Search - Martha Reeves & Vandellas :: Gold

This is Martha reeves and the vandellas at their best. All t

stewart L | flushing ,ny | 03/15/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album contains all the major hits,and some of the lessor known tracks.All the songs sound great.This album will be be an excellent addition for martha reeves and the vandella fans,of all ages.As with most current cd releases,it contains copy protection,that tends to mess up the sound,for those with golden ears,and high audiophile standards.The sound is not as crisp as some of the older releases,but is still quite enjoyable!!!I highly recommend this two disc set.I thank you Stewart L."

Motown's queens of soul

Timothy Pernell | Saratoga, North Carolina, USA | 05/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When one thinks of Motown, the first words that some pop out from their minds could be Stevie Wonder, for others, it's the Supremes, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross. But there are a few who often say singers like Mary Wells, the Marvelettes and the Four Tops who also made an impact while on the label. However, one group that somehow gets lost in the fray of the Supremes, and to a lesser degree, the Temptations, was a group that for all its purposes were truly the first messengers of that impeccable Motown sound: Martha and the Vandellas. Before this collection came out, I didn't feel like people were giving the other Motown girl groups (and female solo singers like Mary Wells) their just due. This overview of the hit singles, memorable b-sides and rare group/solo cuts showcases why Martha and the Vandellas were rightly due to get inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and why Martha Reeves was truly the original queen of soul before Gladys Knight & Aretha Franklin exploded.



First brought to Motown under the name the Del-Phis and later the Vells under the short-lived Checkmate and Melody subsidiaries of the fabled Detroit label, Martha and the Vandellas' journey is almost like a Cinderella story: Northwestern High School graduate Martha Reeves joins several girl groups in the Detroit area, meets up with classmates Rosalind Ashford, Annette Beard and Gloria Williamson, latter girl is lead singer of a group Rosalind has formed, bringing on Martha, the group would find Motown...and failure. Afterwards Williamson leaves after one failed single leaving group a trio, trio records background on Marvin Gaye's first three big hits for the label, including the top ten hit, "Pride & Joy", then after Mary Wells misses a scheduled recording appointment, Reeves discoverer Mickey Stevenson recruits her and the then christened Vells to sing on the song "I'll Have to Let Him Go" (the first song on this collection), Motown loves them, signs them up, group changes their name again to Martha and the Vandellas and after their second Motown single (released on the Gordy subsidiary as does all their records for a decade), "Come and Get These Memories" becomes their's and Holland-Dozier-Holland's breakthrough hit, the rest is history.



It's probably easier said than done but in actuality between 1963 and 1967, Martha and the Vandellas was one of the reigning girl groups and Motown groups of that period. And before the Supremes' hit-making status was almost overshadowing everyone, the Vandellas also were the reigning girl group of the time scoring hits as frequent as "(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave", "Live Wire", "In My Lonely Room" and "Quicksand". Their 1964 single, the body-moving, foot-stomping "Dancing in the Street", co-written by Marvin Gaye, became their biggest hit to date opening the stakes where between then and 1967's "Honey Chile" when Martha and the Vandellas kept the competition between them and the Supremes boiling and continued the success of the 'girl group era'. This collection showcases that the group's music would have a bigger stellar life than that of the Supremes, whose sound was built around the thin, calm vocals delivered by Diana Ross while Martha's was more soulful, boasty and gospel-infused and much more loose. Plus, their music didn't sound anything like most of the other Motown groups. For better value, most of their early dance hits sounded like the similar Memphis-like sounds that Aretha Franklin would bring when she left Columbia for Atlantic in 1967 making Martha and the Vandellas trailblazers and predecessors to the sound that dominated late-'60s soul though Martha and the Vandellas don't get credit for it.



Their street-themed records, like "Dancing in the Street", "Wild One", "Nowhere to Run" and "Motoring" gave the group an edge hardly seen in girl groups less you wanna count Ronnie & the Ronettes who were similar if not vocally but in its own lyrical bad-girl attitude that was labored to the Vandellas by Mickey Stevenson, Ivy Jo Hunter and of course the HDH team. The first disc is full of gems that have gone in the history books while the second disc is full of not only some modest if still very known hit singles and rarities from the Martha Reeves solo archives. While Reeves fans may be familiar to her hit covers of "Power of Love" and "Wild Night" and her singing the theme song to "Willie Dynamite", some may not know how much of a real stellar soulful vocalist she was until you hear songs like "Love Blind" and "Free Again", songs that, in an autobiographical sense, was Reeves finally coming to the reality of her life and realizing there is the light at the end of the tunnel after she overwent through a decade-long bout with pain, depression and prescription pill addiction before becoming a recovering addict and born-again Baptist.



But if you want the overall picture, this collection confirms that Martha and the Vandellas truly were Motown's ticket to the legendary status that such a label like Motown entailed. For all purposes as to why groups like En Vogue and Destiny's Child have sung under, look no further than the originals of the kind of sound that those groups construe in the decades to come. As a complete package, it confirms this fact: Martha and the Vandellas are Motown. And that's the fact, jack."

Martha Reeves and the Vandellas - Gold

Timothy Pernell | 01/25/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This Cd is a very great CD, I got it as a christmas gift, and I Love it! There is perfect sound on this CD, and I love martha/vandellas music. One Thing Missing is probaly a few more b sides instead of the solo music, but I Don't Really Care. This is in stereo goodness, not in mono, although I prefer mono dancin' in the street. Many B Sides of big hits are on this CD. You should go for this, but could buy Live Wire-The Singles 1962-1972, to get a few songs on this, but you'd have to settle for mono. But, overall, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas beat Fergie, Rihanna, rap, and new Music altogether(not as much sex!)Better content is in this. So, BUY THIS CD!





Thanks, Jonathan"