Everything about The Vandellas totally explained
Martha and the Vandellas (known from
1967 to
1972 as
Martha Reeves and the Vandellas) were among the most successful groups in the
Motown roster during the period 1963-1967. In contrast to Motown girl groups such as
The Supremes and
The Marvelettes, Martha and the Vandellas were known for a harder, R&B sound, typified in "
(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave," "
Nowhere to Run," "
Jimmy Mack" and, their signature song, "
Dancing in the Street."
During their nine-year run on the charts from 1963 to 1972, Martha and the Vandellas charted over twenty-six hits and recorded in the styles of
doo-wop,
R&B,
pop,
blues,
rock and
soul. Ten Vandellas songs reached the top ten of the
Billboard R&B singles chart, including two R&B number ones. Twelve of the Vandellas' songs charted within the Top 40 of the
Billboard Hot 100, with six songs charting within the Top Ten including "Dancing in the Street," "Heat Wave," "Nowhere to Run" and "Jimmy Mack" being their biggest pop chart-toppers.
In 2004,
Rolling Stone Magazine ranked
Martha and the Vandellas
#96 on their list of
The Immortals: 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
History
Early years (1957-1962)
Martha Reeves, an Alabama-born and Detroit-reared teenager, was brought up in the church by her grandfather. While going to school at Detroit's Northeastern High School, she was vocally coached by Abraham Silver, a man who also vocally coached future
Supremes members
Florence Ballard and
Mary Wilson and
Miracles member
Bobby Rogers. In 1957, the sixteen-year-old Reeves joined fifteen-year-olds
Gloria Williams and
Rosalind Ashford and fourteen-year-old
Annette Beard to form
The Del-Phis. The group spent around four years performing in talent shows, high school parties and private events and being trained by future Motown groomer Maxine Powell at Detroit's dance hall, the Ferris Center . During group detours, Reeves formed the Sabre-Ettes and joined the Fascinations before returning back to the Del-Phis who were now recording backup for Detroit musician Mike Hanks.
After performing at several talent shows, the group was signed to the Chess subsidiary, Checkmate Records, with the release of the record, the Reeves-led "I'll Let You Know", which was released in 1961. Gaining some attention from Motown after the label bought Checkmate, the group, now under the name
The Vels, recorded the Williams-led song "There He Is (At My Door)" while another Detroit singer, Saundra Mallett (future member of Motown group
The Elgins), sung on "Camel Walk", the latter on the Tamla label. After those two singles failed to chart, Williams left the group and the group stopped recording while Reeves bided her time working at odd jobs and tended time singing solo at Detroit nightclubs trying to get noticed, usually under the pseudonym Martha LaVaille.
While performing solo at Detroit's Twenty Grand club, Reeves was asked by
Motown executive and staff songwriter/producer
William "Mickey" Stevenson to come to the label to audition. Reeves unexpectedly took the job of secretary at the label after showing up to audition on the wrong day. Around this time, Martha and her former Vells bandmates Ashford and Beard were recruited to perform background work for
Marvin Gaye on his second album,
That Stubborn Kinda Fellow. Gaye's first hit records "
Stubborn Kind of Fellow", "
Hitch Hike" and "
Pride and Joy", prominently featured the girls.
In 1962 when
Mary Wells missed a recording session to record a song Stevenson had written, he recruited Reeves to sing the song as a demo. Bringing along Ashford and Beard, the trio recorded Stevenson's "I'll Have to Let Him Go". A strong response from the song convinced Motown founder
Berry Gordy to sign the Vels to another Motown subsidiary, Gordy, as a professional recording act, on September 21, 1962 after which Martha changed the group's name.
The story about the name change (to Martha and the Vandellas) is a most colorful one. The
Van part came from a street that neighbored Reeves' own - Van Dyke Street in Detroit - and the
Della part honored
Della Reese, Reeves' favorite singer and a Detroit native herself. A Musicologist
J.D. Elder noted that "
Vandella" is, coincidentally, the French bastardization of an Ethiopian name for a mythical tribe of ghost-walking demons, similar to a
succubus .
Motown success years (1962-1967)
Following their signing to Motown's Gordy imprint in 1962, Martha and the Vandellas struck gold with their second release, the first composition and production from the famed writing team,
Holland-Dozier-Holland, titled "
Come and Get These Memories". It became the Vandellas' first Top 40 recording, reaching number twenty-nine on the
Billboard Hot 100 and peaking at number six on the R&B chart. Their second hit, "
(Love is Like a) Heat Wave," became a phenomenal record for the group, reaching number four on the Hot 100 and hitting number one on the R&B singles chart for five weeks. It became their first million-seller and eventually won the group their first and only
Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.
The group's success continued with their second Top Ten single and third Top 40 single, "
Quicksand", which was another composition with Holland-Dozier-Holland and reached number eight pop in the late fall of
1963. Around that time, Beard, who was pregnant with her first child and set to get married, chose to leave her singing career behind by
1964.
Betty Kelly, formerly of
The Velvelettes, was brought in shortly afterward to continue the Vandellas' rise.
The next two singles, "Live Wire" and "In My Lonely Room" were fairly successful singles, although they failed to reach the Top 40. However, their next single, "
Dancing in the Street", rose up to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also found global success, peaking at #21 on the UK pop singles chart in 1964. In 1969, "Dancing in the Street" was re-issued and it was plugged heavily on radio stations. It didn't take long for the song to peak at #4 in the UK, thus making the song one of the all time favourite Motown single releases ever. The song would also become a million-seller, and one of the most played singles in history.
Between
1964 and
1967, singles like "
Wild One" (US #34), "
Nowhere to Run" (US #8; UK #26), "
You've Been in Love Too Long" (US #36), "
My Baby Loves Me" (US #22; R&B #3), "
I'm Ready for Love" (US #9; R&B #2; UK #29) and "
Jimmy Mack" (US #10; R&B #1; UK #21) kept the Vandellas on the map as one of the label's top acts. The Vandellas' popularity helped the group get spots on
The Ed Sullivan Show,
The Mike Douglas Show,
American Bandstand and
Shindig!. Throughout this period, the Vandellas had also become one of the label's most popular performing acts.
Personnel changes and Martha Reeves' illness
By 1967,
Motown struggled to find good material for many of their acts after the exit of
Holland-Dozier-Holland that year. Another important Motown contributor and Reeves' mentor
William "Mickey" Stevenson had also left abruptly.
After their former collaborators jumped ship, the Vandellas somehow continued to find success with the Richard Morris-produced singles "
Love Bug Leave My Heart Alone" (US #25; R&B #14) and "
Honey Chile" (US #11; UK #30; R&B #5) added to their already extended list of charted singles. In the summer of the year, the group joined
The Supremes,
The Temptations,
The Four Tops and
Marvin Gaye in performing at the
Copacabana though much like albums from the Four Tops and Gaye, a live album of their performance there was shelved indefinitely.
That same year, label changes had started to take effect, and Motown CEO
Berry Gordy focused much of his attention on building the Supremes' and Diana Ross' burgeoning upcoming solo career that would followed in 1970. The Vandellas' sound (and the sound of many Motown acts with the exceptions of
Marvin Gaye,
The Temptations and
Stevie Wonder) suffered as a result.
However it was the infighting amongst the members of the Vandellas that led to their problems. Betty Kelly was the first to be let go after reportedly missing shows and as well as getting into altercations with Reeves. There were many instances where these "fights" happened on stage. Kelley was fired in 1967 and was replaced by Martha Reeves' sister
Lois. Simultaneously, the group's name was officially changed to
Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, to conform with the company's recent changes of
The Supremes and
The Miracles's names to reflect their featured lead singers. In 1969, an
acid trip caused Reeves to have a nervous breakdown and led to her to be briefly institutionalized in a mental hospital. As a result, the Vandellas temporarily disbanded. Longtime original member Rosalind Ashford refused to return to the group retiring from the business shortly there after working as a
nurse. During this time, Vandellas records including "
(We've Got) Honey Love", "Sweet Darlin'" and "Taking My Love and Leaving Me" were issued in Martha's absence.
Decline
Reeves eventually recovered well enough to continue recording with the Vandellas. Upon the return of the group, Rosalind Ashford was replaced by another former member of
The Velvelettes,
Sandra Tilley, and the group continued to release albums and singles into the early '70s, although they couldn't reignite the luster that had made their records successful in the sixties. Among the closest during the group's late-sixties period to become a hit was "
I Can't Dance to That Music You're Playing", which featured singer
Syreeta Wright singing the chorus, and peaked at number forty-two. Reeves reportedly hated singing the song sensing it "close to home". In 1970, the group issued Motown's first
protest single, "
I Should Be Proud", which peaked at a modest forty-five on the R&B singles chart.
In
1971, the group scored a modest international hit with the
Jackson 5-esque "
Bless You" (produced by the Jackson 5's producers
The Corporation). The song peaked at number fifty-three on the American pop singles chart (the biggest peak of Vandellas' seventies singles), and number twenty-nine on the R&B singles chart. "Bless You" was their first UK Top 40 hit since "Forget Me Not", with the song reaching number thirty-three there. It was to be the last Billboard Hot 100 hit single for the group. After two successive Top 40 R&B singles, the ballad "In and Out of My Life" (#22 US R&B) and the
Marvin Gaye cover, "Tear It On Down" (#37 US R&B), the group disbanded following a farewell concert, held at
Detroit's Cobo Hall on
December 21,
1972.
The next year, Reeves announced plans of starting her solo career. At the same time, Motown Records moved its operations to
Los Angeles; when Reeves refused to move, she negotiated out of her deal with Motown, signing with
MCA in
1974 and releasing the critically-acclaimed self-titled debut,
Martha Reeves. Despite critical rave reviews of her work, neither of Reeves' post-Vandellas/Motown recordings produce the same success as they'd the decade before. After living what she called "a rock & roll lifestyle" of prescription pills and alcohol, Reeves sobered up in
1977, overcoming her addictions and becoming a born-again
Baptist.
Epilogue
After the Vandellas' split, Reeves' sister Lois sang with the group Quiet Elegance and also sung background for
Al Green, while Tilley retired from show business in the late-'70s, suddenly dying of a
brain aneurysm in 1981 at the age of thirty-six. In 1978, Reeves and original Vandellas Rosalind Ashford and Annette Beard-Sterling reunited at a Los Angeles benefit concert for actor Will Geer. In 1983, Reeves successfully sued for royalties from her Motown hits and the label agreed to have the songs credited as
Martha Reeves and the Vandellas from then on. That year, Reeves performed solo at
Motown 25, which alongside some of their songs being placed on the
Big Chill soundtrack, helped Reeves and the Vandellas gain a new audience. In 1989, original members Ashford and Sterling also sued Motown for royalties. During this, the original trio were inspired to reunite both as a recording act and in performances. They were offered a contract with Ian Levine's Motorcity Records and issued the group's first single since the Vandellas disbanded seventeen years before with "Step Into My Shoes". While Ashford, whose full name now is Rosalind Ashford Holmes, and Beard, whose full name now is Annette Beard-Helton, continue to perform with other singers, Martha sings with her sisters Lois and Delphine often performing as a solo artist under the bill,
Martha Reeves of Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and still performs all over the world. Currently holding the eighth seat of
Detroit's city council, which she won during an election year in 2005, Reeves often bides time as both a live performer and as a city councilwoman.
Awards and accolades
Though they didn't receive any
Grammys, (they were nominated for
Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave", in 1964), Martha and the Vandellas' "Dancing in the Street" was inducted to the
Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. In 1993, the girls were awarded the Pioneer Award at the Rhythm & Blues Foundation. Except for pre-Vandellas member Gloria Williamson, all members of the group were inducted to the
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 becoming just the second all-female group to be inducted and were presented with the induction by rock group
The B-52's, whose frothy dance music was inspired by the Vandellas . They were inducted to the
Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003. Two of their singles, "
(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave" and "
Dancing in the Street" were included in the list of
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. In 2004,
Rolling Stone Magazine ranked the group #96 on their list of the
100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Impact
Regarded for their early and mid-'60s work, some of the Vandellas' popular recordings have become part of American culture with their 1964 standard, "
Dancing in the Street," being the obvious example. One of the most covered and popular songs in
rock & roll history, the song was revamped several times including a 1982 live recording by rock band
Van Halen and a famed 1985 duet by rockers
David Bowie and
Mick Jagger. Another song, 1965's "
Nowhere to Run" has been featured during sports events while 1967's "
Jimmy Mack" has been said to inspire what Reeves later called a "virtual legend" of the name of the song. Their smash 1963 hit, "
(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave," has been said to have been the first song to signify the
Motown sound or "Sound of Young America" with its doo-wop call and response vocals, gospel backbeat and jazz overtones. With their aforementioned singles and subsequent others including "
I'm Ready for Love" and "
Honey Chile," the Vandellas inspired the huge number of black girl groups that followed them:
The Emotions,
Honey Cone,
High Inergy,
The Pointer Sisters,
En Vogue and
Destiny's Child.
Personnel
The Del-Phis
The Vels
Martha Reeves (1961-1962)
Annette Beard (1961-1962)
Rosalind Ashford (1961-1962)
Gloria Williams (1961-1962)
Martha and the Vandellas
aka Martha Reeves & the Vandellas
Martha Reeves (1962-1972)
Annette Beard (1962-1964)
Rosalind Ashford (1962-1969)
Betty Kelly (1964-1967)
Lois Reeves (1967-1972)
Sandra Tilley (1969-1972)
Discography
For a detailed listing of albums and singles, see Martha and the Vandellas discography
US and UK Top 40 Singles
The following singles reached the Top 40 of either the United States pop singles chart or the United Kingdom pop singles chart.
US Top 40 Albums
1966: Greatest Hits (R&B #6)
1967: Watchout! (R&B #14)
1968: Ridin' High (R&B #13)
1972: Black Magic (R&B #30)
Awards & recognition
Martha and the Vandellas' "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave" and "Dancing in the Street" were inducted to the Grammy Hall of Fame and were both included in the list of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
Martha and the Vandellas were inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 becoming just the second all-female group to be inducted and the fifth group in the Motown roster to be inducted.
Martha and the Vandellas were inducted to the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003.
Martha and The Vandellas' "Dancing in the Street" was included in the National Recording Registry for its historical, artistic and cultural significance in 2006.Further Information
Get more info on 'The Vandellas'.
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