The Four Tops ~ Reach Out, I’ll Be There 1966 Soul Purrfection Version

The hitmaking trio of Holland-Dozier-Holland gave the Four Tops two major pop hits, the chart topping “I Can’t Help Myself“ and the #5 “It’s The Same Old Song“. Their next two singles barely made the top 20, so the trio decided to write something to bring them back to the top and with “Reach Out, I’ll Be There“ and they ended up adding a new dimension in the Motown sound that presaged the Norman Whitfield productions by several years. After the song was written, HDH began the process of creating the music track starting with Benny Benjamin’s drum track and once that was complete, brought in James Jamerson to add his distinctive bass. Once the bedrock was set the rest of the instruments were added and the song was readied for release on September 3, 1966 and it hit the top on October 15 for two weeks. The Four Tops continued to record HDH songs but with diminishing returns and then HDH left Motown in 1971. The Four Tops left Motown the following year