For those of you who might not know, Ashford and Simpson are a historic songwriting and performing duo. They are the actual writers of “Ain’t no Mountain High Enough,” performed by Marvin Gaye and Tammie Terrell. They also had hits with their own solo careers. Tunes like “Solid as a Rock, Don’t cost you Nothing, and it seems to hang on” were signature hits for them. Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson were husband and wife. If you are not familiar with them, here is one of their videos:
I have had the honor to work with them on several occasions. I even had dinner with them. Unfortunately, Nick Ashford is deceased but Valerie is still around. She currently has an open mic event (which I got the chance to visit) in Manhattan, New York. One time I got to perform with them doing the song “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” Valerie played the piano and the one thing I noticed was that she played it a little bit differently than it was played on the song for Marvin and Tammie. Nick was a tall man, and Valerie was short. On the surface you probably wouldn’t think they belonged together, but they did. I remember performing with Teddy Pendergrass in Westbury, New York (an outside venue) and while I was singing background (onstage) someone tapped me on the shoulder. Before I could turn around my first thought was “Who could possibly get to me onstage during a gig?” Well, it was “Ashford and Simpson” and they wanted to know if they could sing background for Teddy. “Of course, I gave them my microphone.” It was a really fun evening and I was really happy to be onstage with them. I have played for them on other occasions as well. I hope you don’t mind, but I wanted to share my experience with you today. Thank you for checking out my Daily Thought and as always I wish you the very best that life has to offer.
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