#holland-dozier-holland

[musickickztoo]

Lamont Dozier 

June 16, 1941 – August 8, 2022

[soundgrammar]

Songwriters Eddie Holland (L), Lamont Dozier (C) and Brian Holland (R) are joined by musicians Stevie Wonder (2nd L), Berry Gordy (3rd R) and Mary Wilson (2nd R) during the Star ceremony for Holland Dozier Holland on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images.

[filosofablogger]

♫ Baby Love ♫ (Redux)

I’m taking you back more than half a century tonight, to 1964 when The Supremes recorded Baby Love and hit #1 on both the U.S. and UK charts.  The Motown songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland wrote this, and according to Lamont Dozier … “I would collaborate with Eddie on lyrics and with Brian on melodies. Then Brian and I would go into the studio and produce the actual record although Eddie…

[mitjalovse]

David Briggs helmed a lot of successes as we have all noticed, though he also had some musicians that could have been among the greatest of their scenes. Kathi McDonald was another case of that. She should've had a better career, I mean, she replaced Janis Joplin in the band the latter fronted. Then again, she was constantly compared to her, which probably didn't do her many favours. For instance, Insane Asylum, her debut, sounds great, but I can understand why she was delegated to the session work. She's incredible, yet the similarity to Joplin – seriously, her voice is so much like Joplin's one find that uncanny – might have done her more harm than good. Sadly, I might add, Insane Asylum shows her to be a ferociously good singer.

[nedison]

RIP Abdul “Duke” Fakir

Four Tops - Reach Out I’ll Be There (1966) Holland-Dozier-Holland (Brian Holland / Lamont Dozier / Eddie Holland) from: “Reach Out” LP          “Reach Out I’ll Be There” / “Until You Love Someone”

Personnel: Levi Stubbs: Lead Vocals Abdul “Duke” Fakir: Backing Vocals Renaldo “Obie” Benson: Backing Vocals Lawrence Payton: Backing Vocals

The Andantes: (Backing Vocals) Jackie Hicks Marlene Barrow Louvain Demps

Musicians: The Funk Brothers

Produced by Brian Holland / Lamont Dozier

*** ***

Four Tops - Baby I Need Your Loving (1964): https://tmblr.co/ZoHQpk2FLuBTV

Four Tops - I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) (1965): https://tmblr.co/ZoHQpk2F5HHYM

Four Tops - It’s the Same Old Song (1965): https://tmblr.co/ZoHQpk2FLubiU

Four Tops - Walk Away Renee (1967): https://tmblr.co/ZoHQpk2Vi-P0-

[jt1674]

[kdo-three]

Martha and The Vandellas - Heat Wave (1963) Stereo | Mono Holland–Dozier–Holland (Brian Holland | Lamont Dozier | Edward Holland) from: "Heat Wave" / "A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Everyday)" (Single) "Heat Wave" (LP)

Soul | Motown | R&B | Pop

Stereo: JukeHostUK (left click = play) (320kbps)

Mono: Tumblr (left click = play) (320kbps)

Personnel: Martha Reeves: Lead Vocals Rosalind Ashford: Backing Vocals Annette Beard: Backing Vocals

Studio Musicans: The Funk Brothers: Joe Hunter: Piano Robert White: Guitar Eddie Willis: Guitar Andrew “Mike” Terry: Saxophone Solo James Jamerson: Double Bass Richard “Pistol” Allen: Drums

Produced by Brian Holland / Lamont Dozier / William "Mickey" Stevenson

Recorded: @ Hitsville U.S.A. (Studio A) in Detroit, Michigan USA on June 20, 1963

Single Released: on July 9, 1963

Album Released: on September 30, 1963 Gordy Records

[abs0luteb4stard]

W A T C H I N G

[rolandrockover]

Come to Where No Hearts Love

What would we have today? I haven't got a clue, because there's a lot of junk flying around here. Why not work through some half-baked crap, nobody will ever notice anyway. Har, har, har!

All right, good idea. Here we go. We've got Dressed to Kill (1975) and Killers (1982) (1) and even a little more for offer. Well, and why not, after all, you don't get to see something like this every day, and it's better than nothing (2).

So let's all think very briefly of the vocal bridge from C'mon and Love Me, the one with that quirky Gene duet just before the wonderfully self-pleased, sleazy chorus, which I can probably expect everyone here to know. Cut and pan to Nowhere to Run.

Close up on the verse, those after the acoustic to electric main riff, which is later to be recycled from both an Animalize (1984) and Psycho Circus (1998) track, and which might not sound entirely unfamiliar if you haven't spontaneously forgotten what it was all about at the beginning of this paragraph.

And I admit things could get easily tricky if you just look at the emotional charge of both equally structured Paul lines, which fortunately we don't do, do we?

And that would indeed be better, because if you listen to this one bridge from This Old Heart of Mine (1966) by the Isley Brothers, you can't help but notice that it fits Nowhere to Run's verse like a glove and also has more than enough overlap with C'mon and Love Me's bridge to realize that not only once more, but twice we're not exactly dealing with a coincidence.

Anyone surprised? Great, then at least we've got that out of the way.

Side Note:

(1) It is rumored that even the most hardcore of the oldest kissologists still disagree about whether this compilation is simply called Killers or in formal terms KISS Killers, and are still and probably will continue to discuss it for a very long time to come.

(2) But don't worry, there is certainly no shortage of supplies, on the contrary. Oh my..!

Nowhere to Run (1982)

This Old Heart of Mine (1966)

C'mon and Love Me (1975)

[julio-viernes]

Abdul "Duke" Fakir RIP, el último "four top".

Cuando fue lanzada en 1966 "Reach Out I´ll Be There" de Holland, Dozier and Holland al principio hubo gente que la consideró incomprensible, un verdadero barullo en su estructura. Era un tema que se salía de los patrones rítmicos de la factoría Motown. Incluso los mismos Four Tops la vieron difícil y rara como ella sola.

Lamont Dozier dijo que quería escribir, agárrense porque esto es buenísimo: "un viaje de emociones con tensión sostenida, como un bolero. Para transmitir esto, alterné las tonalidades, desde un toque ruso menor en las estrofas hasta un toque gospel mayor en el estribillo". Es lo que tiene ser un genio del pop, el "Bach negro", que te suelta una de estas y a ver que haces, donde te metes...

En cuanto a la letra que escribió con Eddie Holland, ambos tuvieron el objetivo de que los Four Tops sonaran "como si estuvieran siendo derribados vocalmente". Ambos estaban por entonces muy influenciados por Bob Dylan y querían que "Levi Stubbs gritara y cantara la letra… como un saludo a Dylan". Puedo verlo, lo veo todo.

Para la grabación, los escritores y productores pusieron intencionadamente al cantante principal, el gran Levi, al límite de sus posibilidades, en el tope de los tops, en la cima de su rango vocal. Según Abdul Fakir: "para asegurarse de que tuviera ese llanto, hambre y gemido en la voz", cosa que logró maravillosamente.

Una vez completada la grabación -mención especial para el bajo de James Jamerson- y al escuchar la versión final, el grupo le rogó a Berry Gordy que no la publicara.

Según Fakir, "para nosotros la canción era una canción un poco extraña". Sin embargo, Gordy se dio cuenta de que aquello era una p... obra maestra y una de las cosas más desquiciadamente creativas que había hecho Motown hasta la fecha, e insistió en sacarla como sencillo. El resultado fue UK nº 1; USA nº 1; España, jiji, nº 1. Así fue...

Arriba en riguroso directo en París 1967. Buen detalle las 2 baterías + percusión.

[mobanjaree]

THIS WAS SO CRAZZYYYYY

[worldsfastestbear]

Yet another vintage tune that just popped into our little furry heads. Yes, Motown!

[soundgrammar]

Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland.

[filosofablogger]

♫ I Heard It Through The Grapevine ♫ (Redux)

Not quite two years (December 2022) since I last played this one, but I’m in the mood for some Motown tonight and this is the one that came to mind second!  (First was “What’s Goin’ On”).  The news of the past few days has really taken a toll on my psyche, and there ain’t nothin’ quite like Motown and Marvin to restore some of that lost mojo/energy! This song was written by Norman Whitfield and…

[mitjalovse]

A thing about the 60's that rarely gets mentioned is that there were several scenes that prospered during the period. Of course, they also defined the time thanks to their success. For instance, Motown is one of those hubs, can you imagine the 60's without their style? Then again, the musicians the label really worked at the top of their games then. The Supremes, for instance, set the template for many R&B groups and one has to check some of their tunes to hear why. Mind you, their pieces still pulsate with an incredible vitality that the covers of them cannot really capture. When you try to understand why that is, one gets a variety of answers. Each part contributes to the whole, yet there is something more here at play as well.

[odk-2]

Martha and the Vandellas - Heat Wave (1963)

Martha and the Vandellas - Heat Wave (1963) Holland–Dozier–Holland (Brian Holland | Lamont Dozier | Edward Holland) from: "Heat Wave" / "A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Everyday)" (Single) "Heat Wave" (LP)

Soul | Motown | R&B | Pop

Stereo: JukeHostUK (left click = play) (320kbps)

Mono: Tumblr (left click = play) (320kbps)

Personnel: Martha Reeves: Lead Vocals Rosalind Ashford: Backing Vocals Annette Beard: Backing Vocals

Studio Musicians: The Funk Brothers: Joe Hunter: Piano Robert White: Guitar Eddie Willis: Guitar Andrew “Mike” Terry: Saxophone Solo James Jamerson: Double Bass Richard “Pistol” Allen: Drums

Produced by Brian Holland / Lamont Dozier / William "Mickey" Stevenson

Recorded: @ Hitsville U.S.A. (Studio A) in Detroit, Michigan USA on June 20, 1963

Single Released: on July 9, 1963

Album Released: on  September 30, 1963

Gordy Records