Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing

"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing"
Single by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
from the album You're All I Need
Released March 28, 1968
Format 7" single
Recorded Hitsville USA; 1967
Genre Soul, pop
Length 2:12
Label Tamla
T 54163
Songwriter(s) Ashford & Simpson
Producer(s) Ashford & Simpson
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell singles chronology
"If I Could Build My Whole World Around You"
(1967)		 "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing"
(1968)		 "You're All I Need to Get By"
(1968)

"If I Could Build My Whole World Around You"
(1967)		 "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing"
(1968)		 "You're All I Need to Get By"
(1968)

"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" is a 1968 single released by American R&B/soul duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, on the Tamla label in 1968. The B-side of the single is "Little Ole Boy, Little Ole Girl" from the duo's United LP. The first release off the duo's second album: You're All I Need, the song - written and produced by regular Gaye/Terrell collaborators Ashford & Simpson - became a hit within weeks of release eventually peaking at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the Hot Soul Singles chart,[1] the first of the duo's s two number 1 R&B hits. In the UK "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" reached number 34.

"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" is ranked as the 57th biggest US hit of 1968.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1968) Peak
position
Canadian RPM [2] 9
UK 34
US Billboard Hot 100 8
US R&B 1
US Cash Box Top 100[3] 9

Year-end charts

Chart (1968) Rank
US Billboard Hot 100[4] 57
US Cash Box [5] 70

Personnel

Preceded by
"Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day" by Stevie Wonder		 Billboard Hot R&B Singles number-one single
June 8, 1968 		Succeeded by
"Think" by Aretha Franklin

Remakes

US charting versions

Aretha Franklin remade "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" for her 1974 album Let Me in Your Life. It was issued as the album's third hit single that August. Franklin's version radically re-invents the upbeat Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell original as a deep soul ballad which Jon Landau of Rolling Stone dismissed as "misconceived (done too slowly)".[6] "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" reached #6 on the Billboard Soul chart and #47 on the Hot 100 that fall. It won Franklin the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance Grammy for 1974 marking Franklin's eighth total and consecutive win in that category and her last such win until the Grammys for 1981.

Donny Osmond and Marie Osmond, billed as Donny & Marie, remade "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" for their November 1976 album release New Season with the track having a concurrent single release to reach #21 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1977 also charting Adult Contemporary at #17.

Chris Christian remade "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" in medley with another Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell hit "You're All I Need to Get By" for his Bob Gaudio-produced 1981 album: a duet with Amy Holland, the track "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing/ You're All I Need to Get By" had a single release in the summer of 1982 to reach #88 on Billboard Hot 100 also charting Adult Contemporary at #21. (Amy Holland's husband Michael McDonald would remake "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" for his 2003 album Motown.) Christian's 1986 live album release Live At Six Flags features "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" in medley with "Don't Worry Baby" and "I Go to Pieces".

Marcella Detroit & Elton John version

"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing"
Single by Marcella Detroit and Elton John
from the album Duets and Jewel
Released 2 May 1994
Recorded 1993
Genre Pop
Length 3:36
Label London Records
Songwriter(s) Marcella Detroit
Marcella Detroit singles chronology
"I Believe"
(1994)		 "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing"
(1994)		 "I'm No Angel"
(1994)

"I Believe"
(1994)		 "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing"
(1994)		 "I'm No Angel"
(1994)
Elton John singles chronology
"Shakey Ground"
(1994) Shakey Ground1994		 "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing"
(1994) Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing1994		 "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"
(1994) Can You Feel the Love Tonight1994
Alternative cover

CD single 2

"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" was recorded by UK singer Elton John and US singer Marcella Detroit for John's 1993 album Duets. After its inclusion on Detroit's album Jewel, the song was released as a single under London Records in May 1994, as the fourth and final song from Duets, and the second single from Jewel, with all b-sides performed solo by Detroit.[7][8]

Track listing

  1. "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" — 3:36
  2. "Break the Chain" — 3:47
  3. "I Feel Free" — 4:08
  1. "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" (Kenny Dope Extended Mix) — 5:48
  2. "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" (Troopa Mood Mix) — 3:43
  3. "I Feel Free" (Full Cream Mix) — 9:35
  4. "I Feel Free" (Cry Out Loud Mix) — 5:47

Charts

Chart (1994) Peak
position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[9] 24

Other versions

References

  1. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 225.
  2. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  3. ↑ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, June 8, 1968
  4. ↑ "Top 100 Hits of 1968/Top 100 Songs of 1978". musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  5. ↑ Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 28, 1968
  6. ↑ Landau, Jon (1974-04-11). "Let Me in Your Life". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  7. ↑ "Elton John - Duets at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2012-12-02.
  8. ↑ "Marcella Detroit at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2012-12-02.
  9. ↑ "Chart Log UK 1994–2010 Asher D – Dyverse". Retrieved 2012-11-25.
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