Tammi Terrell

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Tammi Terrell
Tammi Terrell
Born April 29, 1945
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died March 16, 1970
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania


Tammi Terrell (born Thomasina Montgomery) (April 29, 1945 – March 16, 1970) was an American Motown singer in the 1960s, best known for her duets with Marvin Gaye.


Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early years

Tammi Terrell in her early years.
Tammi Terrell in her early years.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she entered the music business at the age of 13, regularly performing live. In 1961 she was signed to the fledgling Scepter Records (later Wand Records), recording under the name "Tammy Montgomery". After coming to the attention of James Brown she recorded one single apiece for Brown's own Try Me record label and, in 1964, Checker Records. The year after that, she was spotted by Berry Gordy Jr. while playing live, and signed to his Motown label. Attractive and talented, she became romantically linked with both James Brown and David Ruffin, who was in the award winning group The Temptations.

[edit] Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell

Initially Terrell recorded solo, with only moderate success (she had a pair of R&B Top 30 singles in 1966, "I Can't Believe You Love Me" and "Come on and See Me") . However, from 1967 onwards she recorded a series of duets with Marvin Gaye, producing hits with Ashford & Simpson written tunes such as "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" and "You're All I Need to Get By".

However, Terrell's success was to be short-lived. On October 14, 1967, while in concert at the homecoming for a college in Virginia, she collapsed in Gaye's arms. (Sources differ as to the exact site; some say it was Hampton University, others say it was Hampden-Sydney College.) She was rushed to the hospital, where she was later diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. From then on her health deteriorated. Gaye later told his biographer David Ritz that Terrell was no longer able to record and that Valerie Simpson recorded most of the female vocals on the final Gaye/Terrell duet album, Easy. (Simpson is quoted as denying this in a book written by Terrell's sister Ludie Montgomery.) Terrell died on March 16, 1970 at the age of 24. Marvin Gaye reacted to her death by taking a two year hiatus from concert performance and went into self-isolation. In addition, in 1971 Gaye's classic album What's Going On, an introspective, low-key work which dealt with mature themes, was in part a reaction to Terrell's death.

[edit] Rumors

Rumors persist that Terrell's condition was either brought on, or worsened by, domestic abuse from her live-in boyfriend, Temptations singer David Ruffin, as well as James Brown during her early career. While Ruffin and Terrell did fight, it was never proven that Ruffin abused her severely enough to damage her in such a way. Speculation has occurred for years that Terrell may have had an affair with her frequent singing partner Marvin Gaye. Tammi Terrell was also rumored to have married boxer Ernie Terrell, but Terrell's sister Ludie Montgomery dispells this rumor as false in Terrell's biography, My Sister Tommie, explaining that "Terrell" was a stage name that Motown founder Berry Gordy gave her.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

with Marvin Gaye

  • 1967: United
  • 1968: You're All I Need (6 of its 12 tracks were existing Terrell solo tracks with Gaye overdubs)
  • 1969: Easy
  • 1970: Greatest Hits (posthumous)
  • 2001: The Complete Duets (compilation of United, You're All I Need, and Easy)

[edit] Solo

[edit] Singles

[edit] with Marvin Gaye

(* - credited as Tammi Terrell, when lyrics were actually sang by Valerie Simpson)

[edit] Solo

[edit] See also

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

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