Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing, Baby!

This weeks entry is a song composed by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, who also composed "Let's Go Get Stoned", "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "You're All I Need To Get By", and "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)". Clearly, this is one of the great song writing teams of all time. It was originally recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell in 1968 and reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the Hot Soul Singles chart.

A Song With A History

The song has been covered many times since the first release. Here's a little history:

1969 Diana Ross and the Supremes with The Temptations

1970 The Supremes & The Four Tops

1972 The Jackson 5

1974 Aretha Franklin

1976 Donnie & Marie Osmond

1993 Elton John & Marcella Detroit

1994 Gladys Knight & Vince Gill

2003 Michael McDonald

2007 Boyz II Men

What's Good About This Song for A Cappella?

Everything! First, it's beloved for generations. Next, it's a well crafted composition, with a great lyric. It moves through a lot of stuff - a rather busy piece of solo work - with mountains of harmonic interest. The song is often a boy/girl duet but Michael McDonald proved works fine as a male solo with some harmonizing on the chorus.

Plus, the contrapuntal melodies and patter just flow like honey. You can fit lyrics to the bass line like no tomorrow, and echo effectively with the other voices, as I did here in the C section:

Have A Listen

This week I figured out how to install Windows Movie Maker and make a video so you can hear the whole thing. It's piano and saxophone - simple MP3 output from Finale, hooked up with a picture to make it a movie. Hey, whatever works!

P.S. This blog is posted at http://acappellanation.blogspot.com. The embedded video/music player does not show up in Facebook, and possibly some other sites subscribed to the blog. Click the link to the blog if you want to listen.