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Four TopsThe Four Tops' album Christmas Here With You is, technically speaking, a Motown Christmas album. The hallowed rhythm & blues label - founded in Detroit in 1959 - indeed released the album. But, this happened in 1995 - long after the label's storied "Golden Decade" (roughly 1960 to 1970) during which the Four Tops and their phenomenal lead singer, Levi Stubbs, banged out dozens of classic hits like "Baby I Need Your Loving" (1964), "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" (1965), "Reach Out I'll Be There" (1966), and "Bernadette" (1967). Motown abandoned Detroit for Los Angeles in 1972, and the Four Tops decamped to ABC/Dunhill where they scored memorable soul hits like "Keeper Of The Castle" (1972) and "Ain't No Woman (Like The One I've Got)" (1973). Later, they signed with Casablanca Records, where they waxed "When She Was My Girl," a #1 Billboard R&B smash. They returned to Motown in 1983, signed briefly to Arista in 1988, and then - finally - returned to Motown for Christmas Here With You, which turned out to be a one-and-done deal.

During their Golden Decade, Motown produced quite a bit of Christmas music. Five of their top-shelf artists - Temptations, Jackson 5, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Supremes, Stevie Wonder - combined for a total of six good-to-great holiday LP's. In 1972, the label compiled highlights from those albums, plus some non-LP singles, as A Motown Christmas - an album I consider one of the greatest of all time. The Four Tops, however, never recorded a single note of Christmas music during their initial tenure with the label, making them easily the biggest Motown stars to pull a Scrooge, so to speak.

I told you all that to tell you this: The Four Tops' Christmas Here With You is not a true Motown Christmas album. It doesn't have the bass of James Jamerson or the drums of Benny Benjamin. It doesn't have the songs of Holland-Dozier-Holland or Norman Whitfield. It doesn't have that magic Motown sound, the soulful, propulsive, melodic kismet that made songs leap out of tiny transistor radios and into our hearts.

Four Tops42 Years Together

Having said all that, Christmas Here With You is a heartfelt, ambitious holiday album. It is solid black pop for a mature black audience. That makes it way too musically conservative for my tastes - which favor gritty, raw soul and funk - but you might eat it up. Significantly, the album was mostly recorded in or near Detroit, and all four members were closely involved in producing the album. The liner notes explain, "This is the first Christmas project for the Four Tops in their 42 years together. It was decided that each would produce his favorite songs."

And, that's the main thing the album has going for it. These are the same four guys who founded the Four Tops in 1953. Unlike many Motown stars, they were experienced professionals when they joined the label in 1963 and had already recorded for several different companies. The depth of their experience and brotherhood is evident in the grooves. Poignantly, Christmas Here With You would be the last studio album the group ever released, as well as the last one before its original members began to shuffle off this mortal coil.

Members of the group contributed three original songs to the album, and it was mostly recorded with real instruments and real players - though producer George Rountree's synthesizers weigh a little too heavy at times. More than most Four Tops records, the voices of all four members can be heard throughout; it's a true group effort, and Levi Stubbs doesn't dominate. And, rather notably, Christmas Here With You also features guest vocals from the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, on three tracks. She really shines on "Silent Night," helping transform the latter track from a pious, ponderous dirge (which is how it starts) into a spirited gospel workout.

Four TopsOf the original songs, the feisty, funky "Christmas Delight" is the standout. Written by group member Renaldo "Obie" Benson and musical director Ron McNair, the song demonstrates the longstanding rhythm 'n' blues practice of mingling the sacred and profane - in this case, Christmas and sex. "It's Christmas Eve, girl, and I'm really in the mood," sings Obie, "right by the Christmas tree, we'll make love tonight."

The rest of the album consists of traditional carols ("Away In A Manger") and modern standards ("This Christmas"), most enjoyable but hardly memorable. One exception is Levi Stubbs' muscular blues arrangement of Charles Brown's "Merry Christmas Baby." Backed by a big, brassy band, Stubbs sings the shit out of the timeless R&B classic, first recorded by Brown in 1947 with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers. About halfway through, the band takes off into "Fly Me To The Moon" - not sure why, but it works!

And then there's "'Twas The Night Before Christmas," the last song on the album and easily its wackiest track. The brainchild of group member Lawrence Payton and producer George Rountree, the arrangement lays the famous poem by Clement Moore on top of a lush R&B ballad sung by the group. But, here's the kicker: Moore's story is told with enthusiasm by Levi Stubbs, but in character as "Audrey II," the man-eating plant he voiced in the 1986 musical, Little Shop of Horrors. What? Discerning listeners will note, however, that Stubbs' character also bears a strong resemblance to musical comedian Blowfly, minus the verbal pornography. Ahem... Altogether, it's a surprising - and weird - end to an album that, overall, plays it fairly safe.

Bottom line? The Four Tops' Christmas Here With You is a safe bet for Motown freaks and fans of smooth 90's R&B. For those of us who cherish the group's 60's hits over all else - as well as the label's legendary decade of song - it's a lesson that nothing stays golden forever.

Consumer Notes

Christmas Here With You was originally issued in 1995 on compact disc, and it has been reissued twice, both times with the same 12 tracks but different titles and cover art. Universal Music bought Motown in 2005, and right away they reissued the album as The Best Of The Four Tops: The Christmas Collection as part of their extensive 20th Century Masters series. Then, in 2009, Universal reissued the album in Europe as Merry Christmas with a cute, but very misleading, throwback cover (similar to the Supremes' 1965 album of the same name) that gave the impression it had been originally issued during Motown's aforementioned Golden Decade. As we've established, it was not... Thankfully, when the album was made available for download and streaming, Universal used Motown's original cover, title, and track listing. [top of page]

Albums Albums

SongsEssential Songs

  • Christmas Delight
  • Merry Christmas Baby
  • Silent Night (with Aretha Franklin)
  • 'Twas The Night Before Christmas

Further ListeningFurther Listening

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