The Night Shift

“There’ll be a sweet sound, coming down on the night shift…”

No line from a song was truer yesterday, August 22, 2011.  I woke this morning to the news that Nick Ashford, 69, had passed away, suffering complications from throat cancer.

If, from a songwriting point-of-view, Motown was ‘the house that Smokey built’, the husband and wife songwriting/production/performing team of Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson would definitely be foremen on his construction crew.  Their contributions are well-documented (and well-played) by many more knowledgeable than I; so, I’ll just get to the mix.

I often employ ‘the double-play’ in my mixes – an original paired with a remake.  (Me being me, the cover is usually by a Jackson.  I can’t help it.)   This Night Shift Tribute is all double-plays, mainly in answer to my son asking, “What did he write?”  My kids hear these songs all the time.  They might know it’s Ray Charles singing “Let’s Go Get Stoned”.  Now, they know Ashford and Simpson wrote it.

So {raising a glass}, to you, Mr. Ashford.

Godspeed and God bless.

Nick Ashford & Valerie Simpson

Song – Artist – Album

1. JBethune
2. Let’s Go Get Stoned – Ashford & Simpson – The Real Thing
3. Let’s Go Get Stoned – Ray Charles – Genius
4. Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing – Ashford & Simpson – The Real Thing
5. Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing – Jackson 5 – Looking Through The Windows
6. JBethune
7. Your Precious Love – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell – The Best of Marvin Gaye
8. Your Precious Love – Ashford & Simpson – The Real Thing
9. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Ashford & Simpson – The Real Thing
10. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell – The Best of Marvin Gaye
11. JBethune
12. Reach Out And Touch (Somebody’s Hand ) – Ashford & Simpson – The Real Thing
13. Reach Out And Touch (Somebody’s Hand) – Diana Ross – All The Great Hits
14. Is It Still Good To Ya’ – Ashford & Simpson – Smooth Grooves  Soulful Duets
15. Is It Still Good To You – Teddy Pendergrass – TP
16. Ain’t Nothing But A Maybe – Ashford & Simpson – I Wanna Be Selfish
17. Ain’t Nothing But A Maybe – Rufus – Rags To Rufus
18. I’m Every Woman – Ashford & Simpson – The Real Thing
19. I’m Every Woman – Chaka Khan – Epiphany:  The Best of Chaka Khan
20. JBethune
21. Stuff Like That – Quincy Jones – Sounds…And Stuff Like That
22. Stuff Like That (feat. Charlie Wilson, Ray Charles, Brandy, Chaka Khan, Ashford & Simpson – Quincy Jones – Q’s Jook Joint
23. You’re All I Need To Get By – Ashford & Simpson – The Real Thing
24. You’re All I Need To Get By – Aretha Franklin – 30 Greatest Hits
25. Solid – Ashford & Simpson – Solid

P.S.,

Yeah, there’s a Jackson 5 jam in there.  I just couldn’t help myself.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011 at 6:48 pm and is filed under Classic R&B, Motown, r&b, Soul Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.