[Music] foreign
ette Ann Rosalind better known as Martha and the Vandellas were there nearly from the start
they were witnesses as well as participants experiencing the growth and success of a
record label that would become home to some of the most legendary American r b artists during
the 60s and 70s Annette beard started honing her vocal skills singing in church choirs at an early
age even though Rosalind Ashford also sang in the church as well as her High School choir growing up
she actually had her heart set on being a flight attendant but her mother ended up playing a major
role in Rosalind finding her way to a profession in music when she insisted her daughter attend a
singing audition it was at that very audition that Rosalind and Annette both 14 first became
acquainted a local music manager was looking for young singers to be in a female vocal group he was
putting together to complement the male group he'd already started funny enough Annette wasn't even
there to try out she only came to support a friend when the manager saw her hanging around though he
encouraged sure to give it a go anyway she must have impressed him with whatever came out of her
mouth because the next thing she knew she ended up being chosen along with the friend she came
with Rosalind and lead vocalist Gloria Williams to form the original version of the delphi's in
1957 the quartet performed at local clubs private events Church benefits and school functions when
one of the members left the group Gloria had the perfect person in mind to replace her Alabama born
Detroit raised vocalist Martha Reeves Martha's first memories of Music stemmed from the time
she spent in her grandfather's Church along with her 10 siblings it was there at the age of three
that she made her debut public performance with her two older brothers her mother played a major
role teaching Martha her first songs to sing on Sundays she also has her elementary teacher to
thank for helping her learn how to read music in high school Martha joined the choir then
she began entering amateur singing contest with another girl group before joining the delphi's
in 1960 the group signed to a small r b label and release the non-album single I'll let you know it
takes two which flocked after graduation it was time for serious considerations of their options
and what the future held for them eventually they concluded that going their separate ways was fast
Martha reverted to a solo artist under the name Martha Lavelle the name her aunt gave her under
that name she went on to win an amateur contest of which the prize would change her life she was
gifted the opportunity to sing for three nights at a well-known nightclub where some of the biggest
entertainers in the business had also passed through it was the perfect place to be seen
and that's exactly what happened Motown executive William Mickey Stevenson happened to see Martha
singing there on one of those nights he gave her his business card and encouraged her to come down
to his labels headquarters to audition sometime after discussing the opportunity with her father
he encouraged her to quit her nine-to-five job at a dry cleaner and go for it so she showed up the
very next day at motown's hitsville USA Studios ready to blow him away you only problem was that
day wasn't a Thursday motown's usual audition day she was also told that just showing up wasn't the
move and that she should have called ahead for an appointment initially annoyed with her Mickey
asked Martha to take a seat and help him out by answering some calls so he could step away
for a minute he ended up being gone for three hours Martha wound up being so good at running
the office in that moment though that Mickey made her his permanent a r secretary later while in her
capacity as secretary Martha was asked to organize motown's go-to session singers the andantes to
sing back up for an emerging Motown Star by the name of Marvin Gaye as it turned out they were
out of state at the time and weren't available Martha knew exactly who she'd get instead herself
plus her former groupmates Rosalind Annette and Gloria they would go on to sing on Marvin's first
hit single stubborn kind of fellow then after Mary Wells failed to make a scheduled recording
session the bells as they were now called recorded what was initially a demo recording of a song cold
I'll have to let him go Motown was so impressed by the group's vocals the label CEO Barry Gordy
Jr offered to give the group a contract Gloria however decided that she'd rather keep her day
job and quit the group all the new Trio needed now was a new name Martha has maintained that it was
her that came up with the name the Vandellas she said she wanted something that stood for Detroit
so she went with the name of a street that she lived near and that everyone in the city knew
Van Dyke at the time she'd also taken a liking to singer actress Della Reese she put the two
together and came up with the Vandellas in another version told by Rosalind it's said that after
failing to come up with a name on their own Barry ultimately gave the group their name following
their signing to motown's Gordy imprint in 1962 the Vandella struck gold with their second release
the first composition and production from the famed writing team Hall and Dozier Holland title
Come And Get These Memories it became the group's first top 40 recording on the Billboard Hot 100
and peaked at number six on the r b chart it was also included on their debut album
of the same name released in the summer of 1963 along with I'll have to let him go the hit also
secured the group a spot on the first big Motown tour of the label's finest including Marvin Gaye
Diana Ross and The Supremes Smokey Robinson and the Miracles Mary Wells The Temptations
the Marvelettes and Stevie Wonder their second hit Heatwave off their second album of the same name
that dropped just three months after their debut became a phenomenal record for the group reaching
number four on the Hot 100 and number one on the r b chart it got the group their only Grammy Award
nomination for best r b recording the group success continued with their second top 10 r b
and pop single quicksand around this time Annette who was pregnant with her first child and set to
get married chose to leave her singing career behind Betty Kelly formerly of the velvelettes
was brought in shortly afterward to continue the vandella's rise dancing Street another
top 10 r b Smash and the lead single from the group's third album titled dance party released
in April 1965 put up their best numbers yet on the pop chart climbing all the way to number two
between 1964 and 1967 the top 10 r b singles nowhere to run my baby loves me I'm ready for
love Jimmy Mack and honey child kept the Vandellas on the map as one of the labels top acts that
last track would also serve as the first song to Bill Martha by her full name as opposed to Simply
Martha and the Vandellas just when Martha's popularity was Rising she felt her position
at Motown taking a turn for the worse that had everything to do with another Motown girl group
beginning to gain more attention each group took very different paths to success and for a time
that seemed to be okay then during an overseas Motown tour Martha had been invited to take part
on a British TV show when Barry pulled the rug out from under her by securing the spot for The
Supremes instead in later interviews Martha States Barry was matter of fact in his explanation to her
saying that he had a plan for the Supremes they were on the top rung of the ladder and she needed
to just do what she was told Martha admits it was the first time that she truly felt betrayed major
changes behind the scenes were also happening and causing strife when it came to finding good
material for many of their acts after the exit of contributor and Martha's Mentor William Mickey
Stevenson in 1967 and Holland Dozier Holland the following year not surprisingly due to
Barry's attention now being focused on building The Supremes as well as Diana Ross's burgeoning
upcoming solo career the group's chart performance as well as the chart performance of other Motown
acts suffered as a result however it was the infighting among the members of the Vandellas
that mainly led to their problems Betty ended up being let go after reportedly missing shows as
well as getting into altercations with Martha she ended up getting replaced by Martha's 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 names to reflect their
featured lead singers by 1968 Martha had developed a reputation for being difficult and along with
suffering her first service breakdown the fall following year she'd also developed a drug problem
you see my first drugs were given to me by doctors it began with Valium and then I'd be on the road
and people would be saying why don't you try cocaine you've got the large nostrils that will
really help you do this drug when all I really needed at the time was rest from the pressures of
working constantly but there was also the pressure to be part of the end crowd she would suffer
another mental break in 1971 and be admitted into an institution the humbling experience at one
point even had her Loft in a padded room wearing a straight jacket later Martha out of the group
temporarily recovered and returned Rosalind was replaced by another former member of the
velvalids Sandra Tilley and the group continued to release albums and singles into the early 70s
although they couldn't reignite the excitement they'd made in America they continued to have
successful records in the UK and abroad Martha moved to Los Angeles for over a decade upon the
expiration of her Motown reporting contract and released albums on MCA records and several other
labels but moved back to Detroit right when both of her parents fell ill and reclaimed the city as
her home despite rave reviews of her work none of Martha's post vandella's recordings produce the
same success as they had the decade before after living what she called a rock and roll lifestyle
of prescription pills cocaine and alcohol she's sobered up in 1977 overcoming her addictions
and becoming a born-again Christian after the Vandella split Martha's sister Lois sang with
another old-female group as well as background for Al Green while Sandra retired from show business
in the late 70s and subsequently died of a brain aneurysm in 1981 at the age of 38. original member
Gloria Williams who retired from show business when she left the group passed away in 2000. in
1983 Martha successfully sued for royalties from her Motown hands several years after that original
members Rosalind and Annette also filed suit with the label for the same reason at this time the
original Trio were also inspired to reunite both as a recording act and in performances
in 1989 the group issued their first single since they disbanded 17 years earlier call step into my
shoes in 1994 Martha released her book titled dancing in the streets Confessions of a Motown
Diva she writes about her early days of the label and of the near disasters in her life
that occurred when her Diva days were over Martha recalls how she wasn't aware of the
extent of the revenue that came in from her performances she never even had to sign a tax
return since her contract with Motown stipulated that they had the authority to take care of that
sort of thing that was just how the system at the label worked Once Upon a Time artists were
made to pay some of their own production costs by deducting those costs from the royalty payments
the artist earned it was legal and since Motown also managed the artists through its own agency
there weren't any outside managers to challenge whether the policy was fair as a result of things
being done this way in just a few short years Motown became the country's most profitable
independent recording company over the years many of the other group members chose to hang
on to of their day jobs as their main source of income Annette became a hospital technician
while Rosalind worked for the Michigan Bell Telephone Company Lois secured a position as
a secretary with a Detroit Symphony and another one of Martha's sisters that's sometimes filled
in Delphine became an executive with Blue Cross Blue Shield after four years of splitting her days
between music and politics in the mid-2000s as a Detroit City councilor Martha shifted her Focus
back on Reviving her singing career although they're no longer singing together full-time
Martha Reeves and the Vandellas have occasionally reunited for various concerts currently Rosalind
and Annette continue to perform with other singers most notably Rochelle Logan as the
original Vandellas Martha and her sisters Lois and Delphine tore as Martha Reeves and
the Vandellas except for pre-vandela's member Gloria Williamson and later vandella's member
Sandra Tilley all other members of the group were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in
1995 becoming the second all-female group to receive the the honor the group was also
voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame Ten Years Later Martha was named
as part of the Hollywood Walk of Fame class of 2022 while 2023 looks to be a big year for her
as she plans to release another autobiography a children's book series as well as her own biopic
[Music]