My Site

Holland-Dozier-Holland’s greatest triumph?
~Dave Marsh (The Heart of Rock and Soul)

While it wasn’t her biggest hit, it’s maybe Martha Reeves’s single best recording. Her vocals more than hold up with the song’s great melody and instrument backing.
~Richard Gilliam (allmusic.com)

 

Wikipedia:

Released	February 10, 1965
Format	7″ single
Recorded	Hitsville U.S.A. (Studio A); October 21, 1964
Genre	Pop/soul
Length	2:48
Label	Gordy G 7039
Writer(s)	Holland–Dozier–Holland
Producer	Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland

“Nowhere to Run” is a 1965 pop single, b/w “Motoring”, by Martha and the Vandellas for the Gordy (Motown) label and is one of the group’s signature songs. The song, written and produced by Motown’s main production team of Holland–Dozier–Holland, depicts the story of a woman trapped in a bad relationship with a man she cannot help but love. Holand-Dozier-Holland and the Funk Brothers band gave the song a large, hard-driving instrumentation sound similar of the sound of prior “Dancing In The Street” with snow chains used as percussion alongside the tambourine and drums.

Shiding 1965 (TV Performance):

1965 Hullabaloo:

…..But what adds weight and power to “Nowhere to Run” ‘ s shrieking paranoia — what makes it Motown is the rhythm section. Bassist James Jamerson is justly celebrated today as one of the two or three most creative players on that instrument ever, and there’s as much to be said for drummer Benny Benjamin, another of the remarkably distinctive session players Motown never credited. On “Nowhere to Run,” Benjamin simply explodes all over his tom-toms. Thanks to them, this relentlessly rhythmic record ranks with the most fearsome of all time.
~Dave Marsh (The Heart of Rock and Soul)

Album of the day:

The Ultimate Collection (1998)

-Egil