Tammi Terrell (April 29, 1945 – March 16, 1970) – What A Good Man He Is (1967)
Tammi Terrell (April 29, 1945 – March 16, 1970) – What A Good Man He Is (1967)
This rare, upbeat, superb jam was written and produced by Smokey Robinson and "What's Going On" co-writer Al Cleveland, with James Jamerson on bass.
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Tammi Terrell became a Motown superstar in the late sixties after recording classic duets with Marvin Gaye, until her promising career was cut short at age 24 from an incurable brain tumor.
Born Thomasina Winifred Montgomery in Philadelphia, she learned to play the piano at a young age, sang in school choirs and won a talent show. She got a job as a singer at a local nightclub where at age 15 she was discovered by producer Luther Dixon. Later that year in 1960 she signed with Wand, a sub-label of the newly-formed Scepter Records. There she released her first single (billed as Tammy Montgomery), the ballad “If You See Bill,” and recorded demos for the Shirelles.
Terrell left the label and went to work as a backup singer for James Brown’s Revue concert tours. In 1963 she released her first single to hit the charts, “I Cried,” which came out on Brown’s label Try Me Records and cracked the Billboard Hot 100 at #99.
She next signed with Checker Records, but after one single that failed to chart, she quit that label and enrolled at U Penn, where she studied pre-med for two years. Then, she was asked by Jerry Butler to come sing for him, who assured Terrell she could continue her studies. She went on the road with Butler and was singing backup with him at the 20 Grand Lounge in Detroit when she was spotted by Berry Gordy. He offered her a contract with Motown and she signed on her twentieth birthday, April 29, 1965.
Tammi Terrell performing in 1967
Her first two Motown singles were modest hits. "I Can't Believe You Love Me" (1965), and "Come On and See Me" (1966) hit #27 and #25 R&B, respectively. Both were co-written by Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol.
Terrell was then assigned to become Marvin Gaye’s duet partner, the role that made her a star. Over the next three years, they released a dozen singles together, most of which went top-ten on the R&B charts, with “Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing” and “You're All I Need to Get By” both hitting #1 R&B in 1968.
Her rare, upbeat, superb jam “What A Good Man He Is” (1967) was written and produced by Al Cleveland (who co-wrote “What’s Going On” with Gaye and Obie Benson of the Four Tops) and Smokey Robinson. Among the Funk Brothers featured as backing musicians on the track was the great James Jamerson on bass.
This brilliant single was scheduled to be released as Motown 1115 in October, 1967. On October 14, Terrell collapsed onstage in Gaye’s arms and was soon diagnosed with a brain tumor. The single’s release was cancelled, with only a very small number of advance copies having made their way to radio stations and other promotional outlets.
It was, however, included on her only solo album, Irresistible, which was released in January, 1969 and went to #39 on the R&B album charts. The album included most of the solo material she recorded for Motown.
Eight operations were not enough to save her, and Terrell tragically died six weeks before her twenty-fifth birthday.
Further info: "Tammi Terrell: Fame, Life, Death and Marvin Gaye," by Matthew Jones, SOUL Magazine blog, May 5, 2020
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