A Double Farewell

This week on August 22nd, the music world unfortunately lost TWO American songwriters: Jerry Leiber and Nickolas Ashford (discussed later in this post). Lyricist Leiber was the second half of the songwriting/record producing team with Mike Stoller (shown here with Elvis), and together, they created several ground-breaking hits that helped shape rock and roll history. Beginning their partnership in the early 1950s, their most popular songs include "Hound Dog," "Jailhouse Rock," "Kansas City," "Yakety Yak," "On Broadway" (with Mann & Weil), "Leader of the Pack" (discussed here), "Chapel of Love," and even "Stuck in the Middle With You." Smokey Joe's Cafe was a great Broadway musical revue from the mid-1990s that featured 39 pop standards written by Leiber & Stoller. Leiber passed away in Los Angeles at the age of 78 from cardiopulmonary failure. Thank you for the music, Jerry Leiber!

Here are some other hits by Leiber & Stoller during the 1960s. Co-written together with Ben E. King (co-principal singer with The Drifters), "Stand By Me" is one of the most-performed songs in history with over 7 million performances, and there are over 400 recorded versions by other artists. Released in May of 1961, this soul song went straight to #1 on the R&B charts and was a Top-10 hit on the U.S. charts twice. Among the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, here's Ben E. King's TV performance of a true American classic (although I think it could do without the 'background dancers').

Another popular tune by Leiber & Stoller was "Love Potion No. 9," originally performed by The Clovers in 1959. The lyrics describe a man who goes to a gypsy for help in finding love, and she gives him a bottle of "love potion #9," which causes him to kiss everything he sees. This song was actually banned by some radio stations because of the line about "kissing a cop." The most popular version of this tune was performed by the Merseybeat/British Invasion group, The Searchers, who scored #3 on the U.S. charts with this song in 1965.

And I'll throw in one more Leiber & Stoller, just because I like this song. Originally performed by The Drifters (resulting in a major R&B hit in 1956), "Ruby Baby" later became a #2 hit on the Billboard charts when Dion released his version in 1962. Here's a TV performance of Dion's classic remake.
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Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson were a husband and wife songwriting/production team, as well as successful recording artists later in their career. First meeting at a Baptist church in 1963, the Ashford & Simpson partnership started out writing songs in the mid-1960s for artists like The 5th Dimension, Aretha Franklin, and Ray Charles, as well as joining the Motown staff in 1966. They wrote/produced most of the singles by vocal duo Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, including "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (featured on this past post). Including styles like R&B, soul, pop, disco, and gospel, they went on to create several songs into the 1970s and '80s. Throughout his career, Ashford played tambourine and percussion on hundreds of recording sessions, including dozens of Motown classics, like Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On." Ashford was 70 years old and passed away in New York this past Monday of complications from throat cancer.

Here are two tunes by the Ashford & Simpson team. Released in March of 1968, "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" was first of two #1 hits on the soul singles charts for popular Motown duo Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell. Written and produced by Ashford & Simpson, they also provided background vocals for this song. Unfortunately, there are no live performances of these timeless love song on YouTube.

On his own, Ashford (and Frank Wilson) produced the mega hit "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me," which was recorded by Diana Ross & The Supremes with The Temptations in 1968. Quite a production including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, this version hit #2 on both the U.S. Billboard charts and R&B charts in January 1969. Since there were no live performances by Diana Ross & The Supremes together with The Temptations, here is a duet performance by Ross with Stevie Wonder The Hollywood Palace around 1970.

Heat Wave

Motown Week: Part 3
Well, since we're having a heat wave this week here in Southern California, this final Motown post for the week will begin with a little "Heat Wave" by Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, one of the most successful Motown groups from 1963 to 1972. Charting over twenty-six hits, these girls are ranked #96 on Rolling Stones' list of the 100 greatest artists of all time, as many of their recordings have become a part of American culture. Their 1964 standard, "Dancing in the Street," has been one of the most covered songs in rock and roll history, however, their smash hit from 1963, "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave," is likely the first song to represent the Motown Sound with its doo-wop call-and-response vocals, gospel beat, and jazzy flavor. Another written by the Motown production team, Holland-Dozier-Holland, this "Heat Wave" is timeless!


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Next up, it's the amazing singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Stevie Wonder, who signed with Motown Records at the age of eleven in 1961 and continues to record for the company to this day! Blind since just shortly after birth, Wonder has recorded more than 30 Top-10 hits and has received 22 Grammy Awards, making him the most awarded male solo artist. One of his most popular early singles is the 1966 hit "Uptight (Everything's Alright)," which he co-wrote (along with Sylvia Moy and Henry Cosby) and recorded at just 15 years old. On the day of the recording, the song's lyrics were not available in braille, so Moy sang the lines to Wonder in the studio and he simply repeated the lines, never missing a beat in the recording session. Ranked at #5 on Billboard's Hot-100 All Time Top Artists, Stevie Wonder's music is pure classic.

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One of the hottest Motown duos of the late-60's was Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, who had their first big hit together with "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" in 1967 (written by Ashford & Simpson). Known as the "Prince of Motown," Marvin Gaye was the label's top-selling solo artist of the decade, and with his four-octave vocal range, he's ranked #6 among the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. Tammi Terrell was the perfect musical match for Gaye, and with her easy-going nature with audiences and his laid-back approach, they were successful on stage. Unfortunately, their stardom together was short-lived after Terrell was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, which led to her death at the age of 24 in 1970 (and also tragic, Gaye was later accidentally shot to death by his own father in 1984). However, their voices live on with their signature, care-free, love duets like this.

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So maybe it's slightly inappropriate to finish Motown week with a non-Motown artist, but hey, it looks we're just wild and crazy here at The 60s Beat! Well, because it's relevant to soul music, we'll end this post with one of the greatest singers of all time, Aretha Franklin, "The Queen of Soul." Franklin is one of the most honored artists by the Grammy Awards, and since 1961, she has scored forty-five Top-40 hits on the Billboard charts. She also has the most million-selling singles of any female artist (14 total), and in 1987, was the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. After becoming a superstar with her 1965 hit, "Respect," Franklin went on to sing a string of hits throughout the 1960's (and beyond) including a classic cover of Dionne Warwick's "I Say a Little Prayer" in 1968. Written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for Warwick, Franklin's version brought this tune back to the R&B Top 10 for a second time, also gaining her international success. This woman sure has some pipes!