 |
| Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell were Motown Record's most successful duo. |
1968 was the year that
Marvin Gaye cracked the winning formula with Tammi Terrell, with the creative
assistance of Ashford and Simpson, who became both their song writers and music
producers for their next two number one singles on the Billboard Hot Rhythm and
Blues Singles Chart, starting with the single released on March 28th
1968 “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing,” which achieved the number one
position week-ending 8th June 1968 (1 week) and also peaked at
number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart. The next number one song
followed in late summer with “You’re All I Need to Get By”, at the top
week-ending 31st August 1968 (5 weeks). These two songs performed
extremely well in the UK and in other European music markets, selling hundreds
of thousands of copies across Europe. Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell became the
most successful duo in the history of the label during this period.
| Ashford and Simpson. The song writing and music production team behind Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell success. |
The original roots
and feelings of the majority of these songs written by Ashford and Simpson were
developed by Valerie Simpson playing the piano, as they worked chord structures
for each song. Each track was underpinned by soulful, gospel-tinged musical themes,
which were strongly influenced by the composers’ experiences back in the city
of New York, where they performed in the Baptist church choir. This experience
impacted their musical intelligence and approach to composing and producing
songs and helped them create brilliant songs, with the skilful support of The Funk
Brothers under the leadership of Earl Van Dyke.
©Signaturesoundsonline2013-2016
