Tammi Terrell
Encyclopedia
Thomasina Winifred Montgomery, known as Tammi Terrell (April 29, 1945 – March 16, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter most notable for her association with Motown and her duets with Marvin Gaye
. As a teenager she recorded for the Scepter
–Wand
, Try Me
and Checker
record labels. She signed with Motown in April 1965 and enjoyed modest success as a solo singer. Once she was paired with Gaye in 1967, her stardom grew, but on October 14 of that year she collapsed on stage into Gaye's arms during a performance. She was soon thereafter diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor
which eventually led to her death six weeks before her 25th birthday.
in the summer of 1957 and hearing its theme song "Tammy". Around this time, Terrell began complaining of migraines and headaches. Terrell's family said that this foreshadowed her later struggle with brain cancer but that at the time they did not regard it as a major issue.
By the age of thirteen, Terrell had begun a professional singing career. In 1960, prior to her fifteenth birthday, she signed with Scepter Records
, and recorded the doo-wop
single "If You See Bill" , releasing it under the name "Tammy Montgomery". Though the record wasn't a success, it did establish Terrell in some R&B circles and Terrell went on tour with some of Scepter's biggest artists and other popular R&B artists of the Philadelphia area, including Chubby Checker
and Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles
. She also opened for R&B star Gene Chandler
, with whom she had a friendship. In 1962, Terrell came to the attention of James Brown
and the seventeen-year-old found herself in Brown's popular Revue becoming one of Brown's first female headliners. In 1963, Terrell recorded for Brown's Try Me Records, releasing the ballad, "I Cried
", which gave her some chart success. Terrell and Brown also had a personal relationship, which was hampered by Brown's physical abuse towards her. After a horrific incident backstage after a show, Terrell asked someone (who witnessed the incident first hand) to take her to the bus station so she could go home. He later called her mother to come pick her up. This ended Terrell's two-year relationship with Brown. Ludie Montgomery stated in her memoirs of Terrell that she met Sam Cooke
in 1964 after Cooke showed a romantic interest in Terrell. Before a relationship could forge, however, Cooke was murdered in Los Angeles that December.
After recording a single for Checker Records
in 1964, produced by the legendary Bert Berns
and paired with singer Jimmy Radcliffe
on a now-released duet version of the song "If I Would Marry You" wherein she debuted as a co-writer with Berns, Terrell semi-retired from show business and enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania
where she stayed for two years majoring in pre-med. In 1965, Jerry "The Ice Man" Butler
asked Terrell to sing with him in a series of nightclub shows, which Terrell agreed to with a schedule that would allow her to continue her studies in Pennsylvania. In March 1965, Motown Records
CEO Berry Gordy
spotted Terrell performing in Detroit and asked Terrell to sign with Motown. Terrell agreed and signed with Motown on April 29, 1965, her 20th birthday.
and Harvey Fuqua
composition, "I Can't Believe You Love Me", in November 1965. Prior to the single's release, Gordy gave her a new name, figuring Tammy Montgomery was too long. He wanted a name that screamed "sex appeal" and therefore settled on "Tammi Terrell" with the y in "Tammy" changed to an "i". The song became a modest success, reaching the top thirty of the American R&B charts. Another modest R&B charter was the sultry "Come on and See Me". Terrell also recorded the first version of Stevie Wonder
's future classic, "All I Do (Is Think About You)" and also recorded a version of The Isley Brothers
' "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)
", in a slightly uptempo gospel
-influenced version.
Terrell's R&B success landed her a spot on the Motortown Revue. Around the same time, Terrell began a romantic relationship with David Ruffin
, lead vocalist of the The Temptations
. In 1966, Ruffin proposed marriage to Terrell. Terrell was distraught however when she later learned that Ruffin had a wife and three children living in Detroit. Devastated, she and Ruffin began having public fights. It was claimed that Terrell was hit with a hammer and machete by Ruffin; Terrell's family and her Motown colleagues denied those claims, but Ludie Montgomery did confirm that Terrell was hit on the side of her face by Ruffin's motorcycle helmet. The incident put an end to their relationship in 1967.
had seen three singers he recorded duets with - Mary Wells
, Kim Weston
and Oma Page - leave Motown. Figuring Terrell could benefit, Gordy asked Terrell to sing duets with Gaye, which she agreed. Gaye later recalled that he didn't know how musically and vocally gifted Terrell was until they began recording duets together.
At first the duets were recorded separately. For sessions of their first recording, the Ashford & Simpson
composition, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough
", both Gaye and Terrell recorded separate versions. Motown remixed the vocals and edited out the background vocals, giving just Gaye and Terrell vocal dominance. The song, originally written for Dusty Springfield
, became a crossover pop hit in the spring of 1967, reaching number nineteen on the Billboard Hot 100
and number three on the R&B charts, making Terrell a star. Their follow-up hit, "Your Precious Love
", became an even bigger hit reaching number five on the pop chart, and number-two on the R&B chart. In late 1967, the duo scored a third top ten single with "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You
", which peaked at number ten on the pop chart and number-two on the R&B chart. The song's B-side, the Marvin Gaye composition, "If This World Were Mine
", became a modest hit on both charts, reaching number sixty-eight on the pop chart and number twenty-seven on the R&B chart. Gaye would later cite the song as "one of Tammi's favorites".
All four songs were included on Gaye and Terrell's first duet album, United
, released in the late summer of 1967. Throughout that year, Gaye and Terrell began performing together and Terrell became a vocal and performance inspiration for the shy and laid-back Gaye, who hated live performing. The duo even performed together on TV shows to their hits. While Terrell was finally being established as a star, the migraines and headaches that she suffered with as a child were becoming more constant. While she complained of pains, she insisted to people close to her that she was well enough to perform. However, on October 14, 1967, while performing with Gaye at Hampden-Sydney College
, outside of the college of Farmville, Virginia
, Terrell fell and buckled onstage. Gaye helped her not fall completely to the ground and rushed Terrell backstage, where she was immediately taken to Southside Community Hospital and later diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.
After a six-week stay at a Philadelphia hospital where she had her first of what would be eight operations, Terrell returned to Detroit to record the Gaye duet, "You're All I Need to Get By
". Prior to the tumor diagnosis and her collapse onstage, Terrell and Gaye recorded in front of each other for the first time during the recording of "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing
". Both songs became number-one R&B hits in 1968, as well as top ten pop hits. The change in recording from United and the duo's second album, You're All I Need
was due to Terrell's rapid illness - while two of the songs on United were overdubbed with Gaye's vocals, six of the tracks on You're All I Need was overdubbed with Gaye vocals to create duet tracks.
Gaye later told his biographer David Ritz that Terrell was unable to record and that Valerie Simpson
filled in for her vocals on the final Gaye/Terrell duet album, Easy
. Simpson and her husband, Nickolas Ashford, have been quoted as denying this in several sources, including a book written by Terrell's sister Ludie Montgomery and the liner notes to The Complete Motown Singles Volume 9: 1969. Simpson's own account is that she did provide guide vocals for Gaye to work with in Terrell's absence (and that it was this which Gaye later remembered), but that Terrell was then brought in to "painstakingly" record her vocals for the Easy album over Simpson's guide track. Simpson reiterated the story on a recent documentary on Terrell's life story. However, others who worked with Motown heard the album and also concluded that Terrell wasn't on the album. They contended that the voice was "too nasal" and that the language pattern, accent, and vocal delivery weren't close to Terrell's.. Simpson had some vocal similarities to Terrell and eventually confirmed Gaye's reports that Terrell wasn't on the album despite her own claims . Liner Notes to the Complete Motown singles Volume 10 confirms that Terrell was present during the sessions, at least as an adviser and may have supplied some vocals as well.
Despite these reports, Gaye and Terrell continued to have chart success. The Easy album included the modest hit, "What You Gave Me" (later covered by Diana Ross
in an ill-fated disco version), and the top ten UK hit, "The Onion Song
". In late 1969, while performing at the Apollo Theater
, Gaye spotted an ill Terrell in the audience after the singer, now under ninety pounds, stood up and began singing her opening response to Gaye on their hit, "You're All I Need to Get By". Gaye, who was performing with Carla Thomas
on the bill, reportedly stepped off the stage into the audience to sing with Terrell, who was given a microphone. The performance ended with a standing ovation
. It was to be Terrell's final public appearance.
, which included recordings going back to 1965 and through 1968. Being close to death, Terrell was also unable to promote that record as well. A 1969 Ebony
article reported on Terrell's struggles to get well and the singer gave an exclusive interview hopeful of an eventual recovery and a return to recording and live performances. However, it wasn't to be. On January 21, 1970, Terrell went into her eighth and final operation on her tumor. Shortly after that she lapsed into a coma
. Terrell then died, of complications from brain cancer, on March 16, 1970. She was a month and two weeks short of her 25th birthday. Marvin Gaye reacted to her initial illness, when she collapsed into his arms onstage in 1967, by taking a four-year hiatus from concert performance. His first appearance after this hiatus was at the newly opened Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. on May 1, 1972, where he performed his hit album "What's Going On" with many of the musicians who played on the original sessions.
Gaye recalled that he felt somehow responsible for Terrell's illness and death. Gaye failed to appreciate his own successes including the international hit, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine
", thinking the success was not deserved on his part. At the funeral, Gaye delivered a final eulogy while "You're All I Need to Get By
" was playing. According to Terrell's fiance, who knew Gaye, Terrell's mother allowed just Gaye at the funeral but told him that Terrell's other Motown colleagues would not be allowed in. Terrell's mother criticized Motown for not helping with Terrell's illness accusing the label for covering up the singer's condition releasing albums of Terrell's work without her consent. Gaye had also contended that he felt Motown was taking advantage of Terrell's illness and refused to promote the Easy album despite Motown telling him it would cover Terrell's health finances. Gaye never fully got over Terrell's death, according to several biographers stated Terrell's death led Gaye to depression and drug abuse
.
In addition, Gaye's classic album What's Going On
, an introspective, low-key work which dealt with mature themes released in 1971, was in part a reaction to Terrell's death. In July 1970, four months after Terrell's untimely passing, a dramatic gospel-pop rearrangement of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", was released by Diana Ross
, becoming a number-one hit and one of Ross' signature songs.
On October 8, 2010, Hip-O Select released Come On And See Me: The Complete Solo Collection, a collection of all of Terrell's solo work dating back to high school, plus never before released songs and 13 minutes of the only known live stage recordings.
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
. As a teenager she recorded for the Scepter
Scepter Records
Scepter Records is a record company founded in 1959 by Florence Greenberg. She had just sold Tiara Records with The Shirelles for $4000 to Decca Records. When The Shirelles didn't produce any hits for Decca, they were given back to Greenberg, who promptly signed them. By 1961 Greenberg launched a...
–Wand
Wand Records
Wand Records was started by Florence Greenberg in 1961 as a subsidiary of Scepter Records. In 1976 Florence Greenberg decided to retire from the business and sold her record labels to Springboard International. When Springboard went bankrupt, Gusto Records acquired the catalog.Artists on Wand...
, Try Me
Record labels owned by James Brown
Over the course of his career James Brown owned and operated several different record labels, which he used primarily to release his own productions of artists associated with his revue.-Try Me:...
and Checker
Checker Records
Checker Records is an inactive record label that was started in 1952 as a subsidiary to Chess Records in Chicago, Illinois. The label was founded by the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil, who ran the label until they sold it to General Recorded Tape in 1969, shortly before Leonard's death.The label...
record labels. She signed with Motown in April 1965 and enjoyed modest success as a solo singer. Once she was paired with Gaye in 1967, her stardom grew, but on October 14 of that year she collapsed on stage into Gaye's arms during a performance. She was soon thereafter diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor
Brain tumor
A brain tumor is an intracranial solid neoplasm, a tumor within the brain or the central spinal canal.Brain tumors include all tumors inside the cranium or in the central spinal canal...
which eventually led to her death six weeks before her 25th birthday.
Early life and career
Tammi Terrell was born Thomasina Winifred Montgomery in Philadelphia. Members of her family have said her parents figured their eldest child would be a son and had settled on "Thomas". After Terrell's birth, they added in "-ina". Terrell was called "Tommie" by family. Terrell has a younger sister, Ludie (born 1949). Terrell began singing in church at an early age. Terrell developed a rebellious, free-spirited streak and changed her name to "Tammy" after seeing the film Tammy and the BachelorTammy and the Bachelor
Tammy and the Bachelor is a 1957 romantic comedy film and is the first of the four Tammy films. It stars Debbie Reynolds as Tambrey "Tammy" Tyree, Walter Brennan as Grandpa Dinwitty and Leslie Nielsen as Peter Brent...
in the summer of 1957 and hearing its theme song "Tammy". Around this time, Terrell began complaining of migraines and headaches. Terrell's family said that this foreshadowed her later struggle with brain cancer but that at the time they did not regard it as a major issue.
By the age of thirteen, Terrell had begun a professional singing career. In 1960, prior to her fifteenth birthday, she signed with Scepter Records
Scepter Records
Scepter Records is a record company founded in 1959 by Florence Greenberg. She had just sold Tiara Records with The Shirelles for $4000 to Decca Records. When The Shirelles didn't produce any hits for Decca, they were given back to Greenberg, who promptly signed them. By 1961 Greenberg launched a...
, and recorded the doo-wop
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
single "If You See Bill" , releasing it under the name "Tammy Montgomery". Though the record wasn't a success, it did establish Terrell in some R&B circles and Terrell went on tour with some of Scepter's biggest artists and other popular R&B artists of the Philadelphia area, including Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker is an American singer-songwriter. He is widely known for popularizing the twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard's R&B hit "The Twist"...
and Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles
Labelle
Labelle is an American all female singing group who were a popular vocal group of the 1960s and 1970s. The group was formed after the disbanding of two rival girl groups in the Philadelphia/Trenton areas, the Ordettes and the Del-Capris, forming as a new version of the former group, later changing...
. She also opened for R&B star Gene Chandler
Gene Chandler
Gene Chandler also known as "The Duke of Earl" or simply "The Duke", is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, producer and record executive. He is one of the leading exponents of the 1960s Chicago soul scene...
, with whom she had a friendship. In 1962, Terrell came to the attention of James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
and the seventeen-year-old found herself in Brown's popular Revue becoming one of Brown's first female headliners. In 1963, Terrell recorded for Brown's Try Me Records, releasing the ballad, "I Cried
I Cried
"I Cried" is a popular song written by Michael Elias and Billy Duke.The best-selling version was done by Patti Page, reaching #13 on the Billboard charts in 1954. It was released by Mercury Records as catalog number 70416. The song was a two-sided hit, with the flip side "What a Dream" doing even...
", which gave her some chart success. Terrell and Brown also had a personal relationship, which was hampered by Brown's physical abuse towards her. After a horrific incident backstage after a show, Terrell asked someone (who witnessed the incident first hand) to take her to the bus station so she could go home. He later called her mother to come pick her up. This ended Terrell's two-year relationship with Brown. Ludie Montgomery stated in her memoirs of Terrell that she met Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke
Samuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...
in 1964 after Cooke showed a romantic interest in Terrell. Before a relationship could forge, however, Cooke was murdered in Los Angeles that December.
After recording a single for Checker Records
Checker Records
Checker Records is an inactive record label that was started in 1952 as a subsidiary to Chess Records in Chicago, Illinois. The label was founded by the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil, who ran the label until they sold it to General Recorded Tape in 1969, shortly before Leonard's death.The label...
in 1964, produced by the legendary Bert Berns
Bert Berns
Bertrand Russell Berns , most commonly known as Bert Berns as well as Bert Russell and Russell Byrd, was an American songwriter and record producer of the 1960s...
and paired with singer Jimmy Radcliffe
Jimmy Radcliffe
James "Jimmy" Radcliffe was an American soul singer, composer, arranger, conductor and record producer.-Biography:James Radcliffe was born in New York City...
on a now-released duet version of the song "If I Would Marry You" wherein she debuted as a co-writer with Berns, Terrell semi-retired from show business and enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
where she stayed for two years majoring in pre-med. In 1965, Jerry "The Ice Man" Butler
Jerry Butler (singer)
Jerry Butler is an American soul singer and songwriter. He is also noted as being the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group, The Impressions, as well as a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.Butler is also an American politician...
asked Terrell to sing with him in a series of nightclub shows, which Terrell agreed to with a schedule that would allow her to continue her studies in Pennsylvania. In March 1965, Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
CEO Berry Gordy
Berry Gordy
Berry Gordy, Jr. is an American record producer, and the founder of the Motown record label, as well as its many subsidiaries.-Early years:...
spotted Terrell performing in Detroit and asked Terrell to sign with Motown. Terrell agreed and signed with Motown on April 29, 1965, her 20th birthday.
Early success
Terrell's first single with Motown was the Johnny BristolJohnny Bristol
Johnny Bristol , was an American musician, most famous as a songwriter and record producer for the Motown label in the late 1960s and early 1970s...
and Harvey Fuqua
Harvey Fuqua
Harvey Fuqua, was an African-American rhythm and blues singer, songwriter, record producer, and record label executive.Fuqua founded the seminal R&B/doo-wop group the Moonglows in the 1950s...
composition, "I Can't Believe You Love Me", in November 1965. Prior to the single's release, Gordy gave her a new name, figuring Tammy Montgomery was too long. He wanted a name that screamed "sex appeal" and therefore settled on "Tammi Terrell" with the y in "Tammy" changed to an "i". The song became a modest success, reaching the top thirty of the American R&B charts. Another modest R&B charter was the sultry "Come on and See Me". Terrell also recorded the first version of Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
's future classic, "All I Do (Is Think About You)" and also recorded a version of The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers are a highly influential, successful and long-running American music group consisting of different line-ups of six brothers, and a brother-in-law, Chris Jasper...
' "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)
This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)
"This Old Heart of Mine " is an Isley Brothers song from 1966 that was a hit for them during their brief tenure on Motown's Tamla label...
", in a slightly uptempo gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
-influenced version.
Terrell's R&B success landed her a spot on the Motortown Revue. Around the same time, Terrell began a romantic relationship with David Ruffin
David Ruffin
Davis Eli "David" Ruffin was an American soul singer and musician most famous for his work as one of the lead singers of the Temptations from 1964 to 1968...
, lead vocalist of the The Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
. In 1966, Ruffin proposed marriage to Terrell. Terrell was distraught however when she later learned that Ruffin had a wife and three children living in Detroit. Devastated, she and Ruffin began having public fights. It was claimed that Terrell was hit with a hammer and machete by Ruffin; Terrell's family and her Motown colleagues denied those claims, but Ludie Montgomery did confirm that Terrell was hit on the side of her face by Ruffin's motorcycle helmet. The incident put an end to their relationship in 1967.
Success with Marvin Gaye
By early 1967, Marvin GayeMarvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
had seen three singers he recorded duets with - Mary Wells
Mary Wells
Mary Esther Wells was an American singer who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s...
, Kim Weston
Kim Weston
Kim Weston is an American soul singer, and Motown alumna. In the 1960s, Weston scored hits with the songs "Love Me All the Way" and "Take Me in Your Arms ".-Career:...
and Oma Page - leave Motown. Figuring Terrell could benefit, Gordy asked Terrell to sing duets with Gaye, which she agreed. Gaye later recalled that he didn't know how musically and vocally gifted Terrell was until they began recording duets together.
At first the duets were recorded separately. For sessions of their first recording, the Ashford & Simpson
Ashford & Simpson
Nickolas Ashford , and Valerie Simpson , were a husband and wife songwriting/production team and recording artists....
composition, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough
Ain't No Mountain High Enough
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is an R&B/soul song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla Motown label. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, becoming a hit again in 1970 when recorded by former Supremes...
", both Gaye and Terrell recorded separate versions. Motown remixed the vocals and edited out the background vocals, giving just Gaye and Terrell vocal dominance. The song, originally written for Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
, became a crossover pop hit in the spring of 1967, reaching number nineteen on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and number three on the R&B charts, making Terrell a star. Their follow-up hit, "Your Precious Love
Your Precious Love
"Your Precious Love" is a popular song that was a 1967 hit for Motown singers Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Written by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson and produced by Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol, the doo-wop styled recording features background vocals by Fuqua, Gaye, Terrell and Bristol,...
", became an even bigger hit reaching number five on the pop chart, and number-two on the R&B chart. In late 1967, the duo scored a third top ten single with "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You
If I Could Build My Whole World Around You
"If I Could Build My Whole World Around You" is a popular song recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell in 1967 and released in December 1967. Written by Harvey Fuqua, Johnny Bristol, and Vernon Bullock, the single was Gaye & Terrell's third single together and the second to go Top Ten on both the...
", which peaked at number ten on the pop chart and number-two on the R&B chart. The song's B-side, the Marvin Gaye composition, "If This World Were Mine
If This World Were Mine
"If This World Were Mine" is a 1967 song by soul music duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell from their album United. Written solely by Gaye, it was one of the few songs they recorded without Ashford & Simpson writing or producing...
", became a modest hit on both charts, reaching number sixty-eight on the pop chart and number twenty-seven on the R&B chart. Gaye would later cite the song as "one of Tammi's favorites".
All four songs were included on Gaye and Terrell's first duet album, United
United (Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell album)
United is a studio album by soul musicians Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, released August 29, 1967 on the Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records. Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol produced all of the tracks on the album, with the exception of "You Got What It Takes" and "Oh How I'd Miss You"...
, released in the late summer of 1967. Throughout that year, Gaye and Terrell began performing together and Terrell became a vocal and performance inspiration for the shy and laid-back Gaye, who hated live performing. The duo even performed together on TV shows to their hits. While Terrell was finally being established as a star, the migraines and headaches that she suffered with as a child were becoming more constant. While she complained of pains, she insisted to people close to her that she was well enough to perform. However, on October 14, 1967, while performing with Gaye at Hampden-Sydney College
Hampden-Sydney College
Hampden–Sydney College is a liberal arts college for men located in Hampden Sydney, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1775, Hampden–Sydney is the oldest private charter college in the Southern U.S., the last college founded before the American Revolution, and one of only three four-year,...
, outside of the college of Farmville, Virginia
Farmville, Virginia
Farmville is a town in Prince Edward and Cumberland counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 6,845 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Prince Edward County....
, Terrell fell and buckled onstage. Gaye helped her not fall completely to the ground and rushed Terrell backstage, where she was immediately taken to Southside Community Hospital and later diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.
After a six-week stay at a Philadelphia hospital where she had her first of what would be eight operations, Terrell returned to Detroit to record the Gaye duet, "You're All I Need to Get By
You're All I Need to Get By
"You're All I Need to Get By" is a song recorded by the American R&B/soul duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell and released on Motown Records' Tamla label in 1968. It was the basis for the 1995 single "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By" from Method Man and Mary J...
". Prior to the tumor diagnosis and her collapse onstage, Terrell and Gaye recorded in front of each other for the first time during the recording of "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing
Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing
-Marcella Detroit & Elton John version:"Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing" was recorded by Elton John as a duet with Marcella Detroit, and featured on his 1993 album Duets. It was also later included on Detroit's 1994 album Jewel. Released as a two-part CD single single in May 1994, it peaked at...
". Both songs became number-one R&B hits in 1968, as well as top ten pop hits. The change in recording from United and the duo's second album, You're All I Need
You're All I Need
You're All I Need is the second studio album by soul musicians Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, released in August of 1968 on Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records...
was due to Terrell's rapid illness - while two of the songs on United were overdubbed with Gaye's vocals, six of the tracks on You're All I Need was overdubbed with Gaye vocals to create duet tracks.
Gaye later told his biographer David Ritz that Terrell was unable to record and that Valerie Simpson
Ashford & Simpson
Nickolas Ashford , and Valerie Simpson , were a husband and wife songwriting/production team and recording artists....
filled in for her vocals on the final Gaye/Terrell duet album, Easy
Easy (Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell album)
Easy is an album recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and released by Motown Records on September 16, 1969 under the Tamla Records label. One song on the album, "Good Lovin' Ain't Easy To Come By", was a hit single and remains popular to this day. Terrell had been ill, suffering from...
. Simpson and her husband, Nickolas Ashford, have been quoted as denying this in several sources, including a book written by Terrell's sister Ludie Montgomery and the liner notes to The Complete Motown Singles Volume 9: 1969. Simpson's own account is that she did provide guide vocals for Gaye to work with in Terrell's absence (and that it was this which Gaye later remembered), but that Terrell was then brought in to "painstakingly" record her vocals for the Easy album over Simpson's guide track. Simpson reiterated the story on a recent documentary on Terrell's life story. However, others who worked with Motown heard the album and also concluded that Terrell wasn't on the album. They contended that the voice was "too nasal" and that the language pattern, accent, and vocal delivery weren't close to Terrell's.. Simpson had some vocal similarities to Terrell and eventually confirmed Gaye's reports that Terrell wasn't on the album despite her own claims . Liner Notes to the Complete Motown singles Volume 10 confirms that Terrell was present during the sessions, at least as an adviser and may have supplied some vocals as well.
Despite these reports, Gaye and Terrell continued to have chart success. The Easy album included the modest hit, "What You Gave Me" (later covered by Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
in an ill-fated disco version), and the top ten UK hit, "The Onion Song
The Onion Song
"The Onion Song" was a hit for soul singers Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell in 1969. It reached the top ten overseas, and was a more modest hit in the U.S....
". In late 1969, while performing at the Apollo Theater
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...
, Gaye spotted an ill Terrell in the audience after the singer, now under ninety pounds, stood up and began singing her opening response to Gaye on their hit, "You're All I Need to Get By". Gaye, who was performing with Carla Thomas
Carla Thomas
Carla Thomas is an American singer, who is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. She is the daughter of Rufus Thomas.-Childhood:...
on the bill, reportedly stepped off the stage into the audience to sing with Terrell, who was given a microphone. The performance ended with a standing ovation
Standing ovation
A standing ovation is a form of applause where members of a seated audience stand up while applauding after extraordinary performances of particularly high acclaim...
. It was to be Terrell's final public appearance.
Death and aftermath
At the time of her death, Terrell was engaged to be married to a doctor, though not her personal doctor. Terrell figured, with every operation, she would get well, but her tumor only got worse. By late 1969, Terrell was on her seventh operation and was unable to promote the Easy album. Also in 1969, Motown also issued Terrell's first and only solo album, IrresistibleIrresistible (Tammi Terrell album)
Irresistible was the only solo album for Tammi Terrell, which was released in January 1969 by Motown Records. Due to complications with a malignant brain tumor in 1968 which caused her death in March 1970, Terrell did not record a subsequent solo album; this album compiles solo recordings Terrell...
, which included recordings going back to 1965 and through 1968. Being close to death, Terrell was also unable to promote that record as well. A 1969 Ebony
Ebony (magazine)
Ebony, a monthly magazine for the African-American market, was founded by John H. Johnson and has published continuously since the autumn of 1945...
article reported on Terrell's struggles to get well and the singer gave an exclusive interview hopeful of an eventual recovery and a return to recording and live performances. However, it wasn't to be. On January 21, 1970, Terrell went into her eighth and final operation on her tumor. Shortly after that she lapsed into a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
. Terrell then died, of complications from brain cancer, on March 16, 1970. She was a month and two weeks short of her 25th birthday. Marvin Gaye reacted to her initial illness, when she collapsed into his arms onstage in 1967, by taking a four-year hiatus from concert performance. His first appearance after this hiatus was at the newly opened Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. on May 1, 1972, where he performed his hit album "What's Going On" with many of the musicians who played on the original sessions.
Gaye recalled that he felt somehow responsible for Terrell's illness and death. Gaye failed to appreciate his own successes including the international hit, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine
I Heard It through the Grapevine
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is a landmark song in the history of Motown. Written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong in 1966, the single was first recorded by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles...
", thinking the success was not deserved on his part. At the funeral, Gaye delivered a final eulogy while "You're All I Need to Get By
You're All I Need to Get By
"You're All I Need to Get By" is a song recorded by the American R&B/soul duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell and released on Motown Records' Tamla label in 1968. It was the basis for the 1995 single "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By" from Method Man and Mary J...
" was playing. According to Terrell's fiance, who knew Gaye, Terrell's mother allowed just Gaye at the funeral but told him that Terrell's other Motown colleagues would not be allowed in. Terrell's mother criticized Motown for not helping with Terrell's illness accusing the label for covering up the singer's condition releasing albums of Terrell's work without her consent. Gaye had also contended that he felt Motown was taking advantage of Terrell's illness and refused to promote the Easy album despite Motown telling him it would cover Terrell's health finances. Gaye never fully got over Terrell's death, according to several biographers stated Terrell's death led Gaye to depression and drug abuse
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
.
In addition, Gaye's classic album What's Going On
What's Going On
What's Going On is the eleventh studio album by soul musician Marvin Gaye, released May 21, 1971, on the Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records...
, an introspective, low-key work which dealt with mature themes released in 1971, was in part a reaction to Terrell's death. In July 1970, four months after Terrell's untimely passing, a dramatic gospel-pop rearrangement of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", was released by Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
, becoming a number-one hit and one of Ross' signature songs.
On October 8, 2010, Hip-O Select released Come On And See Me: The Complete Solo Collection, a collection of all of Terrell's solo work dating back to high school, plus never before released songs and 13 minutes of the only known live stage recordings.
Albums
- 1967: The Early Show (Wand LP, side A is by Tammi Terrell, side B is by Chuck Jackson)
- 1969: IrresistibleIrresistible (Tammi Terrell album)Irresistible was the only solo album for Tammi Terrell, which was released in January 1969 by Motown Records. Due to complications with a malignant brain tumor in 1968 which caused her death in March 1970, Terrell did not record a subsequent solo album; this album compiles solo recordings Terrell...
(#39 R&B) - 2001: The Essential CollectionThe Essential Collection (Tammi Terrell)The Essential Collection is a compilation album for Motown soul singer Tammi Terrell, released by Universal Music Group's Spectrum Music in the United Kingdom in 2001...
(posthumous) - 2010: Come On and See Me: The Complete Solo Collection (posthumous)
with Marvin Gaye
- 1967: UnitedUnited (Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell album)United is a studio album by soul musicians Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, released August 29, 1967 on the Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records. Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol produced all of the tracks on the album, with the exception of "You Got What It Takes" and "Oh How I'd Miss You"...
(#69 US) - 1968: You're All I NeedYou're All I NeedYou're All I Need is the second studio album by soul musicians Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, released in August of 1968 on Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records...
(#60 US) - 1969: Easy (#184 US)
- 1970: Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's Greatest HitsMarvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's Greatest HitsMarvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's Greatest Hits is a 1970 compilation album released by Motown stars Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell on the Tamla label. A collection of the famed duo's recording material, mostly penned and produced by the songwriting-producing team of Ashford & Simpson except for two...
(posthumous) - 2001: The Complete DuetsThe Complete DuetsThe Complete Duets is a two-disc compilation album of duet recordings by Motown Records artists Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, recorded between 1965 and 1969...
(compilation of United, You're All I Need, and Easy)
Singles
- 1961: "If You See Bill" (as Tammy Montgomery)
- 1962: "Voice of the Experience" (as Tammy Montgomery)
- 1963: "I Cried" (as Tammy Montgomery) (#99 US)
- 1964: "If I Would Marry You" (as Tammy Montgomery)
- 1965: "I Can't Believe You Love Me" (#72 US)
- 1966: "Come On and See Me" (#80 US)
- 1968: "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)"This Old Heart of Mine " is an Isley Brothers song from 1966 that was a hit for them during their brief tenure on Motown's Tamla label...
" (#67 US)
with Marvin Gaye
- 1967: "Ain't No Mountain High EnoughAin't No Mountain High Enough"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is an R&B/soul song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla Motown label. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, becoming a hit again in 1970 when recorded by former Supremes...
" (#19 US) - 1967: "Your Precious LoveYour Precious Love"Your Precious Love" is a popular song that was a 1967 hit for Motown singers Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Written by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson and produced by Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol, the doo-wop styled recording features background vocals by Fuqua, Gaye, Terrell and Bristol,...
" (#5 US) - 1967: "If I Could Build My Whole World Around YouIf I Could Build My Whole World Around You"If I Could Build My Whole World Around You" is a popular song recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell in 1967 and released in December 1967. Written by Harvey Fuqua, Johnny Bristol, and Vernon Bullock, the single was Gaye & Terrell's third single together and the second to go Top Ten on both the...
" (#10 US, #41 UK) - 1968: "If This World Were MineIf This World Were Mine"If This World Were Mine" is a 1967 song by soul music duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell from their album United. Written solely by Gaye, it was one of the few songs they recorded without Ashford & Simpson writing or producing...
" (b-side of "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You", #68 US) - 1968: "Ain't Nothing Like the Real ThingAin't Nothing Like the Real Thing-Marcella Detroit & Elton John version:"Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing" was recorded by Elton John as a duet with Marcella Detroit, and featured on his 1993 album Duets. It was also later included on Detroit's 1994 album Jewel. Released as a two-part CD single single in May 1994, it peaked at...
" (#8 US, #34 UK) - 1968: "You're All I Need to Get ByYou're All I Need to Get By"You're All I Need to Get By" is a song recorded by the American R&B/soul duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell and released on Motown Records' Tamla label in 1968. It was the basis for the 1995 single "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By" from Method Man and Mary J...
" (#7 US, #19 UK) - 1968: "Keep On Lovin' Me HoneyKeep On Lovin' Me Honey"Keep On Lovin' Me Honey" is a 1968 hit written and produced by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson, and issued as a single on Motown Records' Tamla label by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell....
" (#24 US) - 1969: "You Ain't Livin' till You're Lovin'You Ain't Livin' till You're Lovin'"You Ain't Livin' till You're Lovin'" is a 1968 single released on the Tamla-Motown label by Motown vocal duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.The song gave the duo a boost in the UK where the single was released. Motown's stateside headquarters issued the song as the b-side to the hit "Keep On Lovin'...
" (#21 UK) - 1969: "Good Lovin' Ain't Easy to Come ByGood Lovin' Ain't Easy to Come By"Good Lovin' Ain't Easy to Come By" is a duet released in 1969 on the Tamla label by renowned singers Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.The first release off the duo's third album, Easy, it has been hugely debated whether or not an ailing Terrell, who was dying from a brain tumor, was on the track or...
" (#30 US, #26 UK) - 1969: "What You Gave MeWhat You Gave Me (song)"What You Gave Me" is a hit duet written and produced by Ashford & Simpson and issued as a single originally by the vocal duo of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell in 1969 on the Tamla label....
"* (#49 US) - 1969: "The Onion SongThe Onion Song"The Onion Song" was a hit for soul singers Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell in 1969. It reached the top ten overseas, and was a more modest hit in the U.S....
"* (#50 US, #9 UK) - 1970: "California SoulCalifornia Soul"California Soul" is a pop-soul tune written by Ashford & Simpson, issued originally as a single by American pop quintet The 5th Dimension in late 1968...
"* (#56 US)
Further reading
- Montgomery, Ludie. My Sister Tommie: the Real Tammi Terrell (2005, ISBN 1-904408-16-8)
- Ritz, David. Divided Soul: the Life of Marvin Gaye (2003 edition, ISBN 0-306-81191-X)
- Whitall, Susan. For the Record: Women of Motown (1998, ISBN 0-380-79379-2)
External links
- TammiTerrell.com (fan site)
- [ Tammi Terrell] at Allmusic