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Marvin Gaye - Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell: Greatest Hits Audio CD

A fair review of the Marvin Gaye "Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell: Greatest Hits" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Marvin Gaye reviews here, or go back to the Marvin Gaye tabs.

Marvin Gaye Band: Marvin Gaye
Title: Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell: Greatest Hits
Rating:
Release Date: 1998-04-07
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Let's Get It On 2: I Want You [Vocal Version] 3: How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You) 4: I Heard It Through the Grapevine 5: Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) 6: What's Going On 7: After the Dance 8: Can I Get a Witness 9: Trouble Man 10: Distant Lover [Live] 11: You Ain't Livin' Till You're Lovin' 12: Hold Me Oh My Darling

Fabulous Compilation That Would Have Been Better With Liner Notes


Marvin, who had some 66 hit singles to his credit (and was a 1987 inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame), shared some of those hits with female vocalists of renown, namely Martha [Reeves] & The Vandellas, The Supremes, Mary Wells, Kim Weston, Diana Ross and, of course, Tammi Terrell (real name Montgomery), who tragically passed away on March 16, 1970 from a brain tumor at the tender young age of 24 (Marvin himself was just 45 when he was shot to death by his father on January 4, 1984). When this CD version of the original Tamla 302 vinyl 1970 LP, produced by Harvey Fuqua, came out in 1998 with excellent digitalized sound, Motown missed a chance at making it even greater when they failed to include liner notes, a discography of the contents, and one overlooked hit.

The thing is, there was one more female vocalist who shared three hits with him, and that was Valerie Simpson of Ashford & Simpson fame who actually did the vocals on these three hits attributed to Tammi: Good Lovin' Ain't Easy To Come By (# 11 R&B/# 30 Billboard Pop Hot 100 in February/March 1969); What You Gave Me (# 6 R&B/# 49 Hot 100 in December 1969; and The Onion Song (# 18 R&B/# 50 Hot 100 in May 1970). Valerie and husband Nickolas Ashford also wrote tracks 1 to 5, 7 and 9 to 11, and produced tracks 3 to 5, 7, 9 and 10.

When it came time to cut those sides, Tammi was too ill to take part, and so Valerie (who also had 35 R&B hits as part of Ashford & Simpson, with eight crossing over to the Billboard Pop Hot 100/"bubble under" charts, as well as one solo hit) stepped in. That's the kind of information that would have been interesting to read in liner notes.

Here you get 10 of the hits billed as "Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell" (only the flip of The Onion Song is missing - California Soul, which hit # 56 Hot 100 itself), along with two B-sides, Hold Me Oh My Darling which backed Your Precious Love (# 2 R&B/# 5 Hot 100/# 37 Adult Contemporary in summer 1967) and You Ain't Livin' Till You're Lovin' which was the flip of Keep On Loving Me Honey (# 11 R&B/# 24 Hot 100 in November 1968).

Their initial hit was Ain't No Mountain High Enough, which hit # 3 E&B/# 19 Hot 100 in June 1967, followed by the afore-mentioned Your Precious Love. Then came the two-sided hit, If I Could Build My Whole World Around You (# 2 R&B/# 10 Hot 100) b/w If This World Were Mine (# 27 R&B/# 68 Hot 100) in late 1967/early 1968, followed late in the spring of 1968 by Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing (# 1 R&B/# 8 Hot 100) and, late that summer, You're All I Need To Get By (# 1 R&B for 5 weeks/# 7 Hot 100).

A 4-star issue that would have rated 5 stars with the addition of some background information and that one missing hit. Perhaps in a future re-release?.


Anybody Who Loves Soul Needs This
Gaye, of course, had many hits on his own, Terrell didn't, but together they were surefire; her pure voice beautifully complementing his more sensual one, backed by Motown's outstanding studio band, on such songs as "Your Precious Love,""Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "You're All I Need to Get By, and "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing," all written by the talented duo of Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, as were most of their songs. Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell were among the best-known duets of their time, the heyday of soul in the late 1960's, and deservedly so, even in Motown's stable, crowded with great performers.

Their harmonies couldn't be beat: many listeners thought Terrell brought out the best in Gaye, who did, certainly, have many other hits. Some people tag "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" as one of the greatest dancing songs ever recorded; others point to the changes Gaye made in the song, from the also best-selling version by Gladys Knight and The Pips; Gaye's version actually told a story.

As is well-known, Terrell left us too soon, of natural causes, when she was barely hitting her stride. As is also well-known, Gaye also left us much too soon (he's one of the triumvirate of great soul singers, including Sam Cooke and Otis Redding, who left us much too young, and through regrettably violent deaths. ) But Gaye and Terrell have left their soaring voices with us, and anybody who loves soul should have this record.


The Ultimate Duo
there voices complimented One another so well. Marvin Gaye&Tammi Terrell had a Chemistry that you would swear up&down they were together in another life. "Your'e all I Need to get by","Ain't No Moutain high Enough","Ain't nothing like the real thing",etc. . . just moves the soul. these are some of the Greatest Tracks in Motown History IMO. timeless&wo greats who passed way before there time.


BEST CD!
I love the song "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" This is a good but cool CD! Take my advice and buy it you want to. This was the best CD.


a great duo
hearing those songs and the others on this disc shows the beauty of chemistry. ain't no mountain high enough,your'e all i need to get by. these two voices were destiny. these songs have stood the test of time. very essential to any Soul collection. i don't think another Man&Woman could hang with them personally. they were a great duo.


You can see a complete list of all Marvin Gaye discography, or go back to the Marvin Gaye tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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