|
Nickolas Ashford
Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting, production and recording duo composed of Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946). Ashford was born in Fairfield, South Carolina, and Simpson in the Bronx, New York City. Ashford's family relocated to Ypsilanti, Michigan, where he became a member of Christ Temple Baptist Church. While there, he sang with a group called the Hammond Singers (named after the founding minister, James Hammond). Later, Ashford attended and graduated from Willow Run High School in Ypsilanti, Michigan, before pursuing his professional career, when he would ultimately meet his wife, Valerie Simpson. They met at Harlem's White Rock Baptist Church in 1964. After having recorded unsuccessfully as a duo, they joined an aspiring solo artist and former member of The Ikettes, Joshie Jo Armstead, at the Scepter/Wand label, where their compositions were recorded by Ronnie Milsap ("Never Had It S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhythm And Blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to African Americans, at a time when "rocking, jazz based music ... [with a] heavy, insistent beat" was starting to become more popular. In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, the bands usually consisted of a piano, one or two guitars, bass, drums, one or more saxophones, and sometimes background vocalists. R&B lyrical themes often encapsulate the African-American history and experience of pain and the quest for freedom and joy, as well as triumphs and failures in terms of societal racism, oppression, relationships, economics, and aspirations. The term "rhythm and blues" has undergone a number of shifts in meaning. In the early 1950s, it was frequently applied to blues records. Starting i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maxine Brown (soul Singer)
Maxine Ella Brown (born August 18, 1939) is an American soul and R&B singer. Background and career Maxine Brown began singing as a child, performing with two New York City based gospel groups called the Angelairs and the Royaltones when she was a teenager. In 1960, she signed with the small Nomar record label, who released the deep soul ballad "All in My Mind" (which was written by Brown) late in the year. The single became a hit, climbing to number two on the US ''Billboard'' R&B chart (number 19 pop), and it was quickly followed by "Funny",Larkin C, ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'', (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), p. 79 which peaked at number three on the R&B chart and #25 on the Hot 100 Brown was poised to become a star and moved to the bigger ABC-Paramount in 1962. She left the label after an unsuccessful year recording several non-chart singles for the label, and signed to the New York-based uptown soul label, Wand Records, a Scepter Records subsidiary, in 1963. Brown ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teddy Pendergrass
Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American Soul music, soul and R&B singer and songwriter. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pendergrass lived most of his life in the Philadelphia area, and initially rose to musical fame as the lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. After leaving the group in 1976, Pendergrass launched a successful solo career under the Philadelphia International Records, Philadelphia International label, releasing five consecutive platinum albums (a record at the time for an African-American R&B artist). In March 1982, a car crash left Pendergrass paralyzed from the chest down. Pendergrass continued his successful solo career until announcing his retirement in 2007. He died from respiratory failure in January 2010. Early life Teddy Pendergrass was born Theodore DeReese Pendergrass on March 26, 1950, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the only child of Jesse and Ida Geraldine (née Epps) Pendergrass. Ida ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I'm Every Woman
"I'm Every Woman" is a song by American singer Chaka Khan, released in September 1978 by Warner Bros. as her debut solo single from her first album, '' Chaka'' (1978). It was Khan's first hit outside her recordings with the funk band Rufus. "I'm Every Woman" was produced by Arif Mardin and written by the successful songwriting team Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson. The single established Chaka's career outside the group Rufus, whom she would leave after their eighth studio album, '' Masterjam'', was released in late 1979. The track was remixed and re-released in 1989 for Khan's remix album '' Life Is a Dance: The Remix Project''; this mix reached number eight in the United Kingdom. American singer Whitney Houston covered the song in 1992 with production by David Cole and Robert Clivillés and vocals produced by Narada Michael Walden. It was a major hit, peaking at number four on both the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. Chart performance In the United ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chaka Khan
Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. With the band she recorded the notable hits " Tell Me Something Good," " Sweet Thing," " Do You Love What You Feel," and the platinum-certified " Ain't Nobody." Her debut solo album featured the number-one R&B hit " I'm Every Woman" (which became a pop hit for Whitney Houston). Khan scored another R&B charts hit with " What Cha' Gonna Do for Me" before becoming the first R&B artist to have a crossover hit featuring a rapper, with her 1984 cover of Prince's " I Feel for You." More of Khan's hits include " Through the Fire" and a 1986 collaboration with Steve Winwood that produced a number-one hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, " Higher Love." Khan has won ten Grammy Awards. With Rufus, she achieved three gold single ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reach Out And Touch (Somebody's Hand)
"Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" is the debut solo single of singer Diana Ross, released in April 1970 as the first single from her solo self-titled debut 1970 album by Motown Records. Background Diana Ross, having just left The Supremes after a decade of serving as that group's lead singer, went through a difficult situation trying to piece a solo album together. With Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson writing and producing for her, and Paul Riser arranging, Ross recorded "Reach Out and Touch", which carried a heavy gospel influence, and was one of the few songs the singer recorded to express her social conscience, previously experimented with Supremes singles such as " Love Child" and "I'm Livin' in Shame". While the song's initial success fell short of expectations, "Reach Out and Touch" became one of Ross' most popular and notable songs. During her concert performances of the song, Ross often had the whole crowd turn to their neighbors, and "reach out and touch" t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing
"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" is a single released by American R&B/soul duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, on the Tamla label in 1968. The B-side of the single is "Little Ole Boy, Little Ole Girl" from the duo's ''United'' LP. The first release off the duo's second album: '' You're All I Need'', the song—written and produced by regular Gaye/Terrell collaborators Ashford & Simpson—became a hit within weeks of release eventually peaking at number eight on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number one on the Hot Soul Singles chart, the first of the duo's two number-one R&B hits. In the UK "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" reached number 34. ''Cash Box'' called it "a potent ballad", saying that "Detroit backing puts a beat into the session" and praising the "splendid vocals." "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" was ranked as the 57th-biggest US hit of 1968. Charts Weekly charts Year-end charts Personnel * All lead vocals by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell * Bac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
You're All I Need To Get By
"You're All I Need to Get By" is a song recorded by the American R&B/soul duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell and released on Motown Records' Tamla label in 1968. It was the basis for the 1995 single " I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By" from Method Man and Mary J. Blige. Overview Written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson, it became one of the few Motown recordings of the 1960s that was not recorded with the familiar " Motown sound". Instead, "You're All I Need to Get By" had a more soulful and gospel-oriented theme surrounding it, that was influenced by the writers, who also sing background vocals on the recording, sharing vocals in a church choir in New York City. Marvin and Tammi recorded the song at Hitsville. Ashford & Simpson later stated how the session was hard as Terrell was recovering from surgery on the malignant brain tumor that ultimately caused her death less than two years after they recorded the song. During moments in the recording, Gaye can ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ain't No Mountain High Enough
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is a song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla label, a division of Motown. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and became a hit again in 1970 when recorded by former Supremes frontwoman Diana Ross. The song became Ross's first solo number-one hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Background The song was written by Ashford and Simpson prior to joining Motown. British soul singer Dusty Springfield wanted to record the song but the duo declined, hoping it would give them access to the Detroit-based label. As Valerie Simpson later recalled, "We played that song for her (Springfield) but wouldn't give it to her, because we wanted to hold that back. We felt like that could be our entry to Motown. Nick called it the 'golden egg'." Springfield recorded a song with a similar v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motown
Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''motor'' and ''town'', has become a nickname for Detroit, where the label was originally headquartered. Motown played a vital role in the racial integration of popular music as an African American-owned label that achieved crossover (music), crossover success with white audiences. In the 1960s, Motown and its main subsidiary labels (including Gordy, Soul) were the most prominent exponents of what became known as the #Motown sound, Motown sound, a style of soul music with a mainstream pop music, pop-influenced sound and appeal. Motown was the most successful soul music label, with a net worth of $61 million in 1988. Between 1960 and 1969, Motown had 79 songs reach the top-ten of the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In March 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Genius". Among friends and fellow musicians, he preferred being called "Brother Ray". Charles was blinded during childhood, possibly due to glaucoma. Charles pioneered the soul music genre during the 1950s by combining elements of blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, and Gospel music, gospel into his music during his time with Atlantic Records. He contributed to the integration of country music, rhythm and blues, and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, notably with his two ''Modern Sounds'' albums. While he was with ABC, Charles became one of the first black musicians to be granted artistic control by a mainstream record company. Charles' 1960s hit "Georgia on My Mind" was the first of his three career No. 1 hits ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Let's Go Get Stoned (Ray Charles Song)
"Let's Go Get Stoned" is a song originally recorded by The Coasters in May 1965. It was written by Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson, and Josephine Armstead. Ronnie Milsap recorded it in October 1965 as a B-side to the single, "Never Had It So Good. Ray Charles recording It was a 1966 number one R&B hit for American recording artist Ray Charles. The single was released shortly after Charles was released from rehab after a 16-year heroin addiction. Charles heard a 1965 recording of the song by Ronnie Milsap. According to Milsap, Charles liked his version of the song so much that he decided to record it himself. It is notable for being one of Ashford & Simpson's first successful compositions together; the duo also penned Charles' "I Don't Need No Doctor". Chart positions Other notable covers * Manfred Mann recorded the song on their number one British EP, '' No Living Without Loving'', which topped the UK EP chart in December 1965. * The Amboy Dukes recorded a cover for the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
