Everyone loves stone classic Ain’t No Mountain High Enough but it was just one of the many hits penned by songwriting guns for hire Ashford & Simpson,
But like many top class songwriters who provide the guide tracks as they demo their hits they decided to go for it themselves and their second album saw this married couple not only really cut loose vocally, but really funk it up.
The first single Main Line was not a surprisingly a big hit on the R&B chart as they praised the Lord over a track that is influenced by the disco scene that was emerging around them. Top class songwriters like these two will pick up on the latest sounds and use it in their own inimitable way.
Ain’t That Something goes back to their Motown days where less was more, and in two minutes of pure pop gold sing of their love for each other as the vocals soar over top class playing led by Paul Riser.
But it’s the ballads that really showcase the almost telepathic interplay between these gifted vocalists, and you’d have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by Take All The Time You Need.
It is a mark of how good these two were that they played at Barack Obama’s first inauguration as the first Black President really knows his soul music.
BBR have even thrown in an interview with Valerie Simpson, and a previously unreleased long version of Main Line, but best of all they have brought these lost gems back into the public domain.
