Brenda Holloway
Encyclopedia
Brenda Holloway is an American
singer and songwriter
, a recording artist for the Motown label
during the 1960s. Her best-known recordings
are the soul
hits, "Every Little Bit Hurts
" and "You've Made Me So Very Happy
." The latter was later widely popularized when it became a Top Ten hit
for Blood, Sweat & Tears
.
section of Los Angeles
where Brenda took up violin and sang in her church choir. Her sister, Patrice
, was born there three years later. At 14, she and sister Patrice began working on demonstration
records
and singing backup
for Los Angeles-based R&B
acts. In 1962, Holloway made her recording debut with the single
, "Hey Fool". Two years later, she recorded the song that she would later be known for in the coming decades, "Every Little Bit Hurts".
' "My Guy
", Motown
CEO Berry Gordy
signed her to the label's Tamla imprint. For her first single, she was required to re-record "Every Little Bit Hurts," much to the budding singer-songwriter's chagrin. Released in May 1964, "Every Little Bit Hurts" became a hit for Holloway, reaching #13 on the Billboard Hot 100
and helping to win the singer a concert spot on Dick Clark's "Caravan of Stars" tour. Holloway followed "Every Little Bit Hurts" with the more modest "I Will Always Love You", before hitting the Top 40 again with the #25 pop hit, "When I'm Gone
" (written and produced by Smokey Robinson
) and released shortly after Mary Wells
' Motown contract expired; Wells had recorded "When I'm Gone" before Holloway.
After the success of "When I'm Gone," Motown provided Holloway with other songs that were originally recorded by Wells, including "Operator" and "I'll Be Available". Holloway became a fixture on several 1960s television program
s including Shindig!
, and was later asked by The Beatles
to open for them on their US tour in 1965. Holloway performed in the first rock stadium concert at Shea Stadium
for the Beatles as their opening act. Her performance at Shea was featured in the The Beatles at Shea Stadium
concert film which was released in 1966. Holloway was only one of three female acts who opened for the Beatles; the other two were Mary Wells and Jackie DeShannon
. Despite her modest success, Holloway felt out of place at Motown. Being the first West Coast-based artist on the label, she also was one of the few female artists in Motown to write her own songs, and had a much grittier approach to songs than her contemporaries at the label. Between 1966 and early 1968, Holloway recorded a string of singles that were to be put on her second album, Hurtin' & Cryin, which was never officially released. Its first single was "Just Look What You've Done", which hit the Top 30 on the R&B
chart
. Its follow-up was "You've Made Me So Very Happy
", was one of the few singles written by Holloway allowed to be released. The single peaked at number 39 on the pop chart and number 40 on the R&B chart. Holloway left Motown in 1968. A year later, Holloway received royalties
for "You've Made Me So Very Happy" when Blood, Sweat & Tears
took it to number 2 on the US pop chart and the Top 40 in the UK Singles chart
. One year later, Holloway retired from performing.
, which often released material of former Motown artists. In 1990, Holloway issued the album All It Takes. After the 1992 death of her friend Mary Wells, Holloway again emerged from retirement and resumed performing and recording. Her most recent album, My Love is Your Love, was released in 2003.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, a recording artist for the Motown label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
during the 1960s. Her best-known recordings
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
are the soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
hits, "Every Little Bit Hurts
Every Little Bit Hurts
"Every Little Bit Hurts" was originally a 1964 hit single for Motown soul singer Brenda Holloway, written by Ed Cobb.Though she was against recording the song again , she reluctantly recorded the song and the label released it in the summer of the year...
" and "You've Made Me So Very Happy
You've Made Me So Very Happy
"You've Made Me So Very Happy" is a song written by Brenda Holloway, Patrice Holloway, Frank Wilson and Berry Gordy, and was released first as a single in 1967 by Holloway on the Tamla label...
." The latter was later widely popularized when it became a Top Ten hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
for Blood, Sweat & Tears
Blood, Sweat & Tears
Blood, Sweat & Tears is an American music group, originally formed in 1967 in New York City. Since its beginnings in 1967, the band has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and has encompassed a multitude of musical styles...
.
Early life and career
Born in Atascadero, California, the eldest of three children to Wade and Johnnie Mae (Fossett) Holloway. In 1948, she and her infant brother, Wade, Jr., moved with their parents to the WattsWatts, Los Angeles, California
Watts is a mostly residential neighborhood in South Los Angeles, California.-History:The area now known as Watts is located on the Rancho La Tajauta Mexican land grant...
section of Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
where Brenda took up violin and sang in her church choir. Her sister, Patrice
Patrice Holloway
Patrice Holloway was an African-American soul and pop singer.-Career:Patrice Yvonne Holloway was born on March 23, 1951 in Los Angeles, California, the youngest of three children born to Wade Holloway, Sr. and his wife, the former Johnnie Mae Fossett...
, was born there three years later. At 14, she and sister Patrice began working on demonstration
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
records
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
and singing backup
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
for Los Angeles-based R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
acts. In 1962, Holloway made her recording debut with the single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, "Hey Fool". Two years later, she recorded the song that she would later be known for in the coming decades, "Every Little Bit Hurts".
The Motown years
After being overheard singing Mary WellsMary Wells
Mary Esther Wells was an American singer who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s...
' "My Guy
My Guy
"My Guy" is a 1964 number-one hit single recorded by Mary Wells for the Motown label. Written and produced by Smokey Robinson of The Miracles, the song is a woman's dedication to the goodness of her man .The single became the biggest hit ever for Wells, Motown's first female star, and reached the...
", Motown
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
CEO Berry Gordy
Berry Gordy
Berry Gordy, Jr. is an American record producer, and the founder of the Motown record label, as well as its many subsidiaries.-Early years:...
signed her to the label's Tamla imprint. For her first single, she was required to re-record "Every Little Bit Hurts," much to the budding singer-songwriter's chagrin. Released in May 1964, "Every Little Bit Hurts" became a hit for Holloway, reaching #13 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and helping to win the singer a concert spot on Dick Clark's "Caravan of Stars" tour. Holloway followed "Every Little Bit Hurts" with the more modest "I Will Always Love You", before hitting the Top 40 again with the #25 pop hit, "When I'm Gone
When I'm Gone (Motown song)
"When I'm Gone" is a song written by Smokey Robinson and a single he produced twice, one for early Motown star Mary Wells and the other for fellow Motown vocalist Brenda Holloway...
" (written and produced by Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...
) and released shortly after Mary Wells
Mary Wells
Mary Esther Wells was an American singer who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s...
' Motown contract expired; Wells had recorded "When I'm Gone" before Holloway.
After the success of "When I'm Gone," Motown provided Holloway with other songs that were originally recorded by Wells, including "Operator" and "I'll Be Available". Holloway became a fixture on several 1960s television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
s including Shindig!
Shindig!
Shindig! was an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles at the time who also created the show along with his wife Sharon Sheeley and production executive Art Stolnitz....
, and was later asked by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
to open for them on their US tour in 1965. Holloway performed in the first rock stadium concert at Shea Stadium
Shea Stadium
William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea , was a stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964 to 2008...
for the Beatles as their opening act. Her performance at Shea was featured in the The Beatles at Shea Stadium
The Beatles at Shea Stadium
The Beatles at Shea Stadium is a fifty-minute-long documentary of the Beatles' August 15, 1965 concert at Shea Stadium in New York, the highlight of the group's 1965 tour. The documentary was produced by Ed Sullivan , NEMS Enterprises Ltd. , and the Beatles company Subafilms Ltd...
concert film which was released in 1966. Holloway was only one of three female acts who opened for the Beatles; the other two were Mary Wells and Jackie DeShannon
Jackie DeShannon
Jackie DeShannon is an American singer-songwriter with a string of hit song credits from the 1960s onwards. She was one of the first female singer-songwriters of the rock 'n' roll period.- Life and early career :...
. Despite her modest success, Holloway felt out of place at Motown. Being the first West Coast-based artist on the label, she also was one of the few female artists in Motown to write her own songs, and had a much grittier approach to songs than her contemporaries at the label. Between 1966 and early 1968, Holloway recorded a string of singles that were to be put on her second album, Hurtin' & Cryin, which was never officially released. Its first single was "Just Look What You've Done", which hit the Top 30 on the R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
. Its follow-up was "You've Made Me So Very Happy
You've Made Me So Very Happy
"You've Made Me So Very Happy" is a song written by Brenda Holloway, Patrice Holloway, Frank Wilson and Berry Gordy, and was released first as a single in 1967 by Holloway on the Tamla label...
", was one of the few singles written by Holloway allowed to be released. The single peaked at number 39 on the pop chart and number 40 on the R&B chart. Holloway left Motown in 1968. A year later, Holloway received royalties
Royalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
for "You've Made Me So Very Happy" when Blood, Sweat & Tears
Blood, Sweat & Tears
Blood, Sweat & Tears is an American music group, originally formed in 1967 in New York City. Since its beginnings in 1967, the band has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and has encompassed a multitude of musical styles...
took it to number 2 on the US pop chart and the Top 40 in the UK Singles chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. One year later, Holloway retired from performing.
Later years
Holloway married a pastor and left the music industry to become a housewife. During this period, she occasionally sang with her sister Patrice. In 1980, Holloway briefly emerged from retirement to record a gospel album. After Holloway and her husband were divorced, she returned to performing secular music in 1988, recording for the UK label Motorcity RecordsMotorcity Records
Motorcity Records is a British record label formed by producer Ian Levine in 1989. The label aimed to record new material with former Motown artists.-History:...
, which often released material of former Motown artists. In 1990, Holloway issued the album All It Takes. After the 1992 death of her friend Mary Wells, Holloway again emerged from retirement and resumed performing and recording. Her most recent album, My Love is Your Love, was released in 2003.
Albums
- Every Little Bit Hurts (1964)
- The Artistry of Brenda Holloway (1968)
- All It Takes (1990)
- It's a Woman's World (1999)
- Together... (Live) (2000)
- My Love Is Your Love (2CD, 2003)
- 20th Century Masters (2003)
- Anthology (Tamla-Motown) (2005)
Singles
| Year | Song | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
U.S. R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | "Hey Fool" | — | — |
| "Game of Love" | — | — | |
| "I'll Give My Life" | — | — | |
| 1964 | "Every Little Bit Hurts Every Little Bit Hurts "Every Little Bit Hurts" was originally a 1964 hit single for Motown soul singer Brenda Holloway, written by Ed Cobb.Though she was against recording the song again , she reluctantly recorded the song and the label released it in the summer of the year... " |
13 | n/a |
| "I'll Always Love You Ed Cobb Ed Cobb was a musician, songwriter and record producer, most notably during the 1950s and 1960s.-Career:... " |
60 | n/a | |
| 1965 | "When I'm Gone When I'm Gone (Motown song) "When I'm Gone" is a song written by Smokey Robinson and a single he produced twice, one for early Motown star Mary Wells and the other for fellow Motown vocalist Brenda Holloway... " |
25 | 12 |
| "Operator" | 78 | 36 | |
| "You Can Cry on My Shoulder" | — | — | |
| 1966 | "Together 'Til the End of Time" | — | — |
| "Hurt a Little Everyday" | — | — | |
| 1967 | "Just Look What You've Done" | 69 | 21 |
| "You've Made Me So Very Happy You've Made Me So Very Happy "You've Made Me So Very Happy" is a song written by Brenda Holloway, Patrice Holloway, Frank Wilson and Berry Gordy, and was released first as a single in 1967 by Holloway on the Tamla label... " |
39 | 40 | |
| 1988 | "Give Me A Little Inspiration" | — | — |
| "On the Rebound" (duet with Jimmy Ruffin) | — | — | |
| 1991 | "Hot and Cold" | — | — |