Brenda Holloway

EVERY LITTLE BIT HURTS - Stateside 64
(In the UK it was The Spencer Davis Group that had a hit with this on their EP.)

JUST LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE
YOU MADE ME SO VERY HAPPY
OPERATOR Tamla Motown -1965
WHEN I'M GONE
Together Till The End Of time
Think It Over
Ill Always Love You (With Marvin Gaye)

  


Brenda Holloway - born: June 21, 1946, Atascadero, CA

Brenda Holloway and her sister started out as song writers Patrice Holloway did a great soul track (unreleased at the time; For The Love Of Mike). Brenda's songs were all major had to be played hits on the original Manchester soul scene with When I'm Gone becoming a must play classic throughout the entire decade. For many of us, the ultimate, however was Every Little Bit Hurts. This track still haunts me and I find myself humming the words over  forty years after I first heard it. This woman has a seriously soulful voice.



Every Little Bit Hurts was a hit in 1964, Smokey Robinson wrote and produced Holloway's 1965 hit When I'm Gone.

The sexy singer opened several concerts for the Beatles on their 1965 U.S. tour, including their Shea Stadium show.

In 1967 Holloway co-wrote and recorded the original version of 'You've Made Me So Very Happy,' later a gigantic hit for Blood, Sweat & Tears.
Apparently Every Little Bit Hurts was first recorded at Del-Fi studios before a Motown re-mix (this original is out there somewhere.).

Previously unreleased her 2003 CD Sleeve Notes:-
1. Every Little Bit Hurts (2:55) - This moderate, 3/4 song features a piano (common throughout this disc) and strings. The narrator cries and sighs every night; her man won't let her go, yet he runs around on her. Every single action of his hurts her. She begs him to return to her so she can fulfill his every need. Brenda was not in the best of moods while recording this, hence her sighs between lines. Yet those sighs sound like sobs, fitting the mood of her character.

2. Land Of 1000 Boys (3:00) - The time is 3/4 here too--a slow swing tempo. Besides drums (rolling softly and smoothly) I hear a guitar or mandolin or some similar instrument. Brenda sings of a place where lonely and abused girls can find many boys who will treat them nicely. Now, if only there were a counterpart 1000-Gals-Land for guys tired of being run around on or rejected for dates and relationships...

3. I'll Always Love You (2:49) - No, this is not the Dolly Parton/Whitney Houston song. This one is 3/4 like 'Every Little Bit Hurts' but slightly faster. The man's kiss, touch and love are the greatest the narrator has ever experienced--so thrilling she can never get enough.

4. Sad Song (2:38) - This song has a slow, 12/8 tempo. Again Brenda sobs to illustrate her character's mood. Having lost a boyfriend after mistreating him, she begs a DJ, 'Let that sad song play just one more time.'

5. (What Are You Gonna Do) When I'm Gone (2:05) - This is one of two songs previously sung by Mary Wells. This version is slightly faster than Mary's. I like both versions, but I think Brenda sang this song just a little bit better.

6. I've Been Good To You (3:04) - Here's yet another 3/4 song, similar to the speed from three songs before. The man was once lonely and in need of a woman, and the narrator accepted him as a boyfriend. Now, however, he is leaving her and breaking her heart, despite all the good treatment she gave him.

7. Operator (3:18) - This is the other Mary Wells song Brenda remade. This version has moderate speed. At the end, Brenda adds the lines 'I didn't expect him, please connect him right away / I beg of you to put him through without delay.' Again, I prefer this version to Mary's.

8. I'll Be Available (2:35) - This moderately fast song is my favorite by Brenda. The guys behind her sound like the Temptations. The narrator feels romantically enough about the guy that she is willing to wait for him to finish dating and writing to other women. 'When US Mail is no longer mailable...I'll be available.'

9. You've Changed Me * (3:03) - The narrator of this moderately slow song used to love the guy, but she doesn't anymore because he is never satisfied. She wore her clothes and hair the way he expected her to, but now her friends no longer recognize her; even she doesn't. She suspects that he has tried to make her look like a previous girlfriend. Now it's time for her to find a new man; you go, girl!

10. You Can Cry On My Shoulder (2:53) - This song has a similar tempo to the previous one. The narrator loves the man, yet she realizes he loves another woman. She wants to at least be the woman he runs to when the one he loves has left. I like the breath in Brenda's voice when she sings 'Baby, baby, come on.'

11. Together Till The End Of Time (2:59) - This slow song features chimes. Most people in the world may be self-centered, but the narrator and her boyfriend will always hold hands and make plans.

12. Hurt A Little Every Day (2:49) - Strings and horns are among the instruments in this 3/4 song, which starts slow then speeds up a bit. Brenda speaks during part of the slow intro: 'How do you live with a broken heart and only a memory?...And I know what's in store for me.' Now that the guy has left, the narrator will hurt daily and cry nightly until she can get over him.

13. Till Johnny Comes * (2:34) - A tambourine sounds on every other beat of this slow song. Since the narrator's boyfriend Johnny has been 'painting the world scarlet red,' she has had for company the man to whom she is singing. She begs him first to stay with her until Johnny returns. Then, once she tells Johnny they're through and he leaves, she asks the other man to be her man forever.

14. Just Look What You've Done (2:53) - The tempo is slightly faster than moderate. The man used to love and need the narrator, but now he is leaving her. For him the relationship was temporary, but she wanted it to be permanent. Now that he is leaving, she doubts she will be strong enough to continue living.

15. You've Made Me So Very Happy (2:51) - This song, slightly slower than moderate, features a tambourine. Just when the narrator gave up on love, along came the man to whom she sings. He persuaded her to try love just once more, and their relationship is the best she's ever known. According to Brenda (one of the writers of this song), the hit version by Blood, Sweat and Tears (but not her own) was recorded the way she intended for it to be recorded.