After starting off #MusicMonday with two female artists,
let’s switch to four men! The Four Tops were an amazing group from Motown’s
classic era, lead by the outstanding, late Levi Stubbs. They had a litany of
hits over the course of their time with Motown, which ended for the first time
in 1972 when the label moved to Los Angeles. This isn’t one of those hits.
“Without the One You Love (Life’s Not Worth While)”, released in 1964, only
peaked at #43, but the emotion they pack in it is present aplenty. As a follow
up to their previous hit “Baby I Need Your Loving”, it continues along the
lines of expressing how important the subject’s love is to the group. It’s a
simple song with so much to give; with the echo sound, strings, and use of
session vocalists The Andantes giving this a heavenly, rising feeling. And with
the superb Levi Stubbs giving it his all as he always did, you can hear the
emotion pouring out, even if to a melodramatic effect. So much so, that I just
can’t help but sing along. While there isn’t much to the song, I wish it ran longer
that its 2:47 runtime. A wonderful listen.
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