"Still Water (Love)" is a 1970 hit single written by Smokey Robinson and Frank Wilson (who also produced the track) for the Motown singing group Four Tops. The B-side was "Still Water (Peace)" and both songs appear on the 1970 album '' Still Waters Run Deep''.

Background

The socially conscious single was a departure from the group's past recordings and produced a smoother sound than the raucous Norman Whitfield productions that belayed on The Temptations. The single features Miracles member Marv Tarplin on guitar and The Andantes adding in additional background vocals shouting out "Still water!". Singers Brenda Joyce Evans and Billie Rae Calvin, brought to Motown by Bobby Taylor (and soon to be part of Norman Whitfield's group The Undisputed Truth), also add backing vocals. This song was noted for its repeated chord structure, beginning with E-Flat Major, shifting to C Minor, then to B-Flat Major over F, before starting again at E-Flat Major, over and over again, without any changes or alterations to the song's fade.

Personnel

*Lead vocal by Levi Stubbs *Background vocals by

Abdul "Duke" Fakir Abdul Kareem Fakir (born December 26, 1935), professionally known as Duke Fakir, is an American singer. He is a founding member of the Motown quartet the Four Tops, from 1953 to the present day. A first tenor, Fakir is the group's lone survivin ...

Lawrence Payton Lawrence Albert Payton (March 2, 1938 – June 20, 1997) was an American tenor, songwriter, vocal arranger, musician, and record producer for the popular Motown quartet, the Four Tops. In 1997, at 59 years old, Payton died of liver cancer. Biogra ...

and Renaldo "Obie" Benson *Additional background vocals by The Andantes (Louvain Demps, Marlene Barrow, and Jackie Hicks), Brenda Joyce Evans and Billie Rae Calvin *Produced by Frank Wilson *Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers: ** Uriel Jones – drums ** James Jamerson – bass ** Robert White – guitar ** Eddie Willis – guitar ** Joe Messina – guitar ** Marv Tarplin (of The Miracles) – guitar ** Jack Ashford – vibes ** Earl Van Dyke –

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated ...

Chart performance

"Still Water (Love)" went to #4 on the Hot Soul Singles chart, and to #11 in the US Pop Chart. Outside the US, the song peaked at #10 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Cover versions

*In 1982,

O'Bryan O'Bryan McCoy Burnette II, known by his stage name O’Bryan (born December 5, 1961), is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Early life O'Bryan McCoy Burnette II began playing the piano at 6 ye ...

covered the song for his album,

Doin' Alright ''Doin' Alright'' is the debut studio album by R&B singer O'Bryan. Reception "Doin' Alright," was released in April 1982 and peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart. The lead single, "The Gigolo," was a slice of funk with new wave ...

References

{{Four Tops singles 1970 singles Songs written by Smokey Robinson Four Tops songs Songs written by Frank Wilson (musician) Motown singles 1970 songs Song recordings produced by Smokey Robinson Song recordings produced by Frank Wilson (musician)