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the book is forthcoming. by Danyel Smith. a history of black women in pop. from It Books/HarperCollins (2014). now writing. tumbling this stuff keeps me inspired, and keeps my brain sane.
‘Yes I wrote for the Supremes. It was hard to give records to people in that day because…women’s lib hadn’t come. Women were supposed to just take orders, in the ’50s and ’60s…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…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’ve Made Me Feel So Very Happy’ it was because my boyfriend had quit me…I was at the piano and it came. Everything, all the melody and the story line and what I wanted…and then in the middle I got stuck…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, “I think you have a hit, I’ll be right over.” We…played around with it [and] when we got stuck on the bridge, Frank Wilson…wrote that… Brenda Russell. The song she is talking about (her sister Patrice Holloway is also credited) was a hit for herself in ‘67, and also for Blood, Sweat & Tears in ‘69. Plus it’s a classic from Lou Rawls.

‘Yes I wrote for the Supremes. It was hard to give records to people in that day because…women’s lib hadn’t come. Women were supposed to just take orders, in the ’50s and ’60s…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…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’ve Made Me Feel So Very Happy’ it was because my boyfriend had quit me…I was at the piano and it came. Everything, all the melody and the story line and what I wanted…and then in the middle I got stuck…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, “I think you have a hit, I’ll be right over.” We…played around with it [and] when we got stuck on the bridge, Frank Wilson…wrote that…

Brenda Russell. The song she is talking about (her sister Patrice Holloway is also credited) was a hit for herself in ‘67, and also for Blood, Sweat & Tears in ‘69. Plus it’s a classic from Lou Rawls.

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  1. sheiseverywoman posted this