Do you think work hard enough it’ll happen?
“I don’t think it’s the premise we should go on. You gotta pay your bills, but if you try to choose something you enjoy, you don’t have to work hard. I don’t think just because you work hard you’re going to make it.
What are you going to dedicate your life doing? Find something you enjoy that you can still dedicate yourself to and do well. Sometimes my day is 28 hours a day. But I enjoy what I do. The bottom line is to try to acheive happiness in your life. Try to achieive this
I don’t know if there is a definition of success, what’s the definition of love (laughs) – there isn’t one!”
What does Detroit mean to you now?
“Detroit is always home. I had a great childhood in Detroit, I would not have wanted to lived any place other than Detroit. We had a great educational sytem here. Even though, those days it was segregated. I grew up in South West Detroit and we would go shopping in Dearborn where we couldn’t live. It wasn’t really perfect, but it was the times we were living in. I would like to be a part of helping bringing the city back. I think Detroit people are go-getters, I really do. And I’m part of that. I’d like to see the city nourisht he people back to the inner city. I’d love to see a performing arts center here. I think we need to really look at job, work, and education. give the people job, find jobs for them. Educate them.
You’ve got your inner city thing, and that’s the part that has been gutted out. And those people need jobs. Poverty has nothing to do with working and jobs. Without education, it’s nothing. It’s something we as a community as human beings we need to look at. Education is key, jobs are key. It’s the only way it’ll come back. Jobs and Education – we need to start fighting to bring that back to America and Detroit. ”
Interview with Martha Reeves:
What does Detroit mean for you?
“Home, where we were made. The people of Detroit let us practice on them until we were finally famous. The Primettes, and Martha and the Delphis until I made it to Hitsville USA. Detroit means a lot of loving people let us practice on them. We could not have gone to the Apollo if we didn’t get accepted in Detroit.”
What do you think about what’s happening now in the city of Detroit?
“I love what’s happening now! They love and care for Detroit and we have good politicians now, and we’ve gotten out of bankruptcy. We have people coming to downtown. not only is it taking on a new life, but
we have a lot of things that are exciting and new and reasons for me to stay. A lot of my friends got money and moved away. But I stayed and waited for the city to turn around and it’s doing that.
If you don’t know about a place, you call it bad. I left for a little while and lived in California and New York, but no where is home like Detroit. My friends are here, my family is here, my son was born here, my grandkids were born here.
I see it crowded every weekend and I welcome the people!”
What’s the next step for you?
“Going on living and singing the Motown sound! My favorite time is when I’m with people who know the music, and want to have a good time.
I’m having the biggest thrill being me – I sing the songs I sing. I’m not auto tuning, I don’t have to pretend. I don’t have a chance to look back, because I’m still singing the songs.”
Why did you choose to go into music?
“I had no choice about music – I was elected. My mother taught me to sing at the age of 3, we were the choir in my grandfather’s church. I was the choir director.
My mom made me learn poems, she made me love English. She read to us, and she would sing to me. I was the oldest girl. she made me special. she gave me incite and the skills to sing. She lived vicarious to me. My dad sings and played guitar. He could have traveled with Johnny Hooker, but had to stay at home and support his 12 kids and work for the city.
Mrs. Emily Wagstaff, realized I could retain lyrics would stop the class a few minutes before it ended. I must have been 11 or 12 and I’d sing all the songs. God Bless America, America the Beautiful, Star Spangled Banner, Lift Up Your Voice and Sing, Only a Rose and have me sing the songs to the class. I can still remember the lyrics.
In high school, Abraham Silver was our music teacher. In fact he taught Mary and Bobby Rogers and Florence Ballard. We all had the same teacher. it’s funny how thing evolved and how we would up together. After doing amateur shows at the Warfield Theater then having the same teacher in high school and then ending up at Hitsville USA. Almost the same paths. It’s all about God’s plan, and having had that experience.
I cried when they tore down the Henry Ford Auditorium. It’s the first place I performed with my high school choir. We sang Bach’s Aria – when I heard that approval, that applause, with that beautiful choir, when we took our bow – I knew I wanted to be in show business. I wanted to hear that again, and feel that again.
I was discovered as Martha LaValle, but was asked to come to Hitsville.”
Any advice for young girls wanting to do music?
“I have a special place for the teachers I had at Hitsville USA. I had teachers in Elementary school and High school, and some previous stage classes. Having competed at the Warfield theater I knew I had talent. I’d advise them to get as much learned ability in whatever they want to do, from professional people and professors. People who have been there and done it. We had four years of artist development. Two hours a day in the studio – I think Barry knew how to keep us out of trouble! It was also the right way to handle the crowd. We had training with Charley Atkins, Vaudeville to teach us basic steps.
We were taught to dance professionally, we may have the same style and class. That’s because we had a professional teacher, who taught us charm. I knew how to be rough, how to play alley baseball, kick hte can and jump off or roofs. I knew how to do that. But she calmed us all down and taught us how to be accepted. Remember we’re the first generation that was allowed to be let into restaurants. We had to know how to blend in, and how to be socially accepted. Not only we were socially accepted, but the lyrics we sang.”
Thank you so much to Mary Wilson and Martha Reeves for their time last night, and answering my questions. Keep on singing the Motown sound ladies!
