Audio CD review:
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - United/You're All I Need

Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - United/You're All I Need

Band: Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell Title: United/You're All I Need Rating: Release Date: 2001-03-05 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye, Ashford, Nickolas 2: You Got What It Takes - Marvin Gaye, Carlo, Tyran 3: If I Could Build My Whole World Around You - Marvin Gaye, Bristol, John 4: Somethin' Stupid - Marvin Gaye, Parks, Carson C. 5: Your Precious Love - Marvin Gaye, Ashford, Nickolas 6: Hold Me Oh My Darling - Marvin Gaye, Fuqua, Harvey 7: Two Can Have a Party - Marvin Gaye, Fuqua, Harvey 8: Little Ole Boy, Little Ole Girl - Marvin Gaye, Fuqua, Harvey 9: If This World Were Mine - Marvin Gaye, Gaye, Marvin 10: Sad Wedding - Marvin Gaye, Bristol, John 11: Give a Little Love - Marvin Gaye, Bristol, John 12: Oh How I Miss You - Marvin Gaye, Davis, Hal 13: Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing - Marvin Gaye, Ashford, Nickolas 14: Keep on Lovin' Me Honey - Marvin Gaye, Ashford, Nickolas 15: You're All I Need to Get By - Marvin Gaye, Ashford, Nickolas 16: Baby Don'tcha Worry - Marvin Gaye, Beavers, Robert 17: You Ain't Livn' Till You're Lovin' - Marvin Gaye, Ashford, Nickolas 18: Give In, You Just Can't Win - Marvin Gaye, Fuqua, Harvey 19: When Love Comes Knocking at Your Heart - Marvin Gaye, Fuqua, Harvey 20: Come on and See Me - Marvin Gaye, Fuqua, Harvey 21: I Can't Help But Love You - Marvin Gaye, Kemp, Thomas 22: That's How It Is (Since You've Been Gone) - Marvin Gaye, Fuqua, Harvey 23: I'll Never Stop Loving You Baby - Marvin Gaye, Fuqua, Harvey 24: Memory Chest - Marvin Gaye, Fuqua, harvey

The ultimate duet vocalists. They feature terrific sound quality and great packaging. These import two-fers' are terrific. The albums included are: UNITED (1967; with Tammi Terrell) **** (4 out of 5) After artistically promising but commercially unrewarding collaborations with Mary Wells and Kim Weston, Motown finally captured lighting in a bottle by pairing Marvin with the demure Tammi Terrell. The incredibly attractive pair were born to sing with one another, and remain one of the all-time great duos in the history of recorded sound. Three big hits were scored right out of the box, including the immortal cuts "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (#19 Pop, #3 R&B), "Your Precious Love" (#5 Pop, #2 R&B), and "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You" (#10 Pop, #2 R&B). The rest of the album follows the fairly disjointed `60s Motown formula, however "Two Can Have A Party," "Give A Little Love," and the beautiful, Gaye-penned "If This World Were Mine" (which received some airplay as the flip side of "If I Could") are almost as strong as the majestic singles. There are a few faulty selections (such as the silly "Sad Wedding" and the unbelievably straight-faced cover of Frank and Nancy Sinatra's hit "Something Stupid"), but Marvin and Tammi's immense chemistry can make even the most worn clichés seem new and exciting YOU'RE ALL I NEED (1968; with Tammi Terrell) ****1/2 (4. 5 out of 5) Stronger album tracks and a more unified feel make Marvin and Tammi's second release together superior to their first. The big hits "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing" (#8 Pop, #1 R&B) and "You're All I Need To Get By" (#7 Pop, #1 R&B) are two of the finest singles to ever grace the Motown label. The third single "Keep On Lovin' Me Honey" (#25 Pop, #11 R&B) was less successful, but is just as amazing as any of the duo's other hits. Unlike many of Motown's sixties releases, the singles are not the only strong tracks on YOU'RE ALL I NEED. Several of the album tracks are nearly as stunning as the singles and sound like they could have been hits in their own right, including the infectious "You Ain't Livin' Until You're Lovin'" and the joyous "When Love Comes Knocking At My Heart. " In an effort to save time, over half of the "duets" were actually recorded separately. Most of these were Tammi's previously unreleased solo songs, with Gaye's vocals added later. The overdubbing is seamless though, and the chemistry between Gate and Terrell vocals is remarkable. "I Can't Help But Love You" and "That's How It's Been (Since You've Been Gone) are perfect pop and, for my money, their version of "Come On And See Me" is superior to both Tammi's original solo version and the later version by the Supremes. YOU'RE ALL I NEED is the finest album Motown released in the sixties, and it stands as Gaye and Terrell's golden moment together. . Their only two genuine duet albums So the two albums featured on this collection are the only albums that Marvin and Tammi recorded together. In theory, Marvin and Tammi recorded three albums together, but Tammi was desperately ill and dying at the time the third album was being recorded, so for most of it, Tammi was replaced by Valerie Simpson, although it was Tammi's name that appeared on the album and the singles that came from it. The first album, United, yielded three American hit singles - Ain't no mountain high enough (top twenty), Your precious love (top five) and If I could build my world around you (top ten). In Britain, only the last of these charted and even then it was only a minor hit. There are plenty of other great duets here including a cover of Nancy and Frank Sinatra's Something stupid. The second album, You're all I need, yielded two American top ten hits - Ain't nothing like the real thing and You're all I need to get by - that also charted in Britain, though less successfully. Keep on loving me honey became an American top thirty hit. Its B-side, You ain't living till you're loving, became a British top thirty hit. As with the United album, there are plenty of great album cuts here. Since I bought this collection, a double-CD has been released in both Britain and America titled The complete duets. The tracks on this set form the first 24 tracks of the first CD of that collection. The rest of that collection includes the so-called third duet album, plus some of Tammi's solo recordings and various alternate takes. If you just want the definitive versions of the songs that Marvin and Tammi recorded together, this twofer will be sufficient. I looked at the track listing of the other collection and the only important tracks not available here can be found on various other Motown compilations. You can see a complete list of all Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell discography, or go back to the Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell tabs