Tuesday, September 9, 2014

John Malveaux: The One and Only Martha Reeves

John Malveaux of 
writes:

Martha Reeves is an astute business woman and remarkable vocal artist. Martha recalls the legendary opera tenor George Shirley teaching music in the Detroit school system. It is my opinion, Martha could also have been a great opera soprano. Martha started with Motown as a secretary and subsequently sang background vocals on Marvin Gaye's first single, Stubborn Kinda Fellow. I first encountered Martha Reeves in 1968 when WorldWide Production produced the first Motown Review concert on the west coast. As vice-president of WorldWide Production, I steered the historic concert to Long Beach instead of Los Angeles. The concert included Marvin Gaye, the Four Tops, Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, and Etta James.

Years later, upon my urging, Martha relocated from Los Angeles to Long Beach immediately before flying to England for a lengthy tour. I secretly moved Martha into a house in the Central Area of Long Beach near Martin Luther King Park and hid her Mercedes under a parachute. I lived a few blocks away from the rented house for Martha. I had earlier committed the house to my girlfriend but switched the rental arrangement to Martha for business purposes. During Martha's time in England, her Long Beach house was ransacked and robbed of irreplaceable career awards, fur coats, and other important personal valuables. Martha blamed my girlfriend for the scandalous and destructive robbery. My relationship with Martha was only repaired after I personally tracked down the burglar after no results came from the Long Beach detectives/police. Martha returned to Long Beach to press charges for the trial and immediately fly away. The robber was sentenced to multiple years in prison. I never told Martha that the burglar turned out to be a close friend of my girlfriend's brother. Part of this story is found in Martha's autobiography. See 

Martha Reeves  served on the Detroit City Council from 2005-2009. The great lady continues to travel and perform on a high level. See recent interview http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Martha-Reeves-8220-life-stage-life-business-8221/story-22892419-detail/story.html

Thanks
John Malveaux

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