Big Mick

BRENDA HOLLOWAY INTERVIEW Thanks go to Soul Essence Mag (see fanzine section for more details) for letting Soul Source use this great interview 060998. CARLA GRAN WITH BRENDA HOLLOWAY. BRENDA OPENS HER HEART IN THIS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH BIG MICK. BM. Your first single for MOTOWN was 'every little bit hurts' back in March 1964 which was released in the UK in June 1964 but prior to that your first label was DONNA with the track 'the Del Viking'. BH. That was a hit by my sister (PATRICE), I used to dance. She was only 12 and I was about 17, so I'm 5 years older than PATRICE. I was doing the dancing, so then at 12, see, she wanted to eat, she used to be real chubby then as she got older she lost weight, she stayed on a diet. (Years later I used to weignuke_storiesh 230 pounds and I was at 'weight watchers' and I kept gaining weight because I was frustrated). But I used to do the dancing and she used to say , "I just wanna sing and eat that's all I wanna do" so I said ok, I'll go show them how to do the dancing. So when I got 18 they said, "well PATRICE is still a baby, let's try BRENDA". So they started working with me and they formed a group called the WATTITIONS cause we were out of WATTS CALIFONIA (a suburb of LOS ANGELES). So we started touring and like RICHARD SEARLING gives a lot of these, we call them 'record hops' were they play the records and every one dances but over here these are the all-nighters. That's what I was doing, a lot of those locally and they were in schools and the auditorium. So then HAL DAVIS discovered me and after that they took me up to MOTOWN to the disc jockeys' convention which was held in LOS ANGELES in CO-CO NUT GROVE and I sang and sang and now you know the story. BM. You come from a very rough area were the WATTSTAX venue was staged back in the seventies with the major STAX artists and ISACC HAYES. BH. That's where the riots were, actually I moved out of the WATTS in '65 and BERRY (GORDY JNR), he gave me a down payment on a home on the west side of town and my Mother lived in that house until she died. BM. How did you find the inspiration for your song writing. BH. Through my family history and my background of sadness and never wanting to live in WATTS because it was a 'ghetto'. I've always approached my music as a business, even as a little girl, I was either going to be a concert violinist or a singer. I didn't know I had a lot of talent in singing even though I knew that I loved to sing, so I just approached it as a business. My inspiration was all the sadness that I saw, living in a ghetto, my friends graduate from 'high school' and then end up on the street corner drinking wine. I just knew that you could stay in the ghetto here or you can reach for excellence and then go there to the other side of the tracks and that was my inspiration, getting my family out of the ghetto. The ghetto was good because it showed me just how far down I could go and how far up I could go. I didn't know I could sing until they would tell me I could and the violin was the love of my life until I had my first kiss. I didn't want to play with dolls, my mother used to say, "do want dolls for Christmas" and I would say no thank you I want real kids. My sister, PATRICE got pregnant with her son before me and I was so jealous I said, 'she's younger than me how can she have a baby', you know so my first dolls were my children. So that where I drew it from, seeing my mother doing what she had to do to take care of us. BM. What do you want to 'major' in if you do go back to college. BH. I want to major in Theology, it's always around me, that's my principle where ever I go - I just prey. I came with peace and when I go I will leave with peace. I've always been a Christian, that's the way I was brought up, prey for the Jews, I just know every things' going to be ok. I've just seen so much to see that the Christian way is the right way for me. BM. You wrote for quite a few artists including the SUPREMES. BH. Yes I wrote for the SUPREMES, it was hard to give records to people, in that day because you know, women's lib hadn't come. Women were supposed to just take orders, in the 50s and 60s we were mostly housewives and everything. When women started going out to work we started to be more liberated, that's what was going on at MOTOWN. They said, "you can't write" and when they tell me I couldn't write I had to write because they told me I couldn't. I said I'm gonna write and so EDDIE and I , EDDIE HOLLAND would joke with me and say, "you can't write, just sing, just sing these lyrics don't even try to write". So when I wrote 'you made me feel so very happy' it was because my boyfriend had quit me. BM. That was the song written by yourself, PATRICE, FRANK WILSON and BERRY GORDY JNR. BH. When I first wrote this song it just came to me, I was at the piano and it came. Everything, all the melody and the story line and what I wanted but my sister's more of a lyricist; and then in the middle I got stuck and I couldn't go any further so I called BERRY GORDY. I said, "BERRY, I know this song's a hit because when I started playing it I called BARRY WHITE and I said listen and he said (BRENDA tries to take on BARRYs' voice), "ok", then he says, "I think you have a hit, I'll be right over". So we played and played around with it when we got stuck on the 'bridge', FRANK WILSON, he wrote that 'bridge', "I love you so much it seems" he did all that, he's something else he's special. BM. You went to DETROIT to sign for BERRY GORDY JNR and you were quoted at that time as saying he was very suggestive and a womaniser (BRENDA laughs) and you said, "I either sing or I'm your mistress but it's one or the other". B.H. That's right I told him, " I've got to be your mistress or I gotta sing so he said, " I'll let you sing" (BRENDA laughs). I was going to be hard to get along with as his woman. You see everyone wanted to be his because he was 'over' everything and if they (other women) got with him they would go 'up'. But I wanted my talant to get me 'there' and I'm happy I did because everyone in MOTOWN respects me now. BM. How did you 'get on' with BERRY. BH. BERRY loved me, BERRY was very good to me, when I went to DETROIT instead of staying in a hotel I stayed with his mother and 'POP GORDY' and GWEN, because HARVEY and GWEN lived with MA and POP GORDY so I stayed with them. It was like, it was fabulous. BM. You got to tour with the BEATLES back in '65. BH. That was the height of everything, I couldn't believe it, I was in shock, for 40 days I was in shock. I didn't know what to do because we idolised all their music and it was a period of time when there was a lot of unrest socially with the race riots and MARTIN LUTHER KING. They helped us get through that period because they spoke out about it, you know, even if it was about Dr PEPPER, you know whatever. They spoke about it and it gave us some thing to listen to, gave us hope and that's what the BEATLES were- they were hope for us. There was nothing like the BEATLES in AMERICA. BM. Do you have any stories about the BEATLES. BH. Oh, when we were on tour, well we used to have pillow fights in the aeroplane (BRENDA just cracks up) you'd see all these feathers and they'd say, " those people in there are crazy" You know the pilots and stuff, "they're crazy". We'd just have pillow fights because we were just young people, miles up in the air we'd just pillow fight. JOHN would come and asks us everyday, because he was the executive who took care mostly of all the business because everybody else was being silly like me. He would come in everyday and ask, "what do you want" because you must understand that I came from a poor situation, I came from a real dis-functional family because my father was never in the home. So my Ma, she had to do everything and we were poor but we didn't know it. My Mother could sew, she could cook she was like a carpenter, she could do everything. We just didn't realise, one day we said, "Mom they're having a drive (collection / jumble sale) for the poor kids and she said, "you'd better be quite, you're the poor kids" we were stunned we said, "we are?". I've seen my Mother take card, sketch the bottom of my brothers' shoe, cut it out and put it in there and make him a soul. My Mother would work and she worked in a 'fibre-glass' factory and we would actually have to pick the fibre-glass out of her body when she came home, but she was wonderful, she was a beautiful woman. I came from humble beginnings so getting back to the BEATLES, when they came everyday and asked me, "do you want anything" because I never seemed to get enough food. BM. That would have suited PATRICE wouldn't it. BH. (laughs) PATRICE did those sessions and worked so's she could eat enough, "all I wanna do is eat, you do the dancing, I'm not gonna have time for that - I'll sing and eat". But my Mom, we'd have one serving and then she'd start putting things away, we'd say, "wait, wait let us eat" and Mom would say, "no, that's for tomorrow". So I'm saying, "oh my God, when I get married I'm going to buy me 10 pound of 'chicklets' (pork soul food made from pigs intestines) and I'm going to cook them for myself and I did the day after I got married. I couldn't eat them all, I had to invite a lot of people because I said I'm gonna have to get firm. My Mom said, "you have to have a figure and you sing". In order to get extra food we would wash dishes, I would always be the one washing the dishes. You know, because my Mother was always afraid, "I'm not going to have enough and I have 3 kids, and I'm by myself". She never got 'welfare' and always lived in a house. That's why we didn't know we were poor because our cousins who didn't have anything moved to the 'projects'. My Mother said, "no, you always live in your own home because you have to buy somebody a house, you either buy your landlord a house or you buy yourself a house, it's better to buy yourself a house because you have something, you have equity". But back to the BEATLES, they would say, "what do you want, you can have anything you want", I was just thrilled about that. Then one night we were in VANCOUVER, CANADA and RINGO, he came to my room and asked to borrow my hairdryer and the next day it was on the front page of the newspapers. And one time I was with the BEATLES the crowd broke loose and we were running for our lives, we threw our instruments down, wigs went flying - we were gone. It was like a stampede, but those were just some of the hi-lites, I couldn't believe it, it was fabulous. The BEATLES asked specifically for me to do the tour with them. DEE CLARK was another one, he used to always ask for me too. When he asked for me BERRY GORDY said, "if you take BRENDA you'll have to take the SUPREMES". That was before they got their hits and he used to say, "well we don't want the SUPREMES, we want BRENDA", well they said, "you can't take her unless you take the SUPREMES", so when he took the SUPREMES from then on - well that's history. Everything they touched went gold and platinum so that was great because I enjoyed working with them. DIANE (DIANA ROSS) was a little hard to get on with because she has her own little set of problems but I love DIANE, that's what I want to say because I know where she's coming from. I know of her insecurities that's she discussed with just the inner circle, she has a lot of insecurities. BM. It wasn't all that smooth for you in DETROIT, you had the feeling of being ignored. BH. I think it was logistics I was in LOS ANGELES and based there and when I came to DETROIT I was already groomed. I had come from a musical background and I had already done sessions, I was already trained. There was a dress shop I could walk in and if I wanted the whole rack the lady said, "take it", you know. So I came dressed and the only thing BERRY did for me was to send me to charm school because I wasn't used to big audiences, I was only used to small audiences. BM. Did you feel intimidated. BH. I was scared when I saw all those people and the stars too PATTI LABELLE, THE CRYSTALS, THE BEATLES, JERRY BUTLER and MARVIN GAYE, just star struck. They kinda intimidated me too because I'm saying, 'how could I be on stage with these people', I used to go to bed listening to JERRY BUTLER -'I'm never going to give you up'. So I was afraid of everything but BERRY sent me to charm school. When everyone else was taking a break back stage when I did the Uptown Theatre and the Apollo, I'd be walking with a book on my head to help me stay focused and help me not be afraid. I'd walk across the stage, I wouldn't walk straight and they'd say, "where in the heck is she going". So BERRY had to send me to charm school because you had to have confidence to get out there in front of people, every time I get out there to perform I get nervous, if I'm not nervous then I'm not doing too much. If you're not nervous going out in front of great people such as the BRITISH audience then you're not doing anything, you gotta be nervous. I'm so nervous a lot of times, I think, 'I want to go back home' but I want to sing, really. BM. One of your influences was TINA TURNER but SMOKEY ROBINSON took you to one side and told you not to mimic TINA, just be yourself. BH. SMOKEY didn't want me to, he said, "you have a voice, don't you ever - you use your voice - you don't need to use your body, I don't ever want to see you move like that on stage again", and I never have from that day on. If I want somebody to dance with me I'll hire a dancer. BM. You were upset when the songs you were supposed to do were given to GLADYS KNIGHT. BH. Because they would fly me in and say, "this is your session" and then when I got there they'd say, "well GLADYS was here for one night and we just had to…". I'd say, 'you had to do what', I'd go through the roof, I was so upset I'd say, 'you guys are making me sick' and they'd give my songs away. You see the writers' weren't writing fast enough for the demand and I didn't understand the 'mechanics' of the business, I only understood I wanted a hit out there. I wanted a record like DIANE, I wanted a record like MARY WELLS, I wanted a record like TAMMI TERRELLE. I didn't understand that even with all the writers and the talent, they were exhausted. They would pick an artist they could really, really work with and was convenient and would work with them like SMOKEY would with MARY (WELLS). The FOUR TOPS were with HOLLAND, DOZIER and HOLLAND and the SUPREMES and they were just over loaded because every time they put out something it was a hit and it was more advanced. And they were just giving me all the unknown writers, they were like, going out there and see if it was going to be a hit. But I wanted someone writing for me and know it was going to be a hit who was an established writer and that was the conflict - they just didn't produce like they said that they would like the contracts stipulated. I gave them 3 or 4 years, I needed to give them a longer time. Looking back, after I had my children I slipped away from church. I wanted to really, really be there for them but I realise now, they could have grown up in a very good atmosphere if I had the money to do things for them and then to show them instead of telling them that I was BRENDA HOLLOWAY, you understand. My kids, up until 6 years ago, through the Northern Soul and all the travelling, to my kids I was married to their Dad and my name was BRENDA DAVIS. They'd say, "you're not BRENDA HOLLOWAY you're BRENDA DAVIS and you're not singing so how do we know you're BRENDA HOLLOWAY". So now, it's coming and they're understanding, "oh you are, my Mom I'm so happy". They'd be so excited and, you know, being new for them it's like it's all new for me too. But going back to the spiritual side, I'd let people dictate to me, I'd let the Mothers in the church dictate to me - I just 'suppressed' BRENDA. Finally I realised that God made everything, he made everything beautiful, he gave me a talent to use and it was a sin not to use it. If I don't sing then I'm not doing what I'm supposed to and that is a sin. I thought that some people in church used to think, 'I'm gonna look Holyer than you and I'm gonna do more Holyer things than you'. It's not that, it's what's in your heart, it's giving your love, giving your gift, people want to hear me sing -- i gotta sing. I'm so free now, so free, you know, I was in bondage to religion not God. So now I understand I was able to get a divorce because I was unhappy, why would God want me to be unhappy with a man I didn't love for 18 years. But the church said, "you gotta stay with him, if you divorce him you'll never be able to re-marry". I divorced that man - I still love him, I like him but he's not my husband now - he's not for me. He's married to someone else now, they have a child and I'm happy (BRENDA laughs nervously) I'm happy. You know, he's the Father of all my children so, you know, I'm happy. I can move about, I'm not restricted I'm not bound up - I'm free, that's probably why you say I look young - because I'm free. Like my friend here (one of BRENDAs' crew) we were out at the mall, where were we? (he answers Deansgate Manchester) and he just got to the elevator and started jumping up and down and I said 'I love it, just love - I like to be free' just like a kid - I love children. If I want to dress in a clowns' outfit and put on clown make-up, I wanna do that, you know and it's crazy. BM. You looked as if you were really enjoying yourself on stage last night. BH. The people, you just don't understand because you can't see what you look like to us, you look beautiful, it's like a beautiful flower all different faces and it's like rows of people - beautiful live rows. I always say I love you because I do - you bring so much love, especially this audience, they know your songs and, they know you and they accept you, I don't know if it'll ever be like that in AMERICA. BM. Do you remember giving MARTIN a kiss from the stage last night, the guy in the wheel chair, he writes for NORTHEN ESSENCE also. BH. Oh yeah he's so cute, my husband was in a wheel chair for 2 years just before he past away, I married an elderly man and he helped me to understand a lot. Mr KELLY was about 44 years older than me, I fell in love with Mr KELLYs' spirit, it wasn't the out side like a package it was the inside. At first it was like being his nurse and helping him then one day he said, "let's get married" and so I married him and I just fell completely in love with him I was with him 24 hours a day, although he had servants and everything, he'd talk to me and he'd let me know what real 'woman hood' was and to respect myself because I'm a woman and to make men respect me too - he taught me so much about life. BM. Going back to the MOTOWN era, did you not feel slightly intimidated by being the replacement for MARY WELLS. BH. Not really, it was like an honour because MARY WELLS to me was like 'MISS MOTOWN' there was no other artist that could compare to MARY WELLS as far as establishing the MOTOWN sound. Because even DIANE (DIANA ROSS), when MARY left, she was like filling that slot and it was an honour because I got signed by MOTOWN for singing 'My Guy' because I didn't have a record out. At the convention I was like singing (here BRENDA stuns us by singing 'MY GUY', brilliantly and with style) for about 4 or 5 hours and they said, 'she can really sing, but that's not MARY WELLS' (BRENDA chuckles) 'no I'm BRENDA HOLLOWAY' so it was an honour. And before MARY died, the guy that helped me into singing, this guy who was my boyfriend - he's my ex-boyfriend right now (RICHARDSON), I love him so much, he's going through a lot of 'head trips' right now. So we're just gonna push him to the kerb and wait for him to get himself together. He is the one who put a concert together in school because he's a teacher, and there were MARY WELLS and myself and that was the first time I was ever in MARYs' presence and when we weren't working we were being honoured. I got to really meet MARY and that was a wonderful day and I had a watch on and I took it off then said, 'MARY, I want you to have it, I want you to keep it'. She requested that she be buried with that watch, so she took the watch with her (BRENDA pauses for a moment and looks down, voice shaky). MARY was the type of person that, everybody looked up to her because she did start 'the sound', she and SMOKEY, she was a person that was very quite and now I understand she was very troubled. I thought that if anyone was better than anyone it was MARY WELLS. The SUPREMES were just a 3 girl group who had good people backing them, everything that HOLLAND- DOZIER - HOLLAND wrote was going to be a 'hit'. Anyway, the thing is, they were good - DIANE - I loved her voice at first when she had the 'sound' like ERTHA KITT, you know she had a little purrrrrr in her voice but BERRY wanted her to pronounce her words. Actually, she would go in the vaults in the studio and study my pronunciation, my diction - he would tell her. "You go study BRENDAs' stuff" and that made me angry too. Because if it was good enough for her to study to get my diction then I could have put some more of my own out, you know. But back to your question, I was happy to fill MARYs' shoes, I was happy to sing in TAMMI TERRELs' place when she got ill. It was an honour to do anything I could because anybody I could sing for were idols, I idolised MOTOWN too. BM. How was your relation with HOLLAND, DOZIER, HOLLAND. BH. I had a crush on EDDIE HOLLAND because he was so fabulous, so cute everybody had a crush on him, oh I just loved him but he was married so that's that. LAMONT was ok but he wasn't as cute as the HOLLAND brothers, oh, they were like, hunks. And then there was MARVIN, (BRENDAs' eyes close as she thinks back) ohhh, when I got the chance to sing with MARVIN I felt like falling in his arms thinking, 'eat your heart out everybody', you know. He was the most fabulous man and before MARVIN died he was going to do a gospel album with me. BM. What a tragic way to die, arguing over some insurance policy and then being shot by his own father who was a 'lay preacher'. BH. MARVIN had a death wish, MARVIN was very unhappy, everybody knew that he loved TAMMI (TERRELL), everybody knew it (BRENDA now close to tears, the emotion in her voice) so whilst we thought it was a big secret it seems everybody knew it. After that he just went down. BM. When he came back with 'sexual healing' after spending so much time as a recluse following TAMMIs' death, that was to be his comeback but that proved to be untimely and short lived. BH. You have to live everyday to the full, I didn't go to MARVINs' funeral. I was at home when I heard the news on the radio, there was a 'flash' and it seemed that everything just stopped for me. You know, the way I left MOTOWN they never included me and this has to stop and I have to just get in there. I'm a part of that history and it has to be where I'm visual also not just here but in AMERICA. BM. Do you think it might be a touch of jealousy because you were from the West Coast and they were predominately East Coast. BH. They gotta merge that thing together, but now that we're that bit older and mature I'm, like, fitting in now. Now is the perfect time to get them to do this, to get them to include me because we all realise that we've got to hold on to each other. They're dying, the old MOTOWN people are dying so we've gotta be together and so I'm gonna talk to MICKEY about this MOTOWN revue. MOTOWN created the music scene and people can draw from it because it's good. It's like the 'blues', the blues is the blues, you can't take it and make it something else that's the way it is. BM. Who were your main influences. BH. MORGANA KING , I have a little 'cry' I practice by TRACY BREWER, you've probably never heard of her, she's an Italian lady and she had a little cute thing were she would go 'oooo' like that. My sister and I, we practised it. MORGANA KING is so hot, she's a Jewish lady who is just like SARAH VAUGHN, if not better. ARETHHA FRANKLIN influenced me, JERRY BUTLER, the BEATLES and now SADE, MARY JANE BLIGHE, the FOUR TOPS, I loved them, the SUPREMES, MARY WELLS, MINNIE RIPPERTON and my violin. BM. Do you still play the violin. BH. I hate that thing (cracks up laughing) but I'm gonna cut the finger nails off and I'm gonna start practising again. Everyone wants me to play that violin again and I do have a 'feel' for it so I'll probably take some lessons. BM. We'll probably get to see you play it on stage. BH. I'd love to, I want to play the 'Hillbilly' violin because there's a technique were you can play on 2 strings, I'm gonna start studying my violin again, everybody's requesting it. BM. You later walked out on a recording session with SMOKEY ROBINSON and turned your back on MOTOWN. BH. I walked completely out of MOTOWN because I was fed up because they had promised me so many releases and I didn't understand that it was a small company even though it was big musically. It was a small company with one man who had worked at General Motors and he just couldn't, no matter how hard he tried, make everyone a star. I was upset, I didn't understand because I was young and 'hot headed'. When I look back, retrospectively, I would have stayed with the company. I would then go to church, I kinda like, hid all my feelings and I would, basically, worship. I didn't really worship God I was just looking for an answer because I came from a dysfunctional family and there was a history of mental illness in the family. My Father has a mental condition and my brother and several other people. So when I was singing I was singing from the sadness in my life and I didn't discuss it with my Mother because I didn't want to worry her, she'd had enough but I could always draw from that. That's how all that experience came through in my voice. It was due to all the sadness, I'd think, 'if my Father were well where would we be, you know, that was just - in a way a blessing because I was able to pull on my voice with the soft moans. That would even go back as far as to tribal Africa - those moans in the black voices. It was also back to the slavery days when we used the 'blues' to communicate, we wouldn't say anything, we would do codes through music. We'd sing a song that only we'd understand so it goes way back, black music, black America. So, you know, I just pulled from all the things I needed to. BM. What about your relationship with KIMBLEY (KIM WESTON). BH. I love KIM, that's my 'sister', she's my 'sister' she's in LOS ANGELES now. She's living with her sister in L.A., she's doing so good, she's 'into' herself - she's loosing weight, she says she wants to come up so we can go on the 'track' together. She's got a little car and she's doing much, much better she's not with the ISREALIE people now, she's doing much better and she's just working on KIM - she's focusing on KIM and it's so beautiful. KIM's not wearing a turban anymore, she's wearing a little short 'Afro' and it's just 'tapered' to her face, it's fabulous. She used to complain, "you're always doing things and moving around" and now she's doing the same thing, you gotta do it, because when you get older it's about health and nutrition. It's not about being a 'beanpole' and being so skinny, it's about being 'fit' like pump up those 'Thompsons' (eh?) you know, exercise - 'sweat 'em out'(BRENDA breaks into a fit of laughter). BM. So you get to see KIM quite often. BH. If I don't see KIM, I'm on the phone with her. She's trying to get some parts in movies and stuff, she's working on her weight. And 'they' have a MOTOWN review around this time going from out of LAS VEGAS and MICKEY STEVENS is the producer of it and a guy named EDDIE ADAB (?) and they're going to be taking it on the road. I'm interested in being with the review also it's gonna be a great tour. Back to KIM, you see we're like hand in glove and especially when CHRIS (KING) did those songs on us, it gave us an idea. We're gonna be doing some work, there's gonna be KIM and me and FREDA PAYNE. We'll probably be doing some armed forces things, and also I want to tell you about doing the backing vocals for BARRY WHITEs' next album so listen for that. BM. Do you talk to FREDA much. BH. I don't get to talk to FREDA because she's always on the road, she's with the same agency I'm with so she's always on the road but I'll probably see her this Christmas when we do the armed forces thing. BM. There's a track she simply must do when she comes over, not 'Band of gold' but the track being played at the moment on the 'Northern Soul' scene by O.C.SMITH - 'On easy street'. I've just sold an acetate of FREDA PAYNE singing 'On easy street' for £200.00, O.C. Smith's version is very slow and moody but the FREDA PAYNE version is a very much an uptempo stomper, what a track, it's currently in a collectors' box in Warrington. BH. You know, my manager is FREDAs' manager also, she was here with LITTLE RICHARD wasn't she? He doesn't look well lately, he doesn't look a very well person, he's up in age too even though he still looks good for his age. BM. What plans have you for the near future. BH. I'm going to be doing an exercise video. BM. I've got to get one of those (heart racing, mouth foaming). BH. I'm going to have all races, all nationalities. It's not about being fat it's about being fit, that's what I'm working on. I need to loose about 10 or 15 more pounds so I've got to work on that and I love to eat but you look so much bigger on video and on t.v. I want to loose weight but I don't want to be skinny, I always had 'curves' as young girl (Big Mick starts to drool) so I don't want to take those away. So I have an exercise video in the works and I'm doing a lot of things with the schools because I'm promoting education, helping with my grandkids. I have a daughter RICHARD (SEARLING?) has a tape on and her name is CANDY HOLLOWAY and in the STATES her name is MASHOO and she's currently working on a recording deal with BLACK STREET. I'm going to get her before she goes to NEW YORK to write some songs on me and to update 'ever little bit hurts' and 'you made me so very happy'. If I can do that then that's what I plan to do so I can get some records out and maybe, write a few new records. I want to maybe do a new record my daughters' doing that you're going to hear on the radio shortly, I want to put out another cassette or CD to sell at my venues. I have a new CD coming out that I cut when I was here in February for IAN LEVINE and it contains all of the Northern Soul records on it that you would ever want, I did 29 tracks. I don't know when it's due out IAN's keeping it close to his chest, he's very, very quite because he knows he has a big hit on his hands. BM. Are there any tracks from yourself that we haven't yet heard. BH. I don't think so, CHRIS KING has found everything that I ever did even stuff I don't remember, when I hear it I'll have to think and decide if that's PATRICE or is that me. In fact he's doing 'my kind of fellow' for a Northern Soul CD and I'm so thankful for the lot of them. You know, I never used to do 'reconsider' on stage but I'm gonna have to do them more because they're my songs too. I'm going to be travelling with BRENTON WOOD and I'm working on a show of my own. I have 2 ladies that sing with me that used to sing with TINA TURNER. They are beautiful, they're black girls but they're very, very fair and it's just like, the chocolate between 2 vanillas, they're just gorgeous women and we just make a beautiful visual and we've been working with BRENTON. But I want to do my own show, I want to some of the 'supper clubs' in LOS ANGELES and just work my show up to were I can work on my own. I've been booked with BRENTON for the last 3 ½ years and so I want to be able to be booked on my own and that's what I'm working on. I do want to go back to school because I want to get a degree, there's so many things I can do now because I don't have any little children. I do have my grandchildren but I'm not with them all the time because their mother loves kids, my children love kids so they're having them and they're taking care of them. I can take my grandkids when I want them actually, I have so much time. When I go home I'm gonna sort my paperwork and then, just go for it. I have an assistant now and his name is JOHN and he can help me get everything organised. BM. Touring in the STATES, how does it compare with the UK. BH. Well, after you get to a certain age, in acting, singing they just don't want to touch you. You have to be, like 17 to 25 so now I'm doing the 'old school', sixties stuff, that's what the call it. I'm singing with BRENTON because when I 'dropped' out of MOTOWN they stopped pushing, playing and letting me be visual. So right now I'm just letting the people become familiar with me again through singing with BRENTON so he's been so kind to take me on all of his tours. So now when I was going to the airport this guy said, "your name is familiar, BRENDA HOLLOWAY I know that name". Before it wasn't like that and people were saying, 'BRENDA HOLLOWAY's dead so I said I'm gonna live forever if you think I'm dead. So now they're realising I'm out there again but it's nothing like this (BRITISH soul scene) they were there to see BRENTON and now after 3 ½ years people are coming to see me working with BRENTON. It's an uphill journey but it's nothing like this (BRITISH soul scene), already established, people are ready for you. I'm trying to prepare me an audience, trying to pull out an audience - a following. BM. How are you received in the STATES. BH. They love me and it's mostly Hispanics, BRENTON has a total Hispanic audience - he doesn't know how he got it, the Latinos - they love it. He (BRENTON WOODS) packs them out, he fills the shows and they're all Mexicans so now more 'blacks' are coming around and it's good and it's a balance, a lot of 'blacks' come to see me. BM. But I thought the Mexicans are proud of their own musical style. BH. That's right, they must think I'm a 'chocodile' or something (BRENDA cracks up laughing). I love that name, I love me some BRENTON because he's a businessman and he's really fair. BM. Is there any chance of the BRITISH soul scene seeing BRENTON over here. BH. He makes so much money in the STATES, if he could make enough money to bring his singers and his band and to bring me - he would, he probably won't need me - he has a wonderful show. BM. Do you ever get tired of singing your old songs repeatedly. BH. I never get tired of singing because it's like, a part of me - it's just like waking up in the morning and brushing my teeth, you know, something I have to do. I love to do it , it just makes me feel better, so I think I'll always be singing because I have a 'voice' and I want to keep that as long as possible. BM. If there is anything you want to do what would it be. BH. I want to let ENGLAND and the BRITISH people know that I love you with all my heart and with all my soul and I thank you, I thankyou, thankyou thankyou for everything you've done for me and for remembering me and for keeping me alive when I was even dead to myself , just thankyou. BM. You're beautiful, thanks a lot BRENDA. ENJOY, BIG MICK

Thanks go to Soul Essence Mag (see fanzine section for more details) for letting Soul Source use this great review 010898. JERRY (SWAMP DOGG) WILLIAMS LIVE AT LOWTON What a privilege to be invited to watch JERRY (SWAMP DOGG) WILLIAMS rehearse and do an interview with the man himself.The editor and myself arrived about 1.30pm and were instantly press-ganged into carrying the large speakers into the hall. Meanwhile, ROBBO was doing the 'fan' bit and having his photo taken with JW. Also he was doing the autograph thing and getting a stack of records signed (seeing the smile on ROBBOs face reminded me that I hadn't put the cat out, yep, it was still on fire when I left earlier). I was stunned seeing JW, I had this vision in my head of a tall dude, long leather coat, wide brimmed hat with a huge feather on one side, you know, the JOHN SHAFT kinda look. JW was stocky, 5'8'' and so down to earth he spoke to people as if he'd known them years, you couldn't help but like the guy. Travelling with JW was a softly spoken, cool young lady who turned out to be his daughter - JERRY YVONNE Jnr. There were no 'roadies' here, everyone including the band rolled up their sleeves and helped to get the stage prepared. When all the wiring seemed to be ok, a few adjustments made to the sound deck controls, JW went through the rehearsal routine, which had the dozen or so privileged few totally spellbound. The smooth, matured, soft, soulful voice of JW filled the hall. When hitting the notes, raising strongly emphasising the mood depicted by the lyrics, all my hairs stood on end on the back of my neck, my goose bumps had goose bumps of their own. He went into 'synthetic world' , 'mammas' baby, daddy's' maybe', the wailing lead guitar - pleading muted horn solo, JW's bluesey rendition tore at my heart. I'm thinking to myself, 'if you ask me' is likely that all most people will know, this guy is gonna educate everyone to just what soul is all about. JW is so 'laid back', never once did he get upset when a cord was played wrong (which was very rare) or a musician played a piece in an alternative 'key'. He was always the gentleman who took time to discuss the finer points with the band and even changed a few bars because he liked the way the musicians played certain sections. But make no mistake, everyone understood, JW was 100% in charge. Not too long after JW came over to me to arrange the interview and to check I was ok! Jeeze, what other artist would give a shit if a magazine had sent along a reporter and whether that reporter minded waiting a while longer and even apologized for taking so long!!. I wanted the guy to adopt me there and then, I even tried telling him I was house trained. He turned to me and said, "after hearing the rehearsal you may think fuck it, I'm off, after hearing me", I nearly fell off my seat, I could only shake my head and blubber. I'd have waited a lifetime if I had to, well, at least until the chippy opened. The band was truly professional and believe it or not was only put together at the last minute by MIKE SUMMERS who had to do all the running around to acquire the instruments and do a lot of negotiating, this guy was a genius. Whilst JW sang his heart out I managed to talk his daughter, JERRY YVONNE Jnr............ BM. Are you still at high school? JY. I'm 22, I've just graduated and I'm applying to 'Med' (medical) school. BM. How is JW received in the STATES? JY. oh, he's still getting standing ovations and he played a tribute to ELVIS PRESLEY at the 'HOUSE OF BLUES' and they loved him. I like the way my father writes, songs today have no meaning. He adapts to the audience. In ITALY most of the people couldn't speak English but there were around 5 - 6000 people yelling and screaming and my father had about 5 or 6 standing ovations. BM. What's your father really like? JY. he's so humble, never a swelled head you know, he plays for the people. He's doing theme music for T.V. and movies, people are always asking him. He's huge in AUSTIN, TEXAS at the 'SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST' music festival were they play all types of music including Indie. BM. What's happening on the album scene? JY. oh he's still writing and building for a new album, his last was called, 'f..k the bomb, stop the drugs' which was released through 'VIRGIN' and contained his greatest hits. My father is working on a new album, which may possibly be finished by the end of the year and released around this time next year. BM. Did you ever get to meet your father's famous associates? JY. I get to meet people now and again, I've met ESTHER PHILLIPS and TOMMY HUNT stayed with us for a while whilst recording with my father. BM. What type of music do you enjoy listening to? JY. I'm into all types, Indie, Rock, all types. In our house, we have this jukebox with most of my fathers' music on it, there seems to be a revival of my fathers' music it's great, everybody loves him where-ever he goes. It was fantastic in PRATTA, ITALY, they really appreciated my father's work. BM. How about your friends, how do they react? JY.at first none of my friends really knew who he was but now it's like, wow he's your dad? I get to go to many of my fathers' performances, I stand up front and take photos... One memory I'll not forget too soon was when one of the organisers, BERNIE O'BRIAN asked to borrow a record while I was talking to JW. This was in order to test the twin decks for the evenings soul offering of the vinyl type. The record I produced was JW's 'if you ask me' on Carla. There I was, sitting mere inches away from JW whilst his record was playing and the man himself was singing along, shit, what a trip!!!!! Soon the man was back on stage doing his thing, only this time he was feeling the cold air in the main hall. On goes the long raincoat and he starts to pace up and down as he sings with the aid of a 'headset' microphone and looking not unlike Detective Colombo from the 70s' series. Taking up position behind the electronic piano he comments, "one day I'm gonna get me a piano teacher" the band just cracks up and then the man begins to sing 'I was born blue'. From time to time he enquires "D minor, E minor" ? The only miner I know comes from Wigan and eats meat pies. A couple of hours later JW brings the rehearsal to a close, I do my inter view in which JW turns his humour in my direction, sarky git, and then later make my way home to get changed before returning for the show. The editor had buggered off some time ago to stuff his face thanks to KEV & Mrs MURPH' (didn't send me a buttie tight sods and I'm doing all the work) but somehow I hadn't noticed or bothered, I even lost track of time. When I later return to LOWTON, the place is rapidly filling. Although not the full capacity as you'd get with a normal soul night but never the less quite a good turn out. During the afternoon I did managed to get JW to sign a limited number of copies of the latest edition of 'NORTHERN ESSENCE' which were almost snatched out of my hands as I began to sell them at the entrance. The whole 'gaff' was buzzing and the atmos' electric. When the time came for JW to walk on stage I was enrolled into the security staff and positioned at the side of the stage to watch JW and his daughter JY. The performance went smoothly but for the faulty headset microphone, which was quickly replaced by a hand mike. 'We need a revolution', 'Sam Stone'(an old favourite of mine I got out of a 'SOUL PACK' back in the seventies when virtually every pack had 'armed and extremely dangerous' by First Choice in) , 'I was born blue',' if you ask me' and ' mammas baby, daddy's maybe' out of the 13 rehearsed around 8 were sang, 'if you ask me' was demanded and performed about 4 / 5 times through the evening. At one point JW commented, "I'm a bootleggers dream', I knew what he was getting at as he revealed during his interview with me earlier during the afternoon that he had never been paid for the track, 'if you ask me' even though he owned the 'masters'. In fact there were certain record companies that were due to receive certain pieces of paper guaranteed to balls up their day for issuing JERRY's work without paying him (serves them right) in the near future. Anyway, those who couldn't fight their way to the front of the stage were content in sitting were they were and singing along, those who did manage to get to the front of the stage were rewarded with signed autographs as JW sang. I noticed one or two ignorant gits in one corner talking and laughing throughout the performance. I thought it not only a waste of money to show everyone what a bunch of numb bastards they were but they spoilt it for those stood around nearby trying to listen to JW. Well I suppose you're going to get people like that no matter where you go. They'd be better off in a working mans' club playing dominoes and slagging off the tart in the red dress, whilst some overweight no-mark of a comedian tries to get a laugh out the sad gits knocking back the gin & tonics trying to look sexy in two tonne of f...ing make-up and dressed in last years cast offs from 'OXFAM'. Apart from that, the whole evening was a success on all fronts and many thanks and congratulations must go to the hard working individuals but for whom it might never have been. One or two 'hic-cups' arose from beginning to end in order to get JERRY from the STATES to LOWTON and consequently on to the other venues were JW would be performing. But for the perseverance of the organisers and the bloody hard work, determination and dedication none of this would have been possible. These guys have bent over backwards to give you one of the top living soul artists today, I think they deserve our thanks. If you would like to show your appreciation by putting pen to paper and sending your letters to 'NORTHERN ESSENCE' I will see that the right people receive them. BERNIE O'BRIAN, STEVE FLETCHER, BIG MURPH, LEE ROGERS, STEVE CONNER, BRIAN JOLLY, DEAN MITCHELL, INTRACK (FOR THE EQUIPMENT). Cheers lads, can we have DES O'CONNER next?.