Ashford & Simpson

Backed by a small band in an modest setting (a Manhattan nightclub with 140 seats, one of which was occupied by Freddie Jackson, who joins in at one point), Ashford & Simpson roll through 14 of their best known songs, whether they were written for others or themselves. Since they throw in a couple crowd-pleasing curveballs, like opening with "It's Much Deeper" (a relatively low-charting single off 1983's High-Rise), it's not quite a greatest-hits set, but it's both rich and unpredictable enough to leave any follower satisfied.

Having been signed to Warners for four years, ASHFORD & SIMPSON finally struck gold with their fifth album SEND IT. Upon its release in 1977, SEND IT would reach #52 on the US Pop Album charts and #10 on the US R&B chart helping solidify SEND IT its Certified Gold status.

Having contributed to reshaping soul music of the mid 1960s and early 1970s via other recording artists (notably Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Chaka Khan, The 5th Dimension), Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson were a long established song-writing success before expanding on this as a recording duo in 1973. Following on from their surprisingly low-key Warner Bros. debut GIMME SOMETHING REAL, their sophomore release I WANNA BE SELFISH saw Ashford & Simpson reintegrating their trademark smooth, and joyous soul sound into the quieter moods of their debut.

1980’s A MUSICAL AFFAIR was their eighth and final studio album for Warner Bros., with esteemed NY session players Ray Chew and Ralph MacDonald to name a few rounding out the duo’s band on the record.

BBR is proud to offer COME AS YOU ARE, beautifully remastered and expanded complete with an exclusive interview with Valerie Simpson and three bonus tracks. This BBR remaster is perfect for all Soul, Funk, Disco, R&B and Motown fans out there!

Solid is the eleventh studio album recorded by American vocal duo Ashford & Simpson, released in 1984 on the Capitol label.