Martha and the Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas were one of Motown’s signature acts. In 1995 they were inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which apparently made them just the second all-female group to get the honor at that time. Oddly they weren’t treated by Motown as royalty during the 1960s.
At least that’s my takeaway. More on why at the end of this here career recap.
First let me explain why Martha Reeves, Rosalind Ashford, and Annette Beard (and later Betty Kelly) are worthy of being heralded as a signature Motown act.
During the 1960s, they placed six singles into the pop top 10. Surprisingly, that’s more than the Miracles and Four Tops! Only the Supremes and the Temptations beat them out among Motown’s vocal groups. And the Supremes and Tempts got far more attention and resources from Motown in this period.
Furthermore, Martha and the Vandellas, IMO, produced the first Golden Age Motown song with “Heat Wave” back in 1963. Motown had great songs before (the Miracles’ “Shop Around”, Barrett Strong’s “Money (That’s What I Want)”, and the Marvelettes’ “Please Mr. Postman”), but “Heat Wave” is the song that made Motown distinctive.
Written and produced by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland (that trio’s first of many mega-smashes, by the way), “Heat Wave” in 1963 was a breath of fresh air for the R&B and pop world announcing Motown’s real arrival to the scene. Reeves’s fierce delivery, the strong backing vocals, the rumbling baritone sax, the Funk Brothers’ bouncy yet gritty instrumentation, and the vocal and instrumental hooks abounding signaled America was in for some classic music from Detroit.
Basically, there’s Motown before “Heat Wave” and Motown after “Heat Wave”. That’s just how I see it.
The Vandellas started as the Del-Phis in Detroit in 1957 with Martha Reeves nowhere to be found. The original group was Ashford, Beard, and Gloria Williams. Reeves did join soon after, but Williams for the moment was the lead singer of the quartet.
By 1961, with a new name (The Vels), the group was performing as backing vocalists for other Motown artists, most notably Marvin Gaye on his hits “Stubborn Kind of Fellow”, “Hitch Hike”, and “Pride and Joy”.
Good fortune struck when solo star Mary Wells missed a recording session, so the Vels were thrown into the both and recorded “I’ll Have to Let Him Go” with Reeves on lead vocals. The song was no hit, but it was impressive enough for Motown to finally have them record their own material.
But they needed to improve their name, so the Vels became the Vandellas. Williams tired of the entertainment business and left the group leaving Reeves as the lead singer. Thus were born Martha and the Vandellas.
The hits kept piling up through 1967 courtesy of the writing and production teams of Holland-Dozier-Holland; Mickey Stevenson; and Richard Morris and Sylvia Moy. Along the way Betty Kelly replaced Annette Beard in the Vandellas lineup in 1964.
The good times finally came to an end when H-D-H and Stevenson left Motown in 1967.
There were also further lineup changes. Martha Reeves’s sister (Lois Reeves) replaced Betty Kelly who left the group in 1967. To mark the occasion, Motown officially rebranded the group as Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.
I liked the old name better.
Anyways, original member Rosalind Ashford quit in 1969 and was replaced by Sandra Tilley. The numerous lineup changes were accompanied by a dramatic and strange weakening of Martha’s voice. There was always something off about her delivery, a fierce quiver, that made her songs tremendous. But now that quiver became shaky.
So not only were the latter day Vandellas songs generally weaker production wise, but Martha’s voice could no longer prop the lesser stuff up. The group finally disbanded in 1972 after failing to have any substantive hit after “Honey Chile” (#11 pop) in late 1967.
As you can see above, I’m generally a big enthusiast of the Vandellas, but as you’ll see below, I also don’t rate any of their albums too highly. So what gives?
Well, that gets back to my original point of Motown not giving the group their proper respect.
Waaaaaay too many of the Vandellas’ best songs were never put on studio albums. I’m talking ten songs that are some of their absolute best tracks like “You’ve Been In Love Too Long”, “I Can’t Dance to That Music You’re Playin’” and “Quicksand”. These songs are routinely included on anthologies and best-of packages. I know the era was one where companies largely focused on the singles market, but none of Motown’s other signature acts had that many great songs released only on 45s.
That means the playlist I made for Martha and the Vandellas is extra necessary cuz it compiles the great 45s with the songs that did make it to LPs.
PLAYLISTS on Tidal
ALBUM REVIEWS
Come and Get These Memories: C
Heat Wave: D+
Dance Party: C+
Watchout!: C+
Ridin’ High: C+
Sugar N’ Spice: C-
Natural Resources: F
Black Magic: D-