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Martha Rose Reeves (born July 18, 1941) is an American R&B and pop singer. She is best known for being the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas, which scored over a dozen hit singles, including "Come and Get These Memories", "Nowhere to Run", "Heat Wave", "Jimmy Mack", and their signature "Dancing in the Street". From 2005 until 2009, Reeves served as an elected councilwoman in her hometown of Detroit, Michigan, U.S. Martha Reeves and the Vandellas were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Reeves at number 151 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. Early life Martha Rose Reeves was born in Eufaula, Alabama, the first daughter of Elijah Joshua Reeves and Ruby Lee Gilmore Reeves, and the third of the couple's 11 children. She was a baby when the family moved from Eufaula to Detroit, Michigan, where her grandfather, Reverend Elijah Reeves, was a minister at Detroit's Metropolitan Church. The family was very active in the church and its choir. Elijah played guitar, and Ruby liked to sing; the children acquired their love of music from their parents. At Detroit's Northeastern High School, her vocal coach was Abraham Silver, who also worked with Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson (of the Supremes) and Bobby Rogers (of the Miracles). Raised on gospel, and inspired by singers like Lena Horne and Della Reese, Reeves became a fan of R&B and doo-wop music. She joined the Fascinations in 1959, but left the group before they became a recording act. Career In 1957, Reeves joined a group called the Del-Phis, with Rosalind Ashford, Gloria Williams and Annette Beard. Edward "Pops" Larkins formed the Del-Phis as a sister singing group to complement his male vocal group. The Del-Phis were popular local performers. Through 1960 and 1961, Reeves made ends meet working several jobs by day and worked as a singer in nighttime hours singing jazz and blues standards at some of Detroit's respected nightclubs. Singing at the 20 Grand, Reeves was spotted by Motown A&R director Mickey Stevenson, who gave her his business card and invited her to audition. Reeves, who used the stage name Martha Lavaille showed up at Motown's Hitsville USA studios the next morning, not knowing that she was to call to schedule an audition. Stevenson asked her to answer phones while he took care of other business. Using the skills she had learned in commercial courses in high school, Reeves answered phones, took notes, administered payroll for Motown's Funk Brothers. (Stevenson and Reeves give a different account of this in the 2019 documentary Hitsville: The Making of Motown. Directly quoting Stevenson: "She came to audition a few times. I would find nice ways of saying, 'Martha, you know, come back later.'" Reeves added, "And I must have looked like I was gonna cry or something, cos he said, 'Answer this phone. I'll be right back.' This "right back" was four hours." Before long, Reeves was working several hours at Hitsville as Stevenson's right hand. (She also did A&R work in addition to secretarial work for Motown.) By 1961, the Del-Phis had changed their name to The Vels and recorded singles for Checker and Checkmate Records. One day, when Mary Wells could not attend a session, Reeves stepped up to the microphone and called in the Del-Phis. With "I'll Have to Let Him Go", Martha and the Vandellas was born. Then, when the Andantes could not make a session to back the Miracles' drummer on songs he was recording, Martha called her groupmates. The ladies (a trio after Williams' departure) provided backup vocals for Marvin Gaye's "Stubborn Kind of Fellow". The single became a hit. Martha and the Vandellas backed Gaye on his first three singles, his first album, and on stage—even after they had their own hits. That story is told a bit differently in the film Hitsville. According to Berry Gordy, Motown routinely recorded without a singer present, in violation of union rules: "We were recording sometimes tracks without the singer, and according to the Union, you had to have a singer singing it live. You couldn't do tracks in those days." A union representative made a surprise visit, and Berry said, "Everybody went crazy, saying, 'Well, you're doing a session in there and the union guy is coming.' We told Mickey, 'Man, we've got to put somebody on the mic.' His secretary overheard it....Then she grabbed the mic and started singing it, and she was Martha." Martha and the Vandellas With her brassy and gospel-reared vocals, Martha Reeves helped Martha and the Vandellas ascend from background singers with early songs such as "Come and Get These Memories" and "Heat Wave", distinguishing the group from contemporaries and labelmates the Marvelettes, who preceded them, and the Supremes, who followed them. After "Heat Wave" became the group's first million-seller, Martha and the Vandellas quickly rose to become one of the label's top draws both as recording stars and as a successful live act. Martha was the one consistent member of the group staying throughout all the group's incarnations and lineups. After the exits of original members Annette Beard and Rosalind Ashford, members replacing them included Betty Kelly, Sandra Tilley (both formerly of the Velvelettes) and one of Martha's sisters, Lois Reeves. Among the singles released that became signature hits for the group are "Quicksand", "In My Lonely Room", "Live Wire", "Nowhere to Run", "A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Everyday)", "I'm Ready for Love", "Jimmy Mack", "Honey Chile" and the group's most popular single, "Dancing in the Street". Their television appearances included The Mike Douglas Show, The Joey Bishop Show, American Bandstand, Where the Action Is, Shindig, Swingin' Time, Soul Train, The Ed Sullivan Show, and with British soul singer Dusty Springfield, on the UK show Ready Steady Go! The group was also featured in major magazine articles in Johnson Publishing Corp. publications including Hep, Ebony and Jet, and in the newspaper Soul and the magazine Soul Illustrated. Reeves was also an early contributing writer for Soul. When original member Rosalind Ashford left in 1968, Reeves recruited Sandra Tilley and the lineup of Martha and Lois Reeves and Tilley continued until 1972 when the group disbanded shortly after issuing the album Black Magic. In 1972, after Motown moved from Detroit to Los Angeles, Reeves negotiated out of her contract, ending her tenure with the label. In 1989, Reeves, Rosalind Ashford, and Annette Beard filed a lawsuit against Motown Records for royalties on the group's records not received since 1972. The company reached a settlement with the women in 1991. Berry Gordy, Jr. apologized to Reeves for the length of time in reaching the agreement and the terms of the settlement were not made public. Solo career After leaving Motown and moving to Los Angeles, Reeves was signed by MCA by late 1973. Her first project, released in J.... Discover the Douglas B Reeves Ph D popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Douglas B Reeves Ph D books.