Transparent orange vinyl LP- First Ever reissue of this rare and collectable Gospel recording- Million-selling artist and Baptist minister acknowledged as having possibly the biggest vocal range in popular music- Recorded at Sigma Sound and featuring MFSB- New and exclusive essay by black music journalist and Christian broadcaster Tony Cummings. One of the most revered Deep Soul singers of the Sixties alongside the likes of James Carr, Percy Sledge and O. V. Wright... EDDIE HOLMAN was born in Norfolk, Virginia in 1946. He was very much a child of the church... "I have been in church all of my life, from the start of singing to this very day. " And it is the influence of the black Methodist singers that have guided his carrer from early perfomanxes on NBC TV's Children's Hour to his world-wide million-selling hit 'Hey There Lonely Girl'. UNITED features many musical elements of the "old" Eddie Holman, even down to using many of the same musicians who played on some of his old soul hits who were to find fame with Gamble & Huff's MFSB. It was recorded at Philly's world-famous Sigma Sound Studio with Norman Harris on guitar, Ronnie Baker on bass and keyboardist Eugene Curry who gave United a firm rhythmic bedrock on which to build Eddie's intricate vocal patterns. The songs, all self-penned, dug deep, from the doowop flavoured title track which features some of Eddie's best vocal ducks and swirls, to the funky 'Thank You For Saving Me'. And the lilting 'Eternal Love' has one of the most spinetingling five seconds of music ever recorded... The word "Jesus" broken into a 12-syllable falsetto soar. On the original UK release of United, Mark Webster of Blues & Soul wrote, "On the musical level, Eddie has complete control over his amazing vocal range: his glowing tenor and exceptional falsetto peaks ring out with joy and ease. On the spiritual level, within the lyrics, Eddie is telling us how he has now found true fulfilment through 'welcoming the Lord inside him to be his Saviour'. "Eddie Holman's voice, an astonishing precision instrument which can leap octaves with the speed of mercury and bend notes into shapes unimagined by lesser singers, has assured it's possessor a place in soul history. " Tony Cummings, 1985
