''Still Waters Run Deep'' is the ninth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

vocal group

Four Tops The Four Tops are an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1953 as the Four Aims. They were one of the most commercially successful American pop music groups of the 1960s and helped propel Motown Records to international fame. The ...

Reception

Besides "L.A. (My Town)", which was recorded on September15, 1969, the album was recorded between December 15, 1969 and January 24, 1970.

Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

released the album in March 1970. Produced by longtime

Norman Whitfield Norman Jesse Whitfield (May 12, 1940 – September 16, 2008) was an American songwriter, composer, and producer, who worked with Berry Gordy's Motown labels during the 1960s. allmusic Biography/ref> He has been credited as one of the creators ...

associate Frank Wilson, the album returned (the) Four Tops to the Top 40 on the Billboard album chart where it remained for 42 weeks peaking at #21. The album yielded the popular

Top 30 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top ...

hits, "Still Water (Love)" (#11), which was co-written by

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he ...

and their cover of "It's All in the Game" (#24), which featured rare co-leads by Four Tops members

Abdul "Duke" Fakir Abdul Kareem "Duke" Fakir (December 26, 1935 – July 22, 2024) was an American singer. He co-founded the Motown quartet the Four Tops and performed in an ensemble under that name from 1953 until shortly before his death. He was the group's las ...

Renaldo "Obie" Benson Renaldo "Obie" Benson (June 14, 1936 – July 1, 2005) was an American soul and R&B singer and songwriter. He was best known as a founding member and the bass singer of Motown group the Four Tops, which he joined in 1953 and continued to perfo ...

and

Lawrence Payton Lawrence Albert Payton Sr. (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. Career Payton and Obie Benson both attended a Northern ...

singing alongside prominent lead

Levi Stubbs Levi Stubbs (born Levi Stubbles, June 6, 1936 – October 17, 2008) was an American baritone singer, widely known as the lead vocalist of the R&B group the Four Tops, that released a variety of Motown hit records during the 1960s and 1970s. He ...

. The album also served as inspiration behind singer

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

's ''

What's Going On What's Going On may refer to: Albums * What's Going On (album), ''What's Going On'' (album), a 1971 album by Marvin Gaye *What's Going On (Johnny "Hammond" Smith album), ''What's Going On'' (Johnny "Hammond" Smith album), 1971 * What's Going On (D ...

'', the hit title track, which was written by Benson. With this album the Four Tops staged a major comeback after two years of declining sales and Frank Wilson emerged as a producer to be reckoned with at Motown. At the same time that Wilson reinvigorated this group he also launched the Supremes sans Diana Ross with Up The Ladder To The Roof. Going into the 1970s with these two noteworthy successes, Wilson would go on to have hits on Eddie Kendricks (Keep On Truckin' and Boogie Down) as well as The Originals.

Track listing

Side One #"

Still Water (Love) "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 Wa ...

" (

, Frank Wilson) 3:09 #" Reflections" (

Holland–Dozier–Holland Holland–Dozier–Holland, often abbreviated as H-D-H, was a songwriting and production team consisting of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland. The trio wrote, arranged and produced many songs that helped define the ...

) 3:25 #" It's All in the Game" (

Charles Dawes Charles Gates Dawes (August 27, 1865 – April 23, 1951) was the 30th vice president of the United States from 1925 to 1929 under President Calvin Coolidge. He was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925 for his work on the Dawes Plan for ...

Carl Sigman Carl Sigman (September 24, 1909 – September 26, 2000) was an American songwriter. Early life Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish-American family, Sigman graduated from law school and passed his bar exams to practice ...

) 2:44 #"

Everybody's Talkin' "Everybody's Talkin (Echoes)" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Fred Neil in 1966 and released two years later. A version of the song performed by the American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson became a hit in 1969, ...

" (

Fred Neil Fred Neil (born Frederick Ralph Morlock Jr.; March 16, 1936 – July 7, 2001) was an American folk singer-songwriter active in the 1960s and early 1970s. He is mainly known through other people's recordings of his material – particularl ...

) 2:53 #"Love is the Answer" (Smokey Robinson,

Kathy Wakefield Kathleen Rae "Kathy" Wakefield is an American songwriter, singer and fiction author known for co-writing The Supremes' hit single " Nathan Jones" that was released by Motown and used as a soundtrack for the film ''Rain Man'' and for co-writing the ...

, Frank Wilson) 2:26 Side Two #"I Wish I Were Your Mirror" (

Pam Sawyer Pamela Joan Sawyer (born 1938) is an English songwriter/lyricist, who started writing songs in the mid-1960s and whose credits as a co-writer at Motown included " Love Child", " If I Were Your Woman", " My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Lef ...

, Frank Wilson) 3:09 #" Elusive Butterfly" (

Bob Lind Robert Neale Lind (born November 25, 1942) is an American playwright, novelist, and singer-songwriter who helped define the 1960s folk rock movement in the U.S. and UK. Lind is well known for his transatlantic hit record, " Elusive Butterfly", w ...

) 3:07 #"Bring Me Together" (Kathy Wakefield, Frank Wilson) 2:59 #"L.A. (My Town)" (

Sherlie Matthews Sherlie Mae Matthews (born November 10, 1934) is an American singer, songwriter and former Motown Records producer, best known as a backing vocalist for pop, R&B and rock groups from the mid-1960s to the present. Mirwood Employing her as bot ...

) 3:09 #"Still Water (Peace)" (Smokey Robinson, Frank Wilson) 2:42

Personnel

Four Tops

– lead vocals (baritone) *

Abdul Fakir Abdul Kareem "Duke" Fakir (December 26, 1935 – July 22, 2024) was an American singer. He co-founded the Motown quartet the Four Tops and performed in an ensemble under that name from 1953 until shortly before his death. He was the group's las ...

– first tenor vocals *

– second tenor vocals *

Renaldo Benson Renaldo "Obie" Benson (June 14, 1936 – July 1, 2005) was an American soul and R&B singer and songwriter. He was best known as a founding member and the bass singer of Motown group the Four Tops, which he joined in 1953 and continued to perfo ...

– bass vocals (lead singer on Side 1 Track 3)

Others

David Van DePitte David J. Van De Pitte (October 28, 1941 – August 9, 2009) was an American music arranger and bass player. He is best known for his work at Motown Records during the 1960s and early 1970s, when he was responsible for arranging many of the b ...

, Jerry Long, Jimmy Roach – arrangers *

The Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

– instrumentation *

Marv Tarplin Marvin Tarplin (June 13, 1941 – September 30, 2011) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist for the Miracles from the 1950s through the early 1970s. He was one of the group's original members and co-wrote several of their bigges ...

– guitar *Brenda Joyce Evans, Billie Rae Calvin, and

The Andantes The Andantes were an American female session group for the Motown record label during the 1960s. Composed of Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps, the group sang background vocals on numerous Motown recordings, including songs by M ...

– additional backing vocals *Curtis McNair – art direction *Larry Raphael – photography

Charts

Singles

References

External links

Four Tops – Still Waters Run Deep
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

{{Authority control 1970 albums Four Tops albums Motown albums Albums produced by Frank Wilson (musician) Albums produced by Smokey Robinson Albums recorded at Hitsville U.S.A.