Tags
Motown M 1031 (A), August 1962
b/w It’s Not Too Late
(Written by Mickey Stevenson and Brian Holland)
Oriole CBA 1808 (A), March 1963
b/w It’s Not Too Late
(Released in the UK under license through Oriole Records)
Edward Holland Jr. cut just one solitary Motown album as a performer – the imaginatively-titled Eddie Holland, which came out in May 1962. Of all the songs on there which hadn’t already been used on singles, this one was the standout track, and it became his fourth Motown single in a little over ten months.
Between 1962 and 1964, there was a brief period when Holland existed in a dual role at Motown, as both a songwriter and a singer, racking up a run of fine singles while gradually being absorbed into a songwriting trio with his little brother Brian and Lamont Dozier.
The Eddie Holland LP predates this period (indeed, as far as we know, everything on it predates Eddie even having even met Lamont Dozier yet), and it’s really little more than a belated companion piece to his chart breakthrough single, Jamie; though Eddie has a couple of co-writer credits on there, the LP is dominated by compositions by producers Brian Holland and Mickey Stevenson.
No, when the album was made, Eddie Holland was a performer first and foremost, a chipper fellow with a Jackie Wilson voice doing lighthearted R&B/pop crossover material. Nowhere on the LP are those things more obvious than here.
Opening with a big flourish of strings (exactly the same as on Jamie – in fact, the influence of Jamie is writ large all over this, notwithstanding that it’s actually a markedly better song than its illustrious predecessor), Eddie gets proceedings off to an immediately-likeable start by gamely starting the record with a Jacques Brel-like shout of “Ha! Ha!” As with so many of Eddie Holland’s early Motown records, you can actually hear the smile on his face.
The “Ha! Ha!”s are one particularly memorable feature of his delivery here; the other is the chorus, where Eddie strings out the word “love” over eight syllables, with gaps in between – Is it lo- o- o- o- o- o- o-ove? Lo-o-o- o- o- o- o-ove? – in a fashion which is heavily redolent of Jackie Wilson, and in particular Reet Petite, a song written by Motown boss Berry Gordy. Eddie Holland, of course, used to do demo vocals for the songs Berry Gordy wrote for Jackie Wilson. You can hear that connection here with crystal clarity; this is, for all intents and purposes, the best indication we’ll ever have of what a hypothetical Jackie Wilson single on Motown might have sounded like had the label ever been able to release such a thing.
The rest of the record is basically a reworking of Jamie, twice as fast and much more likeable, with 50% more Jackie Wilson. Certainly it’s the most commercial single Eddie had released since then, with a stronger tune, and a really good lead vocal from Holland, still no great shakes technically but with an enthusiasm and feeling that compensates for a lack of top-level ability, coming out a winner. The All I wanna know in the chorus is some of his best vocal work to date, while the succession of throaty Ow!s are a nice touch.
It’s very string-heavy, and seems likely to have been recorded in Chicago at the same time as some of Smokey Robinson’s orchestral sessions with Riley C. Hampton for the Miracles. The result is a lush, expansive sound laid over a fairly traditional early-Sixties pop song, and a fine single. But it wasn’t a hit.
As well as being a good pop record, it’s also a relic, an artefact from a time in Motown’s history that was already disappearing in the rear view; the Eddie Holland who made the album had already started to move on, while Brian was working with Lamont Dozier testing the boundaries of pop songcraft. Within two years, Eddie would have cut his last single as a performer, and the three of them would be well on their way to songwriter immortality; this fun, jaunty romp would be a snapshot of a bygone age and a past life.
MOTOWN JUNKIES VERDICT
(I’ve had MY say, now it’s your turn. Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment, or click the thumbs at the bottom there. Dissent is encouraged!)
You’re reading Motown Junkies, an attempt to review every Motown A- and B-side ever released. Click on the “previous” and “next” buttons below to go back and forth through the catalogue, or visit the Master Index for a full list of reviews so far.
(Or maybe you’re only interested in Eddie Holland? Click for more.)
 |
 |
| The Miracles “If Your Mother Only Knew” |
Eddie Holland “It’s Not Too Late” |
Motown Junkies 
I’m surprised that no one has commented on this fine record. It’s killer! Eddie Holland had one of the finest voices in the Motown stable and his Jackie Wilson soundalikes are among the best records Motown ever put out.
This is an easy 10 for me. The strings in the beginning., the “HA! HA!” confidence in Eddie’s voice, and the way he carries this tune with his vocals screams out Top Ten to me. I like the effect they put on Eddie’s voice when he sings the “Deep” in the line “Deep down inside, you can run run run run run, but you can’t hide…”.
It’s just sooooo confident, like he knows he’s doing a great job. It’s miles ahead of Jamie, for sure.
LikeLike
No-one has commented, but Eddie’s fans are out in force – there are five “agree” votes for this side, and five “disagree” votes for my unflattering review of the B-side.
Hello, Eddie Holland fans! Feel free to agree or disagree in writing, I won’t bite!
LikeLike
I disagree with your award of 5 points for this song. I like it a lot, and would give it a 7. But, unlike many Motown fans, 1962 Motown midtempo style is one of my favourite sounds of ANY genre. I also disagree with your statement that Eddie had not even MET Lamont Dozier when this song was recorded. Most of the young Detroit singers had come across each other in high school events, sock hops, recording studios. I would bet that Eddie and Brian had known Lamont as early as 1957, when Lamont was with The Romeos, and they were recording demos and making the rounds of the record companies. Eddie and Brian were already working with Berry Gordy in 1958 (Mercury and Kudo Records). In 1959, Lamont was recording for Berry’s sisters’ Anna Records, for whom Berry wrote songs, together with his own writing partner “Ty Carlo” (Billy Davis) – who was also Berry’s sister Gwen’s boyfriend. Lamont sang with The Voice Masters then, which included 3 future members of Motown’s Originals, who also sang with David Ruffin (who lived at Berry’s parents’ house, and also worked for his father’s construction firm). There is NO POSSIBILITY that Eddie and Brian, who were Berry’s “right-hand men” at that time, did not know Lamont. After Harvey Fuqua joined Anna Records, and became Gwen’s new boyfriend, and Anna Records had to break up, with Billy Davis splitting from The Gordys, Lamont Dozier joined with the Anna people following Davis to Chess Records (along with David Ruffin, Tony Clarke, Willie Kendrick, The Del-Phis (pre Vandellas), Alan Story, Ty Hunter, Ruben Fort, etc.), while Johnny and Jackey, Lorrie Rudolph, Joe Charles, The Five Quails, Ann Bogan(Challengers III), The Spinners, etc. followed Harvey and Gwen to their new labels, and Herman Griffin, Bill “Winehead Willie” Murray, Bob Kayli (Robert Gordy), etc. went with Berry Gordy’s Motown label. ALL the people who signed to Chess’ (Billy Davis’) Checkmate Records subsidiary, (located in Detroit) still knew each other, and saw each other regularly. I contend that The Holland Brothers likely met Lamont Dozier in 1958, when they started working with Berry Gordy, and Lamont joined The Voice Masters on Anna Records (with whom berry Gordy worked), and Berry had been the songwriter and producer of The Five Stars (the precursor group name of The Voice Masters). So, I think it would have been more accurate for you to have stated that “At THAT time, Eddie had not yet hooked up with Lamont Dozier within Motown.
LikeLike
The Oriole sleeve pictured accompanied the Belgian release. However, they just used British copies for the records themselves.
LikeLike
That Eddie was a demo singer and Gordy a composer for Jackie Wilson is really great information and yet another example of why I love this site so much. This prompted me to again look up Jackie Wilson, whose high reputation and place in history I still don’t quite understand. To me Eddie Holland sounds better, and in general sings far too well to fit the role of “failed singer turned successful songwriter”. Can anyone shed light on why Wilson was such a huge star and E. Holland the singer wasn’t? Is it just that Wilson came on the scene at a more advantageous time for his style or was it an onstage charisma type of thing? I was listening to some of the later youtube interviews with HDH where they casually sing (badly) and my first impression was that, yes, these were genius songwriters best kept away from the microphone, but then I heard the singles of E. Holland and Dozier and they’re both solid – better in pure vocal terms than many we’ve encountered thus far in the survey.
LikeLike
And Brian could sing well, to, as exemplified by his singing in The Rayber voices. It is thought that Eddie was the lead singer on “Nature Boy” in Briant Holland’s Kudo record. In answer to your question, Eddie was fairly shy, and didn’t “sell” his songs on stage in personal appearances. It has been found out that he didn’t really enjoy making personal appearances (singing in public). Jackie Wilson, on the other hand, was one of the greatest live performers and showmen, ever. He really loved singing, and that showed through him like a luminous “aura”. He was a super dancer, and choreographed all his songs. Take a look on You-tube at film clips of him singing “Lonely Teardrops”, “That’s Why (I Love You So)”, “Reet Petite”, “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me)Higher and Higher”, “I Get The Sweetest Feeling”, “I’ve Lost You”, “Whispers” and any others. He oozed “star power” even when singing =the slowest ballads. I agree, that Eddie Holland had a similar voice quality, and was a very good singer. I really like Lamont Dozier as a singer (in The Romeos, his Anna and Checkmate cuts, and his 2 Mel-O-dy cuts. I also like his singing on his Invictus, Whitfield and Atantic cuts, although the music is too “modern” for me, and I really don’t like it. I don’t like more than a handful of songs that I’ve heard that were recorded after 1970.
LikeLike
Mystery solved! Thanks!
LikeLike
Not half as catchy as the great “Jamie,” imo.
LikeLike