I'll Be There by Duke Fakir

Author:Duke Fakir
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Omnibus Press
Published: 2022-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

With Beatles manager Brian Epstein at the Saville Theatre on our 1967 trip to London.

PICTORIAL PRESS LTD/ALAMY

So when Barry called us in the office, he took us by surprise when he said, “I hope your bank accounts are in good shape. I know you’ve just come off a big hit with ‘I Can’t Help Myself’ and I don’t want y’all getting into tax problems.”

We nodded with no idea where he was going. And he just kept going, eyes glowing. “I’m getting ready to put out a song that’s going to turn the world around.”

“Shit, when and where are we going to record this bad song?” I asked him.

“It’s already recorded,” he replied, matter-of-factly.

Levi interrupted: “What are you talking about, Berry? We ain’t pre-recorded nothing close to ‘I Can’t Help Myself.’”

Berry smiled. “Duke, Levi, fellas, listen.” Then he sang the first verse.

Now if you feel that you can’t go on

Because all of your hope is gone

And your life is filled with much confusion

Until happiness is just an illusion

And your world around is crumblin’ down

Darling, reach out (come on girl, reach on out for me)

Reach out (reach out for me)

Levi jumped in, laughing. “Berry, you say that’s going to be bigger than ‘I Can’t Help Myself’? You done lost your touch, baby.”

Berry joined him, laughing too. “I’m telling you, it’s going to be a big hit.”

I echoed Levi. “Come on, man, we’ve got momentum. All of our records are soaring up the charts. You put that out, it’ll be number 20 with an anchor.”

He had to laugh himself. But we could see he was serious and we almost started arguing with him, not believing it was a good song to follow up with. We ended up leaving his office, pissed.

About a month later, we began to hear HDH mixing it in the studio, and it was sounding better. It still didn’t sound like it was going to be a big hit, surely not as big as ‘I Can’t Help Myself.’

Then about two weeks later, I heard it on the radio. A friend and I were in my car and the song just hit me out of the blue. I put on the brakes so fast they squealed.

“Oh, my Lord!” I said. I’d just left Motown but I headed straight back. I ran upstairs to Berry’s office and his secretary informed me that he was in a meeting.

“Well, shit,” I said and pushed the door open, interrupting Berry in the middle of business. “Mr. B., don’t call and tell us what you’re going to do no more, man. Just do it. We’ve got a smash!”

He laughed, “I told you,” he said. “It just shot up the charts.”

I told him that I didn’t know what HDH added, or what I didn’t hear before, but once I heard ‘Reach Out I’ll Be There’ on the radio I knew it was a hit. It just knocked me over. For about two or three months after that, every time I heard it, in a bar or the grocery store or wherever, I’d just stop and salute the song.

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