Post by Emerald City on Apr 26, 2005 14:35:37 GMT -5
Here is an interview I came across conducted with Brenda back in Feb 2000 from LiveDaily ... Enjoy
Motown Singer Brenda Holloway Prepares for Comeback on Revived Volt Label
Mid-sixties Motown diva Brenda Holloway who practically gave up singing for eighteen years after retiring at age 22, is back with a new contemporary R&B release on the resuscitated Volt label.
On "It's a Woman's World," her first U.S. release since a 1980 gospel album, the 54-year-old singer said she "was really free to express the Brenda Holloway that exists now, not the one from the Sixties."
"This session was one where I said, 'I'm not going to try to sing like Mary Wells to get a deal. I'm not going to sing like the old Brenda Holloway to keep an image.' ... It's the real me."
At age 18, the Watts-raised singer was signed to Motown, where she recorded her Billboard hit "Every Little Bit Hurts" and wrote and recorded "You've Made Me So Very Happy," which Blood, Sweat & Tears turned into a hit in 1969. Holloway left the music business in 1968, alienated by the drug scene and concerned that Detroit's Motown was not giving her material as interesting as the label's in-town singers received.
For the next 18 years, she become a devout church-goer who was so afraid she was going to sin that she didn't sing. She finally started recording again in the U.K. in 1987 and began performing in California with R&B singer Brenton Wood in 1995.
Her signing to the Volt label, which jazz/blues label Fantasy reactivated last year, is part of Volt's plan to bring back R&B greats who still have potential to produce fresh music. The label also wants to push young soul artists who have gospel roots, but are influenced by contemporary singers such as Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.
Along with Holloway, the Volt label has released "Love Ride" by 28-year-old R&B singer Angel Sessions The Dramatics lead singer L.J. Reynolds will release his solo album "Love Is About to Start" next week, and in late Feb., smooth soul act the Delfonics, featuring the original line-up, will release "Forever Now."
Motown Singer Brenda Holloway Prepares for Comeback on Revived Volt Label
Mid-sixties Motown diva Brenda Holloway who practically gave up singing for eighteen years after retiring at age 22, is back with a new contemporary R&B release on the resuscitated Volt label.
On "It's a Woman's World," her first U.S. release since a 1980 gospel album, the 54-year-old singer said she "was really free to express the Brenda Holloway that exists now, not the one from the Sixties."
"This session was one where I said, 'I'm not going to try to sing like Mary Wells to get a deal. I'm not going to sing like the old Brenda Holloway to keep an image.' ... It's the real me."
At age 18, the Watts-raised singer was signed to Motown, where she recorded her Billboard hit "Every Little Bit Hurts" and wrote and recorded "You've Made Me So Very Happy," which Blood, Sweat & Tears turned into a hit in 1969. Holloway left the music business in 1968, alienated by the drug scene and concerned that Detroit's Motown was not giving her material as interesting as the label's in-town singers received.
For the next 18 years, she become a devout church-goer who was so afraid she was going to sin that she didn't sing. She finally started recording again in the U.K. in 1987 and began performing in California with R&B singer Brenton Wood in 1995.
Her signing to the Volt label, which jazz/blues label Fantasy reactivated last year, is part of Volt's plan to bring back R&B greats who still have potential to produce fresh music. The label also wants to push young soul artists who have gospel roots, but are influenced by contemporary singers such as Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.
Along with Holloway, the Volt label has released "Love Ride" by 28-year-old R&B singer Angel Sessions The Dramatics lead singer L.J. Reynolds will release his solo album "Love Is About to Start" next week, and in late Feb., smooth soul act the Delfonics, featuring the original line-up, will release "Forever Now."