Customer Reviews

The Early Years - Rare Recordings 1962-1963

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I found myself interested in purchasing this CD because Brenda Holloway was one of the best and maybe the most under-appreciated female vocalist to record for Motown records. Everyone is familiar with the classic "Every Little Bit Hurts" and other excellent music that she made during her short stay at Motown but I didn't know that she had recorded on the West Coast for 2 years prior to Motown. I was also stunned to find out that she was only 17 when she made "Every Little Bit Hurts".

My biggest disappointment was with the poor recording quality of most of the independent labels she worked on. Many of the songs reflected the R & B music style of the early 60's so there was a sameness to a lot of the material. However, even through these shortcomings, you can hear the developing of a mature and sophisticated talent, even at the young age of 15.

The songs that stood out for me were the solos "Constant Love", "Hey Fool", "Suddenly" and "Echo" and the duet with Jess Harris, "Gonna Make You Mine". I really liked the song "Candy" and it's lyric and wish that it had been polished to what it could have been, instead of having such obviously sloppy work from the backing musicians.

For any true Brenda Holloway fan, this look at her pre-success years is worth having for perspective.

Brenda Holloway is my all time favorite Motown Diva. It's rather nice to read all the compliments she is receiving these days, although it's still a shame all these fans weren't there when she was in her heyday.

For many years, you couldn't even get Brenda's Motown output on Vinyl or CD. Thankfully, that issue has been addressed.

I knew that Brenda had recorded for a number of small West Coast labels, but I had never heard any of those recordings, probably because non of these early records were hits. Even if I had tried to track these records down, it would have cost me hundreds of dollars to acquire them.

This set not only has all those obscure recordings but even some that were never released. That makes this CD a "Must" for the diehard Brenda Holloway fan. Others may want to take a pass on this CD because in truth, with the exception of a few tracks like the Mary Wells soundalike "Constant Love" (previously unreleased) and Brenda's own composition "Suddenly" (which would be re-recorded for her Motown Album), these songs are by and large, forgettable. Still, for my money, this CD is a collector's item and I'm glad to have it in my personal archives.

Maybe next ACE will give us a Kim Weston post Motown collection.

This cd represents a collection of some of Brenda Holloway's early work before she signed to Motown in late 1963. While some of the songs are raw and rough, you can't help but love the voice and talent that was already there before she headed to Detroit. My mind just swirls that someone in their mid-teen years could produce such a voice and sing with such experience and depth. After listening to these songs you can totally see and understand why Berry Gordy signed her on the spot after hearing her sing. While Brenda was never Motowns biggest recording artist, she has one of the most amazing voices the record company ever signed, and Motown had a gluttony of talent in the 1960s, and Brenda Holloway was definitely one of those talents. This is a must have for Brenda Holloway fans and Motown fans.