What: Detroit Faith City is a faith-based podcast featuring Detroit athletes, entertainers and public figures talking about their journeys of faith along with their spiritual leaders.
When: Six biweekly podcasts launched Saturday, Sept. 13 and now every other Saturday.
Where: Podcast available on Detroit News website at detroitnews.com, Spotify, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
First podcast: Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh and Father John Riccardo, executive director of Acts XXIX (29) and a priest in the Archdiocese of Detroit, discuss the 70 baptisms during Harbaugh’s nine-year tenure at Michigan, biblical mentorship, the joys of parenting and coaching, and more.
Second podcast: Former Detroit Tigers legend Willie Horton, 82, and Pastor Benjamin Stanley Baker of the Church of Abundant Life in Southfield talk about Horton’s rebirth after the death of his nephew in 2003, his peace-keeping role in the 1967 riots at 12th Street and Clarmount in Detroit and why he prays every day.
Third podcast: Former Michigan State and current Atlanta Falcons running back Nate Carter and Pastor Darryl Carter talk about Nate’s book, “If I’m Not By Your Side: Legacy of Faith and Wisdom for the Next Generation,” as well as God’s healing strength after the MSU campus shooting, which killed three students in 2023.
Fourth podcast: Motown legend Martha Reeves talks about her early faith journey as the granddaughter of a preacher in Detroit, the musical mentors who launched her singing career with “Martha and the Vandellas”, and lessons learned from decades of being “blessed to be a performer” and sharing “God’s rules”.
Here are transcript excerpts of the fourth episode of the podcast Detroit Faith City. For more episodes, subscribe for free at detroitnews.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Some of the questions and answers are edited for brevity and clarity.
The Detroit News: Martha Reeves, welcome to our podcast. Normally, we include a spiritual guest on these shows, someone for you to honor and acknowledge, but how about the role of Reverend EV Hill in your life?
He was the pastor for more than 40 years at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles. He was also a leader in the civil rights movement, an early confidant to Martin Luther King Jr., and a close friend of Billy Graham. In 1977, you became a born-again Christian at his church. What was EV Hill like?
Martha Reeves: I was introduced to Reverend EV Hill by Frank Wilson, a producer and songwriter from Motown. He produced quite a few things with the Supremes and other artists. He was a singer himself and also a preacher. So he gathered a bunch of us when I first arrived in Los Angeles, making my transition from Motown after Berry Gordy and the Gordy family went out to California. I found a home at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church. Frank Wilson was so kind to ask me to go on a prayer retreat. I was making a transition at the time. I had to regroup. I had to dedicate my life to God.
I asked Jesus to be my personal savior because I needed straightening out. I had seen everything, sang everywhere, hit records galore, a lot of excitement, a lot of love but nothing on my social level made me happy and my spiritual side was exposed. So I needed to learn how to become a better Christian, how to serve God better by giving back from things that I received, being blessed to be a performer. We can be an example too, according to God’s rules. There are man’s rules and then there are God’s rules. I was very pleased and glad to know that I could go to another level.
The Detroit News: What was it like being the granddaughter of a preacher?
Martha Reeves: I was raised Methodist by my grandfather, Rev. Elijah Joshua Reeves Sr. My dad was named after him. We resided on Dubois and Leland (Detroit’s east side). Being the grandchild of a pastor, we were obligated to be in church every Sunday. They would give us a handful of coins and tell us to put it in the collection, but we would stop at the candy store on the way there and spend most of the money buying three-for-a-penny candy and try not to be seen eating it in church.
We had to pay more attention to the services. A matter of fact, when I turned 12, I had to teach at Sunday school with the cards with the little faces of Jesus and Mary. I knew how to do that. That was my first teaching experience. As I grew more and more, it became a habit, a good habit, teaching people about Jesus, how great he is. All you have to do is ask. Seek and you shall find. Knock on that door and he’ll open it up to you.
The Detroit News: In your book, “Dancing in the Streets, Confessions of a Motown Diva,” you said your mother taught you to sing songs that you could feel in your heart, emotionally and spiritually. Why was it important to share God’s gifts through your music?
Martha Reeves: I didn’t really understand my gift. We all sang. There were 12 children and my brother, Benny, was the best singer of all. He sang in a group called “The Motor City Travellers.” I would stand around him when they were rehearsing and learned how to handle background vocals. They knew how to get the right words and make people shout. I admired him and loved him for that.
So that’s why it was Martha Reeves and the Vandellas (combining Detroit’s Van Dyke Street with their favorite singer, Della Reese) because I had the ability to sing harmony, to write and sing about the Lord. I had the right spirit and the girls, the Del-Phis, that I hooked up with, were from the church. Gloria Williamson was the church’s keyboard player and choir director. She taught us Ray Charles harmonies, wonderful songs by Ike and Tina Turner. Being a church pianist, she knew all those songs and she instructed us, Rosalind (Ashford), Annette (Beard) and myself. We became a good backup group for Marvin Gaye at Motown. That was out entry into show business.
The Detroit News: On the topic of mentors, spiritual leaders … at Northeastern High School you had a vocal coach, Abraham Silver, who also worked with Mary Wilson of the Supremes. At Hitsville USA, you had a mentor, Mickey Stevenson, who gave you an audition after seeing you at the 20 Grand nightclub. How important were they in putting you and Motown Records on the musical map?
Martha Reeves: I know that meeting Abraham Silver was the best thing that ever happened to me in high school. I had other music teachers but when I got in 12th grade, we were featured at the Henry Ford Auditorium here in Detroit and we were at our graduation, my mom was sitting there, taking a nap because she was tired and had worked real hard to get me prepared for my graduation. When it was time for me to sing my aria (solo vocal), she was half asleep and hoping that I would do well.
I loved Abraham Silver. He was patient with us and I was chosen out of maybe 11 girls for the section in his choir. He sat us in an alta section, a tenor section, first soprano, second soprano. He paid special attention to me. After going through all the girls, none of them could really sing it … Hallelujah (singing), Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah. They really couldn’t do that. I nailed it the first try. He was very impressed and that was a good moment. He was such a good teacher.
My brother, Thomas Reeves, was also my mentor, being my next-oldest brother. He encouraged me to sing. We danced at the Graystone Ballroom and the Madison Ballroom. We grew up loving music and he directed me to Motown. Then I met William (Mickey) Stevenson at the 20 Grand. He told me, “Come to Hitsville. You have talent.” I loved the day I walked into that building, to see a house, with people sitting around in there, making wonderful music. There was a lot of love in that house.
The Detroit News: In your book, you tell the story of your last performance of “Martha and the Vandellas” on Dec. 21, 1972 at Cobo Hall. You said you were thinking of calling it quits but that was the day Eddie Kendricks, co-founder of the Temptations, talked you into picking yourself up and using your God-given talents. What advice did you learn that day?
Martha Reeves: First of all, we should plant in others the idea that God is ever-present, he’s omnipotent. That’s the whole secret to living right and following what God tells us to do. We’ve got to pay attention to God, the inner voice, the right one. Keep your prayers ahead of you, not after. Don’t pray after, pray before you need God’s help and his attendance. He’s always there. He just wants you to ask. Seek and you find the Lord.
All my life I’ve been hoping God can hear me and maybe one day have what other kids have. Being in a large family of 12 kids, you didn’t get new shoes. You went to the Salvation Army and picked your shoes. You’re trying to get enough polish in the ones you’re going to cheer in because I was captain of the cheering team. I didn’t mind wearing them though, because God gave me the ability to get some shoes to match the other girls’ shoes. Mine weren’t new but they were just as good and I could dance better because they were already broken in.
The Detroit News: In “Confessions of a Motown Diva,” you also talk about broken friendships, drugs, abusive men and finally inner strength. How did God help you find that inner strength?
Martha Reeves: That’s exactly what happened to me. You have to realize that you can have a one-on-one relationship with the Lord … and then you’re safe. Not only saved but safe in the arms of Jesus. I’m quoting Rev. Marvin Sapp. He recorded a song, “Safe in the Arms of Jesus.” All I can say is I love the Lord, he heard my cry and pitied every groan. As long as I live, when trouble rises, I’ll hasten to the throne. It’s the right time, it’s the right place, it’s the right person … Jesus.
The Detroit News: Finally, our last question is a question we ask of all of our guests. What do you tell the younger generation about faith and does faith still matter?
Martha Reeves: Faith matters and you must know who you’re praising when you lift your voice. When you’re singing and you’re performing, you’ve got to know who you’re praising. You got to know it’s Jesus. You got to know that he died for our sins, that he died for our salvation. To get that understanding, you’ve got to go to church. You’ve got to listen to your minister. He’s going to teach you the Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12). You gotta know that. It’ll make life much easier when you know to give, live and let live. Hallelujah. Thank you.
Detroit Faith City excerpts: Martha Reeves on rebirth, God's gifts and more – The Detroit News
