I Can’t Help Myself – Four Tops (1965)

Description

Additional information about this, Four Tops vinyl art.

Four Tops – The Artist

The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet from Detroit, Michigan. They were one of the most commercially successful American pop music groups of the 1960s and helped propel the Motown label to international fame. The group’s repertoire has included aspects of soul, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes. Founded as the Four Aims, lead singer Levi Stubbs, Abdul “Duke” Fakir, Renaldo “Obie” Benson and Lawrence Payton remained together for over four decades, performing from 1953 until 1997 without a change in personnel. The Four Tops were among a number of groups, including the Miracles, the Marvelettes, Martha and the Vandellas, the Temptations, and the Supremes, who established the Motown Sound. They were notable for having Stubbs, a baritone, as their lead singer, whereas most other male and mixed vocal groups of the time were fronted by tenors. The group was the main male vocal group for the highly successful songwriting and production team of Holland–Dozier–Holland, who crafted a stream of hit singles for Motown. These included two Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits for the Tops: “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” in 1965 and “Reach Out I’ll Be There” in 1966. The group continued to have chart singles into the 1970s, including the million-seller “Ain’t No Woman” (1973).

I Can’t Help Myself – The Song

‘I Can’t Help Myself’  is a 1965 song recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown’s main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, “I Can’t Help Myself” is one of the most well-known Motown recordings of the 1960s and among the decade’s biggest hits. The song finds lead singer Levi Stubbs, assisted by the other three Tops and the Andantes, pleadingly professing his love to a woman: “Sugar pie, honey bunch/I’m weaker than a man should be!/Can’t help myself/I’m a fool in love, you see.” The melodic and chordal progressions are very similar to the Supremes’ 1964 hit “Where Did Our Love Go”, also written by Holland-Dozier-Holland. According to AllMusic critic Ed Hogan, the title “I Can’t Help Myself” is an oblique acknowledgment by Dozier that he could not resist recycling his previous hit. The bracketed title “Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch” appears only on certain oldie reissues of the single.

The Sugar Pie – The Shape

This record has been modelled into a Sweet Sugar Pie. Sugar cream pie (also known as sugar pie or Hoosier pie) is a custard pie made with a simple filling of butter, flour, cream and sugar sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. It is considered one of the desperation pies because the custard filling is made without eggs. The dessert may also be called finger pie in reference to the filling being stirred by the cook’s finger before baking, as doing so avoids breaking the crust.

Need Help?  Contact Us