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AboutThis site should be only contain music during Martha Reeves' solo career. Please keep her music history with the group, "Martha And The Vandellas"separate.
Martha Rose Reeves (born July 18, 1941) is an American R&B and pop singer and former politician, and is the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha Reeves and the Vandellas. They 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 council woman for the city of Detroit, Michigan.
After leaving Motown and moving to Los Angeles herself, Martha was signed by MCA by late 1973. Her first project, released in January 1974, was the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Willie Dynamite, with legendary jazz trombonist J. J. Johnson. In the summer of the year, MCA released her self-titled album, produced by Richard Perry. It was reportedly the most expensive album of that time, costing $250,000, and featuring other star musicians including Billy Preston, Joe Sample and James Taylor. Despite positive reviews, it failed to generate commercial success as did Reeves' subsequent follow-ups on other labels including Arista and Fantasy. Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau said, "This attempted masterpiece doesn't make it because Richard Perry has failed the fundamental test of the interpretive producer—matching performer and material. To an extent, this is Reeves's fault--her gorgeous voice has trouble gripping complicated ideas."
Having moved to Los Angeles, Reeves took acting classes at the Lee Strasberg Institute, and appeared in the movie Fairy Tales, and on the television series Quincy, ME. Reeves also appeared on game shows such as Hollywood Squares. In 1977, with the help of former Motown producer Frank Wilson, Reeves became a born-again Christian, joining the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, pastored by Rev. EV Hill. She released one album on Arista, working with Clive Davis, the Chairmen of the Board's General Johnson and others, and two albums on the Fantasy label, working with other former Motown colleagues Hank Cosby and Holland, Dozier and Holland. In 1983, she performed solo on the famed Motown 25 special. She then performed in a Broadway production of Ain't Misbehavin' and reunited with original members of the Vandellas in 1989 both on record (recording for the London-based Motorcity Records that year issuing the single "Step into My Shoes") and on tour. In 1995, Reeves and the Vandellas were inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and were inducted to the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003. Martha performed as part of the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXII in 1998, with her sisters, and current Vandellas, Lois and Delphine Reeves. In 2004, Reeves released her first album in 24 years, Home to You, with songs she wrote and produced herself except for a Billie Holiday cover and an updated version of her big hit, "Jimmy Mack". Between leaving the Vandellas and her solo career, Martha served as an early contributor to the music newspaper, Soul, for which she was honored for by the Black Women in Publishing organization. She was also honoured for her best-selling 1995 autobiography, Dancing in the Street.
"Wild Night" was featured on the soundtrack to the movie Thelma & Louise; the song can be heard during one of the several crucial moments in the lead characters' lives. Martha sometimes opens her live performances with this number. "Nowhere to Run" is the first record played by Robin Williams as manic DJ Adrian Cronauer in the movie Good Morning, Vietnam.
Reeves in 2011
Her solo television appearances include The Midnight Special (1974), Soul Train (1971 and 1974), Don Kirschner's Rock Concert (1972), The Dennis Miller Show (1987) (singing "Georgia On My Mind" with James Brown), VH-1's Divas Celebrate Soul, singing her 1965 hit "Nowhere To Run" backed by singers Marsha Ambrosius and Sharon Jones of the Dap-Kings; on Jimmy Kimmel Live! with the Crystal Method and a stellar group of rockers including Brain from Nine Inch Nails, Rob Fortus from Guns N' Roses and Darryl Jones from the Rolling Stones, and on Dancing With the Stars with the Temptations and Smokey Robinson. That same week she was back on the music charts with a recording entitled "I'm Not Leaving" with the Crystal Method. She appeared as a musical guest on the first season of Saturday Night Live (hosted by Candice Bergen) in December 1975, performing "Silver Bells" and "Higher and Higher".
In January 2012, Martha held court at London's Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club with a sold out six-show stand that drew celebrity friends like Phil Collins and Boy George. Other recent appearances include Carnegie Hall, the Blue Note (Milan, Italy), the Howard Theater (Washington, DC), the Dakota Jazz Club (Minneapolis), BB King Blues Club (NYC), the Cheltenhem Jazz Festival and the Mouth of the Tyne Festival. In November 2015, just weeks after the terrorist bombings in Brussels and Paris, Reeves and her co-horts embarked on a sold-out tour of clubs and theatres in the city of lights and throughout Belgium.
Reeves received an honorary PhD in Humanities on November 25, 2012, in Detroit. She was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame in September 2015. Reeves received the Sandy Hosey Lifetime Achievement Award at the Artists Music Guild's 2015 AMG Heritage Awards on November 14, 2015, in Monroe, North Carolina. She is featured in Alabama's 2016 Black History calendar, sponsored by AT&T.
In August 2016, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas will be[citation needed] presented in concert at London's Hippodrome Theatre, where various Motown artists recorded live albums in the 1960s and 1970s.
Martha Rose Reeves (born July 18, 1941) is an American R&B and pop singer and former politician, and is the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha Reeves and the Vandellas. They 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 council woman for the city of Detroit, Michigan.
After leaving Motown and moving to Los Angeles herself, Martha was signed by MCA by late 1973. Her first project, released in January 1974, was the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Willie Dynamite, with legendary jazz trombonist J. J. Johnson. In the summer of the year, MCA released her self-titled album, produced by Richard Perry. It was reportedly the most expensive album of that time, costing $250,000, and featuring other star musicians including Billy Preston, Joe Sample and James Taylor. Despite positive reviews, it failed to generate commercial success as did Reeves' subsequent follow-ups on other labels including Arista and Fantasy. Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau said, "This attempted masterpiece doesn't make it because Richard Perry has failed the fundamental test of the interpretive producer—matching performer and material. To an extent, this is Reeves's fault--her gorgeous voice has trouble gripping complicated ideas."
Having moved to Los Angeles, Reeves took acting classes at the Lee Strasberg Institute, and appeared in the movie Fairy Tales, and on the television series Quincy, ME. Reeves also appeared on game shows such as Hollywood Squares. In 1977, with the help of former Motown producer Frank Wilson, Reeves became a born-again Christian, joining the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, pastored by Rev. EV Hill. She released one album on Arista, working with Clive Davis, the Chairmen of the Board's General Johnson and others, and two albums on the Fantasy label, working with other former Motown colleagues Hank Cosby and Holland, Dozier and Holland. In 1983, she performed solo on the famed Motown 25 special. She then performed in a Broadway production of Ain't Misbehavin' and reunited with original members of the Vandellas in 1989 both on record (recording for the London-based Motorcity Records that year issuing the single "Step into My Shoes") and on tour. In 1995, Reeves and the Vandellas were inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and were inducted to the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003. Martha performed as part of the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXII in 1998, with her sisters, and current Vandellas, Lois and Delphine Reeves. In 2004, Reeves released her first album in 24 years, Home to You, with songs she wrote and produced herself except for a Billie Holiday cover and an updated version of her big hit, "Jimmy Mack". Between leaving the Vandellas and her solo career, Martha served as an early contributor to the music newspaper, Soul, for which she was honored for by the Black Women in Publishing organization. She was also honoured for her best-selling 1995 autobiography, Dancing in the Street.
"Wild Night" was featured on the soundtrack to the movie Thelma & Louise; the song can be heard during one of the several crucial moments in the lead characters' lives. Martha sometimes opens her live performances with this number. "Nowhere to Run" is the first record played by Robin Williams as manic DJ Adrian Cronauer in the movie Good Morning, Vietnam.
Reeves in 2011
Her solo television appearances include The Midnight Special (1974), Soul Train (1971 and 1974), Don Kirschner's Rock Concert (1972), The Dennis Miller Show (1987) (singing "Georgia On My Mind" with James Brown), VH-1's Divas Celebrate Soul, singing her 1965 hit "Nowhere To Run" backed by singers Marsha Ambrosius and Sharon Jones of the Dap-Kings; on Jimmy Kimmel Live! with the Crystal Method and a stellar group of rockers including Brain from Nine Inch Nails, Rob Fortus from Guns N' Roses and Darryl Jones from the Rolling Stones, and on Dancing With the Stars with the Temptations and Smokey Robinson. That same week she was back on the music charts with a recording entitled "I'm Not Leaving" with the Crystal Method. She appeared as a musical guest on the first season of Saturday Night Live (hosted by Candice Bergen) in December 1975, performing "Silver Bells" and "Higher and Higher".
In January 2012, Martha held court at London's Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club with a sold out six-show stand that drew celebrity friends like Phil Collins and Boy George. Other recent appearances include Carnegie Hall, the Blue Note (Milan, Italy), the Howard Theater (Washington, DC), the Dakota Jazz Club (Minneapolis), BB King Blues Club (NYC), the Cheltenhem Jazz Festival and the Mouth of the Tyne Festival. In November 2015, just weeks after the terrorist bombings in Brussels and Paris, Reeves and her co-horts embarked on a sold-out tour of clubs and theatres in the city of lights and throughout Belgium.
Reeves received an honorary PhD in Humanities on November 25, 2012, in Detroit. She was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame in September 2015. Reeves received the Sandy Hosey Lifetime Achievement Award at the Artists Music Guild's 2015 AMG Heritage Awards on November 14, 2015, in Monroe, North Carolina. She is featured in Alabama's 2016 Black History calendar, sponsored by AT&T.
In August 2016, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas will be[citation needed] presented in concert at London's Hippodrome Theatre, where various Motown artists recorded live albums in the 1960s and 1970s.
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