![]() “It Takes Two” is a ebullient single that hints at what might have been had Weston stayed at Motown and the Ross sides both build on the Terrell era and gesture toward Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway, who had replaced Gaye and Terrell as the dominant duet act in soul music. The Terrell songs are the best, both in conception and execution. Despite the tumult and tragedy at its foundation, the songs on the collection are nearly all keepers. “Marvin Gaye & His Women” was originally released in 1973 even then, it was a substitute for (and an update of) “Marvin Gaye and His Girls,” from 1969. They were hits and had hits, but these songs were slicker and more calculated than the Terrell material, without their jubilant spontaneity. When Terrell died, in 1970, Gaye was deeply depressed by her loss, and he turned away from singing and performing, only to emerge with “What’s Going On.” Once Gaye was reëstablished as a solo star, the label took one more shot, pairing him with Diana Ross for two albums. The hits kept on coming, including “You’re All I Need To Get By” and “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing,” but by 1969 Terrell was too ill to perform, and the duo’s third album, “Easy,” may or may not have been secretly sung by Valerie Simpson. In October of 1967, Terrell collapsed onstage and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The pairing was perfect but star-crossed. The result-pushed along by Terrell’s crystal-clear vocals and Gaye’s inimitable combination of softness and urgency-went top twenty, and they followed it up with songs like “Your Precious Love” and “If I Could Build My Whole World Around You.” Mindful of Gaye’s track record, they had both singers record versions and then mixed them together. The label even had a song in mind: “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” written by Nicholas Ashford and Valerie Simpson. In 1966, Gaye was paired with Tammi Terrell, who had been a teen-age singer for James Brown. Motown, now flailing a bit, put Gaye with a third singer, Oma Page (sometimes misidentified as Oma Heard): they recorded a few sides that went nowhere. Motown moved Gaye along to Kim Weston “It Takes Two” was a massive hit but Weston, too, departed the label. While the record helped to establish Gaye, the softer tone diluted Wells’s identity, and she left the label. Their album, “Together,” had a cover photo showing the two singers staring at each other with what is supposed to be romantic ardor but looks more like competitive skepticism. In 1964, the label paired Gaye with Mary Wells, then the queen of Motown.
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