The Very Best of Ashford & Simpson by Ashford & Simpson (CD, Jan-2002, Rhino)

Album Features
UPC:	081227980429
Artist:	Ashford & Simpson
Format:	CD
Release Year:	2002
Record Label:	Rhino
Genre:	Disco, R&B

Track Listing
1. Medley: You're All I Need to Get By/Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing: You're All I Need To Get By / Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing / Ain't No Mountain High Enough - (live)
2. (I'd Know You) Anywhere
3. Somebody Told a Lie
4. Send It
5. Don't Cost You Nothing
6. By Way of Love's Express
7. Stuff Like That
8. It Seems to Hang On
9. Is It Still Good to Ya
10. Found a Cure
11. Nobody Knows
12. Love Don't Make It Right
13. Happy Endings
14. Street Corner
15. Solid

Details
Contributing Artists:	Patti Austin, Chaka Khan, Luther Vandross, Gwen Guthrie, Hubert Laws, Ralph MacDonald, Richard Tee, Eric Gale
Distributor:	WEA (Distributor)
Recording Type:	Studio
Recording Mode:	Stereo
SPAR Code:	n/a

Album Notes
Personnel includes: Valerie Simpson (vocals, arranger, piano, synthesizer); Nick Ashford (vocals, arranger); Chaka Khan (vocals); John Tropea, Eric Gale (guitar); Vinnie Della-Rocca (flute, saxophone); Hubert Laws (flute); George Young (tenor saxophone); Howard Johnson (baritone saxophone); Jon Faddis (trumpet); John Trevor Clark (French horn); Richard Tee (piano, organ); Ray Chew (Fender Rhodes piano, Clavinet); Michael Boddicker (vocodor, synthesizer, programming); Francisco Centeno, Anthony Jackson (bass); Yogi Horton, Steve Jordan, John Sussewell, Steve Gadd (drums); Ralph MacDonald (electronic drums, congas, percussion); Gwen Gutherie, Patti Austin, Ullanda McCullough, Raymond Simpson (background vocals).Producers include: Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson, Quincy Jones.Compilation producer: Gregg Geller.Engineers include: Mike Hutchinson, Jon Child, Tony May.Recorded between 1973 and 1984. Includes liner notes by Jim Bessman.All tracks have been digitally remastered.Personnel: Ullanda McCullough, Frank Floyd (vocals, background vocals); Gwen Guthrie, Lani Groves, Luther Vandross, Zachary Sanders, Vivian Cherry, Chaka Khan (vocals); Nick Ashford (whistling, background vocals); Eric Gale , Hugh McCracken, John Tropea, Andy Schwartz, Jerry Friedman (guitar); Bud Shank (alto flute); Seldon Powell (saxophone); David Tofani (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, horns); George Young (alto saxophone, horns); Eddie Daniels (alto saxophone); Chuck Findley, Raymond Maldonado, Bill Lamb, Jon Faddis, Oscar Brashear, Snooky Young, Virgil Jones (trumpet); Arthur Maebe, Brooks Tillotson, David Duke , Sidney Muldrow, Henry Sigismonti (French horn); Donald Waldrop, Dave Bargeron, David Earl Taylor, Jimmy Cleveland, Robert Payne, Bill Watrous, Charles Loper, Chauncey Welsch (trombone); Alan Raph (bass trombone); Tommy Johnson (tuba); Harold Vick, Howard Johnson , Hubert Laws, Jerome Richardson, Bill Perkins, Buddy Collette (horns); Richard Tee (piano, organ, keyboards); Valerie Simpson (piano, background vocals); Pete Cannarozzi (Fender Rhodes piano); Ray Chew (Clavinet, synthesizer, mini-Moog synthesizer); Don Grolnick (keyboards); Michael Boddicker (synthesizer, vocoder, programming); Rob Mounsey (synthesizer); Philip Woo (Moog synthesizer); Chris Parker , Steve Jordan , John Sussewell, Andrew Smith , Steve Gadd , Yogi Horton, Charlie Collins (drums); Ralph MacDonald (congas, percussion); David Carey , Crusher Bennett, Johnny Mandel, Sammy Figueroa (percussion); Raymond Simpson, Joshie Armstead (background vocals).Audio Mixers: Michael Hutchinson; Jimmy Simpson; Ed Rak; Elliot Scheiner; Bruce Swedien.Audio Remixer: François Kevorkian.Liner Note Author: Jim Bessman.Recording information: 39th Street Music; A&R Recording; Bell Sound, NY; Blank Tapes Inc; Cherokee studios; Clinton Recording; Generation Sound; Regent Sound, NY; Right Traack Recording Studio, NY; Sigma Sound, NY; The Hit Factory, New York, NY; Westlake Audio, Los Angeles, CA.Director: Tom Bahler.Arrangers: Paul Riser; Quincy Jones.Rhino's 2002 release The Very Best of Ashford & Simpson comes very close to being a complete greatest hits, but it stumbles on a major point -- it only contains two songs from the group's Capitol recordings from the early '80s, including the hit "Solid." The rest is devoted to the duo's Warner recordings of the '70s. This isn't a bad thing, actually, since Ashford & Simpson were at their creative peak then, and this collection also touches on their superb writing gig at Motown with an opening live medley. So, this hits nearly all the bases -- but misses just enough to stop it from being definitive. Still, it's arguably the best Ashford & Simpson collection assembled, and it will satisfy many listeners looking for a collection like this. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine