Martha and the Vandellas

Martha and the Vandellas, one of Motown Records’ earliest and most exciting female vocal groups. membership: Martha Reeves (b. Eufaula, Ala., July 18, 1941); Rosalind Ashford (b. Detroit, Sept. 2, 1943); Annette Beard. Beard was replaced in late 1963 by Betty Kelly (b. Detroit, Sept. 16, 1944).

Martha Reeves moved to Detroit as a teenager and helped form the Del-Phis in 1960, recording for Checkmate Records in 1961. Spotted performing solo by Motown executive Mickey Stevenson, Reeves became secretary in the company’s A&R department. Recording the occasional demonstration tape as part of her job, she first came to the attention of Berry Gordy Jr., as a substitute for an absent artist at a recording session. With high school friends Rosalind Ashford and Annette Beard, she backed Marvin Gaye’s recording of “Stubborn Kind of Fellow,” his first hit from 1962.

Signed to the newly formed Gordy label in September 1962 as Martha and the Vandellas, the group scored their first major pop and R&B hit in the spring of 1963 with the rather tame “Come and Get These Memories.” Subsequently utilizing a harder-edged, brassy style propelled by Martha’s dynamic lead vocals, Martha and the Vandellas achieved a smash pop and top R&B hit with Holland-Dozier-Holland’s classic “Heat Wave” that summer. By year’s end, Annette Beard had left the group, to be replaced by Betty Kelly, formerly with the Velvelettes. Martha and the Vandellas continued having smash crossover hits through early 1965 with Holland-Dozier-Holland’s “Quicksand” and “Nowhere to Run,” and Mickey Stevenson and Marvin Gaye’s “Dancing in the Streets.” Although Gordy was concentrating on the career development of the Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas achieved major pop and smash R&B hits with the less raunchy “My Baby Loves Me,” “I’m Ready for Love,” “Jimmy Mack” (a top R&B hit), and “Honey Chile” through 1967.

However, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, as they were billed beginning in late 1967, never had another major hit. The group disbanded for two years, reforming in 1971 with Martha Reeves as the only original member to record Black Magic, which produced three moderate R&B hits. In late 1972, Martha Reeves launched a solo career, but her recordings for MCA, Arista, and Fantasy through 1980 failed to sell. The original trio reunited in 1989 for American engagements into the 1990s. Martha and the Vandellas were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995

Writings

M. Reeves and M. Bego, Dancing in the Streets: Confessions of a Motown Diva (N.Y., 1994).

Discography

martha and the vandellas:Come and Get These Memories (1963); Heat Wave (1963); Dance Party (1965); Watch Out (1966); Live! (1967). martha reeves and the vandellas:Ridin’ (1968); Sugar and Spice (1970); Natural Resources (1970); Black Magic (1972). martha reeves:Martha Reeves (1974); The Rest of My Life (1976); We Meet Again (1978); Gotta Keep Moving (1980).

—Brock Helander