The Ultimate Collection Reviews

Martha & the Vandellas were second only to Diana Ross & the Supremes in Motown’s staple of great girl group acts. They ditched the super-polished very-pop gloss that Diana Ross & the Supremes made their stock and trade, instead Martha & the Vandellas went for a rougher, more urban pop-soul sound and look. It worked just as effectively. While a gem of a pop song like “Where Did Our Love Go” feels custom made for a voice like Diana Ross, a song like “Bless You” requires a bigger voice. Martha Reeves learned to sing by belting out gospel songs in her church, and that works its own brand of magic.

Like the rest of the compilations in Motown’s Ultimate Collection, this set incorporates twenty-five different songs – some singles, some b-sides, some rarities and a few beloved album tracks for good measure – to tell as much of the complete story without restoring to a full-on two-disc anthology. This is the perfect encapsulation of Martha & the Vandellas. Other compilations often drop off their first single, “Come and Get These Memories,” but that’s the first song on here. That alone makes The Ultimate Collection worth hunting down. (It has since gone out of print, being replaced by the good-but-not-great Definitive Collection, which also included “Come and Get These Memories” but dropped some of the lesser known material in favor of just eighteen of twenty-five tracks included here.)

The sound is clean, crisp and gives a restored life to every instrument, harmony and vocal tick on these recordings. Martha Reeves’ voice is capable of smoothly going over the line, but when she lets loose on songs like “Dancing in the Street” or “(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave” that’s when the real magic happens. She might have been the greatest female vocalist in the Motown stable. The rotating roster of Vandellas provided beautiful and pleasant harmonies to Reeves’ lead vocals.

The only real misstep on this collection is “A Love Like Yours (Don’t Come Knocking Everyday)” – a song they might have originated but which sees its definitive performance coming from Ike & Tina Turner’s collaboration with super-producer Phil Spector. A fire and grit in Tina Turner’s vocal performance cannot be matched. Berry Gordy would have never let Reeves rip-up the vocals the way that Spector allowed Turner. There original is by no means bad, it has its own kind of doo-wop charm, yet it feels restricted from the song that it could be.

This really is the ultimate collection of the hits, rarities and b-sides of Martha & the Vandellas. It proves that they hardly played second fiddle to Diana Ross & the Supremes. They, too, dominated the soul and pop charts in the 60s, they just did it with a more urban accented style. If you’re interested in listening to a great collection from one of the greatest girl groups, Motown performers or influential artists – seek this out. DOWNLOAD: “(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave,” “Nowhere to Run,” “Third Finger, Left Hand”