"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (N. Ashford, V. Simpson) - Diana Ross; Motown label, # 1 Billboard R&B, # 1 Billboard Hot 100 - 1970. Inducted in 2009.
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" was the first duet hit for Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell in 1967. The lyrics were written by Nick Ashford shortly after he first moved to New York City. Determined not to let the Big Apple get the best of him, the title just popped into his head as he was walking down a Manhattan street. Nick rushed back to his apartment and finished the song with his partner, Valerie Simpson.
The big differences in the version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" that they produced for Diana Ross were: a spoken section in the song that took advantage of Diana's sexy speaking voice, and the rearrangement of the song so that the chorus is not sung until the end in order to add drama and suspense to the recording.
Their original production was six minutes long, but Motown edited down to three minutes and fifteen seconds for the 45 rpm single. "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" was the first # 1 hit for Diana Ross as a solo artist following her astounding career as the lead singer of the Supremes.
