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Įngineer Russ Terrana later recalled that the start of sessions met difficulty as Gaye, who had the habit of coming to recording studios late, came unusually early but was inside the studio smoking reefer. Though Gaye had insisted he wouldn't record any more duet albums, he later wrote that he felt the move to do a duet album with Ross would increase his popularity with Ross' wider audience. Due to this, Gordy again approached him on doing a duet album with Ross.
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In mid-1971, Gaye returned to the charts with the What's Going On album, released on May 21, 1971, which redefined his career and direction. Initial plans to make the Ross/Gaye duet album began as early as 1970, but due to Gaye being in a personal lull following the death of Tammi Terrell, Motown failed to bring the two together and instead focused on Ross' emerging solo career, which didn't take off until the release of her cover of Gaye and Terrell's " Ain't No Mountain High Enough", which became an international hit however, during that time, Gaye had made a promise that he would never again record a duet with a female performer because he felt they were cursed by him recording with them ( Mary Wells abruptly left Motown following the end of the Together album and her career failed to recover, Kim Weston also abruptly left the label following the end of their Take Two sessions and Terrell's complications with a brain tumor, which later resulted in her death, made duets between her and Gaye difficult).