Assembled for the British market in 1968, just a matter of months after
Brenda Holloway left
Motown,
The Artistry of Brenda Holloway contained all of the A-sides she released on
Motown/
Tamla, five of her B-sides for the label, plus two cuts from
Every Little Bit Hurts, the LP released in the U.S. in 1964. Effectively, it was a greatest-hits set and
Ace's 2013 expansion adds eight unreleased tracks recorded between 1965 and 1967. There are several unreleased sessions left in the vaults, some having already appeared on various anthologies, including the double-disc 2005 set, but one of the reasons
Holloway left so much in the vaults is that she had a rather contentious relationship with
Motown, who never treated her as one of their A-list recording artists; indeed, once she discovered the song she was working on during a 1968 recording session was now slated for
Gladys Knight, she left the studio and never returned.
The Artistry of Brenda Holloway reveals what a shame this situation was.
Holloway was closest to
Mary Wells in the
Motown roster -- a bright, sweet singer who sounded best whenever she was given a luxurious pop setting. She was given terrific material -- the best-known was "You've Made Me So Very Happy," later popularized by
Blood, Sweat & Tears, but her biggest hits were "Every Little Bit Hurts" and "When I'm Gone," both of which were as good as
Motown got (the latter is one of
Smokey Robinson's finest songs) -- and the unreleased material here, while not quite up to the level of the singles on the
Artistry LP, are nevertheless a joy to hear;
Holloway's discography is so limited, it's a blessing to have it increased. The same can be said of this reissue of
The Artistry of Brenda Holloway as a whole: the additions are simply more of a good thing and it's a pleasure to have this album in circulation again. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
![Take It on Home [Remastered]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0894231449529_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Take It on Home [Remastered]")
