Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell – United

Right after "Marvin Gaye" scored another Duet Hit with "Kim Weston" in "It Takes Two", "Motown" seemed to get greedy for another "Marvin" duet album...Problem was, "Kim Weston", for some reason, was no longer available...

With that, "Motown" had another talented Singer in "Ms. Tammi Terrell", who unfortunately, couldn't get a Hit for 2 years since She got with the company...

That all changed when she was brought to "Marvin"...

They gained instant chemistry, and that prompted the release of "United"....This one I actually own on Vinyl, so I am very excited about reviewing this one (but I still welcome anyone's incite)....

The album starts with the outstanding 1st Crown Jewel, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", written by the newly employed Writing Married team of " Nick Ashford" and "Valerie Simpson"...By this time it was 1967, so music was getting better in "R&B", more expressive..."Ashford & Simpson" had a lot to contribute to that....

"Berry Gordy" once again, couldn't help himself to get involved with " You Got What It Takes" (written with "Gwen Gordy Fuqua" and "Tyran Carlo")....

The 2nd Crown Jewel, "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You" (written by "Harvey Fuqua", "Johhny Bristol" and "Vernon Bullock"), took things to another level, proving the chemistry wasn't a fluke...

"Somethin' Stupid" just missed the Crown Jewel treatment, but it makes me laugh....

"Your Precious Love", the 3rd Crown Jewel, again has "Marvin" and "Tammi" on a sultry "Ashford & Simpson" track....

There are four more pretty good "Harvey Fuqua" influenced songs in "Hold Me Oh My Darling", "Two Can Have A Party", "Little Ole Boy, Little Ole Girl" (the 4th Crown Jewel) and "Give A Little Love".....

Then there is the Ultimate, Ultimate, Ultimate, Ultimate Crown Jewel in "If This World Were Mine" (Written solely by "Marvin")....Now, I get it, I really do...I know that everybody and their Grandmamas Grandmas swear by the "Luther Vandross" and "Cheryl Lynn" version...And it is classic....But can we finally just stop the madness, and admit that this version is the best version?!?!?!?!!??!! It will not kill you, I promise!!!!

With this album, "Motown" found straight treasure in having "Marvin" and "Tammi" together as a Duo....And for the next two years, this would prove to be very fruitful...This also helped "Marvin's" career go to greater heights, while it pulled "Tammi" out of obscurity, and into the limelight (where she belonged!!!!!!).....

I can't say how this compares to an original 67 press but this pressing sounds fantastic. Such power vocals and a great amount of bass on the instruments. I highly recommend this pressing

Such a great Motown record. Highly recommend to fans of soul and Motown.

There is a CD reissue earlier than the 2001 Spanish version. Very simple repro work, no sleeve notes, no remastering.