Search - Holland/Dozier/Holland :: Heaven Must Have Sent You (Dig)

A good introduction to Motown's best... for Mono single fans

Marc Wielage | Northridge, CA USA | 10/01/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The careers of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland, Jr. are the stuff of legend, resulting in well over 100 hits ranging over the four-decade span from 1962 to well into the 1990s. HDH helped shaped and molded the sound that put Detroit's Motown label on the map, and a multi-label salute to their work is long overdue. "Heaven Must Have Sent You: The Holland/Dozier/Holland Story" is a brand-new set from Universal's Hip-O reissue division, and it's a deluxe package in a fold-out cardboard "Eco-Pack" (which will undoubtedly frustrate standard jewel-box collectors).



Just trying to choose "only" four hours of material to represent HDH's career, spread out over three jam-packed CDs, must have been a daunting task for compilation producer Dana Smart (advised by Holland-Dozier-Holland themselves). You'll find both major #1 smashes as well as more-obscure singles, B-sides, and album tracks, along with a few bona fide rarities, like Dusty Springfield's non-charting "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes" and HDH's own "Where Did We Go Wrong." (How a Warner Bros. track like the Doobies' hit wound up on here must be a miracle of contractural negotation.) HDH are represented here not only as producers & songwriters, but also as performers, showcasing half-a-dozen of their own hits (few of which did as well as the songs they wrote and produced for others). This compilation also has several tracks not found on any other CDs (to my knowledge, anyway), including Lamont Dozier's excellent 1973 anti-war song "Fish Ain't Bitin'," as well as the rarely-heard long album version of "Trying to Hold On to My Woman." (The single version is preferable to me, and is arguably the best of their own solo hits.)



But how does the compilation sound? Well, first up, the good news: engineer Gavin Lurssen at LA's Mastering Lab (with Suha Gur and Kevin Reeves on the analog tape transfers) did an exceptional job, with every track sounding as good (or better) than it ever has. I thought in particular the bass sounded a little bit less "bloated" than it often does on a lot of Motown-era hits, save for The Supremes' "My World Is Empty without You," which pretty much has that characteristic sound imbedded in the original track. Kim Weston's "Helpless" sounded particularly clean, as did "(I'm a) Road Runner" and "You Can't Hurry Love," both of which have sounded very murky in the past. I noted both tracks present the full-length single versions, unlike the slightly-shorter versions that wound up on most earlier CDs.



But the bad news is: if you're a stereo fan, stay far, far away. More than 2/3 of this set is all mono, albeit the correct hit single versions originally issued on 45RPM records. Some of the mono versions are fairly rare, like "Give Me Just a Little More Time" and "Band of Gold," which I can't recall ever hearing in mono on a CD, so completists might want this set for that reason alone. Still, it's a bit of a disappointment.



The liner notes are a little lacking as well, providing an overall biographical profile, rather than an in-depth song-by-song story of how each was written and produced. The notes refer only obliquely to the acrimonious split between H-D-H and the Motown label over profits around 1967, but provides virtually no details. (Those lawsuits were still pending as of the late 1990s, and as far as I know, they have yet to be settled). The notes also refer to a split between Dozier and the Holland brothers in the early-1970s, which explains why the Invictus/Hot Wax label hits fizzled out so quickly, right around 1973. Regardless, the songs on this collection are a formidable powerhouse of some of the most memorable soul classics of that era, and are a reminder as to the importance of Holland-Dozier-Holland in pop music history.



I found this to be an unusual group of both over-exposed hits as well as bona fide obscurities, some of which deserved much better chart success. In particular, I thought The Originals' "Good Lovin' Is Just A Dime Away" (written and produced by Lamont Dozier for Motown in 1975), should have at least made the top 100, if not the Top 10 on the R&B charts; maybe radio programming execs were put off by the brief retro "vo-do-o-do's" in the intro.



Since this 3-disc set is budget-priced at under $35, I'd recommend it with some reservations, for those looking for the handful of rarities plus the particularly clean-sounding mono tracks. But stereo fans should look elsewhere."

All the greatest hits from 3 great songwriters!!!!

Patricia W | bronx, ny United States | 07/26/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Fisrt of all--the packaging is excellent and it includes a booklet that tells of the history of HDH. Eddie Holland was also a singer in his own right and I wish I could find his record LAST NIGHT I HAD A VISION, and I love Brian's rendition of DON'T LEAVE ME STARVING plus Lamont's WHY CAN'T WE BE LOVERS. This was worth the wait and I recommend it highly especially if you liked I GOTTA DANCE TO KEEP FROM CRYING and QUICKSAND etc."

The HDH Story- Versus-The Motown Box

James A. Najjar | Annapolis, MD USA | 10/02/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Motown's composing team Holland/Dozier/Holland,AKA H/D/H, is being saluted in two boxed sets. For the avid H/D/H fan, there's the three CD set "The Holland/Dozier/Holland Story," the first set to include their work as early Motown recording artists,as Motown staff writers/producers and their work as record moguls at Invictus Records. For that, this is a must buy for the collector.This compilaton does not include all their Motown hits and are in mono, except "Reflections," and the Invictus hits. For the audiophile, twenty two of the same songs, and seven excluded from the HDH story, can be found on the Motown Box set, in stereo. Buy both!"