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[0:09] Robert Bannon: Well, everybody, two years ago when I moved from New York City to Detroit, Michigan, in the city, seven in Livernoy. I'm not in Royal Oak or Ferndale. I'm here in the city. The music and the history and the mystique and magic of the city touched my heart and moved me. I can't think of someone who is more Detroit and is more part of the American songbook whose music has changed the trajectory of the entire world. She's got us all dancing, and she has a brand new single and a brand new album that you need to listen to. I cannot wait for you to hear it. I got a sneak peek. The one, the only, the rock and roll hall of faming, one of the greatest vocalists of all time, Miss Martha Reeves is here at the round table. Thank you for being here.

[0:55] Martha Reeves: Oh, I'm ready to take you out for a coney dog and a phago soda. I have to get the better made potato chips. You need some better made potato chips. I learned all about the Detroit-ness of it all. So I'm so honored and excited to be able to talk to you. The album, everybody, is coming out in August, but the single is out right now, and you need to be able to take a listen to it. And the video is also out right now that you get tell us a little bit about it. Congratulations.

[1:30] Martha Reeves: Thank you. I have a video. This is my first that I can remember purposefully done to show how it's made. We're in the studio, the Ellis Marcellus Studio down in New Orleans. I have a chance to go there three or four times in order to finish this album. And it's remarkable. All of the wonderful things that happened in New Orleans during this recording. Oh, you have to watch the video and you have to listen to the music because it's a whole vibe, as the kids say, it's a vibe and it gives love and it gives joy and it gives something that you need to listen to.

[2:08] Robert Bannon: This is a song that you pulled this out of the archives. You found this song, and your voice is perfect on it. Why this song?

[2:15] Martha Reeves: Stevie Wonder and Serena Wright sang this as a duet. She's not in heaven, but I know it's a wonderful song, and I know who I'm talking about. Who I to in order to know God, you gotta know him, you gotta read your Bible, you gotta know what common sense is, and to know God is to love God. That's my lover. And my intention is just to spread the word to know God and know the word is to love God and love life and have miracles happen. Like this album is a miracle happening, and I'm so thrilled. I'm trying to be cool, I'm trying to sit still and everything. But Miss Reeves, the album comes out August 14th, and you could pre-order it right now. You can watch her on Talk Shop Live. There's signed copies available of the album that you need to want a piece of music history, you gotta get your sign. Go to MarthaReeves.net. You can find all the information and all of the shopping you can get done. Her merchandise and all sorts of stuff is available. But you gotta get the album.

[3:16] Robert Bannon: Miss Reeves, you say you're excited, but to me, you have this business, you've been in this business and have done it all. The Hollywood Walk of Fame, the nominations, the awards. Why what excites you? What makes you keep wanting to record new music? You've done it. You've done it.

[3:35] Martha Reeves: People have been waiting for this to be completed. They're so excited. The ones who made the connections. People like Chris Roe, who saw this vision. He also manages the Delfio family. So I'm a part of a family now, and it feels good. Feels real good. He's got over 30 clients that I have seen in movies and know of that are famous, and he's a part of it. So I'm blessed to have a manager. Chris Roe, thank is part of the reason we got this incredible moment here today, and I was so honored. I almost crashed my car right on Woodward when they said that you were gonna be here with me. So I was overjoyed to know you is to love you. Send it to someone you love, or if it's your meditation or your moment on a Sunday or when you're in prayer in the morning, it's the perfect song.

[4:31] Robert Bannon: Spirituality is very big to you. And when you read your history growing up and singing in the church on the east side of Detroit, is where it all started. How much of your spirituality is in your music?

[4:42] Martha Reeves: All of it. My music, I asked my son, Eric, who is helping me more now since he's retired from Christopher's Union. He's been the president for about 10 years, and now he's gonna spend most of this time with his mama. And he was telling me that the album is gospel, it's rock, it's pop, it's the blues, it's everything. It's a way of expressing my love for this ability. It's a real privilege. This is a real privilege to be exposed and to work with all of the wonderful people that are connected to this venture. I'm so thrilled. I'm too excited. I'm excited. I'm excited. The 14th of August is when the whole entire album will be out, and July 17th. Listen, breaking news. There's a dance remix. You, the Queen of Day, the lady who got you to dance, literally, is going to have a dance remix that's going to be streaming. What's it sound like? Are you excited? Get people up and at him.

[5:43] Martha Reeves: Oh, yeah. And the whole unit is there in this excitement. So you get to see it. It's not just me. It's like a whole unit of people that have been gotten together by Chris Roe and Delfio Marcellus and make this so perfect. I can't wait. But I will. We're gonna wait until July 17th, and then we're gonna pre-order and get the album that comes out on the 14th. You need to have the album. So for you, this album, a full album, not a single, not one or two songs, you have a full album. So we're gonna hear different color up tempo, some ballads, different sides and sounds of your voice. How'd you pick the music?

[6:25] Martha Reeves: I didn't. I didn't pick the music. I let it be completely Chris Roe and Delfio Marcellus's decision as to what to record. We even found tunes once we got together and did a live performance involved tomorrow and in New Orleans that we came up with a couple of the songs. We agree musically, which is the most important thing. And he's a delightful person. He is wonderful. I love it. I think one of the things about the album that I was really happy about is it all kind of happened organically. And I think when you have something that happens organically, you just kind of let it go. I mean, obviously, I understand there's financial restraints. You can't let an album go on and on and on, but we didn't rush it.

We spent two and a half years making it. And the original concept for the album was jazz. We were gonna do a jazz album. And then it pretty quickly we realized okay, this is RB, it's going gospel, this is going jazz, this is going blues. And so we just kind of let it organically go in the direction that it ended up going.

[7:43] Martha Reeves: What's beautiful is some of the songs were, as Bob Ross, our famous painter here in America would say, there were just a lot of happy accidents. I mean, we just suddenly found ourselves going, God, we need another song. What are we gonna do? And then all of a sudden, this wonderful miracle would happen that evening, and we would go, oh, okay. And we would record it like the very next morning. And I think that was the beautiful thing about it. Motown meets the big easy. That's what we were going for. The soul and RB of Motown meets the jazz and blues of New Orleans, and you kind of combine those together. That's what I pitched to Delfio. He loved it, and he's a master arranger, he knows every musician in New Orleans, and put it together.

[8:37] Robert Bannon: Chris, what I love about this album is that you take the artistry and the legacy of Martha Reeves, and one of the most iconic names and voices in American music, and you continue to the legacy with her distinct sound. Miss Reeves, it's your distinct voice and sound, but there's a certain flair and energy and southern growl and fun that is on this record. When you step into the recording studio with Martha Reeves, who has been there for some of the biggest records of all time. Were you nervous, Chris? Is it scary when she steps up to the mic? You got to give a note. You got to say, can you give another pass at it?

[9:20] Chris Roe: You know, Martha and I have a thing. And we don't always agree, but we respect each other. And she respects my thoughts. I respect hers. If there was something that I felt we needed to try again, I'd say, Martha, can we do it? She'd give me a look and she'd say, okay. And we do it. And it was totally collaborative. It was very important for me that Martha had freedom. I wanted her to feel freedom and not pressure. I wanted her to feel like she could go in there and give her ideas so often, you know, producers just say, 'You're gonna do this and you're gonna do that,' and I know she's had a lot of that throughout her career. I didn't want that experience in New Orleans to be that. I wanted this to be a fun experience.

I think that's also why it kind of really organically happened. So although there were days in the studio that, you know, from time to time would get stressful, that's gonna always happen because you know you've only got so many hours in the day to record, you know, and so you're pushing and pushing and pushing. But it worked out. And Martha and I are still together two and a half years later starting the experience. And she's really happy with the outcome of it I believe and I am too and it was a great honor to be able to do this.

[10:43] Robert Bannon: Miss Reeves, when you are at the grocery store or out to dinner or you're on an airplane flying to record, I'm sure you hear yourself all the time. I mean, your music is probably playing somewhere every second in the world of every day. Is it still a trip to hear you coming out of the radio or at the supermarket?

[10:43] Martha Reeves: Way that God blesses, it's always new. It never gets old. I would find something new that I was taught that I can use and that's I depend on my lessons and the things that like Betty Lane and Abraham Silver, different teachers I've had have taught me and I rely on that. Yes, and now the album continues that and it'll be played on radio stations and in airplanes and musak and everywhere around the world it will continue.

[11:55] Robert Bannon: So when you were growing up on the east side, I was reading about, and it's been the story has been told about your persistence and the way that you made it in this business and if that means you got to answer a phone, if that means you got to sit and wait hours to be able to be seen, if that means you got to step in home takes TV home with me when they wouldn't come and pick him up on time. Yeah, things like that. Persistence, persistence and knowing you have this gift, and God sent you here for a purpose is what I read through it when I read your story, and knowing that you had something to give the world, and you how had that drive has been with you your whole life. How do you, were you born with it? How did it become this way?

[12:36] Martha Reeves: When you have parents like EJ and Ruby, well, Elijah and Ruby Lee. When you have parents like them, and they are both talented.

[12:45] Martha Reeves: Dad played the guitar and sang, and mom sang, and she played a little bit; she didn't have time to play the guitar. She basically sang and introduced me to the people who I took lessons from, like Elliot Jell and Luna Horn and uh Sarah Bond and Barbara Streisand. And uh, I'm just a product. Ruby and EJ made me. I'm just a product. I'm just doing what I'm told. And you've shared your gift with milli of the whole world uh all these these years, and to can be continued.

[13:19] Chris Roe: What is the work ethic? What have you learned about the work ethic of Martha Reeves and her determination and talent over these years you've worked together? Well, you know, the thing is is uh, you know, put the producer shoes to one side. I'm also her manager, so I see the work ethic. I see how she is when she's out on stage and how she gets together for rehearsals. I mean, everyone else is exhausted, and she's going on and on and on. It's interesting. We were just recently doing a show in um uh Arlington, Texas, and it was about 95 degrees outside, and we were doing sound check, and she is front center in direct heat, and she did a two and a half hour sound check. And everyone else was just like you know, they the you know, they were too hot, they were walking off the stage.

I'm going and because the sun was changing, right? So it was like she was directly in it. And I kept going to her and bringing her bottles of water. She goes, I got two bottles already, I'm fine, you know, and and you know, so you're constantly checking on her, and you just go, well, you know, there's there's the power of a true entertainer, right? She's out there front and center, rain, shine, heat. Martha would be out there front center if we were having a hurricane or a tornado. I really believe it because she's a show woman, the show must go on, and these are the things you have to do to prepare for it. And she's always like that. So training at Little Town, though. See, because that's all that I've done was work hard.

That's I got training at Motown. Of course. So being in the studio, I expected it. Yeah, I expected it in the studio. I I knew that's what we were gonna get from Martha was nothing but excellence, and and um and an incredible work ethic for sure.

[15:18] Chris Roe: That that's uh Texas in the in the summertime brings a whole new meaning to heat wave. That's a whole that's a whole moment, and that when that you feel in the heat wave right now, we are in Detroit to blame you for anything bad, but it's good. I feel this heat. I love this heat. You love it. Uh huh. It's a heat wave burning in Detroit.

[15:40] Robert Bannon: So when you talk about this your your vocals and and your talent when you when you're with your sisters, you come from a big family. When you're with the the the the iteration of your group through the years, you talk about the music genius. I find the music genius in your music is the harmonies and the and the way that you conduct and emote your songs, even on the new single I'd be fired in a minute because I'd be singing lead I'm not singing a harmony I don't know how to sing a harmony listen to a song like nowhere to run and hear the harmonies in that song there is nothing better how did you learn to sing like that is it come from church does it come from motown?

[15:53] Martha Reeves: Yes, I imitated Eddie Holland note for note on Heat Wave and he was thrilled I I pleased the producer that's what I do uh with even with Delfeayo Marsalis there's songs that he let me add lines to and I was so help honored to to work with him because he's he's a fair musician I mean he wants you to enjoy recording too he he did takes to a certain degree but after a while he's kind of stands back let you do your thing and I love him for that and uh that's the experience we had it was all almost like he said do this and I do it he'd say try this and I try it he gave me lyrics and I'd sing them because I was there I wanted to have the best we could get and we got it and you got it he was patient and he was kind oh and a great musician some of the solos he played after I've sang the song uh lets me know that he was not only thinking about me or talking to me directly with some of the notes he played but he was showing me another side of the song which only a musician can do so it's the joy working with him it's a real joy it's a joy and it's on the record.

[15:53] Chris Roe: And Chris you now have this incredible new album that's coming out this August. So what can we expect? It's a big year for for for you all and for what she has done and celebrate her her lineage and legacy. So what do you have planned for us? Well, it's really right now it's press, press, and more press until the album comes out on August 14th. Then it's more press and more personal appearances, and we're gonna basically do that throughout the fall. Uh we we have a handful of uh commitments that we have to work around. Um the plan is to do some um um appearances in the UK to promote it. We don't want to forget our UK brothers and sisters who have been there for 60 years. Um then the plan is to hit the road in early 2027.

[18:27] Robert Bannon: I need to see Miss Reeves on stage. I need to see the magic that is otherwise. I'm just coming to your house. I'm gonna sing with you because I'm down the block. That that's what's gonna happen. We need to we need to do celebration here in the city of Detroit. You the city of Detroit, you've served in government for the city of Detroit and helped the city of Detroit. You have been at the forefront of activism from the beginning of your career. I mean, if you think of Dancing in the Street, it's an anthem about what what the world needed at that time and civil rights, and and we're living in a scary time now where we need to be uh fighting for equal rights uh amongst everybody. It's still an anthem.

So for you, it was not always easy. You lived through the south, you were on a bus in scary times, and and you've and you've made it and told and and can tell the tale. So, how how how did you get through the I know God and prayer, I'm sure? And I kudos. How'd you get through the tough times?

[19:23] Martha Reeves: Rebirth in 77. And uh I I had to be taken on a couple of prayer retreats in order to get the message. I had to stop and slow down and get my life in order. And uh become an adult. I had to grow up. And I have. And I'm thrilled as to how things are happening, how quick they're happening, and uh waiting for the world to embrace the Marcellus family. Because that's what this is. It's a representation of Ellis Marcellus, the father of Winton and Clinton. Let's go.

[20:00] Robert Bannon: Yeah, so and and Chevy Chase and a few other people that uh whose names uh will be mentioned in these interviews, and uh who get the credit for let me just dream and have prayers answered.

[20:14] Martha Reeves: I love that. And it's a beautiful message to say that we all can be reborn and start again. And no matter what age and stage you are in your life, it's never too late to take a new step and and get and do it.

[20:26] Robert Bannon: Well, you were like super duper famous at a very young age. That must be scary in a whole trip of an experience of its own.

[20:33] Martha Reeves: Yeah, it is, it is, but it's a good one because it has younger feet.

[20:37] Robert Bannon: It sure does. Thinking and thinking. Chris, how does it feel to have this great team around her and you and your partners um to usher this in? Tell us a little bit about the behind the scenes, what what Miss Reeves is talking about and the management and recording part of it and what you're all doing.

[20:54] Chris Roe: Well, first of all, um having the team in New Orleans is is incredible. They are the best of the best. You have musicians that toured with B.B. King and Alan Toussaint and Fats Domino and some of the greatest. And they're cats that could come in and you could just say, you know, um, I'm kind of looking for this. They'd listen to 30 seconds of the song and go, Oh, okay, gotcha. And then they'd go into the booth and they'd just tear it up. Or wait a minute, uh, hey, uh let me give it to you three ways. And they'd do three different versions, and you'd sit back and go, well, what do we pick? Uh, you know, we had this incredible group, we had some musicians from Cuba, um, one of our pianists, uh, our conga player.

I mean, it so having that has been incredible. Then when you get into the production side, our engineers, uh, even right down to the music video. I mean, our camera people and and the whole team that I assembled in New Orleans there, it was very important for me. I all the musicians you see in the music video are the musicians who played in the recording. Oh, wow. Everyone thinks that it was just random people that was brought in, and I didn't want that. I wanted it was really about paying tribute to them as well. So there's just two people that you see in the music video who were not in the original recordings. The same backup singers, it's the same uh uh musicians for the most part. So we had that aspect of it, and then now as we move from the production side of it into the promotional side of it, you know, we've got um a great PR team, we have uh a great uh uh radio promotion people who are uh doing their thing.

So uh I couldn't be more blessed to to have that kind of a team around me um always you know coming up with new ideas and new things right down to you know the the people who do our our our design our social media assets and all of that kind of stuff you know it's everyone is uh ridiculously talented and it's wonderful and I don't have to say too much to them I just go well this is what I'm looking for and they go okay but in many cases some of us have worked together a lot through the years and so they kind of know what to expect out of me and I know what to expect out of them.

[23:27] Martha Reeves: And that comes from the top because if you're gonna be a ridiculously talented team you have to have a ridiculously talented artist and that's what Martha Reeves is.

[23:35] Chris Roe: So the album Searching is going to be out on the 14th of August pre-order it right now if you go to MarthaReeves.net you could get the vinyl it's a purple record and it's gonna be a signed purple record that's available or the signed CD is available. The single is streaming right now the dance single is out July 17th the music video is out right now with the real band of of incredible musicians and if you have a look Miss Reeves Chris you have a party in this city and celebrate this record I'm if I don't get invited I'm breaking in. I'm a Detroiter now I give a party you're gonna give it oh I'm come on I'm ready to I'm ready I am re I will be hosting you could have my backyard anytime it's got a little garage it's cute it's off seven mile we could get some food back here all right when I tell you it's not a lot of traffic, that's good.

[24:11] Robert Bannon: When I tell you the incredible honor it is uh to be able to spend time with you, and I want to say thank your life, Miss Reeves, and the dedication and the joy you've given to this world and what you've given to this world is such a gift. We are so incredibly lucky you shared your voice, artistry, and spirit with us. Your music and what you've done will live forever and ever, and we are all better for it. Thank you.

[24:57] Martha Reeves: And Chris, thank you. Let's go. Let's have an incredible year. We're going to next next time I'm in Detroit, I'll give you a call.

[25:07] Robert Bannon: All right, let's go. I'm ready for the party. Everybody, the album is out. God bless you. Thank you so much for spending time with me today.

[25:14] Martha Reeves: Thank you. Take care. Bye-bye.