The Real Tammi Terrell?
Josef Quest
I have recently heard that it is really Valerie Simpson singing on "Ain't
Nothing Like The Real Thing". I always thought it was Val singing on "The
Onion Song", but I had no idea about "The Real Thing". Can anyone verify
which major hits did Tammi really sang with Marvin? Is the United album
really Tammi singing on it?
Josef
Gerry Mack
are clearly dissimilar. First, Tammy Terell;s accent is more southern
than is, forgive me, was more southern than is Simson's. Valerie Simson's
voice, and by no means do I mean this in a disparaging way, is a smoother,
somewhat less robust voice than was Tammy Terrell's.
Gerry
Michael T. Wilson
For the life of me I cannot see how what you refer to is a 'trueism'.
Just listen to Valerie Simpsons' voice compared to Tammi Terrells' and
you just cannot get confused.
Valerie Simpson and Nick Ashford wrote (some of) the songs and recorded
versions of them seperately. I believe that they also featured as
backing vocalists on some tracks but actually the voice of Val instead
of Tammi? I really think not.
Keep the faith
KC R
Tammi Terrell when in actuality it WAS Valerie Simpson singing on it.
Not over dubbed or mixed with Tammi's voice just Valerie and Marvin.
Lois T.
--
A Coward Dies a Thousand Deaths.
A Brave Man Dies But Once....
May Peace Go With You
Always
Revoile
You're not addressing the issue. No one has suggested that Valerie Simpson sang
on all the albums credited to Tammi Terrell. The question was which, out of
many recordings credited to Tammi Terrell, might have been sung by Valerie
Simpson. I don't know if this practice was common at Motown but at other labels
it was not uncommon for one singer to be credited while another one actually
sang. Darlene Love apparently sang on many recordings for Phil Spector that
were credited to others.
Charles R.
Simon
Valerie Simpson.
This was at Motown's suggestion to generate income for Tammi, particularly
when she needed the money to pay for her medical treatment.
If you re-listen to the Marvin and Tammi records - you can easily detect
which tracks are NOT Tammi singing - but Val.
This was a closeley guarded "secret" at Motown for many years.
Simon
Lisa & Steve
due to Tammi being too ill. Marvin is quoted as saying "Tammi didn't do
most of that album with me....she wasn't able to sing then " It goes on
to say that Marvin was not fond of the idea, but agreed as Motown
covinced him it was a way for Tammi's family to get additional income.
Marvin claimed that both hits from the album " What you gave me" and The
Onion Song" were recorded with Valerie Simpson....so close were the
voices that he was unsure about one track himself " I can't believe you
love me".
"Ain't nothing like the real thing" was on their 1968 album "You're all
I need"....all of which was prior to Tammi falling ill. I guess nobody
will know for sure, but as her illness and the "Easy" album were all
1969, in my opinion "Real thing" is Tammi...no question. Valerie's
overly nasally interpretation of Tammi in "Onion Song" especially
convinces me.
HarlemGuy
Valerie sings on all of the songs on EASY, except for "I Can't Believe You Love
Me" and "More, More, More."
"I Can't Believe You Love Me" was Tammi's solo hit and Marvin went back in the
studio and overdubbed his vocals and re-sang a verse or two. If you compare
her solo version with the duet version you will hear the difference. "More,
More, More" was another solo song that Marvin's vocals were added to. If you
have it on CD, and you listen closely, you can hear where the tape was edited
to repeat some of Tammi's parts.
