eddie ken

Eddie Kendricks: People...Hold On (Tamla Motown, 1972)
Is this one of the best soul albums ever? In a similar way to how Weldon Irvine is criminally overlooked in comparison to Stevie Wonder, Eddie Kendricks is criminally overlooked in comparison to Marvin Gaye.
I could have chosen perhaps the most obvious cut from this LP, which in Kendrick's catalogue stands equivalent to Gaye's What's Going On: the stormer track "Girl You Need a Change of Mind", or the irresistibly romantic "Day by Day" (which I'm actually quite sure Eric Clapton has been bitin'!).
But instead we're focusing here on the crushingly short "Date With the Rain", and the title tune, "My People...Hold On", which is a key milestone in Black music's celebration of consciousness, heritage and pride.

Eddie Kendricks: My People...Hold On
("My People...Hold On" can also be found on the Harmless compilation Stand Up and Be Counted)

Eddie Kendricks: Date With the Rain