This group started as a quartet known as the Del-Phis. The original members were Gloria Williamson, Martha Reeves, Annette Beard, and Rosalind Ashford. Gloria was the original lead singer. As the Del-Phis the group was signed with Check-mate, a subsidiary of Chess Records. The group was short-lived but re-formed a few years later at Motown Records as the Vells. Under that name they released one single. Then Gloria left the group, which carried on as a trio, Martha and the Vandellas; Martha was the lead singer from that point on. In 1964 Annette left the group and was replaced by Betty Kelley. In 1967 Martha's last name was added to the group's name. Betty was fired in 1968 and replaced by Lois Reeves, Martha's sister; later that year Rosalind also was fired and replaced by Sandy Tilley. In 1972 the group broke up entirely, and Martha started a solo career. Sandy died of a brain aneurysm in 1981. Since the early 1990s, Martha has toured periodically with either of two sets of Vandellas: Annette and Rosalind, or her sisters Lois and Delphine.
2. There He Is (At My Door) (2:23) - After the narrator's boyfriend has run around on her, he is back; the narrator is wondering whether to let him in. Perhaps he will settle down and start treating her right, so by the end of the song she decides to let him in. I see battered-woman syndrome here, only without the physical violence. A instrumental of horns and piano fills the first 20 seconds. I read in Martha's autobiography that she and the Vandellas later recorded a new version. But it is not on this collection, nor have I ever heard it.
4. My Baby Won't Come Back (2:26) - No matter what the narrator does, her boyfriend won't come back to her. The first line is sung slowly, then the regular, moderate tempo sets in.
5. Come And Get These Memories (2:23) - Now that her boyfriend has left her for another woman, the narrator wants him to retrieve everything that reminds her of him. Near the end of the song, we learn that she too has found someone new, which gives her even more reason to want him to retrieve all that stuff. This song, reaching #6 in 1963, was Martha and the Vandellas' ticket to stardom.
6. (Love Is Like A) Heat Wave (this version 2:46; Martha's solo 1980s stereo version 2:42) - The first Martha/Vandellas hit to reach #1 is fast and lively. The title is enough to explain the passion the narrator feels when she is with her man. Linda Ronstadt remade this song in the mid-1970s.
7. Quicksand (2:37) - This time, the narrator compares falling in love to sinking in quicksand. This song has the same tempo as "Heat Wave." In this song, as in the previous one, the singing starts after nearly half a minute. Here's how to tell the two songs apart before that point: the opening instrumental in this song contains "ooohs"; the opening instrumental in "Heat Wave" does not.
8. Darling, I Hum Our Song (2:36) - The tempo is slow, in 12/8 time. A tambourine accents the second beat, the second eighth beat in the third beat, and the fourth beat. The narrator realizes that the man's love now belongs to another woman; she hums their song to cope with her loneliness.
9. Live Wire (2:30) - The title song of this anthology opens with a slow piano roll, then bursts into a fast, pounding rhythm. Here Martha does her vocals at the top of her voice, as would John Fogerty years later on most of his songs. I really get a "shock" out of this song!
10. In My Lonely Room (2:30) - Everywhere the narrator and her boyfriend go, people around them whisper about how he flirts with other women. To the public, the narrator appears to take her man's behavior quietly, but in reality she's saving her tears for the times when she's alone in her room. For a song this sad, the tempo is rather fast.
11. A Tear For The Girl (2:49) - Here's a slow tempo, that's more like it! When the narrator cries "a tear for the girl," she's crying it for herself. She hopes that once her crying is through, she will be over her untrue lover. This song has the same tempo and a similar melody to "Darling, I Hum Our Song."
12. Dancing In The Street (2:38) - My favorite Martha/Vandellas song! Also covered by the Mamas and the Papas. Everyone in the whole world, whether you're wearing formal or casual clothes, find a partner and dance in the street!
13. Wild One (2:42) - No matter what others say about the narrator's boyfriend, she will stand by him and follow him everywhere he goes. A tambourine accents the second and fourth beats of each measure.
14. Nowhere To Run (2:57) - This time the tambourine shakes during the second eighth beat within the third beat of each measure. The narrator knows that the man is no good for her, but she is so attached to him that she just can't run from him. In fact, no sooner did the gals return to Detroit from a concert tour than they were summoned to the studio to record this song; they had nowhere to run from the hectic pace of show business!
15. Motoring (2:45) - Martha's driver's ed course! (LOL) Nice swing tempo, too.
16. You've Been In Love Too Long (3:00) - When a man's smiles and apologetic behavior are enough to desensitize a girl from the pain he causes her, it means the girl has been in love too long. Here the narrator warns other girls about battered-woman syndrome (or the emotional equivalent). The tambourine and the regular drums combine to really accent the second and fourth beats of each measure.
17. Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things) (2:56) - This time, no tambourine plays, but the drums still accent every second and fourth beat. Wouldn't love make anyone do the foolish things named in this song!
18. My Baby Loves Me (3:08) - According to Martha, the Vandellas did not sing behind her on this song; the Four Tops and the Andantes did. The narrator praises her man, saying he loves her and needs her, but she does not say much that is more specific.
19. Never Leave Your Baby's Side (2:08) - I like the backing, "Watch out!" On the day the narrator was to be married, her fiance fell for a friend of hers. From her experience, she warns other women to stay beside their men at all times.
20. What Am I Gonna Do Without Your Love (3:00) - The narrator's world is chaotic now that her boyfriend has left her; she's begging him to come back.
21. I'm Ready For Love (2:54) - What I like best about this song is the tapping and the low-pitched instrument that sound during the first four seconds. The fast tempo is an apt match for the narrator's excitement at being ready for love.
22. Third Finger, Left Hand (2:47) - As you would expect, this is a wedding song. The narrator is happy because at last her boyfriend is now her husband. Her friends doubted that she could win his love, but she did. Here's another song in which a tambourine sounds out every second and fourth beat. When this song was released as a single, it was the B-side of "Jimmy Mack."
1. Jimmy Mack (2:52) - I used to think that Jimmy was the guy who enters the narrator's life while her boyfriend (probably husband; "I promised, I do") is far away. But now I believe Jimmy is the faraway guy; a boyfriend/husband is the kind of guy she'd tell to "hurry back" if she tries that hard to be faithful. This song was the second and last Martha/Vandellas song to reach #1.
2. Love Bug Leave My Heart Alone (2:11) - The tempo is slow, with the second and fourth beats of each measure accented. I like the piano solo that fills the first several seconds. The "love bug" in this song is a man who tries to win the narrator's heart and then leave her when she needs him most.
3. One Way Out (2:34) - A tambourine seasons the drumbeats. The tempo is fast and lively, but the lyrics paint a sad picture. The narrator tells the man that his love is her only way out of loneliness.
5. Show Me The Way (To Your Heart) (2:39) - The narrator can tell that someone has broken the man's heart; now she asks him the way to his heart. They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. To MY heart, there are two ways: through my stomach and through my ears. The tempo in this song is slightly faster than in "One Way Out."
6. I Promise To Wait, My Love (2:06) - In this moderate, swing-tempoed song, sometimes the second and fourth beats of each measure are accented; other times all four beats sound equal. After the first verse a tambourine joins in with the drums. The narrator promises to wait for her man while he is away on a fling with a woman whose love is less true; however, she wants him to hurry up and be home soon.
7. Forget Me Not (2:59) - In some parts of the song, including the beginning, an instrumental depicts a marching army. The narrator's boyfriend is off to war, and she urges him not to forget her. Starting at the 2:12 mark, Martha speaks: "Each night I will pray / For peace on earth, goodwill to all men / And my little heart will say these tender words time and time again." After that, the chorus repeats and the song fades out. Good speaking, Martha!
8. I Can't Dance To That Music You're Playin' (2:37) - The narrator's boyfriend claims that he is going to rehearse with his band. But since he leaves his sax and music stand behind, she knows what he's really doing: cheating on her. The music to which she can't dance is a metaphor for the lies he is telling her. Martha sang the verses, but Syreeta Wright sang lead in the chorus.
9. I Tried (2:36) - During the first 10 seconds, this song sounds like an alternate version of "Honey Chile"; the tempo certainly is similar. The narrator did everything she could to please her man, but he's still not happy, so she decides to leave him.
10. Sweet Darlin' (3:05) - In one verse the narrator compares herself to a needle in a haystack, her love for the man to a Georgia pine. The upbeat tempo nicely matches the happy mood.
11. (We've Got) Honey Love (2:40) - A simple recipe. ("A little bit of me / A little bit of you / And we've got honey love.") Nice moderate, swing tempo. During the first 13 seconds, a horn sounds out in each measure the first beat, the second beat, the second eighth beat in the third beat, and the fourth beat.
12. Taking My Love (And Leaving Me) (3:02) - While the narrator gives her man all her love and builds her world all around him, he keeps "taking [her] love and leaving [her]," "breaking [her] heart and deceiving [her]."
13. I Should Be Proud (2:56) - Martha's yells in this song reflect the narrator's anger at her boyfriend's death in action in the senseless Vietnam War. People tell her she should be proud that he was fighting for her freedom, but she feels instead that he was only a pawn of "the evils of society." Martha does a little speaking in this song, also: "They shipped him home / With medals of honor and glory / Even our local paper / Ran a front-page story."
14. Love, Guess Who (3:06) - Here's another song in which the man treats the narrator slightly. She says "Love, guess who" because the man is blind--not because he can't see but because he WON'T see. She's trying to get him to stop acting as if she weren't there.
15. I Gotta Let You Go (2:29) - This song has a similar title to the third song on the first disc; only in that song the narrator is talking ABOUT the man, whereas in this song she's speaking TO him. This time, the narrator is telling the man she's leaving him after he cheated on her with her best friend.
16. Bless You (3:01) - I like the opening instrumental, which consists of guitar licks and snapping of fingers. This pattern also occurs during the times Martha sings, "Bless your mother / Bless your father." During the rest of the song, clapping of hands (perhaps also a tambourine) accents every second and fourth beats. The narrator is thanking her man for giving her a true love.
17. In And Out Of My Life (2:56) - Here's another song with a tambourine sounding all second and fourth beats. The narrator tells the man that he can't keep running to and from her, back and forth, because she has been too nice to him. She demands that he make up his mind: he must either stay with her forever, or go and never come back.
18. Your Love Makes It All Worthwhile (3:25) - The man acts macho frequently, but deep inside he loves the narrator, which to the narrator makes her loneliness and his wild behavior worthwhile. Like "Bless You," this song contains hand-clapping and tambourine-playing. The tempo here is quite fast.
19. Tear It On Down (3:01) - This slow, swing-tempoed song contains tambourine-playing on every second and fourth beat. Since the first line is, "I wanna sing a song about pride," I assume that pride is what the narrator is telling the man to tear down.
21. Baby (Don't You Leave Me) (3:07) - The narrator has become so attached to her man emotionally that he has become half of her. Now he is leaving her for another woman, and she is begging him not to leave.
A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Every Day) (2:32) - The narrator treated her boyfriend bad, but instead of hurting her back he told her he loved her. She appreciates his understanding and resolves to be better to him from now on to prove how valuable his love is. Since this song was the B-side of "Heat Wave," I really think it should have been included on the 2-disc set. Kim Weston also sang a version of this song.
Martha's self-titled solo album was released in 1974 by MCA Records.
1. Wild Night (3:28) - This dance tune features a piano and horns. Venture outdoors on a windy night, and you'll see gals in gowns and guys in tuxes dancing. With a little prodding from the strong wind, you'll feel like dancing yourself. Wild night indeed! This song was written and previously sung by Van Morrison.
2. You've Got Me For Company (2:32) - The tempo is somewhat fast. The song opens with a piano; strings enter later. The man no longer needs to cry or be lonely because the narrator is ready and willing to be his lover--to be by his side first thing every morning, to dry his tears, to make him comfortable.
3. Facsimile (3:03) - Martha took part in writing this moderate-tempoed song. The narrator thought she loved the guy to whom she sings, but he turned out to be just a copy of the man of her dreams.
4. Ain't That Peculiar (3:22) - This version has a moderate tempo, slower than the hit version by Martha's former Motown comrade Marvin Gaye. Before each verse, Martha sings "Woo woo woo...honey honey honey," which I don't think is necessary. Only after the last verse does she sing the chorus. This version is not bad, but I like Marvin's better.
5. Dixie Highway (3:42) - This song is slow, but not a waltz tune; the time is 4/4. It was very fitting for Martha to sing since she was born in Alabama (although raised in Detroit). The narrator, having been away from home for years, is amazed how much the trees of the South have grown and wonders if her parents will be thrilled with her homecoming. Instruments include a piano and an organ; a harmonica plays lead during the middle instrumental.
6. Power Of Love (3:22) - The tempo is moderately fast. The man's kiss, twist, walk and talk all have the power to enchant the narrator, to make her feel like she wants no other man. This song was previously sung by Joe Simon.
7. My Man (You've Changed My Tune) (3:35) - The narrator of this slow song has apparently been away from her boyfriend for some time. Now she is lonely and tells him she's coming home right away. Somehow he has "changed her tune" from running wild to wanting to settle down.
8. Sweet Misery (3:51) - This moderate-tempoed song opens with a 10-second drum solo. Then a piano enters. Then horns. In the instrumental after the 2-minute mark, a sax plays lead. Misery is personified as a woman who follows the man enverywhere like his shadow. The narrator offers the man a puppy to help cheer him up; after all, dog is man's best friend.
9. I've Got To Use My Imagination (3:57) - This song is slightly faster than the previous one. Previously it was a hit for other former Motown comrades--Gladys Knight and the Pips.
10. Storm In My Soul (4:08) - My favorite Martha solo song has an upbeat tempo with drums, piano, horns and tambourine all playing strong. The mood here is similar to that in the previous song. The narrator is "tired of being confused and mistreated. Her life is a mess "and the pieces don't seem to fit."
11. Many Rivers To Cross (3:41) - An organ solo fills the first 21 seconds of this slow song. Here's the third song in a row in which the main character is in a predicament. That's what life is, all right--a journey across rivers galore. Interestingly, just before drums and other instruments enter, I hear a reference to the White Cliffs of Dover, the title scene of a World War II song.