Written by Motown’s celebrated songwriting and production team of Holland-Dozier-Holland, “Reach Out All Be There” is an anthem about unconditional love, hope, empathy, and unwavering support. The song’s narrator promises his lady that he’ll always be there for her, even in her most vulnerable and darkest moments. It’s also widely interpreted as having an underlying message of solidarity, hope, and resilience among the Black community and the many struggles its members faced during the Civil Rights Era. The song was released just two years after the passage of the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964, and it offered Black Americans comfort, inspiration, and mutual support during that transitional period of uncertainty and societal upheaval.
Additionally, “Reach Out I’ll Be There” is noted for its complex and unique structure. In an old interview with music technology publication Sound on Sound, Lamont Dozier said the song marked a critical shift in the Motown sound.
Up until then, most of the songs basically had three chords. They were very simple and, in a sense, very rock and roll, but I think the experiment of putting classical and gospel together reached full force on “Reach Out I’ll Be There.” To my knowledge, those structures had never been explored before, and on that song, we were reaching out for different sounds and approaches.
During an interview with journalist, author, and music historian Marc Myers for the book Anatomy of a Song: The Oral History of 45 Iconic Hits That Changed Rock, R&B and Pop, Dozier explained that he wanted to write "a journey of emotions with sustained tension, like a bolero” in his approach to composing “Reach Out I'll Be There.” “To get this across, I alternated the keys, from a minor, Russian feel in the verse to a major, gospel feel in the chorus."
Folk-rock pioneer Bob Dylan also served as a major source of inspiration for "Reach Out I'll Be There." In a 2014 interview with The Guardian, Four Tops founding member Duke Fakir said Eddie Holland asked Levi Stubbs to perform the song in Dylan’s signature shout-singing style. Stubbs initially had reservations and felt uncomfortable singing the song in that style, Fakir explained.
He said, "I'm a singer. I don't talk or shout." But we worked on it for a couple of hours, recording it in pieces, talking part after talking part. Eddie realised that when Levi hit the top of his vocal range, it sounded like someone hurting, so he made him sing right up there. Levi complained, but we knew he loved it. Every time they thought he was at the top, he would reach a little further until you could hear the tears in his voice.
Also, according to Fakir in the same interview, Stubbs improvised the lyric, “Just look over your shoulder.” “[It] was something he threw in spontaneously,” said Fakir. “Levi was very creative like that, always adding something extra from the heart.” The finished product sounded very different from your typical Four Tops song, so the group assumed it would just be an experimental album track and wouldn’t be released as a single, said Fakir. A few weeks later, Motown boss Berry Gordy sent the group a memo that said: “Make sure your taxes are taken care of – because we're going to release the biggest record you've ever had." The group was bewildered and had no idea which song Gordy was referring to. “So when are we going to record this great song?” they asked, and he answered you already have.” He was talking about “Reach Out I’ll Be There.” The group begged Gordy not to release the song as a single, as they thought it was too experimental-sounding and would tank on the charts. But Gordy was adamant. The group did a complete 180 once the song hit the airwaves. Fakir recounted the first time he heard the song on the radio:
I was out driving when I heard the song on the radio for the first time. It hit me like a lead pipe. I turned my car round and drove right back to Berry's office. He was in a meeting, but I opened the door and just said: "Berry, don't ever talk to us about what you're releasing. Just do what you do. Bye.”
“Reach Out I’ll Be There” was released August 18, 1966, on Motown, and was an instant smash. It sat atop the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard’s R&B singles chart for two consecutive weeks. And it topped the UK singles chart for three consecutive weeks. Also, it made the top ten on the charts in Belgium (#10), Canada (#6), Ireland (#4), and the Netherlands (#6). And it reached #13 on the charts in West Germany. It was the Four Tops' biggest hit, selling 1.2 million copies worldwide. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it at number 209 on its 2004 list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Billboard ranked it at number four on its list of the Top 100 Hits of 1966. The Library of Congress selected “Reach Out I’ll Be There” for preservation in the National Recording Registry in 2022. The Four Tops' version of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.
Here’s the full personnel for “Reach Out I’ll Be There”: Levi Stubbs (lead baritone vocals), Abdul “Duke” Fakir (first tenor backing vocals), Renaldo "Obie" Benson (bass-baritone backing vocals), Lawrence Albert Payton Sr. (second tenor backing vocals), James Jamerson (bass), Richard “Pistol” Allen (drums), and guitars (Robert White, Eddie Willis, and Joe Messina). And all of these talented musicians were members of Motown's famed in-house band, the Funk Brothers. And Motown songwriter, composer, and producer Norman Whifield was responsible for the galloping percussion sound in the song. He achieved this by playing a bell-less tambourine with timpani mallets. Motown's in-house female vocal group, the Andantes, joined the Tops on background vocals, enhancing the track considerably. The Andantes consisted of Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps. The piccolo part at the song’s intro was played by 14-year-old Dayna Hartwick, who had a few sessions with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to her credit at the time. The young musician had a dislocated knee, so three of the Funk Brothers (Joe Messina, Robert White, and James Jamerson) carried her into the session.
“Reach Out I’ll Be There” was the lead single from the Four Tops' fifth studio album Reach Out, released in July 1967. It’s their biggest-selling LP. In addition to “Reach Out,” the collection includes the classics “Bernadette,” “Standing in the Shadows of Love,” and “7 Rooms of Gloom.”
“Reach Out I’ll Be There” has been sampled on 25 songs, and it has been featured in a host of film soundtracks, including The Witches (2020), Hitsville: The Making of Motown (2019), Harsh Times (2005), The Best of Youth (2003), Gothika (2003), Contact (1997), Pontiac Moon (1994), and Cooley High (1975). Additionally, it was used for the main trailer for the second season of the highly popular, critically acclaimed Apple TV+ series Severance.
Some of the prominent artists who have covered the song include Diana Ross, Gloria Gaynor, Petula Clark, Average White Band, Michael McDonald, the Jackson 5, Boyz II Men, Irene Cara, and Thelma Houston. Joe Biden used “Reach Out I’ll Be There” during his campaign for the 2020 United States Presidential election.
“Reach Out I’ll Be There” is a timeless masterpiece that will still be played decades from now, on the radio, in films, on television, at events, etc. It’s one of the best songs released in the 1960s and the crown jewel among the Four Tops’ amazing discography.
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