Remembering Nick Ashford

Ain't Nothing Like The real Thing Baby...

My earliest memory of a Motown record is of me being this little kid hearing Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell for the first time. A friend of my sister was playing their recording of Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing when afterwards she made the remark about just how clever those words were. At the time, not knowing anything about songwriting, I found something in those lyrics that stayed with me. Something infused in me to where I would want to someday become a songwriter, perhaps like Ashford & Simpson.

Nick Ashford, as some of you may recall, was half of the ever popular music duo Ashford & Simpson. Both Ashford and his wife Valerie Simpson are best known, at least in my opinion as one of Motown's legendary songwriter's. Acknowledged for writing such mega hits as Ain't No Mountain High Enough, You're All I Need To Get By, Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing and more. Later they also found continued success as singer's/songwriter's/producers. Producing and writing Diana Ross' biggest solo hits, including her signature Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand). They also wrote Chaka Khan's I'm Every Woman, later on recorded by Whitney Houston.

Aside from being prolific songwriters, whom I greatly admired and studied, they were also fantastic entertains as well. While being the guitarist for vocalist Phyllis Hyman (another amazing talent gone too soon) I had the utmost pleasure of meeting them. On more than one occasion we toured as their opening act. Those shows were never short of being spectacular and the audience, believe me, always got their money's worth.

Nick and Valerie, or Val as she was called, were two of the nicest people in this business that I've met. Unfortunately, there are only a few who I can say this about. Seeing them in passing they'd always stop and have something to say. I remember them both having this beautiful smile. I can recall running into Nick on the street, he'd say something like ''Heeeey baaaaaaaby, how ya' doin?". It's almost like I hear his voice now. Not slick but smooth and elegant as they were known to be.

In their own right I viewed them as being musical philanthropist. Owning a club in New York called "20/20" followed by another called "The Sugar Bar" they were constantly giving artists a platform to come and "do their thing". Today "The Sugar Bar" is still going strong. There you'll discover Quincy Jones, Pattie LaBelle, Denzel Washington and Maya Angelou all hanging out checking the talent pool.

For one month I was fortunate enough to be invited as a featured artist during a series called "Storming Mondays." As usual Nick and Val were gracious host and MC's for the evening. Their favorite song that I would do was of my arrangement on The Jackson 5 classic I Wanna Be Where You Are.



It's hard for me to imagine that the team of Ashford & Simpson will no longer be, at least not in the physical sense. With his passing, a part of my life along with an era of music is gone. In many ways I can say it is because of Ashford & Simpson that I found this career and the joy of songwriting. A friend told me that a great song lives on. The same is true also of a great songwriter.


...Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing.

July 5 2010 - LoHud.com/Journal News

Little festival grows bigger

Big things are happening at the 4th annual Village of Pomona Music Festival and Craft Fair on Sunday. Musicians showcase their talents alongside a day full of events and activities for the whole family. Ronny Drayton, Paul Guzzone, Mary Ellen Bernard, Adam Falcon and Jeremy Wall of Spyro Gyra fame are among the expected entertainers. Enter the pie contest and make sure to check out Pomona Idol, featuring local talent ages 4-16. This is a free event from 1-6 p.m. held on the ground of Pomona Village Hall, 100 Ladentown Road. Call 845-354-0545.

View the original page by clicking on the following link: http://www.lohud.com/article/20100705/CALENDAR/100702001/Little festival grows bigger

May 2010 - M-Music&Musicians

Adam Falcon

Bohemian 959

The sheer love of music exhibited by the beaming kid holding the toy guitar on the cover and the man leaping enthusiastically on the inside sleeve continues well into the grooves of Adam Falcon’s Bohemian 959. Smooth melodies frame the voice of a classic crooner with influences from Seal to Smokey Robinson, but when he gets his groove on more aggressively with “Soul Satisfied” and “Like a Soldier,” or shows a fondness for the blues on “Better Days,” he makes an equally formidable impact. Bohemian 959 benefits from not only Falcon’s versatility, but his polish and professionalism as well. Poised and confident, Falcon is ready to soar

Spring 2010 - Amalgamation

February 2010 - Mr Media Interviews

Fall 2009 - SESAC Magazine

Adam Falcon

Photo by Trevor Gale

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By David Mitchell

Inside Adam Falcon's Soul

Singer, songwriter, guitarist Adam Falcon continues to assert his influence as an independent recording artist with this release of his third solo album, Bohemian 959 (Ghetto Drum Records). According to Falcon, many of his musician friends gave up their time to contribute to this album including a number of fellow SESAC writers like K.J. Denhert, Martha Redbone and singer Marc Nelson from the 90s act, Az Yet .

Nona Hendryx wrote the album's first single, "Sunshine Woke Me Up This Morning," back in the day as a member of LaBelle. Falcon re-recorded it for Bohemian 959 with Hendryx as his duet partner. The album's only other cover tune is an inspiring remake of the Jackson 5's "I Wanna Be Where You Are," with the remaining songs all penned by Falcon himself.

"I've got a good feeling about this record," says Falcon. "This album is more soulful and moves in a funkier direction. It was a labor of love for us, and is something I think people will really enjoy. It is gritty, and truly from the heart."

Of course there is an explanation behind the unique title, Bohemian 959. The numbers 959 represent the address where Falcon grew up in the Bronx. His residence was like a meeting ground where musicians in the neighborhood would often come and play. In the spirit of his childhood home, a New York City loft was converted into a studio for the recording of Bohemian 959. Some of the best musicians were brought together within one room and at the same time to record the album live.

Falcon has generated quite a following with his previous works: Piece of Mine and I, too, am Colored, in Black & White. He is appreciated by numerous icons in the business, like multi-Grammy winner George Benson who recorded two of his compositions, "In Search of a Dream" (produced by Arif Mardin), and "True Blue" (produced by Tommy LiPuma). Falcon has toured as a guitarist with the likes of Phyllis Hyman, Jonathan Butler, Will Downing, Sophie B. Hawkins and Roberta Flack.

"Adam Falcon is one of those artists whose music speaks to the very core of human emotions," says Trevor Gale. "His passion takes you from where you were to where you wanna be. It is true soul music!"

May 2008 - Rockland Magazine

Adam Falcon steps up to the mic with an easy smile, an acoustic guitar, and Marley-esque dreadlocks that swing below his waist. But don't be fooled—when he opens his mouth, instead of the punctuated, Caribbean accent you might expect, the slim, petit singer speaks in a smoky tenor suitable for a late-night, smooth-jazz DJ. And when he croons, he meshes elements of jazz, funk, and soul with a hint of pop. He's performed in various Rockland music hubs—Piermont's Turning Point Café and the Something Unexpected Art Gallery in Nyack—and he teaches guitar at Rockland Conservatory of Music in Spring Valley. But most of his gigs go down in swanky Manhattan lounges. Having completed a tour in February, he's taking the next few months to record.

Circling the music industry cul de sac since the tender age of 15, Falcon pulls influences from music of the late 1960s and early '70s—he fondly recalls a Led Zeppelin concert he attended with his father when "the tickets were a dollar-fifty!" He says, "My music is more reminiscent of a period, not a genre." Probably because, as a backup guitarist, Falcon has traded chords with some of the biggest names of that period, starting at age 18 with jazz icon Jonathan Butler. In the '80s, he nabbed an opening spot on an Eric Clapton European tour, and backed Whitney Houston across America. He toured with Peter Gabriel, the Bee Gees, Sophie B. Hawkins, and Roberta Flack in the '90s, and wrote two hit songs for George Benson. The clincher? One February night last year, Jimmy Buffet jumped onstage to join him during a regular gig at a club on the island of St. Bart's. "It's been wild," Falcon smiles. "But now I'm focusing on me." Though he would be hard-pressed to turn down a major label, he's enjoyed the freedom of working on the two-artist label Ghetto Drum Records, produced by his friend Trevor Gale. "The independent artist lifestyle is very bohemian," he says. "You record where you can—in a hotel room, your kitchen, a studio, a tour bus—I even have an amplifier in my Volvo." —A.G.