| The David Nathan Pages |
| MARTHA REEVES: A LADY WITH A BIG FUTURE February 1973, In person interview conducted by David Nathan in London A frequent visitor to Britain with The Vandellas during her Motown years, Martha Reeves was testing the waters as a solo artist on her first UK after just signing a contract with MCA Records literally weeks before... (c) 2007, David Nathan/SCI Enterprises, All rights reserved |
IT WOULD surely be true to say that every fan must have one or two records that they will always treasure – the special one or two that
turned them on to soul music. It’s only natural that, as time goes by, you find these records mean that much more and for obvious
reasons you feel indebted to the artist or artists concerned for introducing you to the music. In that direction, my everlasting debt
remains with Dionne Warwicke for her immortal “Walk On By” – and to Martha & The Vandellas for their classic “Heatwave”.
Even to this day, I remember the excitement that record held for me and indulging in a little sentiment (!) I can still understand the magic
in possesses. But, times change: The Vandellas are no more and the lady responsible for creating that unique sound is no longer with
Motown. After quite a few years and numerous hits to her credit. Martha Reeves has set off on her own solo course – and there is every
reason for believing that the future looks very bright for her.
Full of determination to succeed and a good deal of justifiable confidence. Martha is currently knocking audiences for six on no less
than a ten week tour of this country. “Originally”, Martha explained, “it was going to be just five weeks. When I got here, they gave me
whole date sheet of work till May! But I’m really happy to be here – audiences have been so fantastic and every one around me has been
working hard to get everything to go so well”.
These are Martha’s first European dates since the Vandellas broke up last year – but she’s been working solo for a few months now.
She’s not ashamed to admit that her very first solo gig was pretty dismal, “I was appearing on Smokey Robinson’s last show in
Washington D.C. and I just didn’t get a chance to get my music together in time:. However, undaunted by the problems. Martha was
determined to win through.
“Around last November, my sister Lois (who has her own group, Quite Elegance on Hi Records) approached me to tell me that Ron
Strasner, the manager of Rare Earth and Edwin Starr , was interest in working with me. Well, I’d been sitting around Detroit practically all
of last year waiting for work from Motown – I did one or two sessions, but nothing was released – so I went out to L.A. where Ron was
and we worked out a deal with him as my new manager. Then, just a few weeks back when my contract with Motown was up, we
concluded a deal with M.C.A. Records which looks really good too"....
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| MARTHA REEVES 1973 Interview (MRV-73-2007) Conducted by David Nathan, (c) 2007, David Nathan/SCI Enterprises |
