General Gregory N. Pigott: Late Night Music Part 91........."R & B Duets"

I'm just in another R & B mood. If there's one thing I love more than cover songs, it's duets. I just love to see two great artists come together for an epic song for a movie soundtrack. I also love to see a superstar team up with an up and coming act to get their name out. I also love to see an artist on the cusp of stardom crossover with a duet to get their name out across the world. It's really crazy what one little song can do. We'll see in this list how since the 1960's R&B duets have been some of the best songs any of us know.

In order to be considered for this list, the song had to be an R&B song (not necessarily by R&B artists) that is sung by TWO people. This would disqualify "One Sweet Day", "Heartbreak Hotel", and "The Best Man I Can Be". "Count On Me" by Whitney Houston and CeCe Winans (simply because it's from "Waiting To Exhale")- there is no way I can cross the line that far into girl power....but yes I love the song, "You're All I Need To Get By" by Kenny Lattimore and Chante Moore, and "Someone To Love" by Babyface and Jon B.

"Ain't No Mountain High Enough"- Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Seeing this video of this 1967 Motown hit is really in a way, bitter sweet. Every time I think about Tammi Terrell I get a little choked up. As tragic as Marvin Gaye's life wound up being, it was not near as tragic as Tammi Terrell's. Not only did she die of a brain tumor at age 24 (in Marvin Gaye's arms on stage in Philadelphia no less- most people say he never really got over that), she was in an abusive relationship with Temptations front man David Ruffin, which some say was so violent it may have contributed to her death. As sad as he life wound up being, this song with Marvin Gaye was her first of many great ones they had and was included on their first joint album "United". Of all the songs on this list and all duets ever made, this might be for my money the best one ever made. The chemistry these two had has NEVER been recreated by any artist- period. Show me another and I'll call you a liar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz-UvQYAmbg

"Love Will Find A Way"- Heather Headley and Kenny Lattimore. Ok, I know I passed up an entire album (2003's "Things That Lovers Do") with his wife Chante' Moore for this song with former Broadway megastar Heather Headley from "The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride", which was released direct-to-video in 1998. At the time of the recording, Heather Headley was still relatively new on the scene and had just finished up her role as Nala on the Broadway version of "The Lion King". This was before her career-defining and Tony Award winning role in the other Elton John production, "Aida". By this time, Kenny Lattimore, was already a somewhat established star. I've always really liked this song and this arrangement. I'd like to see these two do some more songs together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kVyLZBF1FE

"Reunited"- Peaches and Herb. Ok, so I kinda cheated on this one. Peaches and Herb were a duet group, but the song fits all the rules right? However, Peaches and Herb has always cracked me up, because while Herb is "Herb"''s real name. "Peaches" is actually Linda Greene, and there have been 5 other "Peaches", just with Greene being the most successful. While Peaches and Herb was always a moderately successful group, this #1 hit from their 1978 album "2 Hot" is easily their biggest one. A few things to observe from this pretty good rendition from "American Bandstand". First of all, Herb is doing his Captain Kangaroo impression with that suit. Also, Linda Greene was a fox- seriously just look at those long legs! But women, please tell me what was ever stylish about that crap in her hair. She was a beautiful woman, but we never really saw how pretty she actually was.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98G-nBJCW3g

"We Can't Be Friends"- Deborah Cox and R.L.. Canadian Deborah Cox made a small splash in the late 90's with a few big singles including this with very odd partner R.L. from the group Next. Deborah Cox had a squeaky clean image with her first album and with the huge success of her #2 single "Nobody's Supposed To Be Here", which holds the record for most consecutive weeks spent at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, while. Her album "One Wish" was really starting to get big when this duet came out and peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1999. R.L. was riding the wave of his group Next's #1 single "Too Close" from their album "Rated Next" and were without a doubt the most explicit group I've seen perform live when I saw them open for Boyz II Men in 1998. I think was looking to cross over to a broader R & B audience. However, despite their initial success, Next never amounted to much more after their first album, but Deborah Cox's image was changed with her next album being called "The Morning After"- dang did R.L. corrupt her that much? Deborah Cox would go on to take Heather Headley's place in "Aida" on Broadway. I'm glad I never did this song with anyone, it seemed like everyone in high school wanted to sing this dang song in the talent show. Bonus points for the "Boomerang" soundtrack appearance in the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01yPbUXnJZk

"I'm Your Angel"- R Kelly and Celine Dion. Ok, I didn't say BOTH performers had to be R & B artists, just simply an R & B song. Anyway, I haven't featured this one in a while, but like I said before, this song, featured on R Kelly's epic 1998 double album "R" and on Celine Dion's Christmas album was a smash hit, and I've always thought was a great song. I am surprised to see how great their voices sound together, and I think they both deserve a little more credit than we like to give them, because you all know how I feel about Celine Dion's music, and R Kelly's flip flop of "genres" has always been much maligned by me. I've always thought it was funny that there was very little footage of Celine Dion and R Kelly actually together in the video and wondered if there was any unspoken undertone on that note. The appearance of R Kelly's newborn son also brings up some interesting questions that I know you all are thinking about right about now. Enough of the pedophile jokes- enjoy the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXWKgpAW3ag

"If I Ain't Got You"- Alicia Keys and Usher. I HATE HATE HATE HATE that this version of Alicia Key's song from her "Diary of Alicia Keys" album wasn't a bigger hit, as I did hear it on the radio a few times. However, the duet version was primarily released overseas and never alot of United States airplay. My only thought on that is how lucky the international market was to get to hear such a great version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p7TZKEZpwI

"I Used To Love Him"- Lauryn Hill and Mary J. Blige. I still remember buying this CD shortly before going to Colorado on a church ski trip in early 1999 and playing it to death! "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" remains one of the best albums ever made....period. This was also a good preview, in my opinion, of the good things to come from Mary J. Blige as her album "Mary" was released about a year later. I think this song would have been a good single just because it would have made for an awesome video, and Hill was already breaking the bank on videos at the time with "Doo Wop" and "Everything Is Everything" both being pretty expensive, so it would have been interesting to see what happened.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVz9VewVo7Y

"Chocolate High"- Musiq Soulchild and India Arie. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this song! Not only are they a great musical duo, they are a FANTASTIC on screen duo. I really wish their relationship would have worked out because we'd have one of the best musical partnerships ever. This song from her 2009 album "Testimony Vol. 2: Love and Politics" shows that while she's complex and diverse, India Arie can really have fun. Musiq Soulchild just looks like he just woke up for this video (that might be the intention), but he just doesn't look all there. I still think he's awesome though, he just looks like a woodchuck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F8R-vBB4O4

"The Closer I Get To You"- Donny Hathaway and Roberta Flack. Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway actually recorded quite a few duets towards the end of Hathaway's life in 1979, but none were as famous as this one that peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was featured on Flacks 1977 album "Blue Lights In The Basement". Donny Hathaway is another artist that had a life ended WAY too soon. It makes me mad just to think about how famous that guy would have been.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T7NLqMGEck

"Your Precious Love"- Erykah Badu and D'Angelo. Ok, in order to keep from having Tammi Terrell and Marvin Gaye on here twice, I put this cover version done by Erykah Badu and D'Angelo. This song was actually first featured on the 1996 soundtrack to the spoof comedy movie "High School High" and was later featured on D'Angelo's greatest hits album. Erykah Badu brings it on this song. Man, she is awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHZyY9H4mAk

"Endless Love"- Lionel Richie and Diana Ross. All I can say about this one is that this song, without a doubt, hold the record for largest amount of awesomeness difference between a great song and sucky movie. I still laugh thinking about how big this song was for a movie that is probably the worst movie I've ever seen. Also, I know it was the "style" at the time, but Lionel Richie's hair is horrible in this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnfwnOp6uek

"Slow Jam"- Monica and Usher. Here is another song with Usher I wish was released as a single. This duet with Monica was first featured on the soundtrack for the movie "Soul Food", but was also later included on his album "My Way".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq0S39fHRJc

"After All Is Said and Done"- Beyonce and Marc Nelson. I love this song, and I REALLY love this video. I love the video because we only see pictures of Beyonce and none of Marc Nelson, one of the biggest idiots in music history. This song was included on the soundtrack to the movie "The Best Man" (one of my favorite ever), and is included in the movie at one of the climatic scenes. Absolutely beautiful song. This song kinda gave everyone the idea that it wouldn't be long before Beyonce would be a solo artist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8pOoBqiLYo

"Same Script, Different Cast"- Whitney Houston and Deborah Cox. Kinda cool user made video here, because this song, despite being released a single in 2000 as a new track on Whitney Houston's greatest hits album, never had a video made for it. I'm gonna go out on a proverbial limb and say that it was because Whitney was strung out and would have looked horrendous on camera. Laugh if you want, but I guarantee you that's why. Think about it. You release a freaking DOUBLE album as a greatest hit album, get a rising star to sing a duet with you to push the album and you DONT record a video? What other reason is there for this? Think about it and let me know if you have a better idea. That being said, this is a really cool song and I always really liked it. Interesting note- Deborah Cox has NEVER been featured on "Late Night Music", but has scored 2 songs in one entry tonight- not bad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVh0_DQtwyU

"Love Is"- Vanessa Williams and Brian McKnight. This 1993 #3 hit was released on the soundtrack for the TV series "Beverly Hills 90210" and was featured on the air for the spinoff series "Melrose Place". Vanessa Williams was already and established star, but this was Brian McKnight's breakthrough single and was a great lead in to his self titled 1994 album. I wish they would have recorded another duet, as these two have two of the best voices in music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz9gpxsgaj0

"Tonight I Celebrate My Love My You"- Roberta Flack and Peabo Bryson. I'm sorry, I don't know why I even included this one. Anytime a guy knows a Peabo Bryson song his status as a man goes out the window. Peabo Bryson has a good voice, but he is just so dang CHEESY!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQpgB9KcBSg

"I Hate That I Love You"- Ne-Yo and Rihanna. I hate Ne-Yo, but I'm in love with Rihanna.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMOOr7GEkj8

"Thank God I Found You"- Mariah Carey and Joe (and I guess 98 Degrees). Ok, I'm gonna allow this one because 98 Degrees really doesn't even sing. They are just there for the chorus and for appearance. This song was featured as the closing track for Mariah's 1999 album "Rainbow" and helped make Joe an international face before the release of his 2000 album "My Name Is Joe". I like this song, but I can't take this crowd seriously. As is the case with most "live" videos, the crowd just always seems so fabricated. This one might be the worst.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KVxjQUCyn0

"When You Believe"- Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. This song from "'Prince Of Egypt" still gives me chills every time I hear it. What a powerful song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxIN79n4jVo

BONUS VIDEOS- "The Closer I Get To You"- Beyonce and Luther Vandross. Too great to not include. This cover was featured on Luther's 2004 final album "Dance With My Father" and on Beyonce's debut solo album "Dangerously In Love".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4PMSjUbg88

"The Best Man I Can Be"- Genuwine, Case, Tyrese, and R.L. Too awesome also to not include. Was included as the theme to the 2000 movie "The Best Man".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwXbsMjgMLM