Reach Out I'll Be There


"Reach Out I'll Be There" is a song recorded by the Four Tops from their fourth studio album Reach Out. Written and produced by Motown's main production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is one of the best known Motown tunes of the 1960s, and is today considered The Tops' signature song.
It was the number one song on the Rhythm & Blues chart for two weeks, and on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks, from October 15–22, 1966. The track also reached number one in the UK Singles Chart, becoming Motown's second UK chart-topper after The Supremes' 1964 release "Baby Love". It reached number one in October 1966, and stayed there for three weeks.
Rolling Stone later ranked this version number 206 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Billboard ranked the record as the number four song for 1966.

Writing and recording

In 1966, Holland, Dozier and Holland were writing new songs for the Four Tops to record for an album. Lamont Dozier said that he wanted to write "a journey of emotions with sustained tension, like a bolero. To get this across, I alternated the keys, from a minor, Russian feel in the verse to a major, gospel feel in the chorus." He developed the lyrics with Eddie Holland, aiming for them to sound "as though they were being thrown down vocally". Dozier said that they were strongly influenced by Bob Dylan at the time, commenting: "We wanted Levi to shout-sing the lyrics... as a shout-out to Dylan".
For the recording, the writers and producers intentionally put Stubbs at the top of his vocal range, according to Abdul Fakir of the Four Tops, "to make sure he'd have that cry and hunger and wailing in his voice". Arranger Paul Riser overdubbed instruments including a piccolo and flute in the intro, and a drum pattern made by using timpani mallets on a tambourine head. After the recording was completed and on hearing the final version, the group begged Berry Gordy not to release it; according to Fakir, "for us, the song felt a little odd". However, Gordy insisted that it be issued as a single.

Style

Lead singer Levi Stubbs delivers many of the lines in the song in a tone that some suggest straddles the line between singing and shouting, as he did in 1965's "I Can't Help Myself ". AllMusic critic Ed Hogan praises Stubbs' vocal, as well as the song's "rock-solid groove" and "dramatic, semi-operatic tension and release." Critic Martin Charles Strong calls the song "a soul symphony of epic proportions that remains signature tune."
In 2014, interviewed by The Guardian, Four Tops singer Duke Fakir said:

Personnel

Weekly charts

Chart 1Peak
position

Chart 2Peak
position

1Remix
2Michael Bolton with the Four Tops

Year-end charts

Chart Position
Canada Adult Contemporary 33

Certifications

Diana Ross cover

Diana Ross covered "Reach Out, I'll Be There" in 1971. Her version, which would be released from her LP Surrender, reached number 29 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 35 in Canada.

Charts

Weekly charts

Gloria Gaynor cover

"Reach Out, I'll Be There" was covered by Gloria Gaynor in 1975. It was the third of three singles released from her LP Never Can Say Goodbye.
Gaynor's version of "Reach Out, I'll Be There" became an international hit. It reached number 60 in the U.S. and number 16 in Canada. It did best in Europe, where it reached number 14 in the UK and number five in Germany.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts