United was the first of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's three LPs, and quite possibly the best of the lot. Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol handled the productions and gave the photogenic duo a slightly harder edge than subsequent productions by Valerie Simpson and Nickolas Ashford. Three blockbusters -- "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "If I Could Build My World Around You," and "Your Precious Love" -- propelled the album to number 29 on the pop charts, the highest rating of any of the duo's LPs. Plus, you had treats like "Little Ole Boy, Little Ole Girl," a remake of Loe & Joe's little-known release on Fuqua's Harvey Records in 1962. "Two Can Have a Party" grooves from start to finish and could have been the fourth hit, but Motown thought otherwise. I like the duo's rendition of "Hold Me Oh My Darling," a song Tammi first recorded on her solo album; the stuttering chorus and bass backing voice makes it unique. You won't find two better ballads than "Give a Little Love" or the often-recorded "If This World Were Mine"; written by Marvin Gaye, the starry-eyed proclamation has become an R&B standard, and rightfully so. ~ Andrew Hamilton, All Music Guide
United is a studio album by soul musicians Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, released August 29, 1967 on the Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records.[1]Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol produced all of the tracks on the album, with the exception of "You Got What It Takes" (produced by Motown CEO Berry Gordy, Jr.) and "Oh How I'd Miss You" (produced by Hal Davis).[2] Fuqua and Bristol produced "Hold Me Oh My Darling" and "Two Can Have a Party" as Tammi Terrell solo tracks in 1965 and 1966, and had Gaye overdub his vocals to them in order to create duet versions of the songs.[2]
