So what happens when your song is covered not once but twice, in the same year by two of your labelmates? Well, that was actually par for the course for numerous Motown writers during the label’s heyday. It was a very common practice to have numerous versions of the same song until that “hit” was achieved.
Most of us are familiar with Stevie’s version from Hotter Than July (BTW, July was pretty hot this year) these two versions from 1966 are essentially Tammi Terrell and Brenda Holloway singing over the same backing track which in those days consisted of… gasp musicians, but I digress…
The sound here is undeniably Motown(you can literally hear the “snake pit” on Brenda’s stereo master) and serves as a great study in contrast between the sound of The Funk Brothers and Stevie’s late 70’s early 80 period. Enjoy!
Ivan Orr is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, performer, and writer. A native of Charlottesville, Virginia Ivan was involved with the forming and nascent days of The Music Resource Center as its first Program Director. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Music, Ivan currently resides in Richmond, VA where he maintains an active performance and production schedule while serving as the Music Editor for Grown Folks Music, a position he has held since 2010.
