Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell / Easy (US, Tamla, TS294DJ, WLP) <September 16, 1969>

Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell / Easy (US, Tamla, TS294DJ, WLP) <September 16, 1969>
(SIDE 1) HS-1614-2 X4RS-3381-1 TS-294
(SIDE 2) HS-1615-2 X4RS-3382-1 TS-294

"Easy" is an album recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and released by Motown Records on September 16, 1969 under the Tamla Records label. One song on the album, "Good Lovin' Ain't Easy To Come By", was a hit single and remains popular to this day. Terrell had been ill, suffering from complications caused by a brain tumor, since the fall of 1967. Marvin Gaye later claimed that as a result, most of the female vocals on this album were performed by Valerie Simpson, who served as co-songwriter and co-producer for the LP with her boyfriend and future husband Nickolas Ashford.

Simpson is quoted in Ludie Montgomery's biography of Terrell, My Sister Tommie, as not having subbed Terrell for vocals. Simpson again explicitly denied having done so in the liner notes to The Complete Motown Singles series. On the docuseries Unsung about Terrell, Simpson admitted she sang with Gaye during sessions saying, "I sang things with Marvin because Tammi was not available. And, then we would bring Tammi in to go over her parts. Those are Tammi Terrell vocals because we know that we went back in with Tammi and got what we needed."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PhVNDa7Hbk&list=PLtDU3U7TExh0SZZiudgVlKhLQGw76eDnt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHkFT1rJXqg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ElC4UwYVuA

THE ONION SONG

[Intro]
The world is just a great big onion
And pain & fear are the spices that make you cry
Oh, and the only way to get rid of this great big onion
Is to plant love seeds until it dies, uh huh

[Verse 1]
Hey world! We got a great big job to do
Yeah, we need you
And everybody who loves truth
Don't you know we've got to clean up this place
And reach far high and oh yeah
Yes we do
We gotta be headstrong about righting the wrong
And make a mountain of happy souls, oh oh

[Chorus]
The world is just a great big onion
And I don't care, it's the face people like to wear
Yes it is now and the only way to get rid of this great big onion
Every one single soul's got to do their share
Tell about it, baby!

[Verse 2]
So come on, let's knock on every door
Tell them love is the answer
Whether they're rich or poor, oh yeah
For we don't care what you do
How you look, or your status claim, baby
No no, because brothers & sisters
From now on, is going to be everyone's name, oh oh

[Chorus]
The world is just a great big onion
And pain & fear are the spices that make you cry
Yes it is and the only way to get rid of this great big onion
Is to plant love seeds
Now everybody, got to plant love seeds
Come on and plant love seeds
Until it dies
The world is just a great big onion

***********

All vocals by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell/Valerie Simpson
All instrumentation by The Funk Brothers

"The Onion Song" was a hit for soul singers Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell in 1969. It reached the top ten overseas, and was a more modest hit in the U.S.The song, which reflected social consciousness, became Gaye & Terrell's biggest hit in the United Kingdom, entering the singles chart on 15 November 1969 and peaking at No.9 on 9 December. Terrell died, aged 24, just prior to the song's release as a single in the U.S. "The Onion Song" peaked at No. 18 on the soul singles chart and No. 50 on the Billboard Hot 100.