Martha Reeves just a piano 2011 Love Makes Me Do Foolish Things

[stephanie]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZPBReHzGXo&feature=related

Martha singing Love Makes me Do Foolish Things in 2011 with just a piano this is good! Wait until you hear the high note at the end Im impressed.

Steph

[Calv1971]

Steph- Have you viewed the other 4 songs, "Dancing in the street", "My baby loves me" "Didn't we" and "Hello young lovers" plus the interview, l especially loved "Didn't we" just wants to make me dig out "Natural Resources" album once again!

[selinasian]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZPBReHzGXo&feature=related

Martha singing Love Makes me Do Foolish Things in 2011 with just a piano this is good! Wait until you hear the high note at the end Im impressed.

Steph

I can't! I just can't! Martha's shrieking banshee-esque wailing makes my ears bleed!

[selinasian]

Against my better judgment, and despite saying 'I can't' , I did! Goodness gracious me those poor folk in that audience!
Shocking! Simply shocking!

[copley]

I love & admire Martha but the only person she is fooling is herself. Some kind friend needs to take her to one side and tell her to stop singing! That's the worst I've heard her sound and that's saying something!

[selinasian]

But as long as some folk are prepared to actually shell out cash to listen to her you can't blame her for carrying on.

[copley]

Oh I don't blame her. I've seen her live several times but will never do it again after the last concert. I've never been so embarrassed for anyone in my life. I can't actually believe that she thinks that she still sounds good. Martha is a fun person and a great ambassador for Motown but the applause she now receives is based on love & fans generosity. If anyone seriously thinks that her performance of the wonderful 'Love [[Makes Me Do Foolish Things)' was good then I respectfully suggest that they need to have a hearing test.

[jillfoster]

Thanks, Steph... those are some great performances, "Didn't We", and "My Baby Loves Me" are especially good. I don't subscribe to the theory that a peson sounds bad unless they sound like the record. Esther Phillips was lauded for that type of singing, and Martha does it and people say she's lost it.

[jeff9nyc]

Thanks, Steph... those are some great performances, "Didn't We", and "My Baby Loves Me" are especially good. I don't subscribe to the theory that a peson sounds bad unless they sound like the record. Esther Phillips was lauded for that type of singing, and Martha does it and people say she's lost it.

She HAS lost it Jill. I think your assessment is very kind, but even Martha has said that her voice is not what it was. The sad thing is, if she had the right vocal training/coach she'd sound great! She still has range and her feeling has grown over the years. Same for Ross. But, for some reason, they both won't get the training they need to keep their instrument in shape. It's a shame since their gifts are really bigger than both of them. They are only the "keepers."

[Bokiluis]

Before The Supremes broke, like many, I was a fan of The Marvelettes and also Martha Reeves and The Vandellas. Like Martha says on this KINK Radio show, "My Baby Loves Me" is probably my all time favorite song by her [[since it was like "Love Child" and "Someday We'll Be Together" that didn't feature the entire group). However, I am relieved that a few others have stated before I did....Martha just doesn't sound very good. Does anyone know what happened? All the way back to "Motown 25" when she came out and did, I believe it was "Heatwave" solo or was it "Dancing in the Street"? She had that warbling sound in her voice back then and that was 1983. I am happy that she continues to work. When she was in San Francisco in 2009 at The Razz Room, she got amazingly strong reviews. I didn't go to the show but it makes me wonder what was the reviewer hearing, that I wasn't. I will always, always love songs like "Nowhere to Run" and "Love Bug Leave My Heart Alone". I just don't necessarily want to hear her sing those songs with the voice that she has today. And "My Baby Loves Me" is sacred. She can leave that one alone altogether and let the recording stand on its own.

[BayouMotownMan]

Hey, to me she is still THE Martha Reeves. She sounds older, which she is, and a little breathy, but that she can still perform at 70 is a blessing to herself and her fans. Rock On Mart

[smark21]

I saw Martha Reeves in 2010 with the Vandellas. Her stage patter and presence were excellent and when sang in her bluesy lower register, she sounded fine, only when she tried to go for the high notes did the voice warble and waddled and wailed. Probably not the best idea for her to sing with just piano at this point...she should have a band and her sisters behind her and sing bluesy. If high notes need to be hit, let Lois do the job as she sounded great last year.

[Roger Polhill]

Martha and a Motown show visited New Zealand last year.I didn`t attend as I can`t get used to old people pretending to be what they once were. I loved them when they were young and vital. Seeing that clip convinced me that I was right.Besides half of their former appeal was the Funk Brothers.

[skooldem1]

I've seen Martha in concert and she is a true Motown professional. She can entertain. She is a top notch entertainer. With that said, her voice is a mess, but somehow seeing this legend live and in person, her vocals aren't really what you remember. You just just remember a good show. Voice wise she is not good.

[blueskies]

Not to be disrespectful, but when I played that clip.....my dog started howling! He's never done that before. Yikes! I'm embarrassed to say I almost joined him! Love Martha....but maybe it's time to hang it up and just be a spokesperson for Motown. I say it's time to go out with some dignity. Luckily, we have the recordings and video's of better days.

[oldiesmusicfan]

Oh my! I won't say what I was thinking, but here's what that performance reminded me of -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw07CDid0JM

[stephanie]

I dont care what anyone says I am not a huge Martha Reeves fan! I like her but I wouldnt consider myself a fan like I am with the Supremes but I have Natural Resources and Black Magic and a few other albums and this is the best I have heard her in years! She sounds better with this stripped down arrangement now I am going to go check out the other Martha videos noted above. Yes she is very professional on stage with her patter and movements, you see the Motown training with Martha.

[stephanie]

Here is the song Martha does with Crystal Method as she mentioned in the interview.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiGOb-JW554

[westgrandboulevard]

I can understand the viewpoint of every single one who has already posted on this thread.

I'm especially grateful to Stephanie for starting us talking.

I just wish I could agree with more of the viewpoints as, of course, we do all have the opportunity here on SDF to say what we think.

It would be good sometimes to be more unanimous in our support of the entertainers we at least profess to have loved for 50 years.

Some of the comments here about Martha do seem so downright unfair, unkind and, I would say, unrealistic, that I would now also add my own thoughts.

If I ever wish for Martha's singing voice to remind me of my younger life and times, I can always play her records from those years. I can be young once again.....:cool:

I was a teenager when Motown came to fame. Now that I am older, I am interested and involved with how I am, and just who I am,today... and I am also interested with how Martha is, today.

I am as interested today in the songs she likes to sing as ever I was before.

The fact that her voice does not always strictly match the original recordings in no way detracts from the essential sentiment of them, and their meaning to me.

For me, a feeling is ultimately far more powerful than the human voice, but needs first to be born from that voice.

Time has moved on, and I am now even more interested in what Martha has to say with her spoken word.

To be objective.....

Had I not known of Martha Reeves, and been invited to sit in on that appearance, I'm certain I would have felt I was in the presence of a lady who has lived, and continues to live a very full and interesting life. A great character, with a fascinating story to tell, through her music and words.

I would have come away uplifted to learn about her, and I'm certain I would have been interested enough to search out some back history on the person I'd just encountered.

But subjectively.....I do, of course, associate Martha Reeves with my own life.

To express disappointment with her as she is now, would be to indicate disappointment with myself....and I'd rather not do that :rolleyes:

Martha, in common with all other popular singers, is a vocalist. A stylist. Ladies like Maria Callas and Leontyne Price are, technically, the true singers, by way of their training.

There is some indication in Martha's current singing voice that she has had, and is still receiving some coaching or training.

Martha has always had a strong vibrato quality to her singing voice. It's also in her speaking voice, which makes it very compelling.

Vibrato [[if I'm using the correct term) is not necessarily a bad fault in a singing voice. It helps reduce strain and tension on voices where the singer is not fully breathing from the chest.

Martha's songs were often upbeat, driving numbers,sometimes recorded above her range.

Over the decades, Martha's vibrato has become more pronounced. At times, she does seem to have a problem controlling it, and her upper register has noticeably reduced in strength......but Martha herself must surely be fully aware of that. I do not believe she is deluding herself.

There are signs that she has, and still is having help in preserving her singing voice. Sometimes, her natural exuberance [[who can love 'Heat Wave' but also overlook Martha's exuberance that still remains...) overtakes her, and she 'gets happy'. She's not alone in doing that. But her sheer enjoyment, which she wants to share with her audience, and her sense of rhythm, more than carries her through.

Who among us is perfect? Are the men less than their younger selves because they have lost some hair? Are the women less than their younger selves, because their figures are fuller than before?

Let's celebrate today, and ourselves.

To suggest that, because her voice has changed, Martha should simply stop singing, and go away, is just appalling.

Martha is the grandest ambassador of the Motown Sound, and the longevity of her career as a show business performer represents the embodiment of all that Berry Gordy intended for his artists.

If any of you have struggled your way all through the above lecture, thanks for your bravery and endurance....and have a really nice day!:)

[theboyfromxtown]

Westgrandboulevard

Wonderful post. I wholeheartedly agree.

[jillfoster]

Westgrand, great post, and yes, the vibrato was always there.... one of my favorites features it quite prominently:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1a5umtcSKI

[stopinthenameoflove]

Westgrandboulevard

Wonderful post. I wholeheartedly agree.

wish you would post more these days xtown - you are a wealth of knowledge!

[luke]

Well said westgrand! I saw Martha and Lois and Delphine in NYC in 2007 and they were all excellent. Martha did not hit one bad note. This is the first generation of aging rock and rollers-lets not disimiss them and criticize them. Wouldnt it be awful if they all retired at 45????

[Motown4Ever518]

Bravo West Grand! As someone who posts as though I am being paid by the word, I enjoyed all of the post. What resonated with me is that with Jazz being my primary focus these days, I can appreciate that what you hear from a flawless studio recording may not be what you get with the same artist doing it live. As far as Martha, Motown 25 in 1983 was not what I remembered her to sound like, and the Dancing In The Street DVD from 1988 was even more removed from what she sounded like in her heyday. We remember that it takes a lot of guts to stand in front of even one person and sing, I am sure she is aware that it's not 1965 anymore as far as her voice is concerned, but she appears to be willing to give us the audience all of what she has in 2011. Thank you Martha.

[144man]

Great post, Westgrand.

[loveblind]

A lot of you guys know how I feel about Martha Reeves, so me taking up for her would only look like I'm partial to her, in which I am.

Martha is not just a singer, but a gem, and an american treasure. She does not deserve the bashing. I could understand it it somewhat if she were a "new" artist. But this woman has been going for it for over 50 years. She should not stop and be put out to pasture, but respected.

I watched that "un-plugged' vid that was posted. She does not sound at all horrible to my ears, she just doesn't necessarily sound like "Martha Reeves". Her voice is still strong, it just doesn't sound like the girl who sang "Jimmy Mack" 4o+ years ago.
When you go to a Martha Reeves today, you can expect a good time to be had, but she will not sound like a 23 year old..... but she is truly still on top of her game and very entertaining... especially for a 70 year old....God bless her!

[loveblind]

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/382959_269569793080521_137706609600174_656317_1773 152534_n.jpg

[motony]

great post Westgrand & loveblind.I love Martha,I am proud to know her.When I saw her this past summer it made me feel young again.Martha Reeves is a Rock N Soul Icon & she still has that natural charisma that can't be taught.