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Betty Kelly | |
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 Betty Kelly in 1965 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Betty Kelly |
| Born | September 16, 1944 |
| Origin | Attalla, Alabama, U.S. |
| Genres | R&B, soul |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1961–1967 |
| Labels | Gordy |
Betty Kelly (born September 16, 1944), also known as Betty Kelley, is an American singer most noted as being a member of the popular Motown singing group Martha and the Vandellas. [1]
Born in Attalla, Alabama, Kelly moved with her family to Kalamazoo, Michigan when she was a child. In 1964, she replaced Annette Beard as a member of Martha and the Vandellas, the group led by Martha Reeves and featuring Rosalind Ashford. In 1961, she joined Motown singing group The Velvelettes. [2]
Kelly joined what became the most famed lineup of the Vandellas, which recorded "I'm Ready for Love", "Nowhere to Run" and "My Baby Loves Me". The group performed on The Ed Sullivan Show , Shindig! and American Bandstand . Kelly was fired from the group in the summer of 1967—about the same time that Florence Ballard was fired from The Supremes—and was replaced by Martha's younger sister Lois Reeves with the group's name changed to Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.
After her Motown years, Kelly moved to California, where she worked for a savings and loan association until her retirement. Kelly left the music industry after she became partially deaf in one ear. In 1995, Kelly was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a Vandella alongside Martha and Lois Reeves, Annette Beard, and Rosalind Ashford. She remains connected to her Motown family, participating with Janie Bradford's Annual Heroes & Legends Awards, working with other artists at music festivals such as "Sunset Junction," and most recently attending a special artist family night of "Motown: The Musical" on Broadway.
Martha and the Vandellas were an American vocal girl group formed in Detroit in 1957. The group achieved fame in the 1960s with Motown.
Martha Rose Reeves is an American R&B and pop singer. She is the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas, which scored over a dozen hit singles, including "Come and Get These Memories", "Nowhere to Run", "Heat Wave", "Jimmy Mack", and their signature "Dancing in the Street". From 2005 until 2009, Reeves served as an elected councilwoman in her hometown of Detroit, Michigan, U.S. Martha Reeves and the Vandellas were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Reeves at number 151 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.
"Hitch Hike" is a 1962 song by Marvin Gaye, released on the Tamla label. Another song Gaye co-wrote.
The Velvelettes were an American singing girl group, signed to Motown in the 1960s. Their biggest chart success occurred in 1964, when Norman Whitfield produced "Needle in a Haystack", which peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 27 in Canada.
"Come and Get These Memories" is an R&B song by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. Their second single released under Motown's Gordy Records subsidiary, "Memories" became the group's first hit single, reaching number 29 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart, and number-six on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart.
"Live Wire" is a 1964 dance single released by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas.
Rosalind "Roz" Ashford-Holmes is an American soprano R&B and soul singer, known for her work as an original member of the Motown singing group Martha and the Vandellas.
Sandra L. Tilley was an American R&B and soul singer, best known for being a member of Motown girl group the Velvelettes; and later joining Martha and the Vandellas.
"Jimmy Mack" is a pop/soul song that in 1967 became a hit single by Martha and the Vandellas for Motown's Gordy imprint. Written and produced by Motown's main creative team, Holland–Dozier–Holland, "Jimmy Mack" was the final Top 10 pop hit for the Vandellas in the United States, peaking at No.10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967 and at No.1 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart. Billboard named the song No.82 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.
"Love Bug Leave My Heart Alone" is a 1967 single released by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. The song's production was a departure from the Vandellas' repertoire as their label, Motown, was having a harder time staying with the times in the music industry and having a much harder time finding a hit for its acts after several departures including Vandellas collaborators William "Mickey" Stevenson and Holland-Dozier-Holland, who produced the b-side to this single, "One Way Out", one of the trio's final recordings with the Vandellas. Produced by Richard Morris, the song displayed of the narrator wanting "the love bug" to leave her alone so she won't "fall in love". The narrator, lead singer Martha Reeves, was left heart-broken the last time she allowed the man to come back to her but after suffering heartbreak, she expresses her disgust at the man's attempts, with her fellow members Rosalind Ashford and Betty Kelley chanting "get outta there, love bug, leave my heart alone". The song was their second consecutive Top 40 single of 1967 peaking at number twenty-five on the Billboard pop singles chart and number fourteen on the Billboard Hot R&B singles chart. The record was the first track ever played on UK Radio One by DJ John Peel.
"Honey Chile" is a 1967 single by Motown girl group Martha Reeves and the Vandellas on the Gordy label. Produced by Richard Morris and written by Morris and Sylvia Moy, This was the first single to bill Martha Reeves by her full name, as opposed to simply "Martha" and the Vandellas.
Watchout! is the fourth studio album and fifth album overall by Martha and the Vandellas, released on the Gordy (Motown) label in 1966. The album included the top 10 hit singles, "I'm Ready for Love" and "Jimmy Mack" and the ballad single, "What Am I Gonna Do Without Your Love?". This was one of the last albums by the group with songs by Holland–Dozier–Holland who, the following year, left Motown, and with William "Mickey" Stevenson, who helped put the group on the musical map. The title of the album was derived from a song on the B-side of their hit single "My Baby Loves Me" entitled "Never Leave Your Baby's Side". That song's chorus warned to "Watchout!" for "other girls" who could steal your man.
"Ridin' High" is a 1968 soul album released by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas on the Gordy (Motown) label. This album featured the last Top 40 pop hits scored by the group during their recording tenure, "Love Bug Leave My Heart Alone" and "Honey Chile". It was a series of firsts for the group: it was the first album without the help of since departed producers William "Mickey" Stevenson and Holland–Dozier–Holland, however, Motown included one HDH track on the album, "Leave It In The Hands Of Love." Also on Ridin' High is a cover version of Dionne Warwick's then recent hit "I Say a Little Prayer."
"I Promise to Wait My Love" is a 1968 single recorded by girl group Martha and the Vandellas, released on the Gordy label.
"A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Everyday)" is a 1963 song issued as the B-side to Motown singing group Martha and the Vandellas' hit single, "Heat Wave", released on the Gordy label.
Annette Beard, also known as Annette Helton or Annette Sterling, is an American R&B and soul singer. Beard is best known for her work with Motown and as an original member of the singing group Martha and the Vandellas during the 1960s. Beard is currently known as a member of the singing group The Original Vandellas.
Gloria Williams was an American singer notable for being the original lead singer of an early incarnation of Martha and the Vandellas under the name, The Del-Phis.
Sandra Delores Reeves, better known as Lois Reeves, is an American singer, most notable for being the younger sister of Motown legend Martha Reeves, for having replaced popular Martha and the Vandellas member Betty Kelly as member of her sister's group in 1967, and for later singing background for records by Al Green in the 1970s as a member of the backing group Quiet Elegance. Lois' nickname was "Pee Wee" as she is only 5'1" tall.
"I'll Have to Let Him Go" is a 1962 song and single written, composed and produced by William "Mickey" Stevenson and issued on the Gordy (Motown) label. it is notable for being one of two singles that marked the Motown debut of Martha and the Vandellas. The song is about ending a romantic relationship, as its narrator, after seeing her lover kissing and holding another, realizing its over and decides she going “to set him free” even though "it's gonna hurt (her) so".
"There He Is (At My Door)" is a 1962 song and B-side single written and composed by all three line-ups of what would soon be Motown's main production team (Holland–Dozier–Holland with Eddie Holland's predecessor Janie Bradford, and her predecessor Freddie Gorman). Credited to the Vells the performers on both sides of the single were an early version of the group that would be better known as Martha and the Vandellas. The single is also notable as the last one the label subsidiary would release under an R&B/soul music format, changing that point onward to a country music subsidiary.
Clemente, John (2000). Girl Groups—Fabulous Females That Rocked The World. Iola, Wisc. Krause Publications. pp. 276. ISBN 0-87341-816-6.
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