1960s' Motown, one of black-owned leading companies of the age, allured various persons from everywhere who struggled to take a chance for joining in the place where they hoped to shine. That's just like moths gathering for a bonfire on the night. At a larger corporation, however, the logic of the company beyond its president's intention is more likely to divide the staff into some who are in favor and others who are not. The singer Brenda Holloway was one of them who got in Motown in the president Berry Gordy's favor and were disappointed and got out like moths burnt by a bonfire.
The compilations "Tamla Motown Big Hits & Hard to Find Classics vol.1~3" , the compilations of Motown's minor-league artists' songs, pick up some of hers, which are soft and medium-tempo tunes and ballads, like Motown's successful solo singer Mary Wells' ones, and Brenda sings as gracefully as her appearance. Compared with Mary Wells who followed Smokey Robinson's vocal guidance, her expression spreads wider and deeper and the core of her voice makes me feel her soul. 1964 and 65's tunes including a buoyant Smokey's composition When I'm Gone or her first hit ballad Every Little Bit Hurts suggest that Motown expected her to take the place of Mary Wells, who resigned Motown just after having a No.1 hit My Guy.(Things I had written above were not chronologically precise and I'm not sure whether she had been expected as the one who "take the place" of Mary Wells : in reality Every Little Bit Hurts and My Guy were released almost in the same time, and moreover, some tunes included in Mary Wells' "The Ultimate Collection" were later read by Brenda Holloway. In spite of her skill not so rich, when you listen to Mary Wells singing Smokey-composed You Beat Me to the Punch, The One Who Really Loves You or Two Lovers, I think you may feel confortable at her characteristic feathery touch. Here let me use the words "take the place" in the general image.)
But at the same time when Supremes released a series of hits and Motown made a sudden growth, the company's interest was inclined to concentrate on Supremes, especially as to female singers, and to let them to lead the van of entering the world of TV and movies. Since Brenda Holloway, performing in her home Los Angeles before joining in Motown, sometimes stepped into Detroit and had some recordings but in vain, she should have never convinced herself of her own position when she found the priority was given to the artists from Detroit and they made appearances on Los Angeles' TV programs. In spite of it, she gave us pretty fine works of grace-stressed strings-laden West Coast Motown Sound, which was different from tambourine-twinkling gorgeousness and the onward groove in Berry Gordy's taste. The gritty up-tempo tune Just Look What You've Done and the elegant but passionate ballad You've Made Me So Very Happy (the rendition of Brood, Sweat and Tears made a great break-through) are reflecting the late '60s soul years and splendid. I have recently rediscovered her charm when I listened to her UK best "Greatest Hits & Rare Classics". And then on the compilations of innumerable unreleased tunes like "A Cellarful of Motown !" or "Volume 2", you can hear her tunes of richer choruses and rhythms together with her sister Patrice Holloway.
Although she had kept away from show business since she quitted Motown, she was reappreciated and made some Motown-like singles in the U.K. in the '80s. Since she was motivated by the death of Mary Wells who lived obsucurity for the rest of her life, she also made a comeback for live acts and released an album in the U.S. after the about 30 years' interval. I have heard samples of the album and I find myself puzzled with the urban arrangements which hardly leave the remains of Motown. That may suggest her determination not to finish her career as a oldies singer. While some didn't find themselves burnt by the fierce bonfire of Motown or couldn't get away, Brenda Holloway married and raised children and made an elegant and mature comeback. Her walk of life is pretty interesting. (2005/01/13)(2006/07/26)