Martha Reeves

Martha Rose Reeves (born July 18, 1941 in Eufaula, Alabama) is an American R&B and soul singer and was the lead singer of the legendary Motown girl group Martha & the Vandellas. During her tenure as Motown's reigning female chart-topper, second only to Diana Ross in the 1960s, Reeves and the Vandellas scored over a dozen hit singles including "Dancing in the Street", "Nowhere to Run" and "Jimmy Mack".

History

Early Life

She was born the eldest of eleven children to Elijah Joshua and Ruby Lee Gilmore Reeves. The Reeves family moved to Detroit, Michigan right after Martha's birth. Reeves was brought up in church, for her grandfather Elijah Reeves was a minister at Detroit's Metropolitan Church. As a teenager going to Northwestern High School, she was vocally coached by Abraham Silver, who also coached future Motown stars Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson (of The Supremes) and Bobby Rogers (of The Miracles).

After graduating high school, she participated in several groups and joined a group with friends Rosalind Ashford, Annette Beard and Gloria Williamson to form the Del-Phis in 1960. The group struggled to get noticed though Reeves was discovered by Motown's A&R man, William "Mickey" Stevenson for an audition that accidentally landed her a job at Motown's secretary desk. Martha was often asked to help with background work for other Motown acts and often Reeves and her friends from the Del-Phis (now known as the Vells) would help out. They found fame singing background for Marvin Gaye's first hit records, "Stubborn Kind of Fellow", "Hitch Hike" and "Pride & Joy".

A chance recording occurred after Motown star Mary Wells failed to show up for a session and Stevenson asked Reeves to come do the song that Wells was supposed to have recorded titled "I'll Have to Let Him Go". Eventually recruiting her friends Ashford and Beard, the record eventually became the first record by the newly-christened Martha and the Vandellas in the fall of 1962.

Martha and the Vandellas

Main entry: Martha and the Vandellas

As lead singer of Martha and the Vandellas, Reeves was responsible for some of the most uptempo singles to come out of the label including the top hits, "(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave" (1963), "Live Wire", "Wild One" and their star-making hits, "Dancing in the Street" and "Nowhere to Run". Between 1963 and 1967, and only second to Diana Ross and The Supremes, Reeves became one of the top-selling hit makers of the label helping to carry both the Motown sound and the girl group sound into 1967 where hits such as "I'm Ready For Love", "Jimmy Mack", and "Honey Chile" came out of. By 1968, however, the Vandellas' success streak had weakened after several lineup changes and Reeves' reported addictions to prescription drugs, which resulted in several nervous breakdowns. She briefly entered an institution to recover from such breakdowns in 1969. Returning to sing with the Vandellas in 1970, the group carried on until 1972 when they agreed to disband giving a farewell tour in their hometown of Detroit. Reeves announced a solo career in 1973 but after Motown had moved their offices to Los Angeles, she negotiated to get released from the label.

Solo career

Martha released her first solo album in 1974 for MCA. The self-titled album was reportedly the most expensive album of all time then. Featuring the singles, "Power of Love" and "Wild Night", the album was a critically-favored smash though it failed to generate commercial success as did Reeves' subsequent follow-ups on other labels including Arista and Fantasy. In 1977, Reeves ended her long bout of drug addiction and became a born-again Baptist. After one more album in 1980, Reeves semi-retired from the spotlight though she continued to perform onstage usually as an oldies act. In 1983, she successfully sued her former label, Motown, for back royalties and the same year, performed solo on the famed Motown 25 special. She then performed in a Broadway production of Ain't Misbehavin' and reunited with original members of the Vandellas in 1989 both on record (recording for the London-based Motor City Records that year) and on tour. In 1995, Reeves and the Vandellas were inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and eight years after that were inducted to the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2004, Reeves released her first album in 24 years with Home to You with records she had written and produced herself except for a Billie Holiday cover and an updated version of her big hit, "Jimmy Mack". Between leaving the Vandellas and her solo career, Martha served time as an early contributor to the music newspaper, Soul, for which she was honored for by the Black Women in Publishing organization. She was also honored for her best-selling 1995 autobiography.

Current Work

In 2005, Reeves ran for and won a seat on the Detroit City Council. Reeves said she was running for the "youths of the city" and for adequate policing of the neighborhoods. One of her ideas to boost Detroit's economy was a series of downtown statues of such Motown figures as Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson.

Reeves has been a vocal critic of landlords that own decaying lots, ones with trash and weeds. However, on June 6, 2006, the Detroit News reported that Reeves is the owner of at least 15 lots and 2 rental properties in Detroit. According to city, county and court records Reeves owns properties that have been cited for 25 code violations that have never been repaired and one of her houses had to be razed, at a cost to the city of $5,000, money that Reeves has not paid back. Detroit News. 6 June 2006

Discography

Albums

1974: Martha Reeves (MCA)
1977: For the Rest of My Life (Arista)
1978: We Meet Again (Fantasy)
2004: Home To You (True Life Entertainment)

Singles

"Power of Love" (1974) (#76 Pop; #27 R&B)
"Wild Night" (1974) (#74 R&B)
"Love Blind" (1977) (#61 R&B)

External links