Ultimate Collection

Martha Reeves And The Vandellas: Martha Reeves, Rosalyn Ashford, Annette Sterling, Betty Kelley, Lois Reeves, Sandra Tilley (vocals).
Additional personnel includes: Joe Messina (guitar); Hank Cosby (saxophone); Marcus Belgrave, Russell Conway, Maurice Davis, Billy Horner (trumpet); George Bohanon, Bob Cousar, Bill Johnson, Patrick Lanier (trombone); Earl Van Dyke, Joe Hunter, Johnny Griffith (keyboards); Jack Ashford (vibraphone, percussion); James Jamerson (bass); Benny Benjamin, Marvin Gaye, Uriel Jones (drums); Eddie Brown (percussion); Syreeta Wright (background vocals).
The Four Tops: Levi Stubbs, Renaldo "Obie" Benson, Lawrence Peyton, Abdul "Duke" Fakir (background vocals).
Producers include: Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, William Stevenson, Deke Richards, Nickolas Ashford.
Compilation producer: Harry Weinger.
Recorded between 1963 & 1972. Includes liner notes by Stu Hackel.
Although the Supremes got the bigger push from the Motown bigwigs, it can be argued that Martha & the Vandellas were the best girl group in the Motown stable. The key is Martha Reeves' commanding voice, a powerful instrument best heard on the group's outstanding second single, "Heatwave." Reeves is such a compelling vocalist that the writing and production team of Holland/Dozier/Holland made sure their songs and arrangements could match her strength, and in "Heatwave," Reeves nearly meets her match. Funky barrelhouse piano and drums, a great honking tenor-sax break and sassy answer vocals by Annette Sterling Beard, Gloria Williams, and Rosalyn Ashford support Reeves' impassioned lead, making one of the most soulful and deliriously danceable Motown singles of the early 1960s. Nearly the entirety of the disc THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION is similarly brilliant, making a strong case for Martha and the Vandellas as one of the all-time great Motown acts.