Martha Reeves and the Vandellas - Taking My Love (And Leaving Me) - live TV 1969 

She lost her voice oh my god what happened how did she lose her voice? That never happened to Martha Reeves?

@@ShaniTrahan-e2e cigarettes

How official could these Vandellas be? Martha had just forced out long standing Vandella Betty Kelly and recruited her sister Lois as a last minute replacement. Betty sued Motown over this. Martha had also just got rid of long standing Vandella Rosalind Ashford who had been singing with Martha since the group started and even before that. Martha got Sandra to replace Rosalind. Rosalind also sued Motown over Martha's petulant firing of her. This new line up produced no national top 40 hits.

This lineup actually did 3 albums. Sugar n Spice, Natural Resources, and Black Magic. Her sister Lois was included on a few songs on the Ridin High album as well. As you know, they didn't get to do much backup at this time.

According to Martha's book, Martha fired long standing Vandella Rosalind Ashford and replaced her with Sandra Tilley. Rosalind Ashford had been singing with Martha since the group started and even before that. In fact, Martha states in her book that Rosalind Ashford along with long standing Vandella Betty Kelly are the ones who are singing on this record. Martha fired Betty just before she fired Rosalind.hence the last minute subs for this TV appearance.

Martha fired Betty two years before Rosalind. Lois and Sandy were already in place before this TV appearance.

​@@sickvokals Yes, after Betty was canned in 1967, Ros and Lois backed Martha until Ros was forced out in 1968-9.

I don't recognize this lineup as being the Vandellas that I know.

@@jackjules7552 exactly. When Betty was fired that was pretty much the beginning of the end and when Roz was let go, that was it.

@@ThePizzaPoPo When Rosalind and Betty left this group slowly diminished. Roz and Betty were the Vandellas.

@@Leatherbro Why was Roz let go?

@@kennethpitt6357 I have no idea to why she was released as a Vandella. Rumor control has it was due to irreconcilable differences between Rosalind and Martha. Don't take it as "gospel" just rumor control.

Wow, you're right about Sandra Tilley. I was thinking that same thing about her being a perfect replacement for Cindy Birdsong, though I love Lynda Laurence also. :)

That's probably because she was becoming difficult to work with and quite erratic. She had just fired both of her long standing Vandellas and what you see here are last minute subs including her sister who replaced long time Vandella Betty Kelly. She had also just fired Rosalind Ashford another long time Vandella who had been singing with Martha since the group started and even before. This new line up was not able to produce any top 40 hits like her previous line up did. And according to her book, at about this time Martha got herself locked up in a mental institution ...with a straight jacket, padded cell and all! After she got out of the mental asylum Gordy washed his hands of her and her then extinct group.

@@jackjules7552 regardless, you can’t deny that they made the best line up of Vandellas. I was always fond of Sandra’s showmanship, I felt that her presence light up the stage. I often wonder what would’ve happened to Sandra had the Vandellas stayed together. Martha had a tendency to fire people who threatened her position as the lead. I always thought she let go of Roz because she “wanted to get married”, not because Roz began to get too much attention on stage. From what I remember, Sandra’s status began to grow when “These Things Will Keep Me Loving You” went gold in the UK, & some began to request her for interviews. I wonder if this would’ve caused issues between Sandra and Martha.

@@dannyboi6530 It seems that Martha had an unorthodox business arrangement with the Vandellas. The fact that she alone could hire and fire group members goes contrary to the contracts other groups had with Motown. Other groups were contracted in such a way that only Motown could do the hiring and firing of group members. I don't know how Berry Gordy felt about Martha firing her hit making line up of Roz and Betty. When the Temptations wanted to get rid of David Ruffin because of his behavior every group member of the Temptations by law had to sign a legal paper which terminated David Ruffin from the Temptations. I also read of the many legal problems that came about when Motown tried to replace Florence with Cindy Birdsong. There were legal negotiations that took months to resolve as Patti Labelle's lawyers refused to release Cindy to Motown. Betty Kelly did sue Motown and won after Martha fired her. Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and Papas also stated that all the group members had to sign a legal paper to oust Michelle from the group since John Phillips wanted her out. So the hiring and firing of group members is usually not as simple as Martha would have you believe. Roz may have sued as well but I don't know for sure.

​@@dannyboi6530 "These Things" is from the Velvelettes and I agree this is BEST looking Vandellas in terms of fluidity on the stage. Sandra and Lois have a certain chemistry that worked. Their live shows were A LOT more polished with this lineup, as well.

R R Martha wasn't a happy camper around this time, what with her personal issues and all. So no, she wore her heart in her sleeve here.

That Syreeta Wright she’s lip syncing to

@@sickvokals Oh, thanks. And I thought it was one of the Andantes stepping in there doing that, too. LOL Where did you get the info? I have the album, but didn't see any mention of it. Of course, back then they didn't give The Funk Brothers or The Andantes credit for doing anything!! So disrespectful!!

@@robertatkinson7258 I can understand how it can be seen as disrespectful. I always thought it was done because the Motown Sound was so different and Berry Gordy wanted to keep that sound exclusive. So, not putting their names meant no other labels would be seeking them. I think, however, they should have been compensated way better if they were going to be exclusive. Syreeta Wright's voice is extremely distinctive. I guess so I can just hear it. She's also on their song "I Can't Dance To That Music You're Playing". You can hear that beautiful voice clearly.

@@sickvokals True!! Very good points about that probable exclusivity stuff!! And right, The Funk Brothers and The Andantes definitely deserved some HUGE compensation or some kind of residuals for being the "backing foundation" on so very many hit recordings. I read where Louvain Demps of The Andantes said that they got $7.50 for a session. Back then that was considered very good money as a work for hire. But still, being kept exclusive for just Motown and being on all of those big hits, more monetary consideration should have been given to them. :) Regarding Syreeta, glad you have a great ear to distinguish that it was her. :) I remember her singing with BiIlly Preston on that hit they had together, but I'm not that familiar with her voice. I'll check out the songs you mentioned that she's on. Thanks.

This was the second lineup after Martha fired Roz and Betty.

@@radd6352 Rosalind and Betty were the "real Vandellas". Once they left, they were never the same.

@@Leatherbro Agreed.

So not true. They had some bangers with Lois and Sandy!

@sickvokals Martha created some wonderful songs with Lois and Sandra. I do feel their albums were the best. But they just didn't score any hits, unfortunately.