Hi, everyone. Welcome to this week’s edition of Music Monday.

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Another big loss in music for 2024. Singer Abdul “Duke” Fakir died on July 22 at age 88. He was the last surviving member of The Four Tops, one of Motown’s premier vocal groups. The four original members were together for 44 years without any personnel changes, a feat nearly unheard of in the music industry. On top of their success with Motor City material, the Tops also covered songs from outside of that genre including “If I Were A Carpenter” and “Walk Away Renee”, a cherished favorite of mine. They were also the only Motown group to perform at the Live Aid concert in Philadelphia in 1985. It is indeed the end of a beautiful era of music.

Top: Abdul “Duke” Fakir in 2009 at the 51st Grammy Awards ceremony where The Four Tops received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Bottom: The group circa 1968 (L-R): Renaldo “Obie” Benson, Levi Stubbs, Fakir and Lawrence Payton. (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

Happy birthday to singer/songwriter Pete Yorn who just celebrated his 50th. Born July 27, 1974 in New Jersey, he first rose to fame in 2001 with his incredible debut, musicforthemorningafter. Ten more studio albums followed along with several live ones and EPs. He has also covered a few songs by that other guy from Jersey, Bruce Springsteen: “Dancing In The Dark” and “New York City Serenade”. Yorn’s take on the Albert Hammond 1972 classic, “It Never Rains In California”, was featured in the 2003 movie, “Stuck On You”. Yorn just announced his new record, The Hard Way, will be released next month.

Pete Yorn circa 2022. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I just rewatched “After Life” for the 900th time since it ended in 2022. The incredibly beautiful series, written & directed by my spirit animal, Ricky Gervais, affected me in a way no other series ever has. That is saying something given the fact that TV has been a lifelong constant of mine. The series was spectacularly real, heartbreaking, funny, brave and unbelievably eloquent. And the music chosen for each episode was absolute perfection.

A song featured in S2 E2 was one I had never heard before and the sheer beauty of it hit me to my core. It was written by one of my favorite songwriters, the American treasure known as Jimmy Webb. His longtime friend & musical collaborator, Glen Campbell, recorded it first for his 1988 album, Light Years.  Then he recorded it with Webb the same year for a Canadian TV show but it was not released until 2012 on Glen Campbell and Jimmy Webb: In Session.  Webb recorded it himself for his 1996 album,  Ten Easy Pieces, and it is this version that was featured in the show. I never thought I could love Webb more after the elegance of “Wichita Lineman” but I was wrong.

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

The Four Tops: “7 Rooms Of Gloom” ( 1967, written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland).

Pete Yorn: “Lose You” (2001, written by Pete Yorn).

Jimmy Webb: “If These Walls Could Speak” (1996, written by Jimmy Webb).

Stay safe & well.