BRENDA HOLLOWAY STORY ON THE CHANCELLOR OF SOUL'S SOUL FACTS SHOW

Chancellor of Soul, Mike Boone presents another edition of 'Soul Facts', a show highlighting the history of legedary artists and their music.
This edition features a striking beautiful artist, who helped staked the foundation
of the West Coast Motown sound.

The lovely and vivacious, Ms. Brenda Holloway

Brenda Holloway was born on June 21, 1946 in Atascadero, California.
She and her family moved to Watts, a section of Los Angeles, while she was 2 years
of age. Her early musical influences were Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan and
later Mary Wells and Aretha Franklin.

She studied the violin in elementary school through Jordan High, where she
attended. While pursuing her education, Holloway made her first recording debut
on Bob Keene's Donna label with, 'Echo' b/w 'Hey Fool' and then later, two more
pertaining the same title, 'Echo Echo Echo' and 'More Echo'

As a member of a girl's group, the Wattesians (founded by Motown's future West
Coast producer Hal Davis) they release a few singles on Donna and the Minasa
imprints. Holloway's association with hal Davis, he invited to a disc jockey convention
held at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles, where he wanted her to meet Berry Gordy Jr.
who was scheduled to attended. Top radio personalities were each room and Brenda
was instructed to sing Mary's Wells hit 'My Guy' in each room.

Becoming frustrated and exhusted, Holloway encounted a man and impatiently asked
'Who and where is this Berry Gordy because I'm tired and want to go home !'
The gentleman exclaimed 'I'm Berry Gordy !' Gordy told her he liked her singing
and wanted to sign her but she must finished high school. And she did.

After graduation, Brenda became Motown's first West Coast artist to be signed.
Laying the groundbreaking L.A Motown sound, Hal Davis and Marc Gordon
produced Holloway's first masterpiece release on Motown's subsidary label
Tamla entilted 'Every Little Bit Hurts' in 1964. Composed by Ed Cobb, of the
4 Preps, the song charted No. 13 on Billboard's Top 100 Singles chart and
No. 3 onn Cashbox's Top R&B Locations chart in 1964.

Holloway recorded Motown's most memorable cuts including two compositions
by legendary great Motown songwriter / artist Smokey Robinson, 'When I'm Gone'
and 'Operator' both released in 1965. After a few unsuccessful singles, Holloway
returned back to the upper region of the R&B charts in the spring of 1967 with,
'Just Look What You've Done'. Around this time, she along with her sister Patrice
Frank Wilson and Berry Gordy Jr. composed Jobete's most popular gem,
'You've Made Me So Very Happy' . This would become Brenda's last single release
with the company.