Ashford & Simpson
AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists:
Top
Ashford & Simpson
- Genres: Rhythm & Blues
Biography
Nick Ashford (born May 4, 1942, Fairfield, South Carolina) and Valerie Simpson (born Aug 26, 1946, New York City, New York) have two careers, as songwriters and as performers, with the former seemingly more important than the latter until the mid-'80s. The two met in 1964 and scored their first songwriting hit in 1966 with Ray Charles' recording of their "Let's Go Get Stoned." After a period at Scepter Records, they moved to Motown, where they wrote hits for the duo of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell ("Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing," "You're All I Need to Get By"). When Diana Ross left the Supremes for a solo career, Ashford & Simpson wrote "Reach Out and Touch Somebody's Hand" for her.Though they cut a 1964 single ("I'll Find You") for the Glover label, their performing career was not truly launched until 1973, when they released Keep It Comin' on Motown and Gimme Something Real on Warner Bros. Their first crossover success came in 1977 with the gold-selling Send It, which contained the Top Ten R&B hit "Don't Cost You Nothing." Is It Still Good to Ya, a second gold album, contained the number two R&B hit "It Seems to Hang On" in 1978. Stay Free, their third straight gold album, contained "Found a Cure," another R&B smash that also made the Top 40 on the pop chart. A Musical Affair, in 1980, featured the hit "Love Don't Make It Right," but was not as successful as previous efforts.
Meanwhile, Ashford & Simpson continued to work with other artists, scoring successes with Ross, Chaka Khan ("I'm Every Woman"), and Gladys Knight & the Pips ("Bourgie, Bourgie," "Taste of Bitter Love"). Their own career saw a resurgence in 1984 with Solid, which went gold and produced the R&B number one "Solid" (number 12 on the pop charts), "Outta the World," and "Babies." During the late '80s and two following decades, Ashford & Simpson continued to tour and record sporadically, until complications from throat cancer took Ashford's life on August 22, 2011. ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
Top
Ashford & Simpson
 |
This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2010) |
| Ashford & Simpson | |
|---|---|
| Origin | New York City, New York, United States |
| Genres | R&B, soul, pop, disco, gospel |
| Instruments | piano |
| Years active | 1964–2011 |
| Labels | Motown, Warner Bros., Capitol |
| Associated acts | Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Luther Vandross |
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 in Fairfield, South Carolina, and Simpson in the 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)". Ashford and Simpson wrote many other hit songs including Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman" (1978) and Teddy Pendergrass's "Is It Still Good to You?" As performers, Ashford & Simpson's best-known duets are "Solid (As a Rock)" (1984 US and 1985 UK), and "Found a Cure" (1979). The duo was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002.
|
Contents
|
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 with 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.
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 (As a Rock)", 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 Moore) 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 and death
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 radio station WRKS.
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 Rock 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 begun 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 a New York City hospital on August 22, 2011, of complications from throat cancer. Nick's publicist Liz Rosenberg said that he had undergone radiation therapy to treat his illness.[4]
Personal life
Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson have two daughters, Nicole (born in 1975), and Asia (born in 1987).[5] Nicole graduated from Wesleyan University in 1997. [6]
Discography
Albums
Valerie Simpson
| Year | Album | Chart positions[7] | 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[8] | US certifications[9] |
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 |
| 2009 | The Real Thing | — | 59 | — | — | Burgundy Records |
| "—" 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[10][11] | 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 | "I'm Not That Tough" | — | 78 | — | — | — | |
| "Solid (as a Rock)" | 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
- ^ Obituary: Nick Ashford of Ashford & Simpson songwriting team dies at 70. latimes.com (2011-08-24). Retrieved on 2012-05-01.
- ^ All Music Guide to Soul: The Definitive Guide to R&B and Soul, Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, Stephen Thomas Erlewine. Backbeat Books, 2003, ISBN 978-0-87930-744-8 (p. 17)
- ^ Ruhlmann, William. "Biography: Ashford & Simpson". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p3578. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
- ^ "Songwriter Nick Ashford dies; had throat cancer". Nick Ashford Of Ashford & Simpson Dies. Associated Press (Google HostedNews). http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jV50zbGayWhP-3FsF1KJHiOS1u2Q?docId=cde46117e20f4e5e9005f20667688873. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
- ^ "Nick Ashford of legendary duo Ashford & Simpson dies at 69". BelleNews – Arts&Culture. BelleNews. August 23 2011. http://www.bellenews.com/2011/08/23/arts-culture/nick-ashford-of-legendary-duo-ashford-simpson-dies-at-69/. Retrieved August 23 2011.
- ^ "The Tenth Annual Dwight L. Greene Symposium". Alumni of Color Network – Fall 2002 Newsletter Vol. 3 No. 1. Wesleyan University. October 19 2002. http://www.wesleyan.edu/alumni/aoc/newsletter/3/dwightgreene.html. Retrieved August 23 2011.
- ^ "Valerie Simpson US albums chart history". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p125526. Retrieved 2010-07-05.
- ^ "Ashford & Simpson US albums chart history". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p3578. Retrieved 2010-07-05.
- ^ "Ashford & Simpson US certification history". riaa.com. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&artist=Ashford%20&%20Simpson&format=Album&go=Search&perPage=25. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ^ "Ashford & Simpson US chart history". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p3578. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
- ^ "Ashford & Simpson UK singles chart history". chartstats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=3032. 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
- Ashford & Simpson interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' March 2007 (reprinted August 2011)
- Billboard magazine review of Sugar Bar
- Ashford & Simpson at Wenig-LaMonica Associates
- Most Recent Photos Of Ashford And Simpson
- Ashford and Simpson 2009 Interview at Soulinterviews.com
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists
Copyright © 2012 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.
Read more
Mentioned in
Touch
(1981 Album by Gladys Knight & the Pips)
The Boss
(1979 Album by Diana Ross)
O.J. Simpson: Saturday Night Live (TV Episode)
(1978 Comedy TV Episode)
The Best of Ashford & Simpson
(1999 Album by Ashford & Simpson)
The Very Best of Ashford & Simpson
(2002 Album by Ashford & Simpson)
» More