Here's Hattie Littles singing the Diana Ross, classic Motown song at the Motorcity Revue, at The Pontchartrain in Detroit in 1990. I was so grateful for a chance to record her, Dave Godin's raving about her made me so especially interested in her. But Dave told me he'd heard that she'd died many years before we started Motorcity but when the late great Dave Hamilton, of the Funk Brothers, told me that this was totally untrue, and Hattie was still singing gospel in Detroit. I couldn't wait to record her, and she literally cried with joy at being given the chance to sing again after her tragic life. We released two entire albums, "The Right Direction", and "Borderline", and then a greatest hits compilation entitled "The Best Of Hattie Littles". We recorded a twenty one tracks with her, and even brought her to England to stay with me at my house, to record her second album for us. She had had such a rough life, supposedly murdering her husband in the 1960's for being abusive, and spending many years in jail, curtailing her recording career throughout the sixties and the seventies. But she had a heart of gold, and was so full of optimism and joy at the new chance she had, and I was so sad to hear that she died of a heart attack in the 1990s. Back at Motown, Hattie's first ever single in 1962, "Back in My Arms" coupled with "Is It True", is legendary for its rarity, and thankfully was recently finally released, both sides in fact, on the wonderful new boxsets that Motown have done of all their early singles. The second single"Your Love Is Wonderful" / "Here You Come", was acclaimed by the late Dave Godin as one of the greatest pieces of deep soul ever made. In the early days of the Motorcity Revue, Hattie was the opening act for Marvin Gaye, and toured with him extensively, with her cross of blues and early Motown. It was fitting and historical that when we did our huge concert at the Pontchartrain Hotel in August 1990, that Hattie be the opening act. She was a real treasure of Motown, and I was proud to have given her a second chance to shine.
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