There’s a lot of music to deal with in this essay. The major Four Tops albums are Four Tops’ Second Album, Reach Out, Still Waters Run Deep, Changing Times, Nature Planned It, Keeper of the Castle, and Tonight!; even more essential are the compilations. I recommend the 3-LP Anthology (1974) and its revision/sequel 2-CD Anthology (2004)—the latter even includes Stubbs’ “Mean Green Mother” from Little Shop of Horrors. There’s also the rarities-filled Fourever (2001). A good budget set of the Motown hits is Ultimate Collection (1997).
Below are a few ways to hear the music in this piece:
The Complete Four Tops, 1956-1967. Nearly every Tops track (several of the early, pre-Motown ones are missing) in roughly chronological recording order, until the end of their partnership with Holland-Dozier-Holland (Parts One and Two).
The Complete Four Tops, 1968-1972. The post-H-D-H, late Motown years (covered in Part Three).
The Complete Four Tops, 1972-1988. The ABC/Dunhill, Casablanca, Motown (Slight Return), and Arista years (Part Four).
Four Tops on YouTube: fills in the blanks from the early singles. Plus lots of amazing live footage, including the complete Second Chance concert in 1982.
Tops Pops: 1963-1964. Tracks recorded for the never-released Breaking Through album, and earlier versions of each song which may have influenced the Tops’ and Motown’s performances.
The Complete Motown Singles, 1959-1972. 1843 Motown A-sides and B-sides, in order of release. As essential an American document as Walden.
H-D-H. Motown singles (and some album tracks) written by Holland-Dozier-Holland.
The Complete Motown Singles, 1980-1983 (YouTube supplement).
The Complete Motown Singles, 1984-1988 (YouTube supplement).
64 Quartets 