Ashford & Simpson

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Ashford & Simpson
Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, 2000
Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, 2000
General information
Genre (s) Rhythm and blues , soul , disco
founding 1964
resolution 2011
Last occupation
Nickolas Ashford († 2011)
Singing, piano
Valerie Simpson

Nickolas Ashford (born May 4, 1942 in Fairfield County , South Carolina , † August 22, 2011 in New York ) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946 in Bronx , New York ) were an American songwriter and producer duo , the wrote music history in the 1960s with compositions for the Motown record company .

Soul classics such as Ain't No Mountain High Enough (1967), Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing or You're All I Need to Get By (1968) were created during this time. From 1973 the duo also recorded their own records and hits like It Seems to Hang On (1978), Found a Cure (1979), Solid (1984), Outta the World (1985), Count Your Blessings (1986) and I'll Be There for You (1989) made Ashford & Simpson known worldwide. Throughout her 40-plus year career, Ashford has typically served as a composer and Simpson as a songwriter .

Career

Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson met in 1964 at the White Rock Baptist Church in Harlem . At that time Ashford was homeless and temporarily slept on a bench, which today bears a plaque that reads "Nick Ashford slept here" ("Nick Ashford slept here"). With the help of the parish, Ashford was able to put life on the street behind him, he became a member of the church choir and made friends with Simpson. The relationship initially remained platonic: together they began to write gospel songs , later secular pieces were added. For the small label Glover, "Val & Nick", as the two called themselves at the time, recorded a few unsuccessful singles in 1964 . While their musician careers didn't take off, Ashford and Simpson continued to try their hand at songwriting. In 1965 soul greats such as Chuck Jackson & Maxine Brown ( Baby Take Me ) and Betty Everett ( The Real Thing ) recorded songs by the duo. The breakthrough came in 1966 when Ray Charles landed at number one on the R&B charts with the Ashford / Simpson song Let's Go Get Stoned . Ashford tried in vain to start a solo career in the same year. His few singles for Verve flopped, but at least I Don't Need No Doctor was recorded by Ray Charles. Ashford and Simpson also sang the backing vocals for other artists, for example in February 1966 for the Bobby Hebb hit Sunny .

Hits for Others and Valerie's Solo Recordings: The Motown Years

In April 1967 Ashford and Simpson moved to the Motown Corporation, the most successful record company in the soul genre at the time, as permanent songwriters. They composed hits and mostly produced them themselves at the Motown Recording Studios in Detroit . The success came straight away: Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell had three hits with Ashford / Simpson compositions with Ain't No Mountain High Enough , Ain't Nothin Like the Real Thing and Your Precious Love in the same year. You're All I Need to Get By followed in 1968 . These songs developed into classics of the soul genre and have been covered in large numbers . In 1970, for example, Diana Ross recorded a version of Ain't No Mountain High Enough and landed at number one on the US charts. Ross had previously made her debut as a soloist with the Ashford / Simpson composition Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand) . Other Motown artists such as Gladys Knight & the Pips , Supremes , the Four Tops or The Marvelettes followed Ross' example and recorded songs by Ashford and Simpson. The duo stayed with Motown until 1973.

Simpson also tried her hand at being a soloist in the early 1970s and released two moderately successful albums on the Motown sub-label Tamla , Exposed (1971) and Valerie Simpson (1972). These recordings were partially re-released under the title Keep It Comin ' in 1977 after she had successfully established herself in the charts with her husband . With Silly Wasn't I , Simpson had a small hit in the American pop and R&B charts.

Success with own records: the Warner years

In 1973 Warner Gimme released Something Real , Ashford & Simpson's debut album . In the following year, the duo, meanwhile also privately connected, got married. "Thanks to carefully produced soul songs", Ashford & Simpson were among the "most sought-after protagonists of the black music scene" in the following years. (Taurus Press) This was primarily due to the fifth studio album Send It , which was gilded in the USA in 1977 and which produced the R&B hit Don't Cost You Nothing . With the follow-up album Is It Still Good to Ya , the two were able to repeat their gold success in 1978, the single It Seems Hang to On reached number two in the R&B charts, and the album even topped the list. The 1979 LP Stay Free brought forth the hit single Found a Cure , which Ashford & Simpson made into the top 40 of the pop charts for the first time and became a disco classic. They had already dedicated themselves to this genre on their previous albums, without, however, denying their soul roots. The duo also received their third gold award for Stay Free .

At the same time, Ashford and Simpson provided other colleagues with hits in the disco beat: for example, in 1978 they wrote the feminist disco anthem I'm Every Woman , Chaka Khan's first solo hit, which was also a great success for Whitney Houston in 1992 . In 1979 they produced the entire album The Boss for Diana Ross, who returned to the top of the charts as a disco queen after a few flops. The single of the same name reached number one on Billboard's American disco hit list. Gladys Knight & the Pips (albums About Love and Touch , 1980 and 1981), Cheryl Lynn ( Believe in Me , 1982) and Stephanie Mills ( Keep Away Girls , 1982) also benefited from the duo's compositional skills.

After eight years of collaboration, the contract with Warner ended in 1981 with the live LP performance .

Biggest hit in the mid-1980s: The Capitol Years

With the 1982 work Street Corner and the R&B top ten hit of the same name, the collaboration with Capitol began , which ultimately made Ashford & Simpson's biggest hit possible. After the LP High-Rise (1983) did not land particularly high in the charts, contrary to the prophetic title, the album Solid and above all the single of the same name in 1984 sold extremely well. Solid topped the R&B charts and narrowly failed to make the top 10 on the American pop charts. It went even better in Europe: In Great Britain and Germany the song was in the top 3. The following singles Outta the World and Babies also made it into the charts, depending on the country, but could not repeat Solid's enormous success . This was followed by R&B hits with Count Your Blessings (1986) and I'll Be There for You (1989), after which the record deal with Capitol ended.

The years from 1990

The single Hungry for Me Again for the horror film Def by Temptation (1990) was to remain Ashford & Simpson's last Top 40 hit in the R&B charts. In total, the duo made 33 entries. The duo did well as a live artist, although record releases remained sporadic. Been Found was created in 1996 in close collaboration with the writer and human rights activist Maya Angelou . In 2002 Ashford & Simpson were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame . The Rolling Stone listed the duo in 2015 at number 83 of the 100 best songwriters of all time .

Private

Valerie Simpson is also closely related to music. Her brother Raymond "Ray" Simpson is the current police officer with the Village People . In 1978 she and her husband produced the album Tiger Love for her brother.

Nickolas Ashford died on August 22, 2011 in a New York hospital from complications from throat cancer . In addition to his wife, he also left two daughters.

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US R&B R&B
1974 Gimme Something Real - - - - US156 (13 weeks)
US 		R&B18 (17 weeks)
R&B
First published: October 1973
I wanna be selfish - - - - US195 (4 weeks)
US 		R&B21 (12 weeks)
R&B
First published: July 1974
1976 Come as you are - - - - US189 (4 weeks)
US 		R&B35 (14 weeks)
R&B
First published: March 1975
1977 So so Satisfied - - - - US180 (3 weeks)
US 		R&B30 (17 weeks)
R&B
First published: January 1977
Send it - - - - US52
gold
gold

(46 weeks)US 		R&B10 (39 weeks)
R&B
First published: September 1977
1978 Is It Still Good to Ya - - - - US20th
gold
gold

(28 weeks)US 		R&B1 (33 weeks)
R&B
First published: August 1978
1979 Stay Free - - - - US23
gold
gold

(23 weeks)US 		R&B3 (27 weeks)
R&B
First published: August 1979
1980 A musical affair - - - - US38 (12 weeks)
US 		R&B8 (23 weeks)
R&B
First published: August 1980
1982 Street Opera - - - - US45 (20 weeks)
US 		R&B5 (26 weeks)
R&B
First published: May 1982
1983 High rise - - - - US84 (12 weeks)
US 		R&B14 (25 weeks)
R&B
First published: August 1983
1984 Solid DE11 (13 weeks)
DE 		AT13 (10 weeks)
AT 		CH15 (5 weeks)
CH 		UK42 (6 weeks)
UK 		US29
gold
gold

(36 weeks)US 		R&B1 (43 weeks)
R&B
First published: October 1984
1986 Real love - - - - US74 (18 weeks)
US 		R&B12 (21 weeks)
R&B
First published: August 1986
1989 Love or Physical - - - - US135 (8 weeks)
US 		R&B28 (20 weeks)
R&B
First published: February 1989
1997 Been Found - - - - - R&B49 (12 weeks)
R&B
First published: December 1996
with Maya Angelou

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

literature

  • Stambler, Irwin: The Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock and Soul . 3rd Revised Edition, New York City, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989, pp. 18-20 - ISBN 0-312-02573-4 .

swell

  1. ↑ a b Timeline ( Memento of the original from June 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Songwriters Hall of Fame, songwritershalloffame.org, accessed August 23, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.songwritershalloffame.org
  2. ↑ a b Motown songwriter Nick Ashford has died , Spiegel Online, August 23, 2011, accessed August 23, 2011
  3. ^ A b CBS Sunday Morning Profile , 2009, YouTube.com, accessed August 24, 2011
  4. ↑ Valerie Simpson ( Memento of the original from February 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Songwriters Hall of Fame, songwritershalloffame.org, accessed August 23, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.songwritershalloffame.org
  5. ^ Ray Charles Hit Singles , Billboard.com, accessed August 24, 2011
  6. ↑ I Don't Need No Doctor by Ray Charles , Discogs.com, (accessed August 24, 2011)
  7. ↑ Bobby Hebb - Sunny - Release Info
  8. ↑ Valerie Simpson Solo Discography , Discogs.com, accessed August 24, 2011
  9. ^ Valerie Simpson solo hits , Billboard.com, accessed August 24, 2011
  10. ^ Ashford & Simpson Reviews , Wilson & Alroy's, warr.org, accessed August 24, 2011
  11. ^ Ashford & Simpson Discography , RateYourMusic.com, accessed August 24, 2011
  12. ^ Short biography , Taurus Press Verlag, accessed on August 24, 2011
  13. ↑ Diana Ross: The Boss , Discogs.com, accessed August 24, 2011
  14. ^ Joel Whitburn: Top R&B Singles 1942-1995 , Record Research 1996, page 14, ISBN 0-89820-115-2
  15. ↑ The 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. Rolling Stone , August 2015, accessed August 7, 2017 .
  16. ^ Ray Simpson, Tiger Love , Discogs.com, accessed August 24, 2011
  17. ↑ Chart sources: Singles Albums UK US1 US2
  18. ^ Joel Whitburn : Top R&B Albums 1965–1998, ISBN 0-89820-134-9 .

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