Customer Reviews

Motown Anthology

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During the spring of 1964, there were a number of soul ballads that were quite stirring. Among them were Irma Thomas' Wish Someone Would Care; Dionne Warwick's Walk On By and Brenda Holloway's Every Little Bit Hurts. Although Walk On By was the biggest of these, Brenda's song became the most enduring. This brand new two-CD set gives us the entire first album in its entirety and in stereo for the first time! The unreleased album, Hurtin' and Cryin' follows. As if this isn't enough, the British-only release, "The Artistry of Brenda Holloway" is included, also in its stereo mix. We are then treated to many unreleased first-rate recordings under the direction of Smokey Robinson, Holland-Dozier, Henry Cosby, Hal Davis, et al and the excitement doesn't stop there, either. For many familiar with Brenda's singles having purchased "Greatest Hits and Rare Classics" (1991), will be thrilled to hear many of these in their stereo mixes for the first time. Operator, I'll Be Available, I'll Always Love You, Together Till The End Of Time, I've Got To Find It and the power pop thriller Where Were You are all true to their original mono counterparts. Only How Many Times Did You Mean It (the B-side of You Can Cry On My Shoulder) remains in mono. As many as 21 rare and unreleased songs grace the two discs and most of them recorded at Hitsville rather than Brenda's native L.A. Stevie Wonder's All I Do Is Think About You and I Prayed For A Boy Like You are nothing short of spectacular (the former was re-assigned to Tammi Terrell and that version can be found on A Cellarful of Motown!). The Supremes' Who Could Ever Doubt My Love was given an excellent reading, as was their "Come Into My Palace" where Brenda is joined by her sister Patrice. You Need Me is a wonderful peice of power pop written by Berry Gordy. Writer Ed Cobb (Every Little Bit Hurts, I'll Always Love You) turns up the tempo on You Are Very Much A Part Of Me. Here Brenda sounds like she's backed up by Cobb's group The Standells (Why Pick On Me, Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White). I See A Rainbow (written by Helen & Kay Lewis) is a re-working of the Trade Martin hit Take Me For A Little While. Brenda's soft velvet vocals are reminiscent of Sarah Vaughan, but at times her playful patter is a throwback to Dinah Washington and even Ella Fitzgerald, revealing she was more influenced by the earlier jazz and R&B vocalists than the singers of her own era.
This is especially indicated on the last track on disc two when she tackles the Gershwin classic "Summertime", a live recording from 1966. Not only is her vocal confidently jazzy, but to everyone's amazement, Brenda plays a violin solo, after which the tempo comes up swinging like crazy. Earl Van Dyke's band follows behind her to a dramatic close. So there are quite a few surprises here, but let this go on record that Berry Gordy gave Brenda his greatest song ever: You Can Cry On My Shoulder (1965). This should have been a monster and I'll never know why it wasn't. I disagree to an extent that Brenda was not a favored act at Motown because everyone I met loved her records. She was truly one of the most talked about artists at our school and in our circles. Timing is everything and even the greatest performers miss out. Blame belongs to no one. I'm grateful that I had a part in collecting first of all, Brenda's singles and now these fine recordings left behind in the Hitsville vaults.
(Tom's note: This set along with The Velvelettes, Barbara McNair, Billy Eckstine and Jimmy Ruffin are available only on the Tamla/Motown imprint, Great Britain. Look for the new Chris Clark anthology next month.)

Upon her signing in early 1964, Brenda Holloway became Motown's first West Coast artist. With Hal Davis producing, she had her biggest hit right off the bat: the dramatic ballad "Every Little Bit Hurts." Its follow-up "I'll Always Love You" is more of the same: a broken hearted Brenda sensually belting it out to the stark accompaniment of acclaimed pianist Lincoln Mayorga. Motown then brought Holloway to Detroit to record with Smokey Robinson, who paired her with musical tracks originally intended for the recently departed Mary Wells. The uptempo "When I'm Gone," "Operator," and "I'll Be Available" are certainly departures from Holloway's initial hits. And while all three records are delightful, it is obvious that she was encouraged to emulate Wells' narrow range. Fortunately, she was able to cut loose vocally with producer Frank Wilson on her final hits, "Just Look What You Have Done" and the self-penned "You've Made Me So Very Happy."

The aforementioned hits are all found here, along with such noncharting (but fantastic) singles "Hurt A Little Everyday," "You Can Cry On My Shoulder," and "Together Till The End Of Time." We also get Holloway's EVERY LITTLE BIT HURTS ALBUM in its entirety as well as its never released follow-up HURTIN' AND CRYIN'. What makes this 48 track collection by far the best ever available is the inclusion of 19 tracks appearing on an authorized Motown release for the first time (a few of these tracks were briefly released on a Holloway cd put out by the Belgian label Marginal a few years ago). Aside from the screeching duet with sister Patrice on "Come Into My Place," they are all gems, with Holloway caressing even the most mundane lyrics into something special. My favorite is the public service announcement "Play It School, Stay In School" where our gal Brenda informs students that "when you learn more, you're bound to earn more!" Makes sense to me.

Incidentally, there are five other Holloway recordings not included here that you can get on the excellent rarities set A CELLARFUL OF MOTOWN: "All Your Love," "How Can I," "My World Is Crumbling," "Who You Gonna Run To," and "Trapped In A Love Affair." They are just as good as the recordings found here and a must for collectors of Holloway as well as fine Motown music.

Motown and many of it's sixties artists including Brenda Holloway are enjoying a sort of rennaissance thanks to the labors of the folks at Tamla/Motown in the U.K. What a shame that here in the U.S. Motown execs are paying little or no attention to their back catalogue! Brenda Holloway was a strikingly beautiful girl with perhaps the loveliest female voice I have ever heard this side of Ella Fitzgerald and, I do not exaggerate! Brenda broke through with her first Motown release "Every Little Bit Hurts" and it looked as though she was on her way to stardom with all that talent and the most popular indie in the U.S. in back of her. It's impossible to say why she didn't catch on. Dick Clark obviously adored her, having her on his show many times. It's all speculation at this point but my memory tells me that the problem was poor promotion. Her records simply didn't get any airplay. I remember searching for Brenda's 45's in the cut-out bins. Most of the time, I didn't even have a title in mind. I just looked for the yellow Tamla Label and if it said "Brenda Holloway" (or Kim Weston), I knew enough to buy it. I should have bought everything. I could retire on the proceeds. Anyway, for years there was little or nothing available from this great Soul Diva but now, there's this collection and, take it from me, Brenda never cut a bad side for Motown. Her hits are here: "Every Little Bit Hurts", "When I'm Gone" & You've made me so very happy" along with her chart records: "I'll Always Love You", "Operator", "Just Look What You've Done" and even her financial failures (But critical successes): "You can cry on my shoulder","Together 'Til the end of time" and "Hurt a little every day". You'll be hard pressed to tell the A-sides from the B-sides without the included discography. "Where were You", "How many Times did you mean it?","Starting the Hurt All Over Again" & "Sad Song" all sound like Top Ten (If not Number One) Records. For the first time, Brenda's "Every Little Bit Hurts" LP is included in it's entirety, In STEREO (Okay, a few tracks are rechannelled). Want more? Brenda's unreleased LP "Hurtin' and Cryin"" is also here in it's entirety. If you're old enough to remember, it's like going back to the 60's and buying a new unheard LP by a favorite. The second disc contains non-album b-sides and unreleased tracks. Most are good (Brenda could make almost anything sound good), some are forgettable but even so, this set has to be the most important Soul/Motown/R&B re-release of 2005. Brenda's still singing and still sounds good. Let's hope some Class A Producer/Arranger gets hold of her and produces a straight ahead album of R&B Classics and Standards. Is Peter Matz still around? Richard Perry? Don Costa? Burt Bacharach! Hey, Smokey! She's BACK!!!

It still baffles me why Berry Gordy switched gears and abandoned promoting female soloists until Diana Ross emerged from The Supremes in 1970. Brenda Holloway had the same charm to make songs sparkle with a certain something (sure she doesn't have the same vocal purity of labelmates Kim Weston or even Barbara McNair)that Diana Ross did. What suprises me the most, the more unreleased Motown material comes out the more aware I am they were thinking in a singles minded market and put little care into LP's. These Anthologies show that every artist on the label had at least one if not 5 albums worth of critically acclaimed material, just sitting there. I think Motown did a great disservice to Brenda Holloway (and to all it's artists, in general even The Supremes, over 40 or so LP's have 3 that are continually listenable) by keeping stunning, often brilliant Material locked away for 40 years. Thankfully Mrs. Holloway is still here to bask in her accomplishments. one listen of "I Don't Want Nobody's Gonna Make me Cry" should show you.

She could have been bigger than the Supremes! What did it happen? Versatile voice ( with the best elements from soul, gospel and jazz, in my opinion probably the best voice in Motown's team), a good composer (ony by writing "every little bit hurts" she deserves a place in the honour list of 60s soul composers), and even one of the prettiest female singers from the golden soul era!

Sure, the artistry is brilliant and the number of songs seems generous but when the sound quality is so bad I don't think it's such great value for money. If you want real musical thrills they must be found elswhere (eg Greatest Hits & Rare Classics delivers).

For instance on "Starting The Hurt All Over Again" James Jamerson's (?) funky basslines are all but inaudible - not so on Greatest Hits where I can't stop myself from dancing. Also Brenda's voice lacks presence and her sultry lower frequencies are lacking compared to a number of tracks on the GH & RC versions - especially on "Every Little Bit Hurts".

It would be a shame not to experience Brenda with decent sound.

I am so happy finally, that an Motown anthology was finally put out on Brenda Holloway. Her sultry vocals and looks take my breath away. Just one listen to Brenda, and you'll see she had that star making quality. Diana Ross has nothing on her vocally! There are other tracks in the Motown vault. She also did some recordings on the Music Merchant label (with Holland Dozier Holland). A great asset to your collection.

Until the release of this Anthology, Brenda Holloway's three years as a recording artist at Motown were best represented by the 50-minute compilation Greatest Hits And Rare Classics, which scarcely did justice to one of their finest singers, especially since it only included three selections that were solely album tracks. The Motown Anthology handsomely addresses this by including her sole album in full, and over its two and a quarter hours gathers together pretty much everything that was released at the time and quite a lot that was not, all laid out in a logical and clear fashion.

Disc One contains stereo mixes of both the complete album Every Little Bit Hurts and the unreleased album Hurtin' And Cryin' that was due for release in 1967 but was canned because a couple of singles, released in advance of the album, failed to chart. Several of its tracks were released on singles, others appeared in November 1968 on a British compilation called The Artistry Of Brenda Holloway (which also included tracks from Every Little Bit Hurts as it had not been given a UK release), but six of the twelve are previously unreleased. It is fabulous to be able to hear some of these wonderful recordings for the first time after all these years. They are timeless and can never sound dated, although they do sound almost other worldly compared to the music being created today. Indeed, one wonders whether the recording industry as it exists now would be able to recreate this kind of music at all. All the more reason to treasure these recovered moments.

Disc One includes six of her nine single A-sides including her debut, the incomparable Every Little Bit Hurts, and her biggest hits, When I'm Gone and You've Made Me So Very Happy, which she co-wrote with her sister Patrice, along with Berry Gordy and Frank Wilson. This later became an even bigger success when covered by Blood, Sweat And Tears. The booklet contains all the available information about recording dates, release dates and record numbers, as well as an insightful essay about her career, written by Paul Nixon.

When the album Every Little Bit Hurts came out in stereo, eighteen months after the mono release, it was apparently in re-channeled stereo, so for some of these titles it may well be their first time release in true stereo. Unfortunately, a couple of the tape masters appear to be in very poor condition. Every Little Bit Hurts is particularly affected, with the vocals wobbling horribly in the right-hand channel, with reverb occasionally veering alarmingly to the left-hand side, to the point where one wishes a mono master had been used instead. Similarly, on Hurtin' And Cryin', Hurt A Little Every Day has distortion that suggests it was mastered from a badly punished flexi-disc. As it used the same backing track as Kim Weston's unreleased version that turned up on her Motown Anthology, it is unfortunate that the two versions couldn't have been paired somehow to recreate a new clean Brenda Holloway master.

Disc Two is entitled The Artistry Of Brenda Holloway: Singles, Rare And Unreleased, a pretty fair description of what's on it, since as well as rounding up the other half-dozen stereo tracks from The Artistry Of Brenda Holloway, all of which had originally been on singles, it has one other B-side and a promo-only propaganda single, backed by the Supremes (in the studio to record their vocals for Going Down For The Third Time), entitled Play It Cool, Stay In School.

The remainder of the second disc consists of a further fifteen titles that were unreleased at the time, only a couple of which have since turned up on CD compilations. From the catchy floor-filling Northern Soul opener Think It Over (Before You Break My Heart) to the live version of Summertime where she accompanies herself on violin, recorded at the 20 Grand in Detroit, a popular spot for Motown artists to try out new songs at record hops, there are some simply stunning recoveries from the vaults to be heard here. Some had been circulating on high-priced low-quality bootlegs for some time, such as Come Into A Palace, a duet between Brenda and Patrice (her younger sister who was to become the voice of Valerie in the cartoon Josie And The Pussycats, and who sadly passed on in 2006). Here it is in a hi-fi stereo mix.

Who Could Ever Doubt My Love came out by the Supremes, He's My Kind Of Fellow by Gladys Knight, and Love Woke Me Up This Morning by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Now we can hear what Brenda Holloway's unique vocals did to the same material and judge for ourselves whether Motown chose the right versions to release. It's often a tough call as the label was overflowing with talent and recording material far faster than it could put it out.

Since the release of this Anthology, further gems by Brenda Holloway have turned up on A Cellarful of Motown!, Cellarful of Motown!, Vol. 2 and Vol. 3- Cellarful Of Motown! Rarest Detroit Grooves, with more undoubtedly to come. In the mean time, be sure not to pass over these. They are already up to forty-four years overdue.

Brenda Holloway was a violin-playing high school student when signed to Motown at age 17. She was not to become one of Motown's most famous acts. She released only one album (1964's "Every Little Bit Hurts") and 12 singles, none of which entered the top 10.

THE MOTOWN ANTHOLOGY consists of 48 songs on two discs, recorded 1964-1968. Disc one is the "Every Little Bit Hurts" LP (tracks 1-12) and the unreleased "Hurtin' and Cryin'" LP (tracks 13-24, 1966). Disc two is "The Artistry of Brenda Holloway: Singles, Rare and Unreleased" (tracks 2-7 previously released in the UK as "The Artistry of Brenda Holloway" in 1968). The booklet (which because of the font and colors used, is difficult to read) includes several small photos, an essay by Paul Nixon, track information, and a discography of singles, including chart information. Sound quality is excellent.

As the title indicates, this a compilation of Brenda Holloway's recordings on Tamla/Motown, so her earlier recordings ("Hey Fool" and "Echo" on Donna; "I'll Find Myself a Guy" on Del-Fi; "It's You" and "Unless I Have You" on Minasa"; "I Ain't Gonna Take You Back" on Catch; "Let Love Grow" and "Some Quiet Place" on Music Merchant) are not included here.

The first disc of this pricey UK import starts with 9 ballads, not until track 10 is there a mid-tempo track; the ballads then continue until the finger-snaps of "When I'm Gone" and the up-tempo "Just Look What You've Done to Me" (tracks 13 & 14). Overall, the disc is dominated by ballads. Disc two begins with the up-tempo "Think It Over (Before You Break My Heart)", which is classic Motown at its best (The song's aka list includes "Meet Me Half Way" and "Reconsider"); the second disc also has many ballads, but also includes many Motown Sound tracks. "Summertime" (track 24) is a recording of a 1966 live performance of the Gershwin classic, which also features Brenda playing violin.

This is a good collection for anyone who is a fan of 1960s R&B-flavored Pop and Motown music.

Of all the Motown girls that got overlooked, and I'm sure that most of you reading this could name them along with me, I feel that Brenda Holloway was the one who suffered the most.

She had the perfect pop voice that could have crossed over to the pop chart and stayed on it for decades. She was tall and statuesquely beautiful, and as a classicly trained musician, with proven song writing ability, I know she would have adapted to changing styles and grown as an artist.

Brenda never had a British hit, but is well known to Motown and soul lovers. In the US she did a bit better. 'Every Little Bit Hurts' was huge in the spring/summer of '64, but they never really consolidated on that success.

Brenda's composition 'You've Made Me So Very Happy' was a minor US hit for her in '67. A cover version by Blood Sweat & Tears was a huge hit. The royalties from their version made it a huge money spinner for Motown (who published it), but still Brenda was overlooked. Not long after that, she quit the business for a long time and worked as a housekeeper for a Bishop.

Listening to this double CD now, I am struck by the waste of talent. Some of the previously unreleased stuff is really good. How did a song like 'Everybody Knows' stay in the can for over thirty years? Maybe it's a bit rough in places, but what a song!

The CD comes with good notes about Brenda's career. Praise to the British who are responsible for getting this music released.