Eddie and Brian Holland of Motown Records’ most successful songwriting team, Holland/Dozier/Holland, visited the U.K. mid-November to promote their new autobiography, Come and Get These Memories.
The pair guested on a number of radio shows, and also undertook a question-and-answer session before a live audience at the British Library in central London. Eddie and Brian spoke about growing up in Detroit, their relationship with Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr., and their time at the company, writing and producing many of its worldwide Number One hits.
The brothers “just naturally gravitated towards music,” Brian Holland told the British Library audience. “I got so interested in sounds that I learned the piano. I watched the lady [who played] piano in church. After she left, I would play that piano.” Eddie Holland also admitted that at times, he did not want to revisit painful memories, and that he had to be pushed to finish the book (co-written with Dave Thompson) by the pair’s longtime associate, Shirley Washington.
Afterwards, the Hollands autographed books and chatted to fans, while back in the U.S., Lamont Dozier began promotion for his own, newly-published autobiography, How Sweet It Is, including this interview with the Detroit Free Press.
For more about the career and achievements of Holland/Dozier/Holland, read here.
