RIP Levi + Standing in the Shadows of Care

by: nightowl724

Tue Oct 28, 2008 at 22:35:37 PM PDT

I often pass by hospitals and pharmacies. I pass by because I can't afford to enter. For two months, my best friend was in the hospital receiving complex, long-term treatment paid for by her insurance. Without insurance, I wouldn't get that kind of care - if any.

I've survived thanks to a few kind doctors who gave me free care and drug samples. Recently, one of them moved away. Prescription samples are scarce these days, too. I've applied for pharmaceutical "indigent programs" with no luck. My scripts are $1000/mo, so I often do without. And, forget lab work, let alone a hospital stay.

Saddened by Levi Stubbs' death, I revisited the great music of The Four Tops. Listening to Standing in the Shadows of Love, something clicked.  I realized that I, too, am standing in the shadows - in the shadows of some of the best health care in the world.  From that came my modest tribute to Levi and to the 47M of us without health insurance.

Arguably the most powerful voice in Motown's storied history has been silenced. (Billboard)

...the Four Tops have charted with scores of upbeat love songs featuring Levi Stubbs' rough-hewn lead vocals. (Rolling Stone)

Levi's baritone-like a velvet scarf pulled over gravel-was the linchpin for the Four Tops' seamless harmonies. (NPR, All Things Considered)

Although Stubbs was a natural baritone, most of the Four Tops' hits were written in a tenor range to give the lead vocals a sense of urgency. (Wikipedia)

Need and longing would be the hallmarks of Stubbs' singing... (William Ruhlmann, Vocal Group Hall of Fame Foundation)

Stubbs' bold, dramatic readings of some of Holland-Dozier-Holland's choicest material set a high standard for contemporary soul in the mid-Sixties. (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

...Levi Stubbs became an international star and became an influence on singers from the Sixties to the present time. (History of Rock)

Some insiders speak out:

"We have lost one of the great voices of the 20th century," said Otis Williams of another Motown hit-maker, the Temptations. "A few years ago in Las Vegas, I told Levi, 'You are our black Frank Sinatra.' Levi could phrase a song just as beautifully."

In a statement, Motown record label founder Berry Gordy Jr. called Stubbs "the greatest interpreter of songs I've ever heard" and the Four Tops "the greatest and most loving group."
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Stubbs "could easily have made it as a solo star," Gordy said, "but his love and loyalty" kept the four men "together longer than any group I know. His integrity and character were impeccable."

Author and music historian David Ritz told The Times that Stubbs had "one of the great soul voices of the last 50 years."

"You could hear the tear in his voice -- there was a kind of plaintive cry and an anguish and a pain," Ritz said. "He's going to live forever in the annals of American pop music. (LA Times)

From the last surviving member of the group:

Four Tops leader Abdul "Duke" Fakir called the late Levi Stubbs "one of the best singers in the world, period, of all time" and "a great man" in the first comments from the group's camp since Stubbs died last Friday.
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...the loss is "a big hurt"
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"He had such power," Fakir said. "He had a baritone voice and a tenor range. He could do anything with his voice. He could take you anywhere with it. He could take you to a love scene. He could take you dancing. He could take a great old standard and make you feel like you're right there in that song. Just an amazing voice, an amazing interpreter, an amazing man."

Even more importantly, Fakir noted, Stubbs "was dedicated to us. He had many chances and many offers to be lured away into his own solo world, but he never wanted that. He said, 'Man, all I really want to do is sing and take care of my family, and that's what I'm doing, so all is well. Everything else that doesn't include you guys, it doesn't mean a thing to me.' That kind of character and commitment is really hard to find these days."
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"There'll never be another Levi. We don't expect to replace a voice like that, or a personality like that. But we can keep singing his songs, 'cause the world should always hear them." (Reuters)

A tip of the hat (and maybe even an apology) to Levi Stubbs.

Standing in the Shadows of Care

(original lyrics)

Standing in the shadows of care,
I'm getting ready for the sickness I'll bear.
Can't you see me standing in the shadows of care?
I'm getting ready for the sickness I'll bear.

I want to run, but there's no where to go.
'Cause sickness will follow me, I know.
Without health care, the care I need,
It's the beginning of the end for me.

'Cause you've taken away all my chances for living,
When you have denied all the care I need given!

Now wait a minute...

Didn't I work real hard, USA, didn't I?
Didn't I do the best I could, now didn't I?

So, don't you leave me standing in the shadows of care!
I'm getting ready for the sickness I'll bear.
Don't you see me standing in the shadows of care?
Just trying my best to get ready for the sickness I'll bear.

All alone, I'm frightened to be,
With no health insurance company.
It may come today, it might come tomorrow.
But, it's for sure, I won't get nothing but sorrow.

Now, don't your conscience kinda bother you?
How can you watch me die after all I've done for you?

Now hold on a minute...

Gave you all the years I could, now didn't I?
When you needed me, I was always there, now wasn't I?

(Standing in the shadows of care,
Getting ready for the sickness I'll bear.)

I'm trying not to cry out loud.
You know, crying, it ain't gonna help me now.
What did I do to cause all this grief?
Now, what'll it take to make you care for me?

Now wait a minute...

I gave my heart and soul to you, now didn't I?
And, didn't I always work real hard, now didn't I?

I'm standing in the shadows of care.
I'm getting ready for the sickness I'll bear.
Don't you see me standing in the shadows of care?
Trying my best to get ready for the sickness I'll bear.
Standing in the shadows of... [Fade]

Remarkable music from a remarkable man.  Gone, but still touching my heart.

"Standing in the Shadows of Love" reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967.
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It is ranked #464 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
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This song is referenced in the John Mellencamp hit "Lonely Ol' Night" from the 1985 Scarecrow album: "Radio playing softly some singer's sad sad song. He's singing about standing in the shadows of love; I guess he feels awfully alone." (Wikipedia)

Levi's death is sad for us, but it's comforting to think of him instead out of the shadows, standing in the sunlight, surrounded by loved ones, singing his soulful songs, peaceful, and smiling forever...