. Levi Stubbs had a voice that's hard to put into words. It was more gravelly, passionate, joyful, hurt ... more ... manly than any voice I'd heard before. Probably more than any voice I'm likely to hear in the future.
It was disappointing - if not all-together un-surprising - that this giant left the world with the world barely noticing. So, In his honor, this month's mix is an hour of my favorite Levi Stubbs performances. Many songs are well known, some less so, but all of them are equally felt
This can be downloaded onto your iPod, you can listen to the individual files, or listen to the whole mix here. Hope you enjoy the tunes, and RIP Levi.
Levi Stubbs, 1936 - 2008
- I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)
- Something About You
- Left With A Broken Heart
- Standing in the Shadows of Love
- Teach Me Tonight (w/Stevie Wonder)
- When She Was My Girl
- Still Water (Love)
- Baby I Need Your Loving
- Walk Away Renee
- Eleanor Rigby
- Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)
- Bernadette
- Don't Bring Back Memories
- One Chain (Don't Make No Prison)
- Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)
- Are You Man Enough?
- It's The Same Old Song
- I'll Turn To Stone
- Ask the Lonely
- A Simple Game
- Reach Out I'll Be There
CruelNails Radio