At the Top

At the Top
At the Top
Studio album by Four Tops
Released	1978
Studio	Sigma Sound, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
Genre	Soul music
Length	37:06
Language	English
Label	ABC
Producer	Bruce Gray; Norman Harris; Ron Tyson;
Four Tops chronology

At the Top is a 1978 studio album by American soul music vocal group, Four Tops, released by ABC Records. The album was the last the group recorded for ABC and was followed by a brief hiatus from recording. Four Tops had experienced a decline in their album sales in the 1970s and also had difficulty booking touring dates, so they initially planned to team up with former Motown associates Holland–Dozier–Holland, but they instead recorded this album with Philadelphia soul producer Norman Harris at his Sigma Sound Studios.^[2]

Reception

Editors at AllMusic Guide scored this release three out of five stars, with reviewer Andrew Hamilton characterizing release as "a quality Four Tops album", but "the songs, productions, and singing deserved a better fate", with "lightweight promotion" from ABC.^[1] The 1992 edition of The Rolling Stone Album Guide rated this release two out of five stars.^[3]

Track listing

"H.E.L.P." (Norman Harris and Ron Tyson) – 5:55
"Bits and Pieces" (Bruce Gray, Leroy Green, and Harris) – 4:10
"Seclusion" (Harris and Tyson) – 4:28
"Put It on the News" (Harris and Tyson) – 4:21
"This House" (Harris and Tyson) – 4:41
"Just in Time" (Harris and Tyson) – 3:47
"Inside a Brokenhearted Man" (Jerry Akines, John Bellman, Victor Drayton, and Buddy Turner) – 3:26
"When Your Dreams Take Wings and Fly" (Gray, Green, and Harris) – 6:18

Personnel

Four Tops

Renaldo Benson – bass vocals
Abdul Fakir – first tenor vocals
Lawrence Payton – second tenor vocals
Levi Stubbs – lead and baritone vocals

Additional personnel

Keith Benson – drums
Caryle J. Blackwell – production assistance, cordiantion
Bruce Bluestein – assistant engineering
George "Go-Madd" Bussey – arrangement
Dirk Devlin – engineering
Don Renaldo & His Swinging Strings & Horns – strings, horns
Bill Dorman – assistant engineering
Jack Faith – arrangement
Richard Germinaro – art direction, artwork
Bruce Gray – keyboards, production
Norman Harris – guitar, arrangement, production
Carlton Kent – keyboards
Stuart Kusher – art direction, artwork
Leon Mitchell – arrangement
Earl Miller – photography
Edward Moore – guitar
Tom Nikosey – lettering
Carl Paruolo – engineering
Darrell Rogers – assistant engineering
Rocky Schnaars – assistant engineering
Henri Smith – percussion
Jeffrey Stewart – assistant engineering
Michael Tarsia – assistant engineering
T. J. Tindall – guitar
Ron Tyson – production
Larry Washington – percussion
James Williams – bass guitar

Chart performance

At the Top peaked at 73 on the R&B charts.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b Hamilton, Andrew. "The Four Tops – At the Top". AllMusic Guide. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
^ Williams, Jean (January 28, 1977). "4 Tops Reborn: Group Seeks New Life; Trying Holland–Dozier–Holland's Skills". General News. Billboard. Vol. 90, no. 4. p. 97. ISSN 0006-2510.
^ DeCurtis, Anthony; George-Warren, Holly; Henke, James, eds. (1992). The Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely New Reviews : Every Essential Album, Every Essential Artist. Random House. p. 260. ISBN 9780679737292.
^ "US Albums". AllMusic Guide. Archived from the original on November 30, 2012. Retrieved June 23, 2016.