Quad LP/Tape Poll Four Tops, The: Keeper Of The Castle [QS/Q8]

[EMB]

Their first ABC/Dunhill album, from 1972.

Side 1:

1. Keeper Of The Castle
2. Ain't No Woman(Like The One I've Got)
3. Put A Little Love Away
4. Turn On The Light Of Your Love
5. When Tonight Meets Tomorrow
6. Love Music

Side 2:

1. Remember What I Told You To Forget
2. (I Think I Must Be)Dreaming
3. The Good Lord Knows
4. Jubilee With Soul
5. Love Makes You Human
6. Keeper Of The Castle (Reprise)


ED

 

[winopener]

Excellent album, good mix, an absolute classic (Ain't no woman) and the typical channel swapping on the GRT Q8.
8.

 

[Q-Eight]

Excellent album, good mix, an absolute classic (Ain't no woman) and the typical channel swapping on the GRT Q8.
8.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Lucanu]

I love this record.
8

 

[EMB]

In fact, it was their first album of any consequence since the great REACH OUT from 1967.

After Holland-Dozier-Holland left Motown, the Tops and Supremes were hurt the most, although the former did eventually have some good ones like "Still Water"(1970), while Diana Ross finished her tenure nicely with "Someday We'll Be Together." But their general output from 1968-72 was very spotty and inconsistent. It's understandable that the Tops went elsewhere when their contract was up. But who would have thought it would be with Steve Barri and the songwriting/production team of Lambert & Potter? But for late '72 it worked, they got two big hits out of it, and several more productive years.

Overall, it's a very good effort, and decodes very nicely with obvious discrete separation, with fine sonics.

ED

 

[steelydave]

The three Four Tops albums are amongst my favourite of all the ABC quad mixes - it's almost unforgivable that these albums (Keeper of the Castle, Main Street People and Meeting of the Minds) have never even been released on CD, let alone these fabulous quad mixes been reissued digitally. I fear that these may be amongst the stuff that was lost in the 2008 Universal Vault fire, but who knows. Maybe there are safety copies lurking in a vault in Japan or Canada somewhere...

Giving this one a 9, only because I think the quad mixes for Main Street People and Meeting of the Minds are a little better.

 

[wrat]

rating based on a conversion but solid 8

 

[humprof]

I heard this in a conversion, too--a peerless one, with sonics that could easily match a quad reel. Such a great-sounding album. (Do we know who did the mix?) I think Main Street People is the strongest of the three, content-wise, but this is a close second for me. 9

 

[steelydave]

I heard this in a conversion, too--a peerless one, with sonics that could easily match a quad reel. Such a great-sounding album. (Do we know who did the mix?) I think Main Street People is the strongest of the three, content-wise, but this is a close second for me. 9

There's no way to know for sure, because the quad issues of the Four Tops albums simply recycle the stereo sleeves, but Phil Kaye (who was the chief engineer of ABC's quad-equipped studio that opened in 1974) and Howard Gale are credited on all three jackets, so I think the likelihood is that it was either one, or both of them. With the masters for these albums most likely consumed in the UMG vault fire, the only way to find out would be to contact these guys directly, but I haven't been able to establish via Google searches if they're still on the positive side of this mortal coil or not.