Ashford & Simpson: Difference between revisions
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They were given writing credit on [[Amy Winehouse]]'s 2007 CD ''[[Back to Black]]'' for the single "[[Tears Dry On Their Own]]". The track is based on a [[sampling (music)|sample]] of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's 1967 Motown classic hit "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". They had began performing their act in small, intimate venues, such as Feinstein's at the Regency in New York and the Rrazz Room in [[San Francisco]], and in January 2009, they released a CD and DVD of their live performances titled ''The Real Thing''. On June 22, 2009, they made a guest performance at a party at Tribeca Rooftop, New York, to celebrate [[Virgin Atlantic]]'s birthday party. They also made their first appearance in [[Tokyo]], [[Japan]], in November 2009, and performed 8 shows in 4 days at Blue Note Tokyo. |
They were given writing credit on [[Amy Winehouse]]'s 2007 CD ''[[Back to Black]]'' for the single "[[Tears Dry On Their Own]]". The track is based on a [[sampling (music)|sample]] of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's 1967 Motown classic hit "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". They had began performing their act in small, intimate venues, such as Feinstein's at the Regency in New York and the Rrazz Room in [[San Francisco]], and in January 2009, they released a CD and DVD of their live performances titled ''The Real Thing''. On June 22, 2009, they made a guest performance at a party at Tribeca Rooftop, New York, to celebrate [[Virgin Atlantic]]'s birthday party. They also made their first appearance in [[Tokyo]], [[Japan]], in November 2009, and performed 8 shows in 4 days at Blue Note Tokyo. |
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Ashford died in New York on August 22, 2011, of complications from [[throat cancer]].<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/22/singer.ashford.obit/index.html?hpt=hp_c2 a"Nickolas Ashford of Motown duo Ashford and Simpson dies"] CNN.com. Retrieved 2011-08-23.</ref> |
Ashford died in New York on August 22, 2011, of complications from [[throat cancer]].<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/22/singer.ashford.obit/index.html?hpt=hp_c2 a"Nickolas Ashford of Motown duo Ashford and Simpson dies"] CNN.com. Retrieved 2011-08-23.</ref> Nick's publicist Liz Rosenberg said that he had been undergoing [[radiation treatment]] to treat his illness. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.<ref>{{cite web|title=Nick Ashford Of Ashford & Simpson Dies|url=http://www.backstageol.com/music-news/nick-ashford-of-ashford-simpson-dies/|work=Nick Ashford Of Ashford & Simpson Dies|publisher=BackstageOL|accessdate=23 August 2011}}</ref> |
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==Personal life== |
==Personal life== |
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Revision as of 23:29, 23 August 2011
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Ashford & Simpson | |
|---|---|
| Origin | New York, NY, USA |
| Genres | R&B, soul, pop, disco, gospel |
| Instrument(s) | tambourine, percussion, piano |
| Years active | 1964–2011 |
| Labels | Motown, Warner Bros., Capitol |
| Past members | Nickolas Ashford Valerie Simpson |
Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011)[1][2], and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946), were a husband and wife songwriting/production team and recording artists.[3]
Ashford was born Fairfield, South Carolina, and Simpson in Bronx, New York. They met at Harlem's White Rock Baptist Church in 1963. After having recorded unsuccessfully as a duo, they joined 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 So Good"), Maxine Brown ("One Step At A Time"), as well as the Shirelles and Chuck Jackson. Another of the trio's songs, "Let's Go Get Stoned", gave Ray Charles a number one U.S. R&B hit in 1966. That same year Ashford & Simpson joined Motown, where their best-known songs included "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "You're All I Need To Get By", "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", and "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)". As performers, Ashford and Simpson's best-known song is "Solid" (1984 US and 1985 UK). The duo was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002.
Career
Songwriters
The duo essentially had two careers: one as a successful writing and producing team and the other as singers and performers themselves. They started their career in the mid-1960s, writing for artists such as The 5th Dimension ("California Soul"), Aretha Franklin ("Cry Like A Baby"), and Ray Charles ("Let's Go Get Stoned" and "I Don't Need No Doctor"). Their work with Charles brought them to the attention of Motown chief Berry Gordy.
Upon joining the Motown staff in 1966, Ashford & Simpson were paired with the vocal duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and they wrote and/or produced all but one of the late-1960s Gaye/Terrell singles, including hits such as the original version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "Your Precious Love", "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", and "You're All I Need to Get By". According to Gaye in the book Divided Soul, Simpson did most of the vocals on the last album he did with Terrell, Easy, as a way for Terrell's family to have additional income as she was battling an ultimately fatal brain tumor. (Simpson is quoted as denying this in a book written by Terrell's sister Ludie Montgomery.)
Ashford & Simpson wrote and produced almost all the songs on three 1970s albums for former Supreme Diana Ross, including her first solo album Diana Ross ("Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"), Surrender ("Remember Me"), and The Boss.
Other Motown artists whom Ashford & Simpson worked with include Gladys Knight & The Pips ("Didn't You Know You'd Have to Cry Sometime", "The Landlord", "Bourgie, Bourgie", and "Taste of Bitter Love"), Smokey Robinson & The Miracles ("Who's Gonna Take the Blame"), The Marvelettes ("Destination:Anywhere"), The Supremes ("Some Things You Never Get Used To"), and The Dynamic Superiors ("Shoe, Shoe Shine").
Other artists with whom Ashford & Simpson had hits were Teddy Pendergrass ("Is It Still Good to You"), The Brothers Johnson ("Ride-O-Rocket"), Chaka Khan, both on her own ("I'm Every Woman" and "Clouds"), and Rufus ("Keep It Comin'" and "Ain't Nothin' But a Maybe").
Performers
Ashford & Simpson's career as recording artists began in the early 1960s as part of the gospel group The Followers, with whom they recorded the album Gospel Meeting (on Forum Circle), later issued as Meetin' The Followers (on Roulette Records). The LP contains their vocals and also four Ashford compositions. In 1964, they recorded "I'll Find You", as "Valerie & Nick" This was followed by several obscure singles recorded by Ashford on the Glover, Verve and ABC labels, such as "It Ain't Like That" (later recorded by Martha Reeves & The Vandellas), "California Soul", and "Dead End Kids", backed by his own version of "Let's Go Get Stoned". After concentrating on working with other artists, Simpson was the featured soloist on the songs "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and "What's Going On" on the Quincy Jones albums Gula Matari in 1970, and its follow-up, Smackwater Jack'.' Simpson subsequently recorded two solo LPs for Motown: Valerie Simpson Exposed in 1971, and, the following year, Valerie Simpson, which included the single "Silly Wasn't I", which was later sampled on 50 Cent's "Best Friend" from the movie Get Rich or Die Tryin'. The song was also sampled by 9th Wonder on Murs's "Silly Girl" in the album Murray's Revenge. Ashford & Simpson were featured singing selections from Simpson's solo albums on the PBS TV show Soul!, hosted by Ellis Haizlip in 1971. In 1973, they left Motown after the albums Simpson recorded for the label received poor promotion and the company refused to release an album of the duo recording a collection of their most famous songs for other artists. Throughout his career, Ashford played tambourine and percussion on hundreds of sessions and can be heard on dozens of Motown classics, including "What's Goin' On by Marvin Gaye.[4]
In 1974, Ashford & Simpson married and resumed their career as a duo with the Warner Bros. album, Gimme Something Real. This was followed by the hit singles, "Don't Cost You Nothin'" (1977), "It Seems To Hang On" (1978), "Is It Still Good to Ya" (1978), "Found a Cure" (1979), "Street Corner" (1982), and their biggest hit, "Solid", released in 1984.
In 1978, they were featured as vocalists, along with Chaka Khan, on the hit single "Stuff Like That" from Quincy Jones' Sounds... And Stuff Like That album and contributed to the writing of the soundtrack to The Wiz.
Simpson appeared (with Melba Moorman) as part of the "Blood, Sweat & Tears Soul Chorus" on the band's Al Kooper lead debut, Child Is Father to the Man.
On his own, Ashford (along with Frank Wilson), produced the mammoth hit "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me", which Diana Ross & the Supremes recorded in collaboration with the Temptations in 1968. He also appeared in the movie New Jack City (1991), as Reverend Oates, an ordained minister who was part of Nino Brown's entourage.
Simpson's brothers were in the record business as well: Ray Simpson replaced Victor Willis in the Village People and their brother Jimmy Simpson produced the group GQ (which had big hits with "Disco Nights" and "I Do Love You"), and was in great demand as a mixing engineer during the disco era.
Recent years
In recent times, Ashford & Simpson recorded and toured sporadically, and in 1996, they opened the restaurant and live entertainment venue, Sugar Bar in New York City, which has an open mic on Thursday nights, where performers have included Queen Latifah and Felicia Collins. They recorded the album Been Found with poet Maya Angelou in 1996. Around this time, they were also featured disc jockeys on New York's KISS-FM radio station.
On August 16, 2006, Playbill Online reported that they were writing the score for a musical based on E. Lynn Harris's novel Invisible Life. [1] In January 2007, they, along with Tina Turner, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Sidney Poitier, director Spike Lee, and comedian Chris Tucker accompanied Oprah Winfrey when she opened her Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.
They were given writing credit on Amy Winehouse's 2007 CD Back to Black for the single "Tears Dry On Their Own". The track is based on a sample of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's 1967 Motown classic hit "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". They had began performing their act in small, intimate venues, such as Feinstein's at the Regency in New York and the Rrazz Room in San Francisco, and in January 2009, they released a CD and DVD of their live performances titled The Real Thing. On June 22, 2009, they made a guest performance at a party at Tribeca Rooftop, New York, to celebrate Virgin Atlantic's birthday party. They also made their first appearance in Tokyo, Japan, in November 2009, and performed 8 shows in 4 days at Blue Note Tokyo.
Ashford died in New York on August 22, 2011, of complications from throat cancer.[5] Nick's publicist Liz Rosenberg said that he had been undergoing radiation treatment to treat his illness. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.[6]
Personal life
Ashford and Simpson have two daughters, Nicole (who graduated from Wesleyan University in 1997) and Asia.[7][8]
Discography
Albums
Valerie Simpson
| Year | Album | Chart positions[9] | Record label | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B | |||||
| 1971 | Exposed | — | — | Motown | ||
| 1972 | Valerie Simpson | 162 | 50 | |||
| 1977 | Keep It Comin' | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes the album failed to chart | ||||||
Ashford & Simpson
| Year | Album | Chart positions[10] | US certifications[11] |
Record label | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B |
UK | ||||
| 1973 | Gimme Something Real | 156 | 18 | — | — | Warner Bros. |
| 1974 | I Wanna Be Selfish | 195 | 21 | — | — | |
| 1976 | Come as You Are | 189 | 35 | — | — | |
| 1977 | So So Satisfied | 180 | 30 | — | — | |
| Send It | 52 | 10 | — | Gold | ||
| 1978 | Is It Still Good to Ya | 20 | 1 | — | Gold | |
| 1979 | Stay Free | 23 | 3 | — | Gold | |
| 1980 | A Musical Affair | 38 | 8 | — | — | |
| 1981 | Performance | 125 | 45 | — | — | |
| 1982 | Street Opera | 45 | 5 | — | — | Capitol |
| 1983 | High-Rise | 84 | 14 | — | — | |
| 1984 | Solid | 29 | 1 | 42 | Gold | |
| 1986 | Real Love | 74 | 12 | — | — | |
| 1989 | Love or Physical | 135 | 28 | — | — | |
| 1996 | Been Found | — | 49 | — | — | Hopsack & Silk |
| 1996 | The Real Thing | — | 59 | — | — | Media Push |
| "—" denotes the album failed to chart or was not certified | ||||||
Singles
Valerie Simpson
- 1971: "Can't It Wait Until Tomorrow"
- 1972: "Silly Wasn't I" – US #63, R&B #24
Ashford & Simpson
| Year | Single | Chart positions[12][13] | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B |
US Dance |
US A/C |
UK | |||
| 1964 | "I'll Find You" (credited as Valerie & Nick) | 117 | — | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| "Somebody's Lying on Love" (credited as Valerie & Nick) | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "You Don't Owe Me Anything" (credited as Valerie & Nick) | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1973 | "(I'd Know You) Anywhere" | 88 | 37 | — | — | — | Gimme Something Real |
| 1974 | "Have You Ever Tried It" | — | 77 | — | — | — | |
| "Main Line" | — | 37 | — | — | — | I Wanna Be Selfish | |
| "Everybody's Got to Give It Up" | — | 53 | — | — | — | ||
| 1975 | "Bend Me" | — | 73 | — | — | — | Gimme Something Real |
| 1976 | "It'll Come, It'll Come, It'll Come" | — | 96 | — | — | — | Come as You Are |
| "Somebody Told a Lie" | — | 58 | — | — | — | ||
| "One More Try" | — | — | 9 | — | — | ||
| "Tried, Tested and Found True" | — | 52 | 34 | — | — | So So Satisfied | |
| 1977 | "So So Satisfied" | — | 27 | — | — | — | |
| "Over and Over" | — | 39 | — | — | — | ||
| "Send It" | — | 15 | — | — | — | Send It | |
| 1978 | "Don't Cost You Nothing" | 79 | 10 | 23 | — | — | |
| "By Way of Love's Express" | — | 35 | — | — | — | ||
| "It Seems to Hang On" | — | 2 | — | — | 48 | Is It Still Good to Ya | |
| "Is It Still Good to Ya" | — | 12 | — | — | — | ||
| 1979 | "Flashback" | — | 70 | — | — | — | |
| "Found a Cure" | 36 | 2 | 1 | — | — | Stay Free | |
| "Nobody Knows" | — | 19 | — | — | |||
| "Stay Free" | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1980 | "Love Don't Make It Right" | — | 6 | 7 | — | — | A Musical Affair |
| "Happy Endings" | — | 35 | — | — | — | ||
| 1981 | "Get Out Your Handkerchief" | — | 65 | — | — | — | |
| "It Shows in the Eyes" | — | 34 | — | — | — | Performance | |
| "It's the Long Run" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1982 | "Street Corner" | 56 | 9 | 11 | — | — | Street Opera |
| "Love It Away" | — | 20 | — | — | — | ||
| 1983 | "I'll Take the Whole World On" | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "High-Rise" | — | 17 | 41 | — | — | High-Rise | |
| "It's Much Deeper" | — | 45 | — | — | — | ||
| 1984 | "It's Not That Tough" | — | 78 | — | — | — | |
| "Solid" | 12 | 1 | 15 | 34 | 3 | Solid | |
| 1985 | "Outta the World" | 102 | 4 | 4 | — | — | |
| "Babies" | 102 | 29 | — | — | 56 | ||
| 1986 | "Time Talkin'" | — | — | — | — | — | Time |
| "Count Your Blessings" | 84 | 4 | — | — | 79 | Real Love | |
| "What Becomes of Love" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1987 | "Nobody Walks in L.A." | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1989 | "I'll Be There for You" | — | 2 | — | — | — | Love or Physical |
| "Cookies and Cake" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990 | "Hungry for Me Again" | — | 40 | — | — | — | Def by Temptation |
| 1996 | "Been Found" | — | 80 | — | — | — | Been Found |
| 1997 | "What If" | — | 94 | — | — | — | |
| 2001 | "We Are Family" (with Various Artists) | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single |
| "—" denotes the single failed to chart | |||||||
See also
- List of Number 1 Dance Hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
References
- ^ http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-nick-ashford-obit-20110823,0,1364822.story
- ^ All Music Guide to Soul: The Definitive Guide to R&B and Soul, Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, Stephen Thomas Erlewine. Backbeat Books, 2003, ISBN 978-0879307448 (p. 17)
- ^ Ruhlmann, William. "Biography: Ashford & Simpson". Allmusic. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
- ^ Motown LP "What's Goin' On" - album credits, May 21, 1971.
- ^ a"Nickolas Ashford of Motown duo Ashford and Simpson dies" CNN.com. Retrieved 2011-08-23.
- ^ "Nick Ashford Of Ashford & Simpson Dies". Nick Ashford Of Ashford & Simpson Dies. BackstageOL. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
- ^ "Motown songwriter Nick Ashford dies at 70". BBC News – Entertainment. BBC. August 23 2011. Retrieved August 23 2011.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ "The Tenth Annual Dwight L. Greene Symposium". Alumni of Color Network – Fall 2002 Newsletter Vol. 3 No. 1. Wesleyan University. October 19 2002. Retrieved August 23 2011.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ "Valerie Simpson US albums chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2010-07-05.
- ^ "Ashford & Simpson US albums chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2010-07-05.
- ^ "Ashford & Simpson US certification history". riaa.com. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ^ "Ashford & Simpson US chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
- ^ "Ashford & Simpson UK singles chart history". chartstats.com. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
External links
- Nickolas Ashford Profile and Nickolas Ashford Song Catalog at Songwriters Hall of Fame
- Valerie Simpson Profile and Valerie Simpson Song Catalog at Songwriters Hall of Fame
- Ashford and Simpson information site
- Ashford & Simpson discography at Discogs
- Sugar Bar official website
- Billboard magazine review of Sugar Bar
- Ashford & Simpson at Wenig-LaMonica Associates
- Most Recent Photos Of Ashford And Simpson
- African American musical groups
- African American singer-songwriters
- Musical groups from New York
- Musical groups established in 1964
- American songwriters
- American record producers
- Motown artists
- Family musical groups
- American rhythm and blues musical groups
- Disco groups
- American dance music groups
- Musical duos
- Record production teams
- Songwriting teams
- Married couples
- Deaths from esophageal cancer
- 2011 deaths
- 1942 births
- 1946 births
- Living people