You're All I Need equals the debut of Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell in every way except chart position and newness. It reached #60 Pop. a good showing but 31 rungs lower than United, their debut. It includes arguably their finest recording, "You're All I Need to Get By," a testament to their singing skills and the writing/producing talents of Nicholas Ashford & Valerie Simpson -- and "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" is no slouch either. The urgent "Keep on Lovin' Me Honey" is the lesser of three single releases, but a quality cut just the same, thanks in part to the twang in Tammi's voice on the uptempo pleader. Johnny (Bristol) and Jackie (Beaver's) "Baby Dontcha Worry" gets an update; Johnny & Jackie first recorded the chugger on Harvey Fuqua's Tri Phi label in 1962. As on all three releases, Marvin and Tammi perform one of Tammi's solo cuts; in this case, "Come On and See Me" takes a back seat to the original. "Memory Chest," an overlooked number, is one of their most charming ballads.

United was the first of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's three LPs, and quite possibly the best of the lot. Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol handled the productions and gave the photogenic duo a slightly harder edge than subsequent productions by Valerie Simpson and Nicholas Ashford. Three blockbusters -- "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "If I Could Build My World Around You," and "Your Precious Love" -- propelled the album to #29 on the pop charts, the highest rating of any of the duo's LPs. Plus, you had treats like "Little Ole Boy, Little Ole Girl," a remake of Loe and Joe's little-known release on Fuqua's Harvey Records in 1962. "Two Can Have a Party" grooves from start to finish and could have been the fourth hit, but Motown thought otherwise. I like the duo's rendition of "Hold Me Oh My Darling," a song Tammi first recorded on her solo album; the stuttering chorus and bass backing voice makes it unique. You won't find two better ballads than "Give a Little Love" or the often-recorded "If This World Were Mine"; written by Marvin Gaye, the starry-eyed proclamation has become an R&B standard, and rightfully so.

Tammi Terrell was an American singer–songwriter, widely known as a star singer for Motown Records during the 1960s, notably for a series of duets with singer Marvin Gaye.