Heaven Must Have Sent You (Dig)

Holland/Dozier/Holland (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 21, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 3
• Label: Hip-O Records
• ASIN: B0009S2TIY
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #170,302 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Eddie Holland- Jamie

2. The Marvelettes- Locking Up My Heart

3. Martha & The Vandellas- (Love Is Like A) Heat Wave

4. The Miracles- Mickey's Monkey

5. Mary Wells- You Lost The Sweetest Boy

6. Marvin Gaye- Can I Get A Witness

See all 26 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. The Supremes- My World Is Empty Without You

2. The Elgins- Darling Baby

3. The Isley Brothers- This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)

4. Kim Weston- Helpless

5. Jr. Walker & The All Stars- (I'm A) Road Runner

6. The Supremes- Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart

See all 23 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Holland-Dozier featuring Brian Holland- Don't Leave Me Starvin' For Your Love

2. Holland-Dozier featuring Lamont Dozier- Why Can't We Be Lovers

3. Holland-Dozier featuring Eddie & Brian Holland- Where Did We Go Wrong

4. Lamont Dozier- Out Here On My Own

5. Lamont Dozier- Trying to Hold On To My Woman

6. Lamont Dozier- Fish Ain't Bitin'

See all 15 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good introduction to Motown's best... for Mono single fans, September 30, 2005

By 

Marc Wielage (Northridge, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Heaven Must Have Sent You (Dig) (Audio CD)

The careers of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland, Jr. are the stuff of legend, resulting in well over 100 hits ranging over the four-decade span from 1962 to well into the 1990s. HDH helped shaped and molded the sound that put Detroit's Motown label on the map, and a multi-label salute to their work is long overdue. "Heaven Must Have Sent You: The Holland/Dozier/Holland Story" is a brand-new set from Universal's Hip-O reissue division, and it's a deluxe package in a fold-out cardboard "Eco-Pack" (which will undoubtedly frustrate standard jewel-box collectors).

Just trying to choose "only" four hours of material to represent HDH's career, spread out over three jam-packed CDs, must have been a daunting task for compilation producer Dana Smart (advised by Holland-Dozier-Holland themselves). You'll find both major #1 smashes as well as more-obscure singles, B-sides, and album tracks, along with a few bona fide rarities, like Dusty Springfield's non-charting "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes" and HDH's own "Where Did We Go Wrong." (How a Warner Bros. track like the Doobies' hit wound up on here must be a miracle of contractural negotation.) HDH are represented here not only as producers & songwriters, but also as performers, showcasing half-a-dozen of their own hits (few of which did as well as the songs they wrote and produced for others). This compilation also has several tracks not found on any other CDs (to my knowledge, anyway), including Lamont Dozier's excellent 1973 anti-war song "Fish Ain't Bitin'," as well as the rarely-heard long album version of "Trying to Hold On to My Woman." (The single version is preferable to me, and is arguably the best of their own solo hits.)

But how does the compilation sound? Well, first up, the good news: engineer Gavin Lurssen at LA's Mastering Lab (with Suha Gur and Kevin Reeves on the analog tape transfers) did an exceptional job, with every track sounding as good (or better) than it ever has. I thought in particular the bass sounded a little bit less "bloated" than it often does on a lot of Motown-era hits, save for The Supremes' "My World Is Empty without You," which pretty much has that characteristic sound imbedded in the original track. Kim Weston's "Helpless" sounded particularly clean, as did "(I'm a) Road Runner" and "You Can't Hurry Love," both of which have sounded very murky in the past. I noted both tracks present the full-length single versions, unlike the slightly-shorter versions that wound up on most earlier CDs.

But the bad news is: if you're a stereo fan, stay far, far away. More than 2/3 of this set is all mono, albeit the correct hit single versions originally issued on 45RPM records. Some of the mono versions are fairly rare, like "Give Me Just a Little More Time" and "Band of Gold," which I can't recall ever hearing in mono on a CD, so completists might want this set for that reason alone. Still, it's a bit of a disappointment.

The liner notes are a little lacking as well, providing an overall biographical profile, rather than an in-depth song-by-song story of how each was written and produced. The notes refer only obliquely to the acrimonious split between H-D-H and the Motown label over profits around 1967, but provides virtually no details. (Those lawsuits were still pending as of the late 1990s, and as far as I know, they have yet to be settled). The notes also refer to a split between Dozier and the Holland brothers in the early-1970s, which explains why the Invictus/Hot Wax label hits fizzled out so quickly, right around 1973. Regardless, the songs on this collection are a formidable powerhouse of some of the most memorable soul classics of that era, and are a reminder as to the importance of Holland-Dozier-Holland in pop music history.

I found this to be an unusual group of both over-exposed hits as well as bona fide obscurities, some of which deserved much better chart success. In particular, I thought The Originals' "Good Lovin' Is Just A Dime Away" (written and produced by Lamont Dozier for Motown in 1975), should have at least made the top 100, if not the Top 10 on the R&B charts; maybe radio programming execs were put off by the brief retro "vo-do-o-do's" in the intro.

Since this 3-disc set is budget-priced at under $35, I'd recommend it with some reservations, for those looking for the handful of rarities plus the particularly clean-sounding mono tracks. But stereo fans should look elsewhere.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All the greatest hits from 3 great songwriters!!!!, July 26, 2005

By 

Patricia W "E's Lady Love" (bronx, ny United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Heaven Must Have Sent You (Dig) (Audio CD)

Fisrt of all--the packaging is excellent and it includes a booklet that tells of the history of HDH. Eddie Holland was also a singer in his own right and I wish I could find his record LAST NIGHT I HAD A VISION, and I love Brian's rendition of DON'T LEAVE ME STARVING plus Lamont's WHY CAN'T WE BE LOVERS. This was worth the wait and I recommend it highly especially if you liked I GOTTA DANCE TO KEEP FROM CRYING and QUICKSAND etc.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reflections, September 10, 2005

By 

Steven Housman "SHARK" (West Hollywood, CA & Miami, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Heaven Must Have Sent You (Dig) (Audio CD)

If you're not familiar with the names Holland/Dozier/Holland as in Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland, it's certain you're familiar with the hit songs they wrote. As the liner notes put it best, "This is the story of American popular song." This songwriting team is as famous as George and Ira Gershwin, Lerner and Lowe, and can be considered in the ranks of Brits Lennon and McCartney. Perhaps I should just cut to the chase and name some of the songs they've written and the artists that have performed them. The Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go" and every other one of their dozen #1 hits, including "You Can't Hurry Love," "Baby Love," "Stop! In The Name Of Love," and "You Keep Me Hanging On." Other groups that struck gold with their magic, and that are included on this set, are The Four Tops, Martha & The Vandellas, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Marvin Gaye, Mary Wells and Michael Jackson. And those are just the Motown artists! Remember favorites such as Freda Payne's "Band Of Gold," The Chairmen of the Board's "Give Me Just A Little More Time" and hits by Dusty Springfield, The Doobie Brothers and Simply Red? Those artists and recordings are also represented on this amazing collection. This is one of the finest box sets from one of the most prolific songwriting teams in American history. All in all, there are three CD's and 65 songs accompanied by a gorgeous 27 page booklet that will be cherished by any collector of this music and anyone who appreciates some of the best pop songs ever written and recorded. If you have special memories of these songs and still groove to the beat of these treasured recordings, this collection is a must. Whenever I listen to this set, "I Hear A Symphony."