Ashford & Simpson

Biography

Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting, production and recording duo composed of Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946).
Ashford was born in Fairfield, South Carolina, and Simpson in the Bronx, New York City. Ashford's family relocated to Ypsilanti, Michigan, where he became a member of Christ Temple Baptist Church. While there, he sang with a group called the Hammond Singers (named after the founding minister, James Hammond). Later, Ashford attended and graduated from Willow Run High School in Ypsilanti, Michigan, before pursuing his professional career, when he would ultimately meet his wife, Valerie Simpson. They met at Harlem's White Rock Baptist Church in 1964. After having recorded unsuccessfully as a duo, they joined an aspiring solo artist and former member of The Ikettes, Joshie Jo Armstead, at the Scepter/Wand label, where their compositions were recorded by Ronnie Milsap ("Never Had It So Good") and Maxine Brown ("One Step at a Time"), as well as The Shirelles, The Guess Who, and Chuck Jackson. Another of the trio's songs, "Let's Go Get Stoned", gave Ray Charles a number one U.S. R&B hit in 1966. That same year, Ashford and Simpson joined Motown, where their best-known songs included "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "You're All I Need to Get By", "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", and "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)." Ashford and Simpson wrote many other hit songs, including Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman" (1978) and "Is It Still Good to Ya×Is It Still Good to Ya1978 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracksA1It Seems to Hang On5:13A2Is It Still Good to Ya3:53A3The Debt Is Settled3:53A4Ain’t It a Shame4:56B1Get Up and Do Something4:55B2You Always Could3:36B3Flashback3:59B4As Long as It Holds You3:59?", originally recorded by the duo in 1978 and covered by Teddy Pendergrass in 1980.
As performers, Ashford & Simpson's best-known duets are "Solid×Solid1984 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracks1Solid5:122Outta the World5:493The Jungle (From the Film 'Body Rock')2:554Honey I Love You4:035Babies5:046Closest to Love (From the Film 'Body Rock')4:157Cherish Forever More3:528Tonight We Escape (We Make Love)3:17" (1984) and "Found a Cure×Found A Cure1979 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAFound A Cure7:00BYou Always Could3:22" (1979). The duo was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002. They are also recipients of The Rhythm & Blues Foundation's Pioneer Award, ASCAP Founders Award, and the Grammy Trustee Award. Rolling Stone ranked them No. 19 on its list of the 20 Greatest Duos of All Time.
Nick Ashford was also an occasional actor, having appeared as Reverend Oates in the 1991 movie New Jack City.

Songwriters

The duo essentially had two careers: one as a successful writing and producing team and the other as singers and performers themselves. They started their career in the mid-1960s, writing for artists such as the 5th Dimension ("California Soul"), Aretha Franklin ("Cry Like a Baby"), and Ray Charles ("Let's Go Get Stoned"). Their work with Charles brought them to the attention of Motown chief Berry Gordy.
Upon joining the Motown staff in 1966, Ashford & Simpson were paired with the vocal duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and they wrote and/or produced all but one of the late-1960s Gaye/Terrell singles, including hits such as the original version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "Your Precious Love", "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", and "You're All I Need to Get By". According to Gaye in the book Divided Soul, Simpson did most of the vocals on the last album he did with Terrell, Easy, as a way for Terrell's family to have additional income, as she was battling an ultimately fatal brain tumor. Though Louvain Demps, singer of the Andantes, has stated that she saw Terrell recording the album, Simpson is quoted as saying, in a book written by Terrell's sister Ludie Montgomery, what they saw was her singing the guide tracks for the album, which were later replaced by Tammi's own vocals.
Ashford & Simpson wrote and produced almost all the songs on three 1970s albums for former Supreme Diana Ross, including her first solo album Diana Ross ("Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)") and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", Surrender ("Remember Me"), and The Boss. All three albums were critically acclaimed with Diana Ross, her 1970 album debut, and The Boss being certified platinum and "Surrender" certified gold.
Other Motown artists whom Ashford & Simpson worked with include Gladys Knight & the Pips ("Didn't You Know You'd Have to Cry Sometime", and after Motown they wrote and produced for this group "Landlord", "Bourgie, Bourgie", and "Taste of Bitter Love"), Smokey Robinson & the Miracles ("Who's Gonna Take the Blame"), Syreeta Wright ("I Can't Give Back the Love I Feel for You"), the Marvelettes ("Destination: Anywhere"), Martha Reeves and the Vandellas ("Tear It On Down" and "It Ain't Like That"), the Dynamic Superiors ("Shoe, Shoe Shine"), Blinky Williams ("I Wouldn't Change the Man He Is"), and the Supremes with the Four Tops (original duets, plus the production of a hit cover of Phil Spector's "River Deep-Mountain High").
Other artists with whom Ashford & Simpson had hits were Teddy Pendergrass ("Is It Still Good to Ya×Is It Still Good to Ya1978 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracksA1It Seems to Hang On5:13A2Is It Still Good to Ya3:53A3The Debt Is Settled3:53A4Ain’t It a Shame4:56B1Get Up and Do Something4:55B2You Always Could3:36B3Flashback3:59B4As Long as It Holds You3:59"), the Brothers Johnson ("Ride-O-Rocket"), Stephanie Mills ("Keep Away Girls"), Ace Spectrum ("Don't Send Nobody Else') and Chaka Khan, both on her own ("I'm Every Woman" and "Clouds"), and with Rufus ("Keep It Comin'" and "Ain't Nothin' But a Maybe").

Performers

Ashford & Simpson's career as recording artists began in the early 1960s as part of the gospel group the Followers, with whom they recorded the album Gospel Meeting (on Forum Circle), later issued as Meetin' The Followers (on Roulette Records). The LP contains their vocals and also four Ashford compositions. In 1964, they recorded "I'll Find You", as "Valerie & Nick". That was followed by several obscure singles recorded by Ashford on the Glover, Verve and ABC labels, such as "It Ain't Like That" (not the same song as they would later write for Martha Reeves and the Vandellas), "California Soul", and "Dead End Kids", backed by his own version of "Let's Go Get Stoned".
Simpson appeared (with Melba Moore) as part of the "Blood, Sweat & Tears Soul Chorus" on the band's debut album Child Is Father to the Man in 1968. After concentrating on working with other artists, Simpson was the featured soloist on the songs "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and "What's Going On" on the Quincy Jones albums Gula Matari in 1970, and its follow-up, Smackwater Jack.
Simpson subsequently recorded two solo LPs for Motown: Exposed in 1971, and, the following year, Valerie Simpson, which included the single "Silly, Wasn't I". In 1973, they left Motown after the albums Simpson recorded for the label received poor promotion, and the company refused to release an album of the duo recording a collection of their most famous songs for other artists.

Ashford and Simpson married after resuming their career as a duo and would go on to have two daughters. In 1973, Warner Bros. released their first duo album titled Gimme Something Real×Gimme Something Real1973 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1Bend Me3:182Time4:403Have You Ever Tried It3:254Gimme Something Real6:335Can You Make It Brother4:276I'm Determined3:187Ain't That Good Enough3:128I Need Your Light3:419Anywhere5:00. This was followed in 1974 by I Wanna Be Selfish. In 1975, Simpson sang backing vocals on Paul Simon's number-one hit "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover", and in 1976 they released Come As You Are. 1977 saw the release of two albums – So So Satisfied×So So Satisfied1977 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracksA1Tried, Tested and Found True5:27A2Couldn’t Get Enough3:37A3Maybe I Can Find It5:15A4Destiny3:54B1So So Satisfied7:04B2Over and Over4:21B3It’s You3:52B4If You’re Lying5:04 and Send It×Send It1977 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracks1By Way of Love’s Express3:382Let Love Use Me4:423Don’t Cost You Nothin’4:544Send It4:295Top of the Stairs4:416Too Badd3:287Bourgié Bourgié (instrumental)6:088Waited Too Long4:38. This was followed by the hit singles "Send It", "Don't Cost You Nothin'" (1977), "It Seems To Hang On×It Seems to Hang On5 May 2023 · Single · RemixSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1It Seems to Hang On (special disco remix)10:18" (1978), "Is It Still Good To Ya×Is It Still Good to Ya1978 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracksA1It Seems to Hang On5:13A2Is It Still Good to Ya3:53A3The Debt Is Settled3:53A4Ain’t It a Shame4:56B1Get Up and Do Something4:55B2You Always Could3:36B3Flashback3:59B4As Long as It Holds You3:59" (1978), "Found a Cure×Found A Cure1979 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAFound A Cure7:00BYou Always Could3:22" (1979), "Street Corner×Street Corner1982 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAStreet Corner4:35BMake It Work Again3:42" (1982), and their biggest hit, "Solid×Solid1984 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracks1Solid5:122Outta the World5:493The Jungle (From the Film 'Body Rock')2:554Honey I Love You4:035Babies5:046Closest to Love (From the Film 'Body Rock')4:157Cherish Forever More3:528Tonight We Escape (We Make Love)3:17", released in 1984.
In 1978, they were featured as vocalists along with Chaka Khan, on the hit single "Stuff Like That" from Quincy Jones' Sounds...and Stuff Like That!! album and contributed to the writing of the soundtrack to The Wiz.
In 1986, the duo appeared as themselves in "Nocturne", an episode of the popular television series The Equalizer, where they performed their hit single "Count Your Blessings" from their Real Love album.
On his own, Ashford (along with Frank Wilson) produced the hit "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me", which Diana Ross & the Supremes recorded in collaboration with the Temptations in 1968. He also appeared in the movie New Jack City (1991), as Reverend Oates, an ordained minister who was part of Nino Brown's entourage.
Simpson's brothers were in the record business as well: Ray Simpson replaced Victor Willis in the Village People and their brother Jimmy Simpson produced the group GQ (which had big hits with "Disco Nights (Rock-Freak)" and "I Do Love You"), and was in great demand as a mixing engineer during the disco era.

Recent years and Ashford's death

In latter times, Ashford & Simpson recorded and toured sporadically, and in 1996, they opened a restaurant and live entertainment venue, Sugar Bar in New York City, with an open mic on Thursday nights, where performers included Queen Latifah, Vickie Natale and Felicia Collins. Ashford & Simpson recorded the album Been Found×Been Found1996 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Been Found2I Remember All3Made For Me4Where We Come From Co-producer5This Time It's Real Co-producer6What If7Just Talking8Keeps On Getting Better Co-producer9Sweet Thing10It's Your Love11Why Shouldn't It Be Me with poet Maya Angelou in 1996. Around that time, they were also featured disc jockeys on New York radio station WRKS.
On August 16, 2006, Playbill Online reported that they were writing the score for a musical based on E. Lynn Harris's novel Invisible Life.
Ashford died at the age of 70 in a New York City hospital on August 22, 2011, four days before Valerie Simpson's 65th birthday, of complications from throat cancer. His publicist, Liz Rosenberg, said that he had undergone radiation therapy to treat his illness.
Simpson released a solo album in June 2012, called Dinosaurs Are Coming Back Again, which also featured the last recorded performance of Nina Simone, a second duet with Roberta Flack and an instrumental version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".
In May 2014, Simpson was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music.

Grammy Awards

Ashford and Simpson were nominated for three Grammy Awards. In 2019, they received the Grammy Trustees Award.

Compilation albums

The Best of Ashford & Simpson (1993, Capitol)
Capitol Gold: The Best of Ashford & Simpson (1996, Capitol)
The Gospel According to Ashford & Simpson: Count Your Blessings (1996, EMI)
The Very Best of Ashford & Simpson (2002, Warner Bros./Rhino)
The Warner Bros. Years: Hits, Remixes & Rarities (2008, Rhino)
Love Will Fix It: The Warner Bros. Records Anthology 1973-1981 (2018, Groove Line)

Singles

A Singles credited to Valerie & Nick
B Ashford & Simpson and Khan sang uncredited co-lead vocals on "Stuff Like That"

Valerie Simpson

Listed below are solo recordings made by Valerie Simpson.

Nick Ashford

Listed below are solo recordings made by Nick Ashford.

Singles

1966: "I Don't Need No Doctor"
1967: "When I Feel the Need"
1968: "California Soul"
1970: "Dead End Kids"