Format 7" vinyl Length 3:07 | Genre Soul/Pop | |
B-side "Hold Me Oh My Darling" Released August 22, 1967 (1967-08-22) Recorded Hitsville USA; February 13 & 17; March 23, 1967 | ||
"Your Precious Love" is a popular song that was a 1967 hit for Motown singers Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. The song was written by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, and produced by Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol. The doo-wop styled recording features background vocals by Fuqua, Gaye, Terrell and Bristol, and instrumentals by The Funk Brothers with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The song peaked at #5 on Billboard Pop Singles chart, #2 on Billboard's R&B Singles chart, and the top 40 on Billboard's Easy Listening survey. The song was later sampled by Gerald Levert on the song, "Your Smile", on his 2002 album, The G Spot.
Other versions
Al Jarreau and Randy Crawford performed the song live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1981, backed by an All-Star ensemble featuring Larry Carlton, David Sanborn and Marcus Miller and the Yellowjackets, released on Casino Lights. In 1984, father Neil Sedaka and daughter Dara Sedaka reached the Billboard Top 15 of the Adult Contemporary chart with their duet version of the song.
Japanese pop star Seiko Matsuda recorded the song for her 1996 English language album Was It the Future. A version by D'Angelo and Erykah Badu was released on the High School High soundtrack album in 1996, as well as featured on the 1999 tribute album Marvin Is 60. There was also an a cappella arrangement of the song by Cedric the Entertainer and Avant figures in a gag sequence in the 2004 MGM film Barbershop 2: Back in Business.
Another remake is the version that was recorded by Peter Cox of Go West and Easther Bennett of Eternal and appears on Cox's 2006 album Motor City Music (Curb Records). Sarah Connor recorded the song as an overdubbed "duet" with Marvin Gaye on her 2007 album Soulicious.
Fantasia Barrino included a sample of the song on "Collard Greens and Cornbread" from her 2010 album Back to Me.