Tammi Terrell - The Essential Collection (2001)

Setting aside Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell's Greatest Hits and The Complete Duets (which anthologizes and collects, respectively) her 1967-69 material with Marvin Gaye, The Ultimate Collection is the best Tammi Terrell retrospective available. Thankfully including just one duet with Gaye, this Spectrum compilation features 17 solo tracks – virtually all the material Terrell recorded at Motown on her own (even a solo version of her duet hit "Two Can Have a Party"). Beginning with her Motown debut "I Can't Believe You Love Me" and "Come on and See Me," her twin R&B hits during 1966, The Ultimate Collection proves Tammi Terrell recorded a lot of glorious solo material for Motown. She usually worked with Johnny Bristol and Harvey Fuqua, who made her a stunning alternative to Diana Ross or Martha Reeves with standouts like her cover of the Isleys' "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)" or "Tears at the End of a Love Affair." The final song, included presumably just for comparison, is one of her finest Marvin Gaye duets: "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." – John Bush

01. I Can't Believe You Love Me
02. Thats What Boys Are Made for
03. Come on and See Me
04. What a Good Man He Is
05. Tears At the End of a Love Affair
06. This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)
07. He's the One I Love
08. Can't Stop Now (Love Is Calling)
09. Just Too Much to Hope for
10. Hold Me Oh My Darling
11. I Can't Go on Without You
12. Baby Don't You Worry
13. There Are Things
14. Two Can Have a Party (Solo Version)
15. Lone Lonely Town
16. Slow Down
17. I Gotta Find a Way to Get You Back
18. Ain't No Mountain High Enough (duet with Marvin Gaye)