Editing Martha and the Vandellas (section)

==History==

===Early years (1957–1962)===
Teenagers [[Rosalind Ashford]] and [[Annette Beard]] first became acquainted after a local music manager hired them to be members of a girl group he named the Del-Phis. Ashford, Beard, and lead vocalist [[Gloria Williams]], performed at local clubs, private events, church benefits, YMCA events and school functions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jreedent.com/The_Original_Vandellas.html|date=September 28, 2015|title=The Original Vandellas|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928135406/http://www.jreedent.com/The_Original_Vandellas.html |archive-date=September 28, 2015 }}</ref><ref name=GroupBio>{{cite web|url=http://www.biography.com/articles/Martha-and-the-Vandellas-507658|title=Martha and the Vandellas Biography|publisher=Britannica.com|access-date=December 16, 2010}}</ref><ref name=Soul>{{cite web|url=http://www.thesoulguy.com/marthareeves.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510074116/http://www.thesoulguy.com/marthareeves.htm|archive-date=May 10, 2008|title=Martha Reeves|publisher=TheSoulGuy.com|access-date=December 16, 2010}}</ref> They were also being coached by [[Maxine Powell]] at Detroit's Ferris Center. One of the group's first professional engagements was singing background for singer Mike Hanks.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/mreeves.htm|title=Martha|website=Soulfulkindamusic.net}}</ref>

The group originally had up to six members, subsequently reduced to four. When one of the four left the group, she was replaced by [[Alabama]]-born vocalist [[Martha Reeves]], a former member of two groups, the Fascinations and the Sabre-Ettes. In 1960, the group signed their first recording contract with [[Checker Records]], releasing the Reeves-led "I'll Let You Know". The Del-Phis then went to Checkmate Records, a subsidiary of [[Chess Records]], recording the song "There He Is (At My Door)" featuring Williams on lead vocals.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}} The songs failed to make much of an impact.

Reeves reverted to a solo artist under the name Martha LaVaille. After [[Motown Records]] staffer [[William Stevenson (songwriter)|Mickey Stevenson]] saw Reeves singing at a Detroit club, he offered her an audition.<ref name=Rock>{{cite web|url=http://www.history-of-rock.com/vandellas.htm|title=Martha and the Vandellas|publisher=HistoryofRock.com|access-date=December 16, 2010}}</ref> Reeves showed up at Motown's Hitsville USA studios on a Tuesday rather than a Thursday, Motown's usual audition day. Stevenson assigned her as his secretary eventually responsible for handling Motown's auditions.<ref name=Martha>{{cite web|url=http://www.generalentertainment.com/artists/MarthaReeves.htm|title=Martha Reeves|publisher=General Entertainment.com|access-date=December 16, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110224203729/http://www.generalentertainment.com/artists/MarthaReeves.htm|archive-date=February 24, 2011}}</ref> By 1961, the group, now known as The Vels, were recording background vocals for Motown acts. Prior to her success as lead singer of [[The Elgins]], Saundra Edwards (then going by her surname Mallett) recorded the song "Camel Walk", in 1962, which featured the Vels in background vocals. That year, the quartet began applying background vocals for emerging Motown star [[Marvin Gaye]], singing on Gaye's first hit single, "[[Stubborn Kind of Fellow]]"<ref name="Martha and the Vandellas">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H84DAAAAMBAJ&q=martha+reeves&pg=PA83|title=Martha and the Vandellas|date=February 1968|publisher=Ebony|access-date=December 16, 2010}}</ref> After [[Mary Wells]] failed to make a scheduled recording session due to a short illness, the Vels recorded what was initially a demo recording of "[[I'll Have to Let Him Go]]". Motown was so impressed by the group's abilities, and Martha's lead vocals, that the label CEO [[Berry Gordy]] offered the group a recording contract. Figuring that being in show business was too rigorous, Williams left the group. With Williams out, the remaining trio of Ashford, Beard and Reeves were told by Gordy that they would need a new name. After failing to come up with a name on their own, Gordy gave the group the name The Vandellas. As stated in an interview with The History Makers, Ashford emphatically states that contrary to popular belief, The Vandellas were not named after Della Reese and Van Dyke Avenue.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/rosalind-ashford-holmes |title=Rosalind Ashford Holmes's Biography |website=Thehistorymakers.org |access-date=April 20, 2020}}</ref>

===Motown success and stardom (1962–1967)===
[[File:Martha & The Vandellas, Gordy Recording Artists (cropped).jpg|thumb|Publicity photo of Rosalind Ashford, [[Betty Kelly]] and Martha Reeves, c. 1965]]
During this period, the Vandellas were hired to sing background for [[Marvin Gaye]] after the label's premier backing vocalists, [[The Andantes]], were unable to make the session. The Vandellas contributed background on Gaye's first hit records, "[[Stubborn Kind of Fellow]]", "[[Hitch Hike (song)|Hitch Hike]]" and "[[Pride and Joy (Marvin Gaye song)|Pride and Joy]]" and would on many occasions back Gaye onstage for a couple of years. In 1963, their second single under the name Martha and the Vandellas, "[[Come and Get These Memories]]", the first song composed and produced by the team of [[Holland-Dozier-Holland]], became the group's first hit rising to number six on the [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|Hot Rhythm & Blues Sellers]] chart and crossing over to number 29 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]]. Their follow-up, "[[Heat Wave (Martha and the Vandellas song)|Heat Wave]]" (originally titled "(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave"), became their first top ten pop hit, peaking at number four, and staying at number one on the R&B chart for five weeks, resulting in their only [[Grammy Award]] nomination for [[Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance|Best R&B Performance]].<ref name=pc26>{{Gilliland |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19781/m1/ |title=Show 26 – The Soul Reformation: Phase two, the Motown story. [Part 5] |show=26}}</ref> Their next hit, "[[Quicksand (Martha and the Vandellas song)|Quicksand]]", also reached the top ten, peaking at number eight on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 just over a week after [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|the assassination of President John F. Kennedy]]. Two successive follow-ups, "[[Live Wire (Martha and the Vandellas song)|Live Wire]]" and "[[In My Lonely Room]]", however, failed to reach the ''Billboard'' top 40 and the group began experiencing problems, with Gordy and Motown focusing their efforts on the group's rivals, [[The Supremes]], whose single "[[When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes]]", became their first top 40 hit. Just as this was happening, Annette Beard left the group in 1964. Reeves would later claim in her memoirs that Beard left on her own accord due to being pregnant, though Beard would claim Reeves forced her out of the group.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/americansingingg00warn|url-access=registration|quote=martha reeves.|title=American Singing Groups: A History, From 1940 to Today|editor-last=Warner|editor-first=Jay|publisher=Hal Leonard|year=2006|page=[https://archive.org/details/americansingingg00warn/page/584 584]|isbn=0-634-09978-7|access-date=December 16, 2010}}</ref> Beard was quickly replaced by former [[The Velvelettes|Velvelette]] [[Betty Kelly]]. 

In the summer of 1964, the group released "[[Dancing in the Street]]", co-written by Gaye, [[Mickey Stevenson]] and [[Ivy Jo Hunter]]. The [[dance music|dance song]] became their [[signature song|signature single]], peaking at number 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, where they were unable to unseat [[Manfred Mann]]'s "[[Doo Wah Diddy]]" off the top spot. The song became their first hit in the UK, initially peaking at number 21 on the [[UK Singles Chart]]. Five years later, a re-issue of the song helped to send it to number four. The song became a million-selling hit and has since become one of the most played singles in music history.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ocwDAAAAMBAJ&q=martha+reeves&pg=PA62|title=Martha Reeves Without the Vandellas|date=February 1988|publisher=Ebony|access-date=December 16, 2010}}</ref> Their follow up, "[[Wild One (Martha and the Vandellas song)|Wild One]]", only managed to peak at number 34, however the next single afterwards, HDH's "[[Nowhere to Run (song)|Nowhere to Run]]" gave the group their fourth top ten single on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, reaching number eight on the chart and number 26 in the UK and becoming as well known for the group as "Heat Wave" and "Dancing in the Street". Due to Reeves' [[soul music|soulful]] vocals and the Vandellas' brassy harmonies, they were often considered the "soulful" alternative to the more [[pop music|pop]]-oriented [[The Supremes|Supremes]]. After successive singles such as the group's first ballad single, "[[Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things)]]" and "[[You've Been in Love Too Long]]" only performed modestly on the charts, they reached the US top 30 with another ballad, "[[My Baby Loves Me (Martha and the Vandellas song)|My Baby Loves Me]]" in 1966. The group returned to the US top ten that same year with the song "[[I'm Ready for Love]]", which reached number nine on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming their fifth top ten US hit, while peaking at number 2 on the R&B chart and number 29 in the UK. By this period, the Andantes began to sing on these tracks with Reeves, with Ashford and Kelly sometimes not being featured on the songs. In early 1967, more than two years after it was recorded, the [[Holland-Dozier-Holland|HDH]] pop ballad, "[[Jimmy Mack]]", was released and reached number ten on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and reached number one on the R&B chart, their first number one single there in four years. "Jimmy Mack" served as the last top ten single on the pop chart for the group.

Appearances on television shows such as ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'', ''[[The Mike Douglas Show]]'', ''[[American Bandstand]]'' and ''[[Shindig!]]'' helped to keep the group high-profile during this period as other Motown groups such as the Supremes, [[The Temptations]] and the [[Four Tops]] were enjoying bigger crossover success. On June 28, 1965, the Reeves/Ashford/Kelly lineup of the Vandellas performed "Nowhere to Run" on the [[CBS]] special, ''Murray The K - It's What's Happening, Baby'' while skipping through a [[Ford Motor Company]] auto plant in Detroit and sat on a [[Ford Mustang]] as it was being assembled.

===Later years, disbandment and exit from Motown (1967-1973)===
Following the success of "Jimmy Mack", Motown Records began experiencing a commercial drought as the label's former staff writers and producers Mickey Stevenson and Holland-Dozier-Holland all left in 1967, citing royalty issues with the label, leaving many of the label's original acts, including Martha and the Vandellas, in a rut. Motown hired songwriters [[Sylvia Moy]] and [[Richard Morris (songwriter)|Richard Morris]] to compose songs for Reeves, resulting in the recordings "[[Love Bug Leave My Heart Alone]]" and "[[Honey Chile]]". At the time, the music industry itself was going through rapid changes and the [[Motown#Motown sound|crossover Motown pop sound]] was falling out of favor with audiences, mainly in the black community. Artists such as [[Aretha Franklin]], [[Otis Redding]] and recently signed Motown act [[Gladys Knight & the Pips]] brought in [[Southern soul|grittier soul]] music while the Temptations and Gaye were starting to record [[psychedelic soul]], which forced many other Motown acts to adapt. Both "Love Bug Leave My Heart Alone" and "Honey Chile" were departures from the group's earlier [[pop-soul]] recordings that made them famous. Both songs reached the US top 40, with "Honey Chile" peaking at number eleven. "Honey Chile" also became the first to be released under the moniker, ''Martha Reeves & The Vandellas'', joining the recent moniker changes of the Supremes (''[[Diana Ross]] and The Supremes'') and [[The Miracles]] (''[[Smokey Robinson]] and The Miracles''). During this period, Reeves and Kelly had a falling out and Kelly soon was fired from the group and promptly replaced by Reeves' sister [[Lois Reeves|Lois]].<ref name=Rock/><ref name="Martha and the Vandellas"/> Around this time, the group began performing at engagements at the [[Copacabana (nightclub)|Copacabana]], where a live recording was produced but was later shelved.

Despite the early promise of continued success after "Honey Chile", their next release, "[[I Promise to Wait My Love]]", a more direct response to the Southern soul sound of Franklin and Knight, only managed to reach number 62 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, their lowest position since "What Am I Going to Do Without Your Love" peaked at number 71 two years earlier. Their next single, "[[I Can't Dance to That Music You're Playing]]", barely missed the US top 40 in 1968. That year, Reeves reportedly suffered badly from an [[acid (drug)|acid]]-laced drink while at a party and soon found herself in a mental ward for a couple of weeks. As a result, the group suffered and began fading away from the spotlight. In 1969, Ashford was let go from the group and was told that Reeves didn't want her in the group anymore. She was replaced by [[Sandra Tilley]], another former member of [[The Velvelettes]]. The group re-emerged later that year with the album, ''[[Sugar 'n' Spice (Martha Reeves and the Vandellas album)|Sugar 'n' Spice]]''. The leading single, "Taking My Love and Leaving Me", which featured the Andantes and [[Syreeta Wright]] on background vocals along with a hoarse Reeves, was their first single since "I'll Have to Let Him Go" to not make the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 though top 40 re-issues of their previous songs such as "[[Forget Me Not (Martha and the Vandellas song)|Forget Me Not]]" in the UK kept the group going for the time being. The group seemed to be on the verge of a comeback two years later, however, when the dance song, "[[Bless You (Martha and the Vandellas song)|Bless You]]" (1971) was released, peaking at number 53 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, number 33 in the UK, number 16 in Canada and number 2 in Puerto Rico; the Vandellas notably promoted the song while performing on ''[[Soul Train]]'' around that time. It would become the group's 24th and last single to appear on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In response to the song's moderate success, Motown issued what would be the final album from the group, ''[[Black Magic (Martha Reeves and the Vandellas album)|Black Magic]]'', in 1972. The group's final singles, "In and Out of My Life" and "Tear It On Down", the latter originally recorded by their former collaborator [[Marvin Gaye]], were only modestly successful on the R&B charts. 

After holding a concert at Detroit's [[Cobo Hall]] on December 21, 1972 with sister Lois Reeves and Tilley, it was reported in March 1973 that Reeves had made the decision to leave the Vandellas, promptly ending the group as a recording unit. After learning of Motown's permanent move to Los Angeles, Reeves decided to leave Motown as well, negotiating her way out of her contract with the label.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MbEDAAAAMBAJ&q=martha+reeves&pg=PA56|title=Singer Martha Reeves Leaves Motown Records|date=March 29, 1973|publisher=Jet|access-date=December 16, 2010}}</ref> Reeves wrote in her memoirs, ''Dancing in the Street: Confessions of a Motown Diva'', that she thought of [[retirement]] until her longtime friend, [[Eddie Kendricks]], formerly of [[The Temptations]], convinced her to continue her career. Reeves decided to relocate to Los Angeles and signed to [[MCA Inc.|MCA Records]], where her self-titled debut, ''Martha Reeves'', produced by [[rock music|rock]] producer [[Richard Perry]], was released.<ref name=Rock/> The album was a critical success but failed to produce hits despite Reeves performing well-received renditions of [[Joe Simon (singer)|Joe Simon]]'s "[[Power of Love (Joe Simon song)|Power of Love]]" and [[Van Morrison]]'s "[[Wild Night]]". Reeves would continue to record with various labels including [[Fantasy Records]] and [[Arista Records]] with little success. During the mid-1970s, Reeves fell into an addiction to [[cocaine]] and alcohol as well as prescription medication. However, after a visit to a Baptist church in 1977, Reeves became a [[Born again (Christianity)|born-again Christian]].<ref name=Rock/><ref name=Enc>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Martha_Reeves.aspx|title=Martha Reeves|publisher=Encyclopedia.com|access-date=December 16, 2010}}</ref>