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Levi Stubbs' Tears
Levi Stubbs died today. I grew up listening to the Four Tops, late at night, sitting out in the car to pick up the stations.
Later, one of the best nights of my life, in a Detroit bar, my buddy - great blue-eyed soul voice - hauled up on-stage to sing with them, them shouting & laughing when it turned out he could sing like hell itself.
And of course, Billy Bragg singing about what Levi Stubbs' meant to people. "When the world falls apart, some things stay in place. Levi Stubbs' tears fall down her face."
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Standing In The Shadows Of Love.
October 17, 2008 3:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
I Can't Help Myself Sugar Pie.
October 17, 2008 3:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ah, Quinn: "Can't help myself....I'm all choked up inside... "
Who knew, then, what this music would evoke, now?
Thanks, Levi, for your voice. And thanks, Quinn, for good memories I had forgotten I had.
October 17, 2008 5:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nice tribute, oh nasopharyngeal one.
Those Tops kept me spinning many a time! I could reach out and they'd be there. It's the same old song, but there's a different feeling with Levi gone.
October 17, 2008 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Tops didn't mean what Stax & some of the other soul & funk meant to me later, but wherever I went, they seemed to turn up. Late night radio as a kid... Travelling in SE Asia, out in the villages, little speakers playing them, people dancing... In England, they were always loved, the way Billy Bragg describes... And then, in that little underground bar, just two of them, playing for kicks, and so gracious about handing the mic to my friend, genuinely appreciative when it turned out he could sing. Met some of the best friends of my life since, that night, so Levi & The Tops are wrapped up in all that for me. And to see in that video Mageduley has down below, what he meant in Detroit, well.... gonna miss him.
October 17, 2008 5:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I just watched a video of one of his last performances from his wheelchair, with Aretha and the rest of the four tops. OMG!!!! I cannot stop crying. You guys have too see it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1May52b1RQ
October 17, 2008 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for the link. Wow, so much feeling in that! Sanctified is the word for it. Makes me think that Aretha is not only a queen but also a priestess.
October 17, 2008 4:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Now THAT, was magnificent. Levi Stubbs' tears indeed.
I'm gonna need to pause for a commercial break at this point, to get myself together.
Thanks for that, Mageduley.
October 17, 2008 5:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're welcome. I saw your post and I was actually searching for one of my favorite performances from him (Audrey II plant in "Little Shop") when I came across this.
I clicked on it - not at all anticipating what I would find. I was sobbing by the end. But wow, that was something, wasn't it?
October 18, 2008 12:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
Enjoy! Standing in the Shadows of Motown? It is one of the best music documentaries I have seen.
October 18, 2008 2:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
That was another piece of joy for me, the Funk Brothers, after all these years, getting a bit of their dues. My favorite part was them and Joan Osborne, and how - as the song first comes together, then lifts off - you could just see the increasing joy on their faces. Knocking off the rust and dust, and this odd (and pretty-much-unknown) white girl rolling out that voice of her.
What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted.
October 18, 2008 3:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
If you come on this late, make sure to read Dave Marsh on Levi.
October 18, 2008 8:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Always wondered what that song was about.
October 19, 2008 5:34 PM | Reply | Permalink