First Album

Eddie Holland's first and only Motown LP has the future Hall of Fame songwriter doing his best Jackie Wilson imitation. Most of the songs were co-written by brother Brian Holland, except his hit "Jamie" and the lackluster "It's Not Too Late." Written by Barrett "Money" Strong and William "Mickey" Stevenson, "Jamie" featured swirling strings, the Rayber Singers, percolating rhythms, and a sterling vocal from Holland. Ironically, the condemning "You Deserved What You Get" followed "Jamie" as a single, but was omitted from this collection. Most of the material sounds dated, even for 1962, the biggest culprits being "Take a Chance on Me," "Last Night I Had a Vision," and "It's Too Late." "If It's Love It's Alright" attempts to clone "Jamie," which failed to generate the same interest. Unfortunately, Holland's best Motown singles -- "Just Ain't Enough Love," "Leaving Here," and "Candy to Me" -- were released after this album, but Motown never saw fit to release another Holland album. [Eddie Holland was re-released on LP in 2015 under the name First Album.] ~ Andrew Hamilton