Post by sam on Feb 26, 2004 6:40:18 GMT -5
Friends celebrate with Levi
Motown greats celebrate Four Tops singer
By Susan Whitall / The Detroit News
Levi Stubbs wiped away tears and waved as friends like Aretha Franklin took the stage at the Roostertail to wish him well and sing songs to inspire him as he recovers from a stroke.
Dressed in a ruffled aubergine-colored suit, Franklin sang the gospel song “Oh Mary Don’t You Weep” for Stubbs, saying, “I understand that it’s one of your favorites, Levi ...”
The party took up both levels of the Roostertail, the club associated with Motown since the 1960s, when groups like the Four Tops and Supremes would perform in the “Motown Mondays” series.
Partygoers downstairs took part in an “old school” dance contest and performers like the Velvelettes and Contours would do a set on one floor, then go downstairs and do a song there.
Mary Wilson couldn’t attend due to illness, but other former Supremes Cindy Birdsong, Scherrie Payne and Jean Terrell were there. Also there were Bobby Taylor of the Vancouvers, songwriter Janie Bradford (“Money”), Bobby Rogers and the Miracles and Ollie Woodson of the Temptations.
Councilman Alonzo Bates presented Stubbs and the Four Tops with a proclamation from the Detroit City Council, quipping “There are few things all five of us ever agree on.”
In a taped tribute, Berry Gordy Jr. spoke from his patio in Los Angeles as Stubbs and partygoers watched the screen intently.
“Levi, you are the greatest interpreter of songs,” Gordy said. “When I did the movie ‘Lady Sings The Blues,’ the first person I thought should play Louis McKay was Levi Stubbs. He has the voice and the looks. But he was in Europe at the time, and he’s always been dedicated to the Four Tops.”
Smokey Robinson then jumped into frame, telling a story about Stubbs urging him to go on at the Howard Theater in Washington, D.C., one time, despite being hoarse.
“You told me that I owed it to the people who paid to see us, and to my brothers in the group, that they were counting on me. Well Levi, look around you. These people are counting on you to still be there.
His ex-wife, Claudette Robinson, one of the founding members of the Miracles, had joined Smokey’s old group onstage to sing “Ooo Baby Baby” earlier. Claudette stopped touring with the Miracles in the ‘60s to raise her children.
Proceeds from the party benefited the Gwen Gordy Fuqua Fund, administered by the Rhythm & Blues Foundation. The fund pays health benefits for Motown artists of the ’60s and ’70s.
Spyder Turner, whose band provided backup much of the night, and who donated the sound system, spoke of how the fund helped him when he needed it.
Stubbs’ family was close by him all night, including wife Clineice, whom he met when she was a dancer at the Lake Michigan resort Idlewild in Michigan as well as their children Deborah, Beverly, Raymond, Kelly and Levi Jr.
Motown greats celebrate Four Tops singer
By Susan Whitall / The Detroit News
Levi Stubbs wiped away tears and waved as friends like Aretha Franklin took the stage at the Roostertail to wish him well and sing songs to inspire him as he recovers from a stroke.
Dressed in a ruffled aubergine-colored suit, Franklin sang the gospel song “Oh Mary Don’t You Weep” for Stubbs, saying, “I understand that it’s one of your favorites, Levi ...”
The party took up both levels of the Roostertail, the club associated with Motown since the 1960s, when groups like the Four Tops and Supremes would perform in the “Motown Mondays” series.
Partygoers downstairs took part in an “old school” dance contest and performers like the Velvelettes and Contours would do a set on one floor, then go downstairs and do a song there.
Mary Wilson couldn’t attend due to illness, but other former Supremes Cindy Birdsong, Scherrie Payne and Jean Terrell were there. Also there were Bobby Taylor of the Vancouvers, songwriter Janie Bradford (“Money”), Bobby Rogers and the Miracles and Ollie Woodson of the Temptations.
Councilman Alonzo Bates presented Stubbs and the Four Tops with a proclamation from the Detroit City Council, quipping “There are few things all five of us ever agree on.”
In a taped tribute, Berry Gordy Jr. spoke from his patio in Los Angeles as Stubbs and partygoers watched the screen intently.
“Levi, you are the greatest interpreter of songs,” Gordy said. “When I did the movie ‘Lady Sings The Blues,’ the first person I thought should play Louis McKay was Levi Stubbs. He has the voice and the looks. But he was in Europe at the time, and he’s always been dedicated to the Four Tops.”
Smokey Robinson then jumped into frame, telling a story about Stubbs urging him to go on at the Howard Theater in Washington, D.C., one time, despite being hoarse.
“You told me that I owed it to the people who paid to see us, and to my brothers in the group, that they were counting on me. Well Levi, look around you. These people are counting on you to still be there.
His ex-wife, Claudette Robinson, one of the founding members of the Miracles, had joined Smokey’s old group onstage to sing “Ooo Baby Baby” earlier. Claudette stopped touring with the Miracles in the ‘60s to raise her children.
Proceeds from the party benefited the Gwen Gordy Fuqua Fund, administered by the Rhythm & Blues Foundation. The fund pays health benefits for Motown artists of the ’60s and ’70s.
Spyder Turner, whose band provided backup much of the night, and who donated the sound system, spoke of how the fund helped him when he needed it.
Stubbs’ family was close by him all night, including wife Clineice, whom he met when she was a dancer at the Lake Michigan resort Idlewild in Michigan as well as their children Deborah, Beverly, Raymond, Kelly and Levi Jr.
