“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” is a song written by American singers and songwriters Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla label, a division of Motown. The song was written by Ashford and Simpson prior to joining Motown. British soul singer Dusty Springfield wanted to record the song but the duo declined, hoping it would give them access to the Detroit-based label. As Valerie Simpson later recalled, “We played that song for her (Springfield) but wouldn’t give it to her, because we wanted to hold that back. We felt like that could be our entry to Motown. Nick called it the ‘golden egg’.” Springfield recorded a song with a similar verse melody in “I’m Gonna Leave You” on Dusty.
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell recorded “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” in December 1966. The session marked their first together. Work on the recording finished at Hitsville USA in Detroit on February 1, 1967. The original 1967 version of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” was a top-20 hit. According to record producers, Terrell was a little nervous and intimidated during the recording sessions because she did not rehearse the lyrics. Terrell recorded her vocals alone with producers Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol, who added Gaye’s vocal at a later date. “Ain’t No Mountain” peaked at number 19 on the Billboard pop charts, and went to number three on the R&B charts. Billboard‘s original review of the single stated: “Chalk up another pulsating fast smash for Gaye with his new partner Tammi Terrell. The electricity of the duo combined with the blockbuster rhythm material grooves all the way.” In 1999, the Gaye/Terrell version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The Gaye/Terrell version was included in the soundtrack for the 1998 film Stepmom, the 2000 film Remember the Titans as well as the 2014 film Guardians of the Galaxy.
Diana Ross & the Supremes recorded a version of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, which was more faithful to the Terrell-Gaye original version, as a duet with The Temptations. That song was an album cut from a joint LP released by Motown Records in 1968 on the two superstar groups, titled Diana Ross & the Supremes Join the Temptations. In early 1970, after the Top 20 success of her first solo single, “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)”, Ashford and Simpson had Ross re-record “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”. Initially, Ross was apprehensive, but was convinced to make the recording. The remake was a complete reworking of the song, featuring a style similar to gospel with elements of classical music strings and horns, and spoken-word passages from Ross. The Andantes, Jimmy Beavers, Jo Armstead, Ashford & Simpson and Brenda Evans and Billie Calvin of the Undisputed Truth were used as backing singers, giving the song a soul and gospel vocal element. Ross’ version of the song was released on July 19, 1970, as the second and final single from her solo self-titled 1970 debut album by Motown.
Motown chief Berry Gordy did not like the record upon first hearing it. He hated the spoken-word passages and wanted the song to begin with the climactic chorus/bridge. It was not until radio stations nationwide were editing their own versions and adding it to their playlists that Ashford and Simpson were able to convince Gordy to release an edited three-minute version as a single. Ross’ version of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” rose to number one on both the pop and R&B singles charts, higher than Gaye/Terrell’s version. Ross received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. The song is performed in the key of C minor for most of the song, changing to D# minor towards its conclusion.
In 2017, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” was remixed by Eric Kupper, StoneBridge and Chris Cox, amongst others, on Motown/UMe. The remix peaked at number one on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart. This song is featured in the soundtrack of the 2005 Disney animated movie Chicken Little, in which the titular character goes to watch an in-universe movie at the cinema in the climax. This version is also featured in the fifteenth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race as a lip sync battle between the bottom two of the week, Princess Poppy and Amethyst, resulting in the former’s elimination. This version was also featured in the eleventh episode of the fifteenth season on Grey’s Anatomy.
