Jimmy Mack sung by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
December 4, 2008 by EditMotown50
Filed under Martha Reeves, Motown 50 Disc 1
Martha Reeves had a dozen hit singles with Motown and “Jimmy Mack” was the final top 10 hit in the US in 1967. It had orignally been written back in 1964 but because of the potential connotations to the Vietnam War it was decided to shelve it at the time. It was the last contribution from the Holland-Dozier-Holland camp. A further change occurred in the lineup with Betty Kelley being replaced by Martha’s kid sister, Sandra.
Martha herself suffered from drugs abuse and was institutionalised in 1969. This led to the temporary disbanding of the group an upon reforming, Rosalind Ashford was replaced by Sandra Tilley. However, Martha’s association with Motown came to an end in 1972 and the group disbanded officially. Martha continued to perform as a solo artist and on occasion with previous members of both the Del-Phis and the Vandellas.
Sample “JimmyMack” on Motown 50 here: Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
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I certainly never put the Vietnam War connotations anywhere together with this hand-clapping classic. Maybe I was just to young at the time, but it was just a get-up-and-boogie sort of a sound that, like so many songs – you didn’t really listen hard to the lyrics, it just grabbed you.