Tone Glow 234: Martha Reeves

Martha Reeves

Martha Reeves (b. 1941) is a legendary Motown singer known for fronting the girl group Martha Reeves and The Vandellas. Throughout the 1960s, they released numerous hits including “Heat Wave,” “Quicksand,” and “Dancing in the Street,” the latter of which was co-written by Marvin Gaye, William “Mickey” Stevenson, and Ivy Jo Hunter. Reeves was born in Alabama before her family moved to Detroit when she was still an infant. She quickly found a love for singing both from her parents and while attending her grandfather’s church.

As a teenager, Reeves joined different groups like The Fascinations and The Del-Phis before eventually working at Hitsville USA doing secretarial work. While there, she recorded the song “I’ll Have to Let Him Go” when fellow Motown singer Mary Wells was absent, leading to the formation of Martha Reeves and The Vandellas. More recently, Reeves has released her first album in 22 years, Searching. Recorded in New Orleans, the album was co-produced by Delfeayo Marsalis and Chris Roe. Joshua Minsoo Kim spoke with Martha Reeves and her producer/manager Roe on August 10th, 2026 via Zoom to discuss childhood memories, the creation of Searching, and how she’s getting her flowers while still alive.

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Joshua Minsoo Kim: I know you were born in Eufaula, Alabama and moved to Detroit when you were 11 months old. Can you paint a picture for me of what Detroit was like back then?

Martha Reeves: I ain’t gonna do that! Go to Detroit and see what it’s like now. Come to the Motown Museum—all the history’s in there on the wall.

You start your new album, Searching (2026), by saying that you feel blessed and that you’re loved by many. And then the single “To Know You is to Love You” comes right after.

Martha Reeves: Did you feel it Joshua? Did you feel it?!

I did! I was just listening to it while driving my car.

Martha Reeves: Ah, so you felt the motion. Were you dancing?

I’m always dancing! And I’m dancing when I drive, too, which my mom always worries about. When do you feel like you first experienced love? You sing these love songs and I’m curious where it all started.

Martha Reeves: Joshua, you askin’ for the truth and the truth is Jesus. He gave me hope when I was teaching Sunday school. It was a family church—Metropolitan Church. My uncle and aunt lived upstairs, and we would all gather on Sunday at 12 noon and then around 6 for dinner time. We all enjoyed the gospel there at my grandfather’s church.

Do you think teaching Sunday school as a preteen was helpful in terms of knowing how to convey certain ideas or messages in song, or in performing them?

Martha Reeves: That’s the Holy Spirit. We can’t figure that out, Josh. We’re never gonna figure that out. I prayed a long time before [producer and manager] Chris Roe showed up in my life. And I’ve been in the studio. I’ve been writing songs and trying to remember lyrics and remembering those who came before me. My biggest teachers were Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Gloria Lynne, and Della Reese, who I named the group [Martha Reeves & the Vandellas] after. So I’ve been teaching and I’ve been getting lessons.

So let’s pick one of those singers. For example, what do you think you were able to glean from Dinah Washington?

Martha Reeves: I can sound just like her, and I imitated her in some of my delivery in that song. You can hear a lot of the people that I love on this album; I got the chance to imitate a lot of them. That’s what I did a lot in my teenage years: listen to the beautiful jazz ladies, falling in love with Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald. I realized that Ella was one of the first female bandleaders—she was one of the first musicians respected enough to get up there and show them how to play those intricate lines her husband wrote. I learned my lessons and I studied, and I feel that I’m a good product of a lot of good teachers.

How did you get to a point where you felt you found your own voice and went beyond imitation? When did you know that you were really Martha Reeves and not anyone else?

Martha Reeves: This album.

This album?

Martha Reeves: Nobody’s telling me what to sing or how to sing, and I know music—I can read, we were taught well at Motown. It’s a joy to see it happen.

To clarify, when did you find yourself first going beyond imitation?

Martha Reeves: I never imitated, baby! I’ve taken lessons and I’ve emulated, but I never thought that any of my records sounded like any of my teachers. I got my own sound and I’m proud. I’ve had it since I was 3. With my brothers Benny and Thomas, we won candy. I sang the harmony part to “Jesus Met the Woman at the Well” and we won that prize. It wasn’t ’cause it was our grandfather’s church—it was because we were the best. I remember all those words, and there’s a lot of words in that song!

You were initially getting candy for singing, but what was the “prize” or motivation that you had in mind when singing thereafter?

Martha Reeves: Oh, it was just to please mom and dad. Dad played the guitar and sang, and momma could sing. She taught us. She would teach me while she was doing my hair or adjusting my clothes. She sewed my clothes on this old-fashioned sewing machine and we heard her rockin’ on it in the middle of the night. Ruby was fantastic—she had 12 children and she taught us all. But basically she taught us to respect one another, and I think everybody needs to learn that.

Do you recall a lesson where she taught you to respect one another? Maybe there was something you did and she taught you how to be respectful in a specific way.

Martha Reeves: Oh no, she wasn’t that kind of mother. She’d show you and when you sang she’d be proud of you.

Do you remember what songs she sang?

Martha Reeves: (starts singing “Jesus Met the Women at the Well”) It’s this story of her looking for her husband. She had five husbands and the one she was with now wasn’t hers. I learned that song at age 5 and we won candy singin’ that song. We did what she taught us, too.

I know your grandfather played banjo as well.

Martha Reeves: That was momma’s daddy. He was a product of the Civil War. Grover Cleveland Gilmore didn’t do much with us because, well, he didn’t live much longer in our lives. He was in World War II and he played a beautiful banjo.

Your dad played guitar, like you said. What sort of things do you feel you learned from him, whether directly in terms of music or more broadly.

Martha Reeves: I can’t even answer that. You know why? The love for my father and his ability to play that guitar… I asked him, “Can you teach me how?” and he said, “No, you gotta learn like I did: on your own. It’s up to you to learn how to play.” And I admire him for that because nothing’s easy. Nothing’s been easy for me in my life, but it’s a joy when you succeed at something you want or try to do. One of his favorite songs to teach me was (sings “Good Morning, School Girl” with a wavering voice). Those are guitar licks I’m singing—those are strings on the guitar that he’d make me sing (sings jagged, emotive blues melodies). Learnin’ dynamics and one note from the other—dad taught me that, with love.

What does it mean to be taught with love?

Martha Reeves: You ain’t got no kids?

I don’t.

Martha Reeves: Well, that’s why you ask me a question like that (laughter). I think my greatest love was my love for my daddy. I love momma, she was cool, but she was jealous of me and daddy.

How did you know that?

Martha Reeves: You don’t know about that? You don’t know about sibling rivalry? And the mother beatin’ the little girl who was her dad’s favorite? It’s hard to be the first girl in the family.

Your mother beat you?

Martha Reeves: If I were a boy… well, I was a girl. We the ones who gotta bring life. Be a little kinder to your girls, ladies and gentlemen. We have a hard road to follow and… we need some help, we need some compassion. That’ll go a long way.

Was that a difficult thing to navigate, this jealousy that your mother had?

Martha Reeves: I love you baby because you have no idea what you’re asking. How can I describe the love and respect I had for my mother? Well, if she told me to stand on my head and sing “Yes Jesus Loves Me,” I would’ve done it. She was on hands—she had 12 children! I never felt neglected. She was always aware of what her kids were doing and she was always making us respect and love one another. I couldn’t stand Samuel. Samuel used to follow me around and I learned how to punch him. I was only 4 years old but he was a pest—every time I was trying to do something, there was Samuel, worrying me. You have that in the family when you have 12 children. You got one that’s the joker, you got one that’s the genius, you got one that’s a philosopher, you got one that’s an absolute monster. Livin’ in a small house with 12 siblings… come on now (laughter). I can’t explain all the good times we had.

Do you have a favorite memory you have with all of them?

Martha Reeves: Baby, life goes on. I can’t sit there—I gotta keep thinking about the wonderful things happening to me right now. This album, my disco release, my ability to work in the studios down in New Orleans with Delfeayo Marsalis and his family at the Ellis Marsalis Studios. I’m dedicated to be at university to teach children how to be the geniuses they are. Nobody in society wants to acknowledge this but I will tell it—because I got a big mouth! (laughter).

This is your first album in 22 years, and I’m curious what the process was like from the previous experiences you had. Were there specific goals you set out to accomplish?

Martha Reeves: It’s a joy to find something new in your 85th year. I’m doing a whole new dance with music I’ve loved all along. Music is the universal language, and I can communicate with the world now. We’ve got everybody with this album. And I’m old, but I’m still lovin’ it.

Do you think there’s anything you’ve learned about yourself in having made this album that you didn’t know previously?

Martha Reeves: There’s no end to the joy of music, it’s a universal language. But there’s also no end to how people can bless your heart, especially when they know what you like. I’ve had some wonderful things happen to me. I walked down a hallway at a studio and saw all my albums in a frame. I had more than one! I’ve got some hit albums! I’ve been on four major labels! I’ve been working—I haven’t been sitting still and checkin’ on the moon. I’ve been recording, writing, and loving God.

I know that when you were young, you prayed to God that you’d be a good singer.

Martha Reeves: I didn’t say I was prayin’ to be no good singer!

Oh, I thought I read that in a previous interview.

Martha Reeves: Okay maybe that’s how they interpreted what I said, but I wanted to be a good messenger.

What does that entail?

Martha Reeves: I gotta take you to the Bible. What did God say? “Feed my sheep.” All I’m doin’ is being a good messenger. You have to give it back when you’re blessed with somethin’. If you keep it to yourself, it don’t mean nothing, but when you have a blessing you can share with the world… I know I can tell a young lady today, “You have to sing every day,” and maybe she’d been inspired by me and what I do. I sing every day, I pray every day, I read my Bible every day, and I attend my church. I’m a good pastor’s friend—I bring people to church and tell them about Jesus. I’m a good messenger, and that’s all you gotta be.

Do you think there are any changes or tweaks you’ve made in how you’ve been that messenger though?

Martha Reeves: Well, I’m glad I was reborn in ’77, and I’ve been establishing my relationship with God since then. These are all of his blessings. It’s miracles that are happenin’ while I’m yet alive. That’s what I heard my mother say a long time ago. This year, I got a whole room of flowers, and they were purple. People heard me when I said, “Give me my flowers while I yet live.” That was something momma said all the time; it was somethin’ she said before and after church. “Give me my credit for what I’m doin’, while I live.” I’m lovin’ this. Dreams are coming true.

What are those dreams?

Martha Reeves: You can’t tell? You can’t tell that I’m happy? I’ve been studyin’, I’ve been workin’, I’ve been recordin’, I’ve been prayin’. The minute a miracle happens, I shout (while singing) “Thank you Jesus!” or “Thank you Lord!”

Do you never think of the songs in a romantic way? Do you ever see them as having this dual meaning?

Martha Reeves: How can you miss my relationship with God?

I’m not missing it, I’m just wondering if it could be both.

Martha Reeves: It’s all of that! It’s hard to tell what the songs are—if they’re gospel or rock or rap or whatever. It’s hard to tell because the love of God is in every one of them. Mom told me a long time ago, “Baby don’t sing a song unless you mean it in your heart.” Every song I sang explains a part of my life. Every company I’ve been with would tell me what to do or how they wanted me to do it, but not this time. This time, I’m (singing) “Free again, back to being free again.”

I wanted to ask about “I Got it Bad,” which is one of my favorites on the album. Can you talk to me about how you approached that song?

Chris Roe: The original concept of the album was that we were gonna do a jazz album. A few months after I approached Martha with that, I was a juror at a film festival in Dallas. I went to a screening of a documentary on Ellis Marsalis, who was this great jazz legend from New Orleans. His son Delfeayo Marsalis was there in the audience. I got to meet him after the screening at an afterparty. I introduced myself and told him what I was wanting to do. I don’t know if he took me seriously at first, because a lot of people in this business say a lot of things but rarely follow through. For me, if I say I’m gonna do something, I absolutely mean that 100%. I have an apartment in New Orleans so I’m very familiar with the Marsalis name. I tell him, “I’m gonna be in New Orleans in three weeks, let’s get together.” We met for lunch at a restaurant in the French Quarter, I gave him my vision of what I was thinking, and he liked my idea. That was summertime, and then three months later, he flew to Detroit, met with Martha and myself, and then we scheduled a weekend of chemistry performances together.

What does that entail?

Chris Roe: We just wanted to see how we performed together and got along. We did a series of dates at a jazz club in Baltimore, Maryland. Three weeks after that we were in the recording studio. It all evolved like that. The idea we decided on for the album was “Motown meets The Big Easy.” You take the soul of Motown and mix it with the jazz of New Orleans and the outcome of that is the birth of Searching (2026). As we were in the studio, it started to take a life of its own. It didn’t just become jazz—it was jazz, blues, R&B, gospel. There was a great evolution to it.

One of the great happy accidents was that we were in the studio one day and were looking to do “I Got It Bad (And That Ain’t Good)” by Duke Ellington. Delfeayo knew that Martha had an extensive catalogue—she’s performed a lot of great songs that haven’t been recorded—and so he came to me and said, “Oh, she’s already recorded it.” “No she hasn’t.” “Then what’s this?” And then he showed me a song and I went, “Well no, that’s an unreleased track.” It was recorded in the 1960s and called “I Got It Bad,” and it was written by William “Mickey” Stevenson.

Martha Reeves: The same one who wrote “Dancing in the Street.”

Chris Roe: It was an unreleased track that came out as part of a box set in 2005. We brought it out to Martha and said, “What do you think of this?” Martha being Martha, she went right into singing it, and even though she recorded it 60 years earlier, she remembered every word. We got all the musicians in the room, we listened to it, and then they all started working on it. Within one hour, we were ready to record. Within two and a half hours, we were done. It was a really happy, organic accident with that song. At times, it felt like the old days. We were doing something that William “Mickey” Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter had done for Motown, and we had done “To Know You is to Love You,” which was written by Stevie Wonder and Syreeta Wright. I thought it was a nice way to pay homage to these people who were part of her life in a meaningful way.

Do you mind talking about “Mood Indigo”? There are so many versions of that song and I’m curious how you landed on your own.

Martha Reeves: I’ve sang that song so many times. I did work with the Duke Ellington Orchestra under Ideal Entertainment, and I did a concert where I sang “Mood Indigo.” My arrangement wasn’t very much different from Delfeayo’s band’s arrangement. Both of them blended beautifully, and it was in my key, which was even better! It was absolutely magic. I sat in New Orleans at a club and we were in the studio the next day.

Chris Roe: Again, another magical accident. We didn’t have any set agenda to do that song. In fact, we were scratching our heads going, “We really need one more song.” And that afternoon, we quit recording for the day and went from the studio to this club that Delfeayo has a residency in called Snug Harbor, which is where his father Ellis had a residency for years. He continues that family tradition there. We didn’t know what song was gonna be performed. I actually thought it was gonna be “Summertime,” since it’s one she’s done with him before at Snug Harbor. The brilliance of Martha is that she walked up on stage and Delfeayo thought it was gonna be “Summertime”—he told the band this—and then Martha said to do “Mood Indigo,” and you could see a panic in people’s faces (laughter).

Martha Reeves: The female baritone player was very surprised, but she had a beautiful solo.

Chris Roe: Afterwards, Delfeayo looked at me from the stage and I looked at him from the front row and we nodded our heads. We went into the recording studio the next day and recorded it. Again, it was not on the agenda, it was not something we were looking for, it just organically happened. I think when you listen to that song, it could be on a soundtrack. It’s so beautiful. I’d love to do a music video for it with Martha in 1940s attire.

Martha Reeves: I wear that all the time! (laughter).

So when did the recordings all happen?

Chris Roe: Martha’s recordings were from November 2023 to early 2025. She flew down to New Orleans and we did three separate recording sessions, and then we spent the rest of 2025 just mixing and getting it all ready. We made some tweaks to some instruments but at that point we had all of her tracks.

Martha Reeves: It was heaven being among all those talented people.

Martha, is there anything about the energy of New Orleans that you feel contributed to the songs on this album? Obviously it’s a different city from Detroit, which you were at in the past to record at Hitsville USA.

Martha Reeves: I’m glad it wasn’t during the carnival time.

It would’ve been too overwhelming?

Martha Reeves: Oh, too much. I’ve only been there during carnival times and I’ve performed during that, and it’s too wild and crazy. But New Orleans is always a thrill to go to whether you’re working in a studio or not. But I was in the studio with these wonderful musicians that Delfeayo brought into his daddy’s place, it was wonderful. I feel so thrilled and honored. If I had to go to England to get a crown on my head—to become a duchess or empress or whatever, to become royalty—well, I’m royal now. I got royal attitude. And Chris knew what to do—I guess it’s because you’re a moviemaker and all your clients are actors and actresses.

Chris Roe: You know, the magical thing about that is it never would’ve happened the way it did if we didn’t have those first-class musicians in the studio. You’re looking at people who toured with B. B. King and Allen Touissant. These are session musicians for some of the biggest names in the music business, and they came down to New Orleans to perform. When you’re suddenly performing a song and you call everybody in and say, “What do you think we should do with this?” And then within an hour they get everything together… that’s not gonna happen with an everyday session musician.

They have to go with the flow with some of those great artists. If B. B. King wants to do something different, those cats behind him need to be able to follow his lead in the moment. And that’s what was so magical about these musicians, right down to the harmonica guy we brought in for “Watch Your Back.” He just came back from a tour in Europe and Delfeayo says, “There’s only one guy I want to do this.” He says, “I’m exhausted, I just got in from Europe, but I’ll be there.” He walked into the studio and just blew it out of the water.

Martha Reeves: When I started studying music and singers, I had it in my mind to one day be a jazz artist. Maybe one day I’d be respected like Aretha Franklin or Gloria Lynne or Nancy Wilson. I saw what they went through and studied their lives and how it was. It ain’t easy being a singer—someone’s stealin’ your husband! It ain’t a whole lot of fun all the time! David Walker, a musician I admired to the hilt, told me, “You’re never going to sing unless you get the blues. ’Til you find what heartbreak really is, you’ll never really sing good.” That was a musician talking to me, and he’s one of the best guitar players in the world. “Until you suffer through some heartbreaking times, you’ll never sing the blues.” I think I’ve been through it. I can sing the blues. I’ve lived the blues!

When did he tell you that?

Martha Reeves: Maybe ’64, when we first met. He was from California and I was from Detroit.

Was there a point when you really felt you knew how to sing the blues, that you knew what he meant?

Martha Reeves: No, no. You gotta go all the way back to kindergarten.

You had your heart broken in kindergarten?

Martha Reeves: I had the blues, yeah. The guys didn’t think I was cute at all! I wasn’t one of the kids that was chosen. I wasn’t the cutest one. I wasn’t the favorite. I might even have a bad attitude if you hurt me or mistreat me or bring out the other part of me, but I’ve been learning from every experience. I know it takes a certain amount of blues to sing ’em, so he was only telling me, “Learn how to sing the blues. You’re gonna have some heartbreaks—put ’em in your voice, put ’em in your spirit.” We tried to live together for a little while. We were working and circumstances led to him moving from LA to Detroit, and we stayed at a hotel. We toured in the South when things weren’t pleasant or easy, and I was told then, “You’ll never sing the jazz of these songs until you learn the blues.” And Lord have mercy, I’ve learned the blues! I know the blues!

What sort of experiences were you thinking about when you were singing “Watch Your Back”? Are you drawing from recent memories or older experiences?

Martha Reeves: Every song has a story to it, honey. And I wrote that one. When I wrote that one, I pictured my money standing at the front door as my dad went off to work, telling him, “Watch your back, honey. Save your lovin’ for me.” A man can go to work and hurt himself, and then he comes home and he’s a baby. The wife can’t do anything with a man with his back hurtin’! They don’t even wanna eat when they’re hurt from working hard. It would be different had he been playin’ sports and hurt himself, but he was trying to make some money. He was workin’ a shovel, and somebody run into him in a car on some ice.

The situation of the story just made me wanna sing something. That was a special moment for me, to watch my mom stand there. She didn’t want him to go to work! But he was the kind of man who needed to work. He probably didn’t have to go to work, but he worked for the city water department and was as loyal as a man could be. I remember he worked the swing shift. He’d work some mornings, then he’d adjust himself to work some afternoons during the week, and then he worked the midnight shift. They’d call EJ, give him his schedule, and he’d follow it, and Ruby would be there to help him. She didn’t want him to hurt himself, she didn’t want him to come home like that and have to deal with him. There’s no lovin’ there.

What’s the story behind “Summertime”?

Martha Reeves: I always loved “Summertime,” and I always thought I could sing it real good. When I heard Delfeayo’s version of it, it hurt me that I didn’t come up with that tempo. I’d never felt summertime like that! It was another way to feel it. You could do it the traditional way, but he found a way to play it in a funk-jazz place. Other people probably wanted to go there, but Delfeayo did it masterfully.

Chris Roe: We had done “Summertime” at the jazz club in New Orleans at Snug Harbor but also in Baltimore. I loved his arrangement of it and I loved how Martha delivered it. However, when it came time to sit down and add a few more songs to the tracklist, he didn’t wanna do it. He’d just done that arrangement for someone else. I said to him, “No, we have to do it. First of all, it’s a beautiful arrangement. Secondly, Martha delivers it really well and it’s done in a way that I’ve never heard before.” He did not want to do it, and the great thing about being in charge is that I could say, “Well, I want it.” He went back and in 24 hours, he did an entirely new arrangement of that song. He just needed to go back and do something different from the way he had just done, and I totally respect that. He was meticulous with how he arranged it, and it was magnificent.

The song is such a classic. And when you get a song that everyone’s recorded, it has to be different. When you do it exactly the same way, then it’s really no different from the hundreds of reimaginations or copies of it. You’ve gotta take it and make it your own, and that’s what happened with this version of “Summertime.” It’s a cool jazz, funky version. It just goes to show you that you can take a song, change the arrangements a little bit, and you can go from jazz to funk or funk to blues or blues to pop.

Martha, as you’ve gotten older, are there specific things you’re doing to maintain your singing voice? What does it entail now that you’re in your 80s?

Martha Reeves: Just good teachers. They’ll tell you how to preserve your voice and what not to do in order to sustain your tones. You have to learn music, you have to learn what a note is, what a rest is.

Were there any songs on the album that were particularly challenging to perform, or did it all come very naturally?

Martha Reeves: It was like a box of chocolates. I like every one we’ve done.

Chris Roe: Not only did it go smoothly, but Martha really made each song her own.

Martha Reeves: I was overjoyed.

I don’t have any other questions, but I was curious if there was anything we didn’t talk about today that you wanted to mention.

Martha Reeves: Oh, we want a second appointment with you. I liked your questions, and you can ask more questions when we talk again.

Chris Roe: Something I want to mention is that we had a dance single done for “To Know You is to Love You,” and that was released a few weeks after the album version. It was done by Eric Kupper, this legendary producer. The fact that we’ve just charted, debuting at #31 at 85 [years old] is something to celebrate. It’s incredible. [Editor’s Note: the remix charted on the UK’s Music Week Commercial Pop and Dance Chart]. This is dance music, so it’s mostly 20 or 30 year olds on the dancefloor, and they’re getting the opportunity to discover Martha’s music for the first time. I hope that leads to them discovering this brilliant catalogue she had when she was the sound of young America.

Martha Reeves: I still am!

I end all my interviews with the same question and I wanted to ask it to you. Do you mind sharing one thing you love about yourself?

Martha Reeves: I’m easily compromised.

Easily compromised?

Martha Reeves: People love to manipulate me, but I’m qualified and I’m willing to try any adventure. I’ve got a lot of nerve, but I’m lovin’ it. God gave me a talent, and it’s mine.

Martha Reeves’ new album, Searching, is out on streaming services tomorrow via Fun Day Records. The LP and CD can also be purchased at her website.

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