Nick Ashford (born May 4, 1942, Fairfield, South Carolina) and Valerie Simpson (born Aug 26, 1946, New York City, New York) had two careers, as songwriters and as performers, with the former seemingly more important than the latter until the mid-’80s. The two met in 1964 and scored their first songwriting hit in 1966 with Ray Charles’ recording of their “Let’s Go Get Stoned.”
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.
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 with whom Ashford & Simpson worked include Gladys Knight & The Pips (“Didn’t You Know You’d Have to Cry Sometime”,(after Motown they worked with Gladys Knight & the Pips and wrote and produced – “Landlord”, “Bourgie, Bourgie”, and “Taste of Bitter Love”), Smokey Robinson & The Miracles (“Who’s Gonna Take the Blame”), The Marvelettes (“Destination:Anywhere”), The Supremes (“Some Things You Never Get Used To”), and The Dynamic Superiors (“Shoe, Shoe Shine”).
Other artists with whom Ashford & Simpson had hits were Teddy Pendergrass (“Is It Still Good to You”), The Brothers Johnson (“Ride-O-Rocket”), 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”).
Though they cut a 1964 single (“I’ll Find You”) for the Glover label, their performing career was not truly launched until 1973, when they released Keep It Comin’ on Motown and Gimme Something Real on Warner Bros. Their first crossover success came in 1977 with the gold-selling Send It, which contained the Top Ten R&B hit “Don’t Cost You Nothing.” Is It Still Good to Ya, a second gold album, contained the number two R&B hit “It Seems to Hang On” in 1978. Stay Free, their third straight gold album, contained “Found a Cure,” another R&B smash that also made the Top 40 on the pop chart. A Musical Affair, in 1980, featured the hit “Love Don’t Make It Right.” Their biggest hit, “Solid (As a Rock)”, was released in 1984.
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 with poet Maya Angelou in 1996. Around that time, they were also featured disc jockeys on New York radio station WRKS.
They were given writing credit on Amy Winehouse’s 2007 CD Back to Black for the single “Tears Dry on Their Own.” The track is based on a sample of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s 1967 Motown hit “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” They had begun performing their act in small, intimate venues, such as Feinstein’s at the Regency in New York and the Rrazz Room in San Francisco, and in January 2009, they released a CD and DVD of their live performances titled The Real Thing.
At President Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration, Ashford and Simpson rewrote their song, “Solid (as a Rock)”, as “Solid as Barack”. They dedicated it to him at his inaugural festivities.
Nick Ashford died in a New York City hospital on August 22, 2011, four days before Valerie Simpson’s 65th birthday, of complications from throat cancer.