Reach Out (Four Tops album)

The group's biggest-selling studio album, Reach Out includes six of the Four Tops' most successful singles including the US and UK #1 hit "Reach Out I'll Be There", "Standing in the Shadows of Love", "Bernadette" and "7-Rooms of Gloom". The album was the group's last with the songwriting team of Holland–Dozier–Holland and also features covers of contemporary pop hits selected by Berry Gordy, among them Tim Hardin's "If I Were a Carpenter", the Left Banke's "Walk Away Renée" and two songs originally recorded by the Monkees. In 2020, Reach Out was ranked number 429 in Rolling Stone magazine's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list. == Chart performance ==

The album reached No. 11 on Billboard Top LPs chart, on the Billboard Top R&B Albums it peaked at No. 3, on Cashbox Top 100 Albums chart the album peaked at No. 5, and was their first charting album there. Overseas, it peaked at number 4 in the United Kingdom, where it was released in November after delays. Eventually, the BPI certified the album Silver in the UK. ==Critical reception==

Upon release, Record Mirror praised the album's "four fine 'A' sides and their versions of some of the best non-R&B tunes around" Among retrospective reviews, BBC Music's Daryl Easlea has described Reach Out as the Four Tops' greatest album, praising its cohesion and noting that it "can be seen as the high-water mark of the first decade of Motown". Easlea considered the album and The Four Tops Greatest Hits to contain "some of the most passionate, soulful music, exquisite playing and well-written melodies of all time". AllMusic's John Bush was critical of the album's cover songs, opining "though it's one of the best Four Tops records of the '60s, Reach Out still feels weighted down by a few vain attempts at adult pop crossover". ==Track listing==

All tracks produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier, except for "Wonderful Baby", produced by Smokey Robinson; and "What Else is There to Do (But Think About You)", produced by Clarence Paul. Side One Side Two ==Personnel==

• Levi Stubbs – lead baritone vocals • Abdul "Duke" Fakir – first tenor backing vocals • Renaldo "Obie" Benson – bass-baritone backing vocals • Lawrence Payton – second tenor backing vocals • The Andantes – additional backing vocals (except on "What Else is There to Do (But Think About You)") • The Funk Brothers – instrumentation • James Meese – cover artwork == Charts ==