Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - Good Lovin' Ain't Easy to Come By

[marv2]

How about some good Motown music without all the headaches and over analyzing things............... Marvin & Tammi:

[kenneth]

Except we might have to get into the "is it Tammi or is it Valerie" discussion on this one. Oh, just kidding, I love this song whoever it is. [[But I think it's Valerie.)

[midnightman]

Whoever is singing with Marvin on this doesn't matter to me [[though historically I still stick with my theories as same as Kenneth's on that), what matters is that this is a smoking track and Marvin sounds great as always! RIP Marvin & Tammi and Nick Ashford.

[Ollie9]

I also feel pretty sure this is Valerie singing, but it still makes for a great song.
Ironically, "Easy" is my favourite album by the duo despite the question mark over just how many songs Tammi is actually featured on. As a guess i would say two.
My favourite song from the album being "Love Woke Me Up This Morning. For me theirs is the definitive version of this song, sounding so fresh and soulful I would also give a nod to "California Soul".
This album should have been massive, but sold badly upon it's release reaching 184 in the USA and not even charting in the UK. The album covers artwork did not help.
Just goes to show that huge record sales do not always reflect quality of product.

[arr&bee]

It don't matter if it's tammi or valerie,let's just enjoy the great music.

[TomatoTom123]

This is prob one of my least favourtite Marvin & Tammi tracks but it's still absolutely brilliant!

[marv2]

Except we might have to get into the "is it Tammi or is it Valerie" discussion on this one. Oh, just kidding, I love this song whoever it is. [[But I think it's Valerie.)

Please don't, hehehehehehe.!

[woodward]

This is prob one of my least favourtite Marvin & Tammi tracks but it's still absolutely brilliant!

TT: If this is one of your LEAST favorite tracks, what is your most favorite M&T track?

[marv2]

It don't matter if it's tammi or valerie,let's just enjoy the great music.

It is a very good song and an excellent musical track.

[mysterysinger]

Nick and Val were pure genius. Their songs were immaculately constructed. I think they had a little schooling perhaps from Johnny Bristol and Harvey Fuqua but they soon surpassed their arrangements with some exquisite arrangements of their own. Obviously Val could play that piano expertly and, she sure could sing too. "Good Lovin' Ain't Easy To Come By" works very well indeed.

[TomatoTom123]

TT: If this is one of your LEAST favorite tracks, what is your most favorite M&T track?

Oh, now that is a good question. "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is a classic, but my favourite is probably "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You". I LOVE that one so much. Then there's "Two Can Have A Party", which is so very underrated in my opinion. Oh and "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing", I LUURRVE that one as well. Oh my, they're all just too good!!!

[mysterysinger]

"Two Can Have a Party" was huge on the dance floor. I know Tammi's solo version is good but Marvin can lift any song - and he does. Not fond of MG&TT on ANMHE. Just my opinion but that song belongs to DRoss [[ducks). Tammi's "Irresistible" album is excellent, though like a number of albums seems to be a collection of songs over a long period of time rather than a recorded album project. Not that it matters. It is a most enjoyable listen.

[TomatoTom123]

"Two Can Have a Party" was huge on the dance floor. I know Tammi's solo version is good but Marvin can lift any song - and he does. Not fond of MG&TT on ANMHE. Just my opinion but that song belongs to DRoss [[ducks). Tammi's "Irresistible" album is excellent, though like a number of albums seems to be a collection of songs over a long period of time rather than a recorded album project. Not that it matters. It is a most enjoyable listen.

Yes, I do love a bit of Marvin! And both versions of "Ain't No Mountain" are good, I'm not keen on the spoken-word bits on the Diana version but the whole uplifting gospel-esque chorus is CRACKING! I also love Tammi, this is one of my faves by her:

[BayouMotownMan]

[QUOTE=TomatoTom123;353788]Yes, I do love a bit of Marvin! And both versions of "Ain't No Mountain" are good, I'm not keen on the spoken-word bits on the Diana version but the whole uplifting gospel-esque chorus is CRACKING! I also love Tammi, this is one of my faves by her:

I was just listening to this great track today in my car. The stereo mix is so much better than the mono single. That could be why it stalled so low on the charts

EASY is also my favorite of the three duet lps, but despite her denial, Valerie is on all but two tracks of this excellent lp [[I Can't Believe You Love Me, More, More, More where Gaye simply dubbed in a vocal). I think the reason sales were so low is because Motown didn't promote them much because Tammi was unavailable to perform and thus promote the product. By this time she was in the final stages of her disease.

[luke]

Oh come on it's Clydie King or Vermettya Royster!! Good music!

[marv2]

Nick and Val were pure genius. Their songs were immaculately constructed. I think they had a little schooling perhaps from Johnny Bristol and Harvey Fuqua but they soon surpassed their arrangements with some exquisite arrangements of their own. Obviously Val could play that piano expertly and, she sure could sing too. "Good Lovin' Ain't Easy To Come By" works very well indeed.

Their work and this particular song is timeless! Listen to it again. Doesn't make you wish for this high quality of music today? This particular song, even with Marvin's gruff delivery is understated and Tammi just sounds superb. I am not that old, but I wished that music like this was being released today.

[kenneth]

"Two Can Have a Party" was huge on the dance floor. I know Tammi's solo version is good but Marvin can lift any song - and he does. Not fond of MG&TT on ANMHE. Just my opinion but that song belongs to DRoss [[ducks). Tammi's "Irresistible" album is excellent, though like a number of albums seems to be a collection of songs over a long period of time rather than a recorded album project. Not that it matters. It is a most enjoyable listen.

I have the great Tammi Terrell Hip-O collection, but I was wondering, is her solo version of this the same recorded vocal as the duet? I'm not sure how many, but it seems a lot of her solo recordings ended up as Marvin and Tammi duets, probably when she was too ill to record often. Such a great talent, and such a short life.

Anyway, do you know?

That's the main reason [[aside from the vocal stylings) that I always thought most of "Easy" were Valerie recordings...because none of the songs existed ever as Tammi solo sides. The one exception might have been the created duet of "I Can't Believe You Love Me" which I believe is on the "Easy" album and is quite obviously Marvin recorded onto the Tammi solo track.

[kenneth]

Oh, one other thing about the "Easy" album. Someone mentioned they didn't care for the artwork. I really liked it; I thought maybe Motown was trying for a "hipper" or more contemporary look than many of the Motown album covers which were often just photos of the artists. It reminds me of the "Portrait" album by the 5th Dimension in terms of its execution.

[mysterysinger]

I like the Easy cover and I think Motown did something similar on the cover of the Four Tops Reach Out album.

[mysterysinger]

Val's substitution for Tammi started on the previous album YAIN, including the title track which was a mix of Tammi and Val. But enjoy it for what it is - great music.

[Jimi LaLumia]

wow. I never listened to it with 'those' type of ears before but yikes that is NOT Tammi Terrell...good golly miss molly!!

[Ollie9]

Oh, one other thing about the "Easy" album. Someone mentioned they didn't care for the artwork. I really liked it; I thought maybe Motown was trying for a "hipper" or more contemporary look than many of the Motown album covers which were often just photos of the artists. It reminds me of the "Portrait" album by the 5th Dimension in terms of its execution.

It's all about the colour for me. It's just a bit tooo.....brown i guess. It does not stand out.
Still, each to his own. The music is far more important.

[kenneth]

It's all about the colour for me. It's just a bit tooo.....brown i guess. It does not stand out.
Still, each to his own. The music is far more important.

I do agree with you there. It would have benefited from a more colorful background.

[TomatoTom123]

It's all about the colour for me. It's just a bit tooo.....brown i guess. It does not stand out.
Still, each to his own. The music is far more important.

I do agree with you there. It would have benefited from a more colorful background.

I agree, I'm not keen on the cover of Easy, it does look a bit plain and boring

[kenneth]

I like the Easy cover and I think Motown did something similar on the cover of the Four Tops Reach Out album.

I hadn't thought of that one, but you are right.

[rovereab]

I always thought that Elton John and Kiki Dee's Don't Go Breaking My Heart sounds similar to M&T's This Poor Heart Of Mine. I think the song would have make a great choice for a 45.

[kenneth]

I always thought that Elton John and Kiki Dee's Don't Go Breaking My Heart sounds similar to M&T's This Poor Heart Of Mine. I think the song would have make a great choice for a 45.

And did you also know that "This Poor Heart of Mine" is the same song as "Only Your Love Can Save Me" on the Marvelettes' "Sophisticated Soul" album?

[Motown Eddie]

How about some good Motown music without all the headaches and over analyzing things............... Marvin & Tammi:

Another one of Marvin & Tammi's best songs.