Artistry of Brenda Holloway

We provided an appetiser to the career of Brenda Holloway with The Early Years - Rare Recordings 1962-1963 (ACE 1241). Now we serve up the main course with this expanded reissue of The Artistry Of Brenda Holloway, a compilation LP released exclusively in the UK in 1968. The album contained all nine of Brenda's Tamla A-sides, five B-sides and two titles from her Every Little Bit Hurts LP, which are joined here by eight bonus titles from the Motown vaults.

The Artistry album was issued in mono and stereo, but the stereo version is much rarer today, so we've gone with that, with one exception. The track Every Little Bit Hurts exists only in mono and fake stereo; in the absence of a true stereo version, we've used the original mono master here.

The bonus titles span Brenda's Motown career, from 1964's pop-sounding Mr Lifeguard (Come And Rescue Me) to the soulful It's Love I Need, completed just a few months before her departure from the company in 1968. One stand-out track that deserves special mention is After All That You've Done, a typically breathy gem from the pen of Smokey Robinson.

''I'm so very grateful to my loyal fans all around the world, especially those in the UK who have never stopped supporting my career,'' says Brenda. ''I'm truly delighted that my name and work are still relevant today. When The Artistry Of Brenda Holloway album was first released in the UK in 1968, I always wished that the rest of the world could have been able to enjoy it as well. Now they finally can.''

Compiled and annotated by noted Motown historian Keith Hughes.