Martha Reeves

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Martha Reeves (2011)

Martha Rose Reeves (* 18th July 1941 in Eufaula , Alabama ) is a soul - singer who primarily as lead singer of Martha and the Vandellas became known in the 1960s.

biography

Martha Reeves grew up in Detroit , where she soon sang in the choir of her grandfather's church. In 1959 she briefly joined the Fascinations and founded the Del-Phis the next year. These were not successful, but after Reeves won a talent competition, she got a job as a solo artist in a nightclub, where she performed as Martha LaVaille.

During one of these appearances, she was discovered by William "Mickey" Stevenson, an employee of the Motown label, who initially hired her as a secretary. Together with the Del-Phis, she began to gain her first studio experience in 1962 as a background singer on Marvin Gaye's Stubborn Kind of Fellow . Stevenson was impressed with the skills of the band, so they soon recorded their own single as The Vels. After another renaming to Martha & the Vandellas, various hits followed from 1963.

However, as time went on, Reeves found it harder to cope with success and the stress it came with, and she began to use drugs. After a heavy LSD trip in 1968 that resulted in a nervous breakdown , the success of the Vandellas declined noticeably. In 1972 she finally separated the group. When Motown relocated to Los Angeles , Reeves left the label and signed with MCA as a solo artist .

Richard Perry produced her solo debut Martha Reeves , which was released in 1974. Various cover versions from the fields of rock , pop and rhythm and blues could be heard on the album . The released single Power of Love was only a small hit at number 76 in the USA. The album flopped, adding to Reeves' personality difficulties. It wasn't until she became a Baptist in 1977 that she got better. Other albums such as The Rest of My Life for Arista (1976) or We Meet Again (1978) and Gotta Keep Moving (1980) for Fantasy were not successful.

In the 1990s she started a short-lived reunion of the Vandellas with Annette Beard and Rosalyn Ashford and toured the UK. In 2001 the singer released a new solo album entitled Home to You , which, apart from two songs, contained only her own compositions.

Discography

Albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
R&B R&B
1974 Martha Reeves
MCA 414
R&B54 (5 weeks)
R&B
First published: June 1974
Producer: Richard Perry

more publishments

  • 1976: The Rest of My Life ( Arista 4105)
  • 1978: We Meet Again ( Fantasy 9549)
  • 1980: Gotta Keep Moving (Fantasy 9591)
  • 1982: Dancin 'in the Streets (Phonorama 5612) 1
  • 1986: Dancing in the Street (compilation; Object Enterprises R0009)
  • 2001: Home to You (Itch 1001)
1 According to some sources, the 1982 album Dancin 'in the Streets was published as Rainbow in a small edition as early as 1975 , but none of the major music databases lists reliable information about label, catalog number, cover, etc.

Singles

year Title
album
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
US US R&B R&B Dance Dance
1974 Power of Love
Martha Reeves
US76 (5 weeks)
US
R&B27 (13 weeks)
R&B
-
First published: February 1974
Authors: Kenny Gamble , Leon Huff , Joe Simon
Original: Joe Simon, 1972
Wild Night
Martha Reeves
- R&B74 (7 weeks)
R&B
-
First published: August 1974
Author and original: Van Morrison , 1974
1975 Love Blind
The Rest of My Life
- R&B61 (6 weeks)
R&B
-
First published: May 1975
Author: Martha Reeves
2012 I'm not leaving
- - Dance24 (8 weeks)
Dance
First release: April 2012
The Crystal Method feat. Martha Reeves and The Funk Brothers

more publishments

  • 1973: No One There (released February)
  • 1973: I Won't Be the Fool I've Been Again (release: March; not published)
  • 1974: My Man (You Changed My Tune) (released November)
  • 1975: I've Got to Use My Imagination (release: May)
  • 1975: (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher (released December)
  • 1976: The Rest of My Life (release: October)
  • 1977: You've Lost That Lovin 'Feelin' (released January)
  • 1978: Love Don't Come No Stronger (release: June)
  • 1979: Skating in the Streets (Dancing in the Streets) (Release: September)
  • 1980: That's What I Want (release: April)
  • 1990: It's the Same Old Song
  • 1990: You're All I Need to Get By (with GC Cameron)

Video albums

  • 2013: Dancing in the Street: Live in Concert (CD + DVD; ZYX Music 21011D-2)

literature

  • Martha Reeves, Mark Bego: Dancing in the Street. Confessions of a Motown Diva . Hyperion, New York 1994, ISBN 0-7868-6024-3 .

swell

  1. a b c Chart sources: Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Dance Club Songs
  2. ^ Joel Whitburn : Top R&B Albums 1965–1998, ISBN 0-89820-134-9 .
  3. ^ Joel Whitburn : Hot R&B Songs 1942–2010: 6th Edition, ISBN 978-0-89820-186-4 .

Web links