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You've Made Me So Very Happy
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = You've Made Me So Very Happy
| cover = You've Made Me So Very Happy BST.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Blood, Sweat & Tears
| album = Blood, Sweat & Tears
| B-side = Blues Part II
| released = March 1969
| recorded = October 16, 1968
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Jazz rock, soft rock
| length = 4:19 (LP Version)
3:26 (Single Version)
| label = Columbia
| writer = Berry Gordy Jr., Brenda Holloway, Patrice Holloway, Frank Wilson
| producer = James William Guercio
| prev_title = I Can't Quit Her
| prev_year = 1968
| next_title = Spinning Wheel
| next_year = 1969
}}
"'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.
Overview
Brenda Holloway version
Brenda Holloway had been recording for Motown Records since 1964, and by 1967 had struggled with the label over control of and support for her music. As she was a Los Angeles resident with much of the rest of the Motown roster living near the label's Detroit, MI headquarters, Holloway felt overlooked and neglected during her five years on the label. In 1967, Holloway was hoping for the release of her long-awaited second album, 'Hurtin' & Cryin,' with her latest single, "Just Look What You've Done," intended as the first single. For unknown reasons, the record was shelved."You've Made Me So Very Happy, " which became Holloway's final single on Motown's Tamla label, was co-written by Holloway with her sister, Patrice, producer Frank Wilson, and Motown label head Berry Gordy. Despite its optimism, the impetus for the song was a breakup Holloway was going through at the time. Holloway and Gordy argued over the song's arrangement during the recording process, a fight Holloway lost and a confrontation that underscored her decision to depart from the label afterward.
Reaction to the song was stronger than Holloway's previous offerings, rising to number 39 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 and becoming her third Top-40 pop single.Whitburn, Joel (2004). 'The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits', 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 289. It peaked at number 40 on the 'Billboard' R&B singles chart. Shortly after its release, Holloway left Motown and the song was eventually featured on her "second" album, 'The Artistry of Brenda Holloway'. After two years singing backgrounds for acts such as Joe Cocker, Holloway retired to marry a preacher and raise a family. By the mid-1990s, she had returned to music full-time.
Blood, Sweat & Tears version
Brenda Holloway's "You've Made Me So Very Happy" received a boost when the jazz-rock group Blood, Sweat & Tears covered it in 1969. Included on the group's eponymous second album, it became one of Blood, Sweat & Tears' biggest hits, reaching number 2 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 in the United States in April 1969.Whitburn, Joel (2004). 'The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits', 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 68 The song was kept from the number 1 spot by "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" by The 5th Dimension.[https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1969-04-12 The Hot 100 (The week of April 12, 1969)] at www.billboard.com Outside the US, "You've Made Me So Very Happy", went to number 35 in the United Kingdom in May 1969.[https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/Venus Official Charts Company info] OfficialCharts.com. Retrieved 20 August 2009.Other cover versions
* 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.* Bobbie Gentry included her rendition on her 1969 album 'Touch 'Em with Love'.
* Cher recorded the song in 1969 for her album '3614 Jackson Highway', but the track was left off the final track list.
* Lou Rawls recorded the song and named his 18th album, 'You've Made Me So Very Happy' (1970) after it.
* Sammy Davis Jr. recorded the song for his 1970 album, 'Something for Everyone'.
* Matt Monro included the song in his 1970 album 'We're Gonna Change the World'.
* Little-known Motown act The Hearts of Stone recorded a version for their 1970 album 'Stop the World - We Wanna Get On'.
* Alton Ellis recorded two reggae versions in 1970, one for Treasure Isle and one for Studio One, both in Jamaica.
* Mina included her rendition on her 1972 live album 'Dalla Bussola'.
* Shirley Bassey included her rendition on her 1976 album 'Love, Life and Feelings'.
* In 1977, Barry Williams performed the song on an episode of 'The Brady Bunch Variety Hour' (19761977).
* In 1994 it was covered by pop musician Gloria Estefan; she included the song on her album 'Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me', which was a collection of covers that inspired her musical career.
* In 2012, it was covered by Julian Ovenden on his debut album 'If You Stay'.
Chart history
Brenda Holloway version
Blood, Sweat & Tears version
Personnel
Brenda Holloway version
*Lead vocals by Brenda Holloway*Background vocals by assorted vocalists
*Instrumentation by bass: Carol Kaye, other unknown Los Angeles musicians
*Produced by Frank Wilson and Berry Gordy Jr.
Blood, Sweat & Tears version
*Lead vocals by David Clayton-Thomas*Background vocals by Bobby Colomby, Dick Halligan, Steve Katz, and other assorted vocalists
*Instrumentation by Blood, Sweat & Tears (including)
**Fred Lipsius alto saxophone, piano
**Lew Soloff trumpet, flugelhorn
**Chuck Winfield trumpet, flugelhorn
**Jerry Hyman trombone, recorder
**Dick Halligan organ, piano, flute, trombone
**Steve Katz guitar, harmonica
**Jim Fielder bass
**Bobby Colomby drums, percussion
*Produced by James William Guercio
References
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