Photo Flash: Ashford & Simpson Return To The Rrazz Room

As songwriters and performers, Ashford & Simpson have long ranked among the most acclaimed creative couples in contemporary music. Their award-winning collaborations began in 1964 when they recorded an original song as "Valerie & Nick." Nickolas Ashford had just moved to New York in pursuit of a theater career and met Bronx native Valerie Simpson, who was playing and singing with a Harlem church's legendary choir.

Nick joined the choir and the two began writing songs, selling their first batch for $75. They were soon signed to Scepter Records as staff songwriters, breaking through in 1966 with Ray Charles major hit "Let's Go Get Stoned." This led to signing with Motown Records, where they penned the classic hits "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," and "Your Precious Love."

Meanwhile, the songwriting/producing duo had its own recording/performing aspirations. From 1973 to 1981 the now married couple released more than a dozen albums. They continued writing and producing and were a hit as concert performers as well.

Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson are currently hotter than ever and their music remains continuously in play. Indeed, hardly a year goes by without some notable artist reviving an Ashford & Simpson classic, as Whitney Houston did in 1993 with "I'm Every Woman," and as 50 Cent did with "Silly Wasn't I" or most recently, as Amy Winehouse did on "Tears Dry On Their Own."

WHO: Ashford and Simpson

WHEN: Nov 3-15, 8 PM, Sundays at 7, two shows Nov 14, 7 and 9:30

WHERE: The Rrazz Room, Hotel Nikko, 220 Mason St., SF

TICKETS: $47.50-$55

PHONE: 866-468-3399 or www.therrazzroom.com

Photo credit: Pat Johnson