Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing#Elton John and Marcella Detroit version
{{Short description|1968 single by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox song
| type = single
| name = Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing
| artist = Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
| album = You're All I Need
| B-side = Little Ole Boy, Little Ole Girl
| released = March 28, 1968
| image = Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell US vinyl.png
| caption = A-side label of the U.S. vinyl single
| recorded = 1967
| studio = Hitsville USA
| genre =
| length = 2:12
| label = Tamla
T 54163
| writer = Ashford & Simpson
| producer = Ashford & Simpson
| prev_title = You
| prev_year = 1967
| next_title = You're All I Need to Get By
| next_year = 1968
| misc =
}}
"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" is a single released by American R&B/soul duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, on the Tamla label in 1968. The B-side of the single is "Little Ole Boy, Little Ole Girl" from the duo's United LP. The first release off the duo's second album: You're All I Need, the song—written and produced by regular Gaye/Terrell collaborators Ashford & Simpson—became a hit within weeks of release eventually peaking at number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot Soul Singles chart,{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=225}} the first of the duo's two number-one R&B hits. In the UK "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" reached number 34.
Cash Box called it "a potent ballad", saying that "Detroit backing puts a beat into the session" and praising the "splendid vocals."{{cite magazine |title=CashBox Record Reviews |date=April 6, 1968 |page=22 |access-date=January 12, 2022 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1968/CB-1968-04-06.pdf |magazine=Cash Box}} "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" was ranked as the 57th-biggest US hit of 1968.
Charts
{{col-begin|width=50%}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Chart (1968)
! Rank |
|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100{{cite web|url=https://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1978.htm|title=Top 100 Hits of 1968/Top 100 Songs of 1978|work=musicoutfitters.com|access-date=February 22, 2015}}
| style="text-align:center;"|57 |
| US Cash Box Top 100{{Cite web |url=http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/60s_files/1968YESP.html |title=Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 28, 1968 |access-date=June 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009061908/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/60s_files/1968YESP.html |archive-date=October 9, 2016 |url-status=dead }}
| style="text-align:center;"|70 |
{{col-end}}
Personnel
- All lead vocals by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
- Background vocals by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson
- Produced by Ashford & Simpson
- Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers
{{clear}}
Donny and Marie version
{{Infobox song
| type = single
| name = Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing
| artist = Donny & Marie Osmond
| album = New Season
| B-side = Sing
| released = November 1976
| image = Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing by Donny and Marie Osmond (US single, side A).png
| alt = side-A label by Polydor Records and Kolob Records
| caption = Side A of the US single
| recorded =
| genre = Bubblegum pop{{cite book|title= Night Moves – Pop Music in the Late 70s|first1=Don|last1=Breithaupt|first2= Jeff|last2= Breithaupt|date= July 17, 2000|chapter= Sweathog Nation: Bubblegum|page= 31|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|isbn=978-0-312-19821-3|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kh04AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT95}}
| length =
| label = Polydor/Kolob
| writer = Ashford & Simpson
| producer = Mike Curb and Michael Lloyd
| prev_title = Deep Purple
| prev_year = 1975
| next_title = (You're My) Soul and Inspiration
| next_year = 1977
| misc =
}}
American singers Donny Osmond and Marie Osmond, billed as Donny & Marie, remade "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" for their November 1976 album release New Season, with the track having a concurrent single release to reach number 21 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in February 1977, also charting Adult Contemporary at number 17. It was also a chart hit in Canada, peaking at number 26 on the pop chart and number 11 on the AC chart.{{cite web|url=http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.4470&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.4470.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.4470 |title=Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |date=March 5, 1977 |access-date=April 15, 2018}}
Record World said that it "is their finest performance yet."{{cite magazine|magazine=Record World|date=November 27, 1976|page=1|accessdate=March 3, 2023|title=Hits of the Week|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/76/Record-World-1976-11-27.pdf}}
=Charts=
Elton John and Marcella Detroit version
{{Infobox song
| title = Ain't Nothin' Like the Real Thing
| type = single
| artist = Elton John and Marcella Detroit
| album = Duets {{noitalic|and}} Jewel
| released = 2 May 1994
| image = Elton John and Marcella Detroit-Ain't Nothin' Like the Real Thing.jpg
| producer = Chris Thomas
| length = 3:36
| writer = {{hlist|Nikolas Ashford|Valerie Simpson}}
| chronology = Elton John
| prev_title = Don't Go Breaking My Heart
| prev_year = 1994
| next_title = Can You Feel the Love Tonight
| next_year = 1994
| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|eyDWImRnYkE|"Ain't Nothin' Like the Real Thing"}}}}
{{extra chronology
| artist = Marcella Detroit
| type = single
| prev_title = I Believe
| prev_year = 1994
| title = Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing
| year = 1994
| next_title = I'm No Angel
| next_year = 1994
}}
}}
English musician Elton John and American singer Marcella Detroit recorded "Ain't Nothin' Like the Real Thing" for John's 1993 album Duets. After its inclusion on Detroit's album Jewel, the song was released as a single under London Records in May 1994, as the fourth and final song from Duets, and the second single from Jewel, with all B-sides, "Break the Chain" and "I Feel Free", performed solo by Detroit. Detroit and John's version was produced by Chris Thomas and peaked at number 24 on the UK Singles Chart for the week ending May 21, 1994{{cite web |title=Official Singles Chart Top 100: 15 May 1994 – 21 May 1994 |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19940521/7501 |work=Official Charts }} as well as number 29 in Iceland.
Alan Jones from Music Week gave this version three out of five, writing, "Comparing with the original Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell pairing, this is a rather wan remake, but it will still make a dent in the Top 40."{{cite magazine|first=Alan|last=Jones|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1994/Music-Week-1994-04-30.pdf|title=Market Preview: Mainstream – Singles|magazine=Music Week|date=April 30, 1994|page=12|access-date=April 25, 2025}} Leesa Daniels from Smash Hits complimented Detroit as "a stylish chick who has a lovely voice that could crack glass."{{cite magazine|first=Leesa|last=Daniels|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57779449@N02/52676784347/in/album-72177720305865561/|title=New Singles|magazine=Smash Hits|date=April 27, 1994|page=49|access-date=May 13, 2025}}
=Charts=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| align="left"|Chart (1994)
!align="left"|Peak |
|---|
| Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40){{cite news|url=https://timarit.is/page/2626257#page/n1/mode/2up|title=Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 Vikan 12.5.–18.5. '94|newspaper=Dagblaðið Vísir|language=is|page=24|date=May 11, 1994|access-date=April 2, 2025}}
| style="text-align:center;"|29 |
| {{single chart|Scotland|42|date=19940521|access-date=April 2, 2025}} |
| UK Singles (OCC)
| style="text-align:center;"|24 |
| UK Airplay (Music Week){{cite magazine|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1994/Music-Week-1994-05-21.pdf|title=The Airplay Chart|magazine=Music Week|date=May 21, 1994|page=24|access-date=May 23, 2025}}
| style="text-align:center;"|6 |
Other notable versions
Aretha Franklin remade the song for her 1974 album Let Me in Your Life. It was issued as the album's third hit single that August. Franklin's version radically re-invents the upbeat Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell original as a deep soul ballad which Jon Landau of Rolling Stone dismissed as "misconceived (done too slowly)".{{cite magazine|last=Landau |first=Jon |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/let-me-in-your-life-19740411 |title=Let Me in Your Life |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=April 11, 1974 |access-date=October 1, 2016}} Billboard described it as being highlighted by "extremely powerful vocals."{{cite news|title=Top Single Picks|newspaper=Billboard|access-date=July 22, 2020|date=August 17, 1974|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/70s/1974/Billboard%201974-08-17.pdf|page=58}} "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" reached number six on the Billboard Soul chart, as well as number 44 in Cash Box and number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100. It won Franklin the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance Grammy for 1974 marking Franklin's eighth total and consecutive win in that category and her last such win until the Grammys for 1981.
Chris Christian remade the song in medley with another Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell hit "You're All I Need to Get By" for his Bob Gaudio-produced 1981 album: a duet with Amy Holland, the track "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing/ You're All I Need to Get By" had a single release in the summer of 1982 to reach number 88 on Billboard Hot 100 also charting Adult Contemporary at number 21. (Amy Holland's husband Michael McDonald would remake "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" for his 2003 album Motown.) Christian's 1986 live album release Live At Six Flags features "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" in medley with "Don't Worry Baby" and "I Go to Pieces".
Music critic David McGee of Rolling Stone named Vince Gill and Gladys Knight's recording of the song one of a couple "outright failures" of the 1994 ensemble album Rhythm, Country and Blues, criticizing Gill for "sound[ing] like a wimp [and] his soft, airy readings blown away by Knight's fierce delivery."{{cite magazine |first=David |last=McGee |date=April 21, 1994 |title=Recordings – Rhythm Country and Blues by various artists |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/220146603 |url-access=registration |magazine=Rolling Stone |page=85 |issn=0035-791X |id={{ProQuest|220146603}} }}
Music critic John J. Moser of The Morning Call praised Michael McDonald and Chaka Khan's duet performance of "Ain't Nothing like the Real Thing" at McDonald's June 25, 2019, live concert at Sands Bethlehem Event Center as "better" than their performance of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (also originally sung by Gaye and Terell), which Moser criticized as "an underwhelming mess of missed lyrics and timing."{{cite news |first=John J. |last=Moser |date=June 26, 2019 |title=Review: Michael McDonald, Chaka Khan at Sands Center take us somewhere back in our long ago |url=https://www.mcall.com/entertainment/lehigh-valley-music/mc-ent-michael-mcdonald-chaka-khan-review-sands-bethlehem-20190626-4xdkxe7qavgg5p3rn7wpru3mwe-story.html |work=The Morning Call }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{YouTube|jKtm85zoqY4|Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell – Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing}}
- {{YouTube|liS-VrFPpos|Donny & Marie Osmond – Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing}}
{{Marvin Gaye}}
{{Marvin Gaye singles}}
{{Aretha Franklin}}
{{Donny and Marie Osmond}}
{{Marcella Detroit}}
{{Elton John songs}}
{{Gladys Knight & the Pips}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Aretha Franklin songs
Category:London Records singles
Category:Male–female vocal duets
Category:Marcella Detroit songs
Category:Polydor Records singles
Category:Song recordings produced by Ashford & Simpson
Category:Song recordings produced by Michael Lloyd
Category:Song recordings produced by Mike Curb
Category:Songs written by Nickolas Ashford
Category:Songs written by Valerie Simpson