Good Lovin' Ain't Easy to Come By
"Good Lovin' Ain't Easy to Come By" | ||||
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Single by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell | ||||
from the album Easy | ||||
Released | 1969 | |||
Recorded | 1969, Hitsville USA | |||
Genre | Soul | |||
Length | 2:50 | |||
Label | Tamla | |||
Songwriter(s) | Ashford & Simpson | |||
Producer(s) | Ashford & Simpson | |||
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell singles chronology | ||||
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"Good Lovin' Ain't Easy to Come By" is a duet released in 1969 on the Tamla label by singers Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.
The first release off the duo's third album, Easy, it has been hugely debated whether or not an ailing Terrell, who was dying from a brain tumor, was on the track or if the song's co-writer, Valerie Simpson, subbed for Terrell.
In his biography, Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye, Marvin said Tammi was too ill to record, but Motown pushed for another Marvin/Tammi record. Marvin refused, calling it inhuman, until the label convinced him the album would cover for Terrell and her family, so Gaye and Simpson sung as if it were a Gaye/Terrell duet.
However, in Terrell's sister Ludie Montgomery's book, My Sister Tommie: The Real Tammi Terrell, Simpson reportedly denied she took part in the song saying Terrell was assisted to the studio to record her part. Whatever the reason, the song became an international top forty hit for the duo reaching number thirty on the pop chart and number twenty-six on the UK pop singles chart.[1][2]
Cash Box praised the song's "belting rhythmic accompaniment, loverly lyric and the twosome's distinctive impact."[3]
The recording was featured in the film The Boys in the Band.
Personnel
- All vocals by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell/Valerie Simpson
- Produced and written by Ashford & Simpson
- Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers
Further reading
- Ritz, David, Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye (1985, 2003; in the book Gaye said Simpson subbed Terrell for vocals on the Easy album)
- Montgomery, Ludie, My Sister Tommie: The Real Tammi Terrell (2005; in this book Simpson denies subbing for Terrell)
References
- ^ The Complete Motown Singles Vol. 9: 1969 [CD liner notes]. New York: Hip-O Select/Motown/Universal Records
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 225.
- ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. January 25, 1969. p. 20. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
- v
- t
- e
- The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye (1961)
- That Stubborn Kinda Fellow (1962)
- When I'm Alone I Cry (1964)
- Hello Broadway (1964)
- How Sweet It Is to Be Loved by You (1965)
- A Tribute to the Great Nat "King" Cole (1965)
- Moods of Marvin Gaye (1966)
- In the Groove (1968)
- M.P.G. (1969)
- That's the Way Love Is (1970)
- What's Going On (1971)
- Trouble Man (1972)
- Let's Get It On (1973)
- I Want You (1976)
- Here, My Dear (1978)
- In Our Lifetime (1981)
- Midnight Love (1982)
- Dream of a Lifetime (1985)
- Romantically Yours (1985)
- Vulnerable (1997)
- You're the Man (2019)
- Together (with Mary Wells, 1964)
- Take Two (with Kim Weston, 1966)
- United (with Tammi Terrell, 1967)
- You're All I Need (with Tammi Terrell, 1968)
- Easy (with Tammi Terrell, 1969)
- Diana & Marvin (with Diana Ross, 1973)
- Greatest Hits (1964)
- Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 (1967)
- Marvin Gaye and His Girls (1969)
- Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's Greatest Hits (1970)
- Super Hits (1970)
- Anthology (1974)
- Marvin Gaye's Greatest Hits (1976)
- Motown Remembers Marvin Gaye: Never Before Released Masters (1986)
- The Marvin Gaye Collection (1990)
- The Norman Whitfield Sessions (1994)
- Love Starved Heart: Rare and Unreleased (1994)
- The Very Best of Marvin Gaye (1994)
- The Master (1961–1984) (1995)
- Marvin Gaye: The Love Songs (2000)
- The Complete Duets (2001)
- The Very Best of Marvin Gaye (2001)
- Marvin Gaye Recorded Live on Stage (1963)
- Marvin Gaye Live! (1974)
- Live at the London Palladium (1977)
- Marvin Gaye at the Copa (2005)
- What's Going On Live (2019)
- The Real Thing: In Performance (1964–1981) (2006)
ten singles
- "Pride and Joy"
- "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)"
- "I'll Be Doggone"
- "Ain't That Peculiar"
- "Your Precious Love"
- "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You"
- "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing"
- "You're All I Need to Get By"
- "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"
- "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby"
- "That's the Way Love Is"
- "Abraham, Martin and John"
- "The Onion Song"
- "What's Going On"
- "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)"
- "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)"
- "Trouble Man"
- "Let's Get It On"
- "You Are Everything"
- "Got to Give It Up"
- "Sexual Healing"
- Marvin Gay Sr. (father)
- Alberta Gay (mother)
- Anna Gordy Gaye (first wife)
- Denise Gordy (son's birth mother)
- Nona Gaye (daughter)
- Frankie Gaye (brother)
- Gordon Banks (brother-in-law)
topics
- Discography
- Songs
- Albums
- Songs by Marvin Gaye
- Albums produced by Marvin Gaye
- Songs produced by Marvin Gaye
- Personal life
- Death
- Tributes
- Songs in memory
- The Marquees
- Harvey Fuqua
- Tammi Terrell
- Leon Ware
- Marvin's Room
- Marvin Is 60: A Tribute Album
- Divided Soul
- Sexual Healing Tour
- Category
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