The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet from Detroit, Michigan. They were one of the most commercially successful American pop music groups of the 1960s and helped propel the Motown label to international fame. The group's repertoire has included aspects of soul, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes.

Founded as the Four Aims, lead singer Levi Stubbs, Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton remained together for over four decades, performing from 1953 until 1997 without a change in personnel. The Four Tops were among a number of groups, including the Miracles, the Marvelettes, Martha and the Vandellas, the Temptations, and the Supremes, who established the Motown Sound. They were notable for having Stubbs, a baritone, as their lead singer, whereas most other male and mixed vocal groups of the time were fronted by tenors.

The group was the main male vocal group for the highly successful songwriting and production team of Holland–Dozier–Holland, who crafted a stream of hit singles for Motown. These included two Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits for the Tops: "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" in 1965 and "Reach Out I'll Be There" in 1966. The group continued to have chart singles into the 1970s, including the million-seller "Ain't No Woman" (1973).

The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2013 into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame Rolling Stone ranked them

79 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

The original song by Richard Harris has been reviewed many times, but at the end, it has been voted as one of the worst songs made. But it’s not the rhythm or the bad singing, it’s the lyrics. The lyrics has been made about Jimmy Webb (the songwriter) and his ex nearing an end to their relationship, then going to MacArthur Park in California (near where his ex worked) and he described what he saw, including a cake in the rain. He also said he sometimes saw her in a yellow dress and also see old men playing Chinese Checkers.

But, people didn’t like his lyrics, so he eventually had to give up on the song. That was until Webb met Richard Harris at a LA fundraiser

Trivia[]

• There are several versions of the song, the most popular is the Suite version. The Suite versions includes two parts of MacArthur Park, One of a Kind and Heaven Knows.
• This is a cover song, that has been covered many times.
• The song has appeared at

  1 on the Billboard Hot 100 twice

• The single version was released on On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II
• MacArthur Park is an actual park in California
• The Pet Shop Boys sampled the song for their song “New Your City Boy”.

MacArthur Park Suite[]

Single Version[]

Sources[]

https://abitofpopmusic.com/2018/09/24/a-bit-of-a-classic-donna-summer-macarthur-park/

https://www.stereogum.com/2069326/the-number-ones-donna-summers-macarthur-park/columns/the-number-ones/

The Motown quartet’s skill in customizing pop material was especially clear when they covered Jimmy Webb.

Four Tops - Photo: Courtesy of Motown Records Archives

Few soul acts could sing their way around a pop hit and give it their own inimitable delivery the way the Four Tops did. The Motown quartet’s skill in customizing songs first recorded for a predominantly white audience was especially clear in 1968.

That year, they had Top 20 hits on both the pop and R&B charts with the Left Banke’s Top 5 success on the Hot 100 of two years earlier, “Walk Away Renee,” and Bobby Darin’s Top 10 pop single that same year, “If I Were A Carpenter,” recut to their own soulful specifications.

So it should have been little surprise when the Four Tops Now! album of summer 1969 included consecutive versions of songs by one of the most up-and-coming white songwriters of the day, Jimmy Webb. On an LP that also featured their interpretations of Lennon & McCartney’s “Eleanor Rigby” and “The Fool On The Hill,” Levi Stubbs applied his peerless lead vocals to both “Do What You Gotta Do” and “MacArthur Park.” As with everything the Tops touched, the songs were never quite the same again.

“Do What You Gotta Do” was first recorded in 1967 by Johnny Rivers, the prolific pop hitmaker who, by then, had also cut the debut version of Webb’s “By The Time I Get To Phoenix,” soon afterwards to become forever associated with Glen Campbell. The Tops’ single of “Gotta Do” became a substantial hit for them in the UK (but not the US), reaching No.11.

Covers in every genre

“MacArthur Park,” in its full lyrical eccentricity, had been immortalized in 1968 by actor-singer Richard Harris. Covers soon accrued by everyone from Ray Conniff to Liza Minnelli, and before the end of 1969, others would be added by Waylon Jennings, Tony Bennett, Long John Baldry, the Ray Charles Singers, and many others.

Listen to uDiscover Music’s Four Tops Best Of playlist.

What happened next was one of Motown’s chart oddities. The Tops had recorded their “MacArthur Park” as early as November 1968, but by then Harris’ version had become a chart sensation. The Motown group put theirs on the Now! album and, although it wasn’t a single at the time, they often opened their shows with it.

Demand for the song eventually called for it to be released as a 45, the better part of three years later. It made the Hot 100 on September 11, 1971, nudging into the Top 40 with a No.38 peak, and went onto the R&B countdown on September 18, grappling to No.27. The Tops would soon be marrying the soul and pop markets yet again, with a remake of the Moody Blues hit, “Simple Game” in early 1972.

Who sang the best version of MacArthur Park?

"MacArthur Park" was subsequently covered by numerous artists, including a 1970 Grammy-winning version by country music singer Waylon Jennings and a number one Billboard Hot 100 disco version by Donna Summer in 1978.nullMacArthur Park (song) - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org › wiki › MacArthur_Park_(song)null

Who wrote most of the Four Tops songs?

Like other major Motown groups, the Four Tops were joined by the writing team of Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Brian Holland. This trio wrote songs that worked perfectly with the Four Tops, such as “Baby I Need Your Loving” which was their first big hit in 1964.nullFour Tops, The - Detroit Historical Societydetroithistorical.org › learn › encyclopedia-of-detroit › four-topsnull

Who is the singer in the song McArthur Park?

There aren't many songs that have been recorded by a more varied group of artists than Jimmy Webb's seven-minute opus "MacArthur Park." Originally recorded by Irish actor Richard Harris in the late 1960s, the song was also covered by Waylon Jennings, Donna Summer, Tony Bennett and The Four Tops.nullSongwriter Jimmy Webb discusses his massive '70s hit 'MacArthur Park'www.tennessean.com › donna-summers-disco-classic-cover-macarthur-parknull

What does left the cake out in the rain mean?

"It's something I saw — we would eat cake and leave it in the rain," Webb told The Guardian. "But as a metaphor for losing a chapter of your life, it seemed too good to be true."nullWhat's With The Cake In 'MacArthur's Park'? - Mashedwww.mashed.com › whats-with-the-cake-in-macarthurs-parknull