49 min listen
Ep. 107 - VALERIE SIMPSON ("Ain't No Mountain High Enough")
Ep. 107 - VALERIE SIMPSON ("Ain't No Mountain High Enough")
ratings:
Length:
73 minutes
Released:
Jan 22, 2019
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
Songwriters Hall of Famer, half of the legendary Ashford & Simpson, and one of Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time chats about "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing," "I'm Every Woman," "Solid," and more of her many hits! PART ONE Scott and Paul belatedly announce the winner of the Mark Otis Selby CD contest from our recent Tia Sillers episode. PART TWO - 3:18 mark Paul gets the lowdown from Scott on how he managed to pull the Valerie Simpson interview together despite the obstacles! PART THREE - 14:02 mark Scott goes on location in New York to sit down with Valerie Simpson to chat about how meeting a homeless stranger at church opened the door to her songwriting career; why she and Nick Ashford didn't want to be performers at first; the song she told Dusty Springfield she couldn't record; why she was more focused on getting an advance than scoring a hit; which of her tunes was inspired by playing an instrument she doesn't really play; why Berry Gordy didn't want Motown to release "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" as a single; how Valerie realized she and Nick were in love after eight years of working together; and how she ended up on Broadway, thanks to Alicia Keys having to miss a party. ABOUT VALERIE SIMPSON Six-time Grammy nominee Valerie Simpson is best known as one half of the songwriting, production and performing duo of Ashford and Simpson, which she formed with musical partner and eventual husband Nick Ashford after they met at a church in Harlem, New York, in the early 1960s. After early successes with Aretha Franklin’s recording of “Cry Like a Baby” and Ray Charles’ recordings of “Let’s Go Get Stoned” and “I Don’t Need No Doctor,” Nick and Valerie signed with Motown Records, first as songwriters, where their early successes included the hit singles “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “Your Precious Love,” recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. They soon began both writing and producing for the duo, with hits such as “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing,” “You’re All I Need to Get By,” “Good Lovin’ Ain’t Easy to Come By,” and “What You Gave Me.” Additional writing and production credits at Motown came with hits by The Supremes, The Marvelettes, The Miracles, Gladys Knight, and Diana Ross, who found success with “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)” “Remember Me,” “Surrender,” and a remake of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” that topped both the pop and R&B charts. In addition to writing #1 hits such as Quincy Jones’s “Stuff Like That” and Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman” after their Motown period, Ashford and Simpson began releasing their own recordings as a duo, landing nearly 40 songs on the Billboard R&B singles chart. Their list of Top 10 hits as artists, includes“It Seems to Hang On,” “Found a Cure,” “Love Don’t Make it Right,” “Street Corner,” “Outta the World,” “Count Your Blessings,” “I’ll Be There For You,” and “Solid.” Ashford and Simpson were the recipients of the ASCAP Founder’s Award, which is the highest honor bestowed by the organization. They were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, named among Rolling Stone Magazine’s 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time, and provided the inspiration for the establishment of the Soul Train Ashford & Simpson Songwriter’s Award. Following Nick’s untimely death in 2011, Valerie has continued to write, record, and even appear on Broadway in the acclaimed musical Chicago.
Released:
Jan 22, 2019
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
Ep. 18A - MAC DAVIS ("In the Ghetto") - 1 of 2: Part 1 of 2: Hailing from Lubbock, Texas, Mac Davis began his music career working for Vee Jay Records and Liberty Records in Atlanta. Relocating to Los Angeles in the late 1960s, he became a staff songwriter for Nancy Sinatra’s music publishing company. His early songwriting success came when Elvis Presley recorded several of his songs, including “A Little Less Conversation,” “Memories,” “Clean Up Your Own Backyard,” “Don’t Cry Daddy,” and “In the Ghetto.” Soon his songs were being recorded by O.C. Smith, Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, Glen Campbell, Ray Price, and Bobby Goldsboro, who enjoyed a major hit with Mac’s “Watching Scotty Grow” in 1971. Thanks to his success as a songwriter, Davis signed an artist deal with Columbia Records, and later Casablanca Records, scoring thirty-three charting singles between 1970 and 1986. Most of those hits were written by Davis himself, including “I Believe in Music,” “One Hell of a Woman,” “Sto by Songcraft: Spotlight on Songwriters