Tammi Terrell

Tammi Terrell forged a partnership with the legendary Marvin Gaye that produced some of Motown’s most enduring romantic anthems, only for her early death to cut short their celebrated string of duets, which included “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing,” and “You’re All I Need to Get By.” Born Thomasina Montgomery in Philadelphia on April 29, 1945, she captured numerous local talent contests and, by age thirteen, was regularly supporting visiting acts such as Gary “U.S.” Bonds and Patti LaBelle & the Bluebelles in area clubs. Producer Luther Dixon discovered her in 1961 and placed her on Scepter, where, billed as Tammy Montgomery, she debuted with the single “If You See Bill” and followed it early the next year with “The Voice of Experience.” After James Brown saw her perform live, he signed her to his Try Me label, resulting in the 1963 release “I Cried” and subsequent appearances on his revue; “If I Would Marry You” surfaced on Checker the following year, coinciding with her pre-med coursework at the University of Pennsylvania.

While sharing a Detroit bill with Jerry Butler in 1965, she drew the notice of Motown founder Berry Gordy, Jr., and made her label bow with “I Can’t Believe You Love Me.” When later singles “Come On and See Me,” “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You),” and “Hold Me Oh My Darling” drew scant attention, she was teamed with Gaye, already experienced in duets with Mary Wells and Kim Weston. Their rapport proved immediate, and in 1967 they reached the pop Top 20 with the resplendent “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” the first of several opulent, sensual successes written by the husband-and-wife team of Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson. “Your Precious Love” climbed into the Top Five a few months later, and in 1968 the duo claimed the R&B summit with both “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing” and “You’re All I Need to Get By.” Those triumphs were overshadowed, however, by Terrell’s mounting health problems; after prolonged severe migraine episodes, she collapsed in Gaye’s arms onstage at Virginia’s Hampton-Sydney College in 1967 and was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Although the tumor ended her live performances, she kept recording with Gaye even as her condition declined, and Valerie Simpson supplied uncredited vocals on several later hits, among them the 1969 tracks “Good Lovin’ Ain’t Easy to Come By” and “What You Gave Me.” For other selections, Gaye’s voice was added to existing Terrell solo recordings. In total she underwent eight operations, which left her with memory loss and partial paralysis; she died in Philadelphia on March 16, 1970, at age twenty-four. Gaye was so shaken by her illness and passing that he stayed off the road for three years, and the loss deepened the spiritual unrest that shaped his 1971 masterpiece What’s Going On.