B-side "I've Got to Find It" Format 7" single
Vinyl single Genre Soul | Released August 17, 1967 Recorded 1967 | |
Studio Nashville West Studios, Los Angeles | ||
"You've Made Me So Very Happy" is a song written by Brenda Holloway, Patrice Holloway, Frank Wilson and Berry Gordy, and was released first as a single in 1967 by Brenda Holloway on the Tamla label. The song was later a huge hit for jazz-rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears in 1969, and became a Gold record.
Contents
Recording
By 1967, Brenda Holloway had been recording for Motown Records since 1964 and had struggled with Berry Gordy over control of her music, alleging that Gordy had forced her to sing Mary Wells' "leftover tracks" after the Motown singer left the label in 1964. Some of the songs in question included modest hits such as "When I'm Gone" and "Operator". Holloway was planning to release her long-awaited second album, Hurtin' & Cryin, which had released "Just Look What You've Done" as the leading track, but for unknown reasons the record was shelved. Along with her sister Patrice, using music provided by Frank Wilson and with additional help from Gordy himself, Holloway co-wrote "You've Made Me So Very Happy". Coincidentally, Holloway recorded the song after a breakup with a boyfriend.
Release and reaction
Reaction to the song was stronger than Holloway's previous offerings, rising to number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming Holloway's third Top-40 pop single. The song peaked at number 40 on the Billboard R&B singles chart. Shortly after the release of the song, Holloway left Motown and the song was eventually featured on the "second" Holloway album, The Artistry of Brenda Holloway. After two more years singing background for acts such as Joe Cocker, Holloway retired to marry a preacher and have a family. Holloway would eventually return to music full-time by the mid-1990s. Meanwhile, Holloway's song got a boost when the jazz-rock group Blood, Sweat & Tears covered it in 1969. The song became one of the group's biggest hits, reaching number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States in April 1969 and number 35 in the United Kingdom in May of that year.
The song was also covered by fellow Motown acts such as Edwin Starr and Blinky on their 1969 duet album Just We Two, Chris Clark on her 1969 album CC Rides Again, The Temptations in 1970, The Miracles, also in 1970, and Diana Ross in 1994 on a Berry Gordy tribute album. Little-known Motown act The Hearts Of Stone also recorded a version for their 1970 album Stop The World - We Wanna Get On. Lou Rawls recorded the song and named his 18th album after it. Cher recorded the song in 1969 for her album 3614 Jackson Highway, but the track was left off the final track list. Bobbie Gentry included her rendition on her 1969 album Touch 'Em with Love as did Shirley Bassey on her 1976 album Love, Life and Feelings. It also been covered by pop musician Gloria Estefan; she included the song on her album Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me in 1994, which was a collection of covers that inspired her musical career. In 1977, Barry Williams performed the song on an episode of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. In 2012, it was covered by Julian Ovenden on his debut album.