What You Gave Me

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"What You Gave Me"
What You Gave Me - Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.jpg
Single by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
from the album Easy
B-side "How You Gonna Keep It (After You Get It)"
ReleasedNovember 1969
Recorded1968–1969, Hitsville USA
Genre Soul
Length2:38
Label Tamla
Songwriter(s) Ashford & Simpson
Producer(s) Ashford & Simpson
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell singles chronology
"That's the Way Love Is"
(1968)
"What You Gave Me"
(1969)
"How Can I Forget/Gonna Give Her All the Love I've Got"
(1970)
"What You Gave Me"
What You Gave Me - Diana Ross.jpg
Single by Diana Ross
from the album Ross
Released1978
Genre Soul, Disco
Label Motown Records
Songwriter(s) Ashford & Simpson
Producer(s) Hal Davis
Diana Ross singles chronology
"Lovin', Livin' and Givin'"
(1978)
"What You Gave Me"
(1978)
"Ease On Down The Road"
(1978)

"What You Gave Me" is a hit duet written and produced by Ashford & Simpson and issued as a single originally by the vocal duo of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell in 1969 on the Tamla label.

Contents

Recorded in the final throes of the Gaye-Terrell duet recordings, the song became the second single from their album, Easy . As with much of the album, there is debate over who sang with Gaye: Terrell, who was undergoing treatment for brain cancer, or the track's co-writer and co-producer, Valerie Simpson.

While Gaye later insisted that Simpson stood in for Terrell, Simpson has maintained that Terrell took part in the recordings. Whatever the case, the song gave the duo a modest charting, peaking at number forty-nine pop and number six R&B. [1]

Cash Box described it as a "finely honed vocal collaboration." [2]

Chart history

Later versions

David Ruffin also recorded the song for his 1969 album Feelin' Good. It was revived years later as a club hit by Diana Ross in 1978. Her version peaked at #86 on the R&B charts.

Credits

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 225.
  2. "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. November 22, 1969. p. 18. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  3. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN   0-89820-089-X
  4. The Top 100 Soul/R&B Singles