Adrian Burrows
Reach Out:The songs,the hits
and the magic of Motown
V
ery occasionally, life takes a group
of people with exceptional but
complementary talents and throws them
into the same small spot on the globe
at precisely the same point in history.
If you take some extraordinary
songwriters, some extraordinary
musicians, some extraordinary
producers and some extraordinary
performing artists, the result is bound
to be … well, extraordinary.
This was Detroit, Michigan in the early
Sixties, the home of Motown. With the
charismatic and driven former boxer
Berry Gordy Jnr at its head, this small
but vibrant label punched way above
its weight, making full use of an array of
talent under one roof that is unrivalled
in pop history.
jazz and club scene, such as bassist
Eddie worked for Motown’s publishing
James Jamerson and drummer Benny
Benjamin. The roster of artists included
The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, The Four
Tops, Martha and the Vandellas and
Marvin Gaye, while the key writers were
company and sang on demos before
releasing his own album in 1962. Brian
was a producer, with writing and
production credits on The Marvelettes’
William “Smokey” Robinson and three
men whose names form one of the
most powerful brands in the history of
music – Holland Dozier Holland.
London Features International
The musicians were the legendary Funk
Brothers, iconic players from Detroit’s
Brian Holland,Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland
The Supremes:The most successful Motown recording artists of HDH songs
6
Please, Mr Postman, a song later recorded
by The Beatles. Lamont had recorded for
Motown as early as 1958,but returned
as a replacement for Freddy Gorman to
link up with the Holland bothers and
complete the mighty triumvirate.
Brothers Brian and
Eddie Holland and
Lamont Dozier
were all born in
Detroit and were
What happened next is well
documented. A string of hits including
Where Did Our Love Go, Baby Love, You
Keep Me Hanging On, Stop! In the Name
significant figures
on the city’s R&B
scene in the Fifties.
The Hollands were
both in The
Fidelatones, while
Lamont had made
his first record with
The Romeos at the
age of 15.
of Love, You Can’t Hurry Love (The
Supremes); I Can’t Help Myself,Baby I Need
Your Loving, Reach Out, I’ll Be There (The
Four Tops); How Sweet It Is (to be Loved by
You), Can I Get a Witness (Marvin Gaye),
Heat Wave, Jimmy Mack (Martha and the
Vandellas) and This Old Heart of Mine
(The Isley Brothers) ensured a permanent
place for Holland Dozier Holland
among songwriting’s aristocracy. tw
A capital welcome for
Holland Dozier Holland
Doug Flett
By Mark Fishlock
A
t this year’s Ivors, the truly
remarkable achievements of
Holland Dozier Holland were celebrated
with the Special International Award.
The award is a comparatively recent
innovation and is presented jointly by
the Academy and PRS.
This was its sixth year, with previous
recipients being Hal David, Jerry Leiber
and Mike Stoller, Stevie Wonder, Benny
Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, and in
2003 the creative power behind the
Beach Boys, Brian Wilson.
While Lamont had visited and worked in
the UK on many occasions, this was the
first visit to Britain by Eddie and Brian. It
was an honour and privilege to welcome these three great
songwriters to London and personally an enormous pleasure
for me to spend time with them during their stay.
Lulu rocks at the Cobden Club
PRS chairman David Bedford hosted a boat trip up the river,
which is a great way to show off our capital city. As a native,
it’s easy to become blasé about the many historic and
modern landmarks that draw tourists to
Eddie on songwriting
“
You don’t push a button and there it comes. Lamont
would do things at home and ideas would hit him like
any other creative person. He could be walking along
the street or whatever. Motown was just a place to
socialise, to get together, which created a relaxing social
environment. There was a room where we would meet
and sit in that particular office. Sometimes we’d be
laughing and joking. Brian and Lamont would fool
around on the piano, sometimes something would
come, sometimes it wouldn’t. Sometimes if Lamont was
sparked by something Brian did, Lamont would sit there
almost scooting him off the piano. He would start to
bring it out as an extension of what Brian did. I’d listen to
it and say, I need this kind of a structure to do the lyric, or,
London, but I’m sure the Parisians are as
off-hand about the Eiffel Tower and the
Egyptians as casual about their
Pyramids.
However, the almost 1,000 year-old
Tower of London is impressive, especially
when compared with the architectural
infancy of Los Angeles, while the bridges,
St Paul’s Cathedral, the Clink prison, Sir
Christopher Wren’s house, Greenwich
Observatory and the reconstruction of
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre kept the
Holland Dozier Holland party constantly
enthralled.
can you extend those bars. Mostly I was there to enhance
the structure as far as the lyrics were concerned.
”
7
Lamont on writer’s block
“
Writer’s block is a non-issue. It’s an issue you have with
yourself in your own head. If you keep writing you’re
going to break the block. If you stay there long enough,
something will come about.
singing, performed five HDH numbers, including Can I Get a
Witness, You Keep Me Hanging On and This Old Heart of Mine.
Richard Allinson hosted the evening, which was recorded for
broadcast in June as part of Radio 2’s Sold on Song series.
They travelled with a sizeable group, but the word “entourage”
Sitting round the piano, Brian, Eddie and Lamont talked about
an average working day at Motown, the arguments – usually
has unfortunate connotations, implying
hangers-on, bodyguards and panderers
to ego. This was absolutely not the case
and the travelling group of wives,
partners, children and friends had the feel
of a family holiday.
”
Brian on Lamont’s version of My World is
Empty Without You
“
When he sung it, he lived it; he was in it like a script. It
was such a delivery, it was second to none. I look at
Lamont as Laurence Olivier when he sings that song.
After the boat trip, I was delighted to be
invited by David Bedford to join a
smaller group for dinner at the Savoy.
”
between the two Holland brothers – and how their
extraordinary run of success led them to regard anything less
than a number one almost as a failure.
Eddie on favourite HDH lyrics
“
They demonstrated how some of the songs were written,
In I Hear a Symphony, she says,“I cry not for myself, but for
those who never felt the joy we felt”. In Bernadette,“Some
other men, they long to control you. But how can they
control you …when they cannot control themselves …
from wanting you”. I think this happens a lot in life. Once
you turn yourself over to the object, you totally lose
control. It controls you.
leading to one athletic moment at the piano, when Brian
crashed out the anthemic opening bars to Reach Out, I’ll Be
There, before handing over to Lamont to play the verse.
Lamont also brought enthusiastic cheers from the room with
a moving performance of My World is Empty Without You.
”
On the Friday after the Ivors, the Academy and BBC Radio 2
put on “An Evening with Holland Dozier
Holland” at the small but atmospheric
Cobden Club in Kensal Town, a
and their humility, particularly after what must have been an
exhausting week. During their few days in London they also
appeared on Later with Jools Holland and Radio 4’s Today
Lamont on advice for songwriters
“
comparatively unglamorous part of west
London. The venue was packed to
almost bursting with writers including
Graham Gouldman, David Arnold, Phil
Pickett, Dominic King, Lynsey de Paul,
Gary Osborne, Pete Wingfield and Mitch
Murray, along with BBC guests such as
Mark Lamarr and Jeremy Vine.
Don’t listen when people say you can’t do this thing, or
you’re just wasting your time. You can’t be thin-skinned
in this business, because we deal in the business of
rejection. You’ve got to be hard-headed, stubborn and
driven. Be faithful to the music and the music will be
faithful to you.
”
Lulu, herself a huge fan and looking fabulous as she was
programme, as well as doing a series of other interviews.
Then there was the shopping.
Brian on the Funk Brothers
I don’t think they realised just how highly they are regarded
in the UK, particularly among the songwriting community.
The Funk Brothers were all great musicians in their own
right and collectively they were unbeatable - just the
greatest. They knew how to take direction and they
understood what to do once they got the directions.
The warmth and sheer length of the standing ovation they
received at the Ivors hopefully went some way to show that
“
8
I was enormously impressed by their charm, good humour
”
on this side of the Atlantic the songs of Brian Holland, Eddie
Holland and Lamont Dozier form a vital and inspirational part
of our pop history and as such will live for ever. tw