Reach Out I'll Be There by Four Tops

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The Four Tops’ 1966 song “Reach Out, I’ll Be There” is a feel-good Motown Records classic and one of the group’s biggest hits. The Four Tops were a vocal quartet from Detroit, led by singer Levi Stubbs. “Reach Out, I’ll Be There” was written by Motown’s defining songwriter trio Holland-Dozier-Holland—composed of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland. While Dozier and Brian Holland handled the production and composition of their songs, Eddie Holland would write the lyrics and arrange vocals. Dozier told Sound on Sound that this song marked a pivotal shift in the Motown style: Up until then, most of the songs basically had three chords. They were very simple and, in a sense, very rock & 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. After the Four Tops finished the song, they disregarded it because it didn’t sound like the rest of their material. Fakir told the Guardian: A few weeks later, Motown boss Berry Gordy sent us a memo: ‘Make sure your taxes are taken care of—because we’re going to release the biggest record you’ve ever had.’ He called us into his office, and I remember one of us asking: ‘So when are we going to record this great song?’ He said: ‘You already have.’ The Four Tops begged Berry to not release the song as a single, but he couldn’t be swayed. Fakir: 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.’