The Black Magic Album

[franjoy56]

I was playing the Black Magic album the last studio album by the group of Martha Reeves and The Vandellas [[Lois and Sandra tilley) their background vocals are off the chart, I think this is one of the best vandellas albums and you can hear the the harmonies of Sandra, Lois and Martha's lead make this album sound differen and stand out [[i don't hear the Andantes are at all)especially on tracks like "No one There" "Your Love Makes it all worth while" not to mention the single "Bless You" #54 pop and "In and Out of My Life". This album was recorded and or released around the same time the "Floy Joy" album came out and unlike the FJ album who are credited with additional backgrounds it is not here on the Vandellas album. Martha Reeves vocals are at the top of her game unfortunately it was the last album before the group broke up.

[daviddesper]

I too absolutely loved this album and I thought they really went out with a bang. There is not a single weak cut on it and if it were not for all the turmoil going on with Motown at the time, there could have been some bigger hits from it. However, don't I recall reading somewhere that No One There was released as a single in England and credited only to Martha as a soloist? Did I dream that?

[franjoy56]

that may have been, but the song clearly has lois and sandra as backing vocalists i assume. Martha did not even know the company had moved to LA so I guess Motown took on their own to label the record a Martha Reeves record, the vandellas soon disbaned by Martha who could not afford to pay them I think they did a farewell condert at the cobo hall in detroit in late 1972. i also remember hearing her first solo record "Power of Love" in 1974 on MCA what a record.

[marybrewster]

One "story" I've always questioned:

Martha has always maintained that she didn't know Motown moved to L.A. Was Martha not living in Detroit at the time? I imagine that the move was more elaborate than just putting a closed sign on the door. Even if she was on the road or living elsewhere, certainly someone she knew at home MUST have seen some "happenings" at Motown's headquarters.

[mr_june]

"Benjamin" is an overlooked song that I like very much. Is Sandra the group member who passed?

[kenneth]

"Benjamin" is an overlooked song that I like very much. Is Sandra the group member who passed?

Yes, I believe she died when still quite young of a cerebral hemorrhage.

[kenneth]

It is indeed a great album. I agree one of the best if not the best of the Vandellas. I think Martha's rendition of "Anyone Who Had a Heart" is dramatic and turns it into a real torch song. Also "I Want You Back" is raucous and rollicking, a great cover of that great song. I agree that "Benjamin" and also "No One There" take Martha into real Adult Contemporary Pop territory but in a good way. The arrangements on all the songs are great, I especially love the backup to "Tear it On Down" and the way the chorus comes in at the end.

A really great piece. I remember at the time, GQ reviewed it [[though they called it "Black Lace" as it was first announced) and said something like "No one will rate Martha Reeves and the Vandellas as second string to the Supremes any longer." How sad it was their last album!

[gordy_hunk]

I too absolutely loved this album and I thought they really went out with a bang. There is not a single weak cut on it and if it were not for all the turmoil going on with Motown at the time, there could have been some bigger hits from it. However, don't I recall reading somewhere that No One There was released as a single in England and credited only to Martha as a soloist? Did I dream that?

You are correct David, in that Tamla Motown [[UK) issued on TMG 843, the track "No one there", which failed to enter the charts. This is perhaps my all time favourite of all of Martha Reeves and the Vandellas records. You are also correct, in that when the track was issued, it was simply by "Martha Reeves". Don't know if this was anything to do with trying to launch a solo career for her, or just someone in the UK forgetting to add the Vandellas onto the label.

[JimBagley]

"Benjamin" is my favorite recording by Martha Reeves.

[luke]

Are the Andantes not on Black Magic? I just read the other day that much of Black Magic was meant for Diana Ross and was recorded in her key--Matha had to singerhigher

[floyjoy678]

The Andantes are on "Black Magic". I doubt Lois and Sandra were on many of the songs. It's been said by Martha herself on "In and Out of My Life" she is doing the background vocals with some other singer [[non Vandella).

[franjoy56]

I don't hear the Andantes except for maybe The Best Years of My Life. I hear unfamiliar sounding voices on this album [[Sandra and Lois) same voices on "Natural Resources" and wikipedia says Lois and Sandra are on the album with the Andantes as additional bkg vocals.

[daviddesper]

It is very puzzling as to why Motown would have put such effort into making such a quality album if it were so obvious that the group was about to disband. You would think the opposite if anything. Bless You for example is by far the most beautifully-crafted and masterfully-produced song they ever did and it should have led to bigger and better things for them, not the end of their careers.

[BigAl]

Are the Andantes not on Black Magic? I just read the other day that much of Black Magic was meant for Diana Ross and was recorded in her key--Matha had to sing higher

For many years I've heard the story that Gordy had planned the project for Diane and she ultimately declined after she had already agreed to do it, but I have no idea if there's anything to that story. It might, however, explain why a project this ambitious was pursued with a group which Gordy had pretty much turned his back on by that time. If it had been all planned out for Diane and everything was in place except for the actual vocals then I could see why it would be deemed a waste to just scrap it.

[RossHolloway]

One "story" I've always questioned:

Martha has always maintained that she didn't know Motown moved to L.A. Was Martha not living in Detroit at the time? I imagine that the move was more elaborate than just putting a closed sign on the door. Even if she was on the road or living elsewhere, certainly someone she knew at home MUST have seen some "happenings" at Motown's headquarters.

I've always thought this was strange as well. How much actual recording was taking place in Detroit during this time period, when the West Coast operation seem to have been underway? Was Martha out on the road that much that she had no idea what was going on in Detroit? Was she not in touch with the other artists, musicians, writers or producers or even Motown management? I know this question has been asked before, but why does it seem that Martha was the only artist left out of the loop?

[mr_june]

The first time I really paid attention to Martha's voice is on "Take A Look In The Mirror." I have the doulble CD that has Black Magic and Natural Resources and her singing if flawless on that song. I remember telling my wife that I didn't know Martha could sing that well.

[kenneth]

The first time I really paid attention to Martha's voice is on "Take A Look In The Mirror." I have the doulble CD that has Black Magic and Natural Resources and her singing if flawless on that song. I remember telling my wife that I didn't know Martha could sing that well.

"Take a Look" is a strange song with a rather negative lyric but I agree Martha positively wails it. Did you know it was originally by Aretha during her years with Columbia? For Martha, the song did fit well on their "socially relevant" LP "Natural Resources" which also included "I Should Be Proud" and "People Got to Be Free." I have that 2fer CD as well...the two albums play very well back to back.

[brother_love]

Natalie Cole and David Lasley also recorded great covers of "Take A Look."
"Take a Look" is a strange song with a rather negative lyric but I agree Martha positively wails it. Did you know it was originally by Aretha during her years with Columbia? For Martha, the song did fit well on their "socially relevant" LP "Natural Resources" which also included "I Should Be Proud" and "People Got to Be Free." I have that 2fer CD as well...the two albums play very well back to back.

[franjoy56]

It was reported by Matt Leher which i still have the footage for when he did a segment on Martha Reeves, that she had a nervous breakdown and was in the hospital, so if the move took place during this time then it would seem logical that Martha was not aware of the Motown move. Martha moved on to MCA records after she let the Vandellas go, and her breakthrough album Martha Reeves was out with the single "Power of Love"

[johnny_raven]

Martha's breakdown was in 1969, a few years before Motown's move to L.A.

[RossHolloway]

Martha's breakdown was in 1969, a few years before Motown's move to L.A.

I know this is a delicate subject, but does anyone know the background details of her breakdown? Wasn't '69 around the time that she had her son? I couldn't imagine that Motown management was too pleased that one of its female stars was an unwed mother during a period where is was still looked down upon to be one.

[Kamasu_Jr]

Some people just cracked up on the road...the stress of travelling , sleeping in cars and buses and waking up and not knowing where you are can be disorienting and not eating properly can ruin the nervous system. Several Tempts cracked up and we know what happened to Florence Ballard. Aretha was another one who had several breakdowns. Martha's pregnancy wasn't discussed much...few people knew she was even pregnant. But allegedly if you look at the Sugan N Spice album cover- the baby bump is there.

[motony]

Martha was married to her sons father BUT had the marriage annulled.Those personal pressures and business pressures caused her breakdown.

[RossHolloway]

Martha was married to her sons father BUT had the marriage annulled.Those personal pressures and business pressures caused her breakdown.

How does one have a marriage annulled after a child is born?

[JL2648]

Martha's pregnancy wasn't discussed much...few people knew she was even pregnant. But allegedly if you look at the Sugan N Spice album cover- the baby bump is there.

Funny you should mention that. In 1990 I went to a fundraiser for the Motown Museum. Martha signed my Sugar N Spice album there but before doing so she got all giggly and pointed out that one of the ladies on the album cover was pregnant at the time. She even drew an arrow at the belly! I'm almost sure it wasn't her own belly that she was calling attention to but one of the other ladies. I think it was her sister's [[Lois?), if memory serves. Now I wish I still had this album--I gave it and all my Motown albums to a friend who now says he doesn't have them. I think I'll have to pester him again to make sure as I'd like to take a look at that "arrow" album, at least.

Jeff

[motony]

It was Martha who was pg on the Sugar N Spice cover. She had the marriage annulled and that was in a magazine at the time that had a big story on Motown. I don't think Lois has any children.

[reese]

It was Martha who was pg on the Sugar N Spice cover. She had the marriage annulled and that was in a magazine at the time that had a big story on Motown. I don't think Lois has any children.

Maybe that was PR spin so that people wouldn't know that Martha was actually single when she gave birth. In her book, she said she wasn't married to "Gerald," and that he was involved with another woman for their entire affair. When she told him that she was pregnant, he said "By whom?"

She had her first marriage to "Wiley" annulled. She was later married to "Willie Dee", and that marriage was annulled as well.

Also, in her book, she says that her son Eric was born in November of 1970. If this is correct, she couldn't have been pregnant on the SUGAR AND SPICE album cover, which came out in September of 1969. She must have been pregnant on the NATURAL RESOURCES album cover.