NASHVILLE, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- U.S. singer Michael McDonald, whose signature vocals made him a star, emulated Four Tops' singer Levi Stubbs for the ex-Doobie Brothers' CD of Motown hits.
The collection, due out in October, contains McDonald's renditions of the Tops' "Reach Out I'll Be There," "Baby I Need Your Lovin' " and "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever," a feat that challenged the "Takin' It To The Streets" singer, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Tuesday.
"The emotion and the power that he sang with were so immense. And you can kind of mimic his phrasing, but there's a whole bunch of ingredients that will be missing unless you really, really throw yourself into it," said McDonald, who relocated to Nashville several years ago from the West Coast.
" ... With Levi, you had to get up and really do battle with the thing, to get into that energy range that he always sang in, which was 110 percent," the 52-year-old entertainer said.
The new CD is McDonald's second on the Motown imprint, with the first project selling more than 1 million copies to-date.
