"I Can't Believe You Love Me", (Terrell, 1966)

"Your Precious Love", (Terrell, 1967)

"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is an R&B/soul song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell for the Tamla (Motown) label. The song became a hit a second time in 1970, when a cover by fellow Motown artist Diana Ross became a number-one hit on the Hot 100 chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award.

The original 1967 version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" was a top twenty hit. According to record producers, Terrell was a little nervous and intimidated during recording because she hadn't rehearsed 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 nineteen on the Billboard pop charts, and went to number three on the R&B charts.

This original version of "Ain't No Mountain", produced by Fuqua and Bristol, was a care-free, danceable, and romantic love song that became the signature duet between Gaye and Terrell. Its success led to a string of more Ashford/Simpson penned duets (including "You're All I Need to Get By", "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", and "Your Precious Love").

The Gaye/Terrell version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999, and is regarded today as one of the most important records ever released by Motown.

After the Top 20 success of her first 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, as she had previously covered the song as a member of the Supremes in a duet with The Temptations(see below). Eventually, however, she was convinced to make the recording. The new cover re-imagined Gaye and Terrell's duet as a dramatic six-minute opus, composed primarily of spoken word passages from Ross, with the Andantes, Jimmy Beavers, and Ashford and Simpson as backing singers.

Motown chief Berry Gordy didn't 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 up to number one on both the pop and R&B singles charts., and Ross received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Ross's version was later sampled in Jadakiss's song Can't Stop Me.

With The Supremes, Diana Ross 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.

1981 saw the recording by Inner Life of the underground dance classic "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", produced by Patrick Adams and Greg Carmichael, remixed by Larry Levan, and released on the Salsoul label. The same year saw an upbeat disco version by the Boys Town Gang who recorded it as a medley with another Ashford & Simpson song, "Remember Me". The full version of this song is nearly 14 minutes long and can be found on their album Cruisin the Street.

Stacy Lattisaw and Howard Hewett sang "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" on Personal Attentionalbum in 1988.

Australian Rock legend Jimmy Barnes released a Motown-styled album, titled Soul Deep, in 1991 with twelve covers; one of them was his rock version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". This cover reached #28 in Australia in 1992

In 1993, at the end of the film Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, Whoopi Goldberg and most of the cast of the movie, including future neo-soul superstar Lauryn Hill, mixed both the Gaye/Terrell and Diana Ross solo versions of the song together for a performance of "Ain't No Mountain" at the climax of the film. The Gaye/Terrell version also frequently turns up, often as part of a sing-along, in "feel-good" movies, such as Remember the Titansand Stepmom.

Former Doobie Brother Michael McDonald recorded the song as part of his Motownalbum in 2003. The version was used in a commercial for MCI and in the film The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

In 2004, the 12 finalists of American Idol (season 3) covered the song for the ensemble track for the cast album American Idol Season 3: Greatest Soul Classics

Swedish pop band Play recorded the song for their 2003 album Replay. This version appeared in the trailer for the 2006 film Last Holiday.

In 2006, Australian vocal group Human Nature included a cover on the 2nd album of their Motown trilogy, Dancing in the Street: the Songs of Motown II. The album debuted at #1 on the ARIA charts.

In 2006, Amy Winehouse recorded the song "Tears Dry On Their Own" for her album Back to Black, which keeps the melody and instrumentation of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", but which contains different, original lyrics written by Winehouse.

Portions of the song were interpolated on the Jessica Simpson single "A Public Affair".

In 2009, Lionel Richie and Stefanie Heinzmann performed the song live in the German music award show Echo 2009.

The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye (1961)  · That Stubborn Kinda Fellow (1962)  · When I'm Alone I Cry (1964)  · Hello Broadway (1964)  · How Sweet It Is to Be Loved by You (1965)  · A Tribute to the Great Nat "King" Cole (1965)  · Moods of Marvin Gaye (1966)  · In the Groove/I Heard It Through the Grapevine (1968)  · M.P.G. (1969)  · That's the Way Love Is (1970)  · What's Going On (1971)  · Let's Get It On (1973)  · I Want You (1976)  · Here, My Dear (1978)  · In Our Lifetime (1981)  · Midnight Love (1982)  · Dream of a Lifetime (1985)  · Romantically Yours (1986)  · Vulnerable (1997)

Together (1964)  · Take Two (1966)  · United (1967)  · You're All I Need (1968)  · Easy (1969)  · Diana & Marvin (1973)

Marvin Gaye Recorded Live on Stage (1963)  · Trouble Man (1972)  · Marvin Gaye Live! (1974)  · Live at the London Palladium (1977)  · Marvin Gaye at the Copa (2005)

"Pride and Joy"  ·"How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)"  ·"I'll Be Doggone"  ·"Ain't That Peculiar"  ·"Your Precious Love"  ·"If I Could Build My Whole World Around You"  ·"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing"  ·"You're All I Need to Get By"  ·"I Heard It Through the Grapevine"  ·"Too Busy Thinking About My Baby"  ·"Abraham, Martin & John"  ·"The Onion Song"  ·"That's the Way Love Is"  ·"What's Going On"  ·"Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)"  ·"Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)"  · "Trouble Man"  ·"Let's Get It On"  ·"Come Get to This"  ·"You Are Everything"  ·"Got to Give It Up"  ·"Sexual Healing"

Marvin Gay, Sr.  ·Alberta Gay  ·Anna Gordy Gaye  ·Frankie Gaye  ·Janis Hunter Gaye  ·Nona Gaye  ·Gordon Banks

Discography  ·Songs  ·Albums  ·Songs by Marvin Gaye  ·Albums produced by Marvin Gaye  ·Marvin Gaye vocalists  ·Songs in memory  ·Death  ·Harvey Fuqua  ·The Moonglows  ·Tammi Terrell  ·Leon Ware  ·Marvin's Room

" Ain't No Mountain High Enough "  ·"Remember Me"  ·"I'm Still Waiting"  ·"Surrender"  ·"Touch Me in the Morning"  ·"All of My Life"  ·"You Are Everything"  ·"Theme from (Do You Know Where You're Going To)"  ·"Love Hangover"  ·"Upside Down"  ·"I'm Coming Out"  ·"My Old Piano"  ·"It's My Turn"  ·"Endless Love"  ·"Why Do Fools Fall in Love"  ·"Mirror, Mirror"  ·"Work That Body"  ·"Muscles"  ·"Missing You"  ·"Chain Reaction"  ·"When You Tell Me That You Love Me"  ·"One Shining Moment"  ·"Not Over You Yet"

Lady Sings the Blues(1972)  · Mahogany(1975)  · The Wiz(1978)  · Out of Darkness(1994)  · Double Platinum(1999)

Discography  ·The Supremes  ·Berry Gordy  ·Rhonda Ross Kendrick  ·Tracee Ellis Ross  ·Evan Ross  ·Arne Næss, Jr.  ·List of awards and nominations received by Diana Ross  ·Diana Ross Playground