Ain't No Mountain High Enough

"Ain't No Mountain High Enough"
Single by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
from the album United
B-side	"Give a Little Love"
Released	April 20, 1967
Format	7" single
Recorded	Hitsville USA (Studio A) (Detroit, Michigan) January 29, 1967
Genre	Soul, rhythm & blues
Length	2:28
Label	Tamla T 54149
Writer(s)	Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson
Producer	Harvey Fuqua Johnny Bristol
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell singles chronology
"Little Darling (I Need You)" (Gaye, 1966) "I Can't Believe You Love Me" (Terrell, 1966) "Aint No Mountain High Enough" (1967) "Your Unchanging Love" (Gaye, 1967) "Your Precious Love" (Terrell, 1967)

"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is an R&B/soul song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell for the Tamla (Motown) label. The song became a hit a second time in 1970, when a cover by fellow Motown artist Diana Ross became a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award.

History

Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell original

The original 1967 version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" was a top twenty hit. According to record producers, Terrell was a little nervous and intimidated during recording because she hadn't rehearsed the lyrics. Terrell recorded her vocals alone with producers Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol, who added Gaye's vocal at a later date.^[1] "Ain't No Mountain" peaked at number nineteen on the Billboard pop charts, and went to number three on the R&B charts.

This original version of "Ain't No Mountain", produced by Fuqua and Bristol, was a care-free, danceable, and romantic love song that became the signature duet between Gaye and Terrell. Its success led to a string of more Ashford/Simpson penned duets (including "You're All I Need to Get By", "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", and "Your Precious Love").

The Gaye/Terrell version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999, and is regarded today as one of the most important records ever released by Motown.

Diana Ross version

"Ain't No Mountain High Enough"
Single by Diana Ross
from the album Diana Ross
B-side	"Can't It Wait Until Tomorrow"
Released	July 16, 1970
Format	7" single
Recorded	Hitsville USA (Studio A) (Detroit, Michigan) March 13, March 14, and March 18, 1970
Genre	Soul
Length	3:32 (single edit) 6:18 (album version)
Label	Motown M 1169
Producer	Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson
Certification	Platinum (US)
Diana Ross singles chronology
"Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" (1970) "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (1970) "Remember Me" (1970)

After the Top 20 success of her first single, "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)", Ashford and Simpson had Ross re-record "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". Initially, Ross was apprehensive, as she had already covered the song as a member of the Supremes (see below). Eventually, however, she was convinced to make the recording. The new cover re-imagined Gaye and Terrell's duet as a dramatic six-minute opus, composed primarily of spoken word passages from Ross, with the Andantes, Jimmy Beavers, and Ashford and Simpson as backing singers.

Motown chief Berry Gordy didn't like the record upon first hearing it. He hated the spoken-word passages and wanted the song to begin with the climactic chorus/bridge. It was not until radio stations nationwide were editing their own versions and adding it to their playlists that Ashford and Simpson were able to convince Gordy to release an edited three-minute version as a single. Ross' version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" rose up to number one on both the pop and R&B singles charts^[2]., and Ross received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Ross's version was later sampled in Jadakiss's song Can't Stop Me.

Notable covers

With The Supremes, Diana Ross recorded a version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" which was more faithful to the Terrell-Gaye original version as a duet with The Temptations. That song was an album cut from a joint LP released by Motown Records in 1968 on the two superstar groups, titled Diana Ross & the Supremes Join The Temptations.

1981 saw the recording by Inner Life of the underground dance classic "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", produced by Patrick Adams and Greg Carmichael, remixed by Larry Levan, and released on the Salsoul label. The same year saw an upbeat disco version by the Boys Town Gang who recorded it as a medley with another Ashford & Simpson song, "Remember Me". The full version of this song is nearly 14 minutes long and can be found on their album Cruisin the Street.

Stacy Lattisaw and Howard Hewett sang "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" on Personal Attention album in 1988.

Australian Rock legend Jimmy Barnes released a Motown-styled album, titled Soul Deep, in 1991 with twelve covers; one of them was his rock version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". This cover reached #28 in Australia in 1992 ^[3]

In 1993, at the end of the film Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, Whoopi Goldberg and most of the cast of the movie, including future neo-soul superstar Lauryn Hill, mixed both the Gaye/Terrell and Diana Ross solo versions of the song together for a performance of "Ain't No Mountain" at the climax of the film. The Gaye/Terrell version also frequently turns up, often as part of a sing-along, in "feel-good" movies, such as Remember the Titans and Stepmom.

Former Doobie Brother Michael McDonald recorded the song as part of his Motown album in 2003. The version was used in a commercial for MCI and in the film The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

Swedish pop band Play recorded the song for their 2003 album Replay. This version appeared in the trailer for the 2006 film Last Holiday.

In 2006, Amy Winehouse recorded the song "Tears Dry On Their Own" for her album Back to Black, which keeps the melody and instrumentation of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", but which contains different, original lyrics written by Winehouse.

Portions of the song were interpolated on the Jessica Simpson single "A Public Affair".

In 2009, Lionel Richie and Stefanie Heinzmann performed the song live in the German music award show Echo 2009^[4].

Credits

Gaye/Terrell version

• All vocals by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
• Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers and Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Ross version

• Lead Vocals by Diana Ross
• Background Vocals by Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson, Joshie Armstead, Jimmy Beavers, and The Andantes: Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps
• Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Notes