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Gordy G 7011 (B), September 1962
B-side of I’ll Have To Let Him Go
(Written by Mickey Stevenson and Martha Reeves)
Oriole CBA 1814 (B), March 1963
B-side of I’ll Have To Let Him Go
(Released in the UK under license through Oriole Records)
From the recording dates listed in The Complete Motown Singles: Volume 2, this would be one of the first songs Martha Reeves ever recorded at Hitsville. The date given there for the session – May 8th, 1962 – is at odds with the rest of the existing information about the Vandellas’ time at Hitsville and how the group’s breakthrough three-woman line-up came to be settled, so either this was a one-off Del-Phis session at Motown in May (recorded, implausibly, with Martha on lead but while Gloria Jean Williamson was still the group’s leader) prior to them arriving in July to perform backing vocal duties, or the dates are wrong, or – and this is just my personal theory – maybe this is just a demo cut by Martha Reeves the A&R secretary, with the Vandellas’ backing vocals either added later, or not featuring on the record at all. If anyone knows the truth, please do speak up, as it’s all highly confusing.
Anyway. Assuming the dates aren’t wrong, this song – a song co-written, very unusually, by Martha Reeves herself, along with her then-boss Mickey Stevenson – would already have been in the can when the A-side I’ll Have To Let Him Go was cut. That song had originally been written for Mary Wells, but was rearranged for a group performance by the Vandellas; listening to this B-side, it’s tempting to wonder whether that new arrangement was based on this record.
Certainly, the arrangements are very similar – group harmonies in a slow, near-acapella intro, with sutble instruments almost humming in the background (brushed cymbals here, rather than the A-side’s strummed guitar), followed by Martha launching into an unrestrained lead vocal, while a more conventional band track strikes up behind her.
It’s easy to see why this was used as the B-side, though. For a start, the basic song isn’t as good as I’ll Have To Let Him Go, sounding like a half-finished idea with a couple of nice chord changes but not much else going on under the hood. Secondly, Martha’s lead vocal performance – so astonishing on the A-side – is just a little too raw and uncontrolled for the midtempo, calypso-tinged R&B backing. She cuts loose, but the song doesn’t really warrant it, so it just comes across as badly matched.
Not terrible by any means, but not particularly good either, especially when compared to what was just around the corner for the group; it’s mostly of historical interest, showing both the A-side and Reeves herself in an early stage of development.
MOTOWN JUNKIES VERDICT
(I’ve had MY say, now it’s your turn. Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment, or click the thumbs at the bottom there. Dissent is encouraged!)
You’re reading Motown Junkies, an attempt to review every Motown A- and B-side ever released. Click on the “previous” and “next” buttons below to go back and forth through the catalogue, or visit the Master Index for a full list of reviews so far.
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| Martha & The Vandellas “I’ll Have To Let Him Go” |
The Pirates “Mind Over Matter (I’m Gonna Make You Mine)” |
Motown Junkies 
I’d actually reverse the rankings between this and it’s flip.
I really like this track and really don’t care for the A-side at all. Is this really a better song? Probably not, it’s just that it seems to me a better fit for Martha’s particular strengths. As such it doesn’t surprise me a bit that this was so-written by Martha herself or that the A-side was intended for another artist. One of the things that distinguishes the better Motown singles is their over all success at matching the artist with appropriate material.
Great? no. But a perfect fit, I think, and as a result I can listen to it with unmitigated pleasure. the A-side on the other hand, makes me squirm. My immediate thought as I listen is that it ought to have been given to another artist.
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Really? 🙂 I’m surprised by that; just goes to show what a range of opinions there are out there when it comes to Motown, I guess! I honestly can’t agree with a word of that! To me, the A-side is coloured by Martha trying to “do” Mary Wells in a few places, presumably because that’s the way the producers had envisioned it being performed, but I think she settles into her own mode quite quickly and does really well; by contrast, I was actually surprised to note Martha co-wrote this, as to me she sounds really uneasy with the material!
Readers! You are strongly advised to listen to both sides, and make up your own minds – no Martha Reeves record (no record, really) is ever so universally disliked that it’s worth you risking leaving it unheard – you might end up loving it!
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love it! I finally have one with unmitigated disagreement between us. 🙂 I was beginning to feel redundant. 🙂
Let’s start with the one point where we definitely agree. Never write off Martha. What a class act! It always comes down to whether you feel the material is appropriate to her particular strengths because she always gives everything she’s got, and that’s considerable.
As for the rest, I’ve gone back and listened to both sides again and am unrepentent. 🙂 One thing though, that’s not been mentioned, perhaps because it’s so obvious. The two sides are close to being the same song. Hm. let me try again. The producers/songwriters clearly went into the studio with a particular concept in mind and both of these songs are reflections of that concept. Very close in many ways, right down to the way they begin. Comparing them in this light, I find that the A-side is a bit more sophisticated. not necessarily better, just more sophisticated. But also a bit more conventional, to the point of not seeming to my ears, to be particularly Motown-ish, whatever that might mean. I’m not referring to the production, but the the song itself.
I’ll stand by my original take on the B-side that it seems to me a better fit for Martha. In any case I’m delighted to finally find one besides I’ve Been Good To You where we so thoroughly disagree. 🙂
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I knew we’d get there eventually!
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