"In My Lonely Room" is a 1964 single by

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

girl group

Martha and the Vandellas Martha and the Vandellas (known from 1967 to 1973 as Martha Reeves & the Vandellas) were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1957. The group achieved fame in the 1960s as a major act for Motown Records. Formed by friends Annett ...

. In this song, which registered at #6 R&B (Cashbox) and #44 Pop, the narrator solemnly discusses how her lover's flirting with other girls leave her so depressed that all she can do was sit by "(her) lonely room and cry". The song was produced under a more solemn though still uptempo

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

-influenced number that had been on a number of the group's hits starting with "

(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave "Heat Wave" is a 1963 song written by the Holland–Dozier–Holland songwriting team. It was first made popular by the Motown vocal group Martha and the Vandellas, who issued it as a single on July 10, 1963, on the Motown subsidiary Gordy labe ...

". It was their fifth hit with

Holland–Dozier–Holland Holland–Dozier–Holland, often abbreviated as H-D-H, was a songwriting and production team consisting of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland. The trio wrote, arranged and produced many songs that helped define the ...

. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' described it as "a real happy thumper geared for loads of spins and sales" that is performed in an "exciting infectious fashion."

Personnel

*Lead vocals by

Martha Reeves Martha Rose Reeves (born July 18, 1941) is an American R&B and pop singer. She is best known for being the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas, which scored several major Hot 100 hits such as " Nowhere to Run", "Heat ...

*Background vocals by

Rosalind Ashford Rosalind "Roz" Ashford-Holmes (born September 2, 1943) is an American soprano R&B and Soul music, soul singer, known for her work as an original member of the Motown singing group Martha and the Vandellas. Early years Born Rosalind Ashford on ...

and

Annette Beard Annette Beard, also known as Annette Helton or Annette Sterling, (born July 4, 1943) is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul music, soul singer. Beard is best known for her work with Motown and as an original member of the singing group Ma ...

*Produced by

Brian Holland Brian Holland (born February 15, 1941) is an American songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of Holland–Dozier–Holland, the songwriting and production team that was responsible for much of the Motown sound, and numerous hi ...

and

Lamont Dozier Lamont Herbert Dozier (; June 16, 1941 – August 8, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Detroit. He co-wrote and produced 14 US '' Billboard'' number-one hits and four number ones in the UK. Career Dozier was a ...

*Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland, Jr. *Instrumentation by

the Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

: **

Richard "Pistol" Allen Howard Richard "Pistol" Allen (August 13, 1932 – June 30, 2002) was an American musician, most notable as a Motown session drummer with the Funk Brothers. History Allen was the primary recording session drummer for Motown Records' in-house ...

: drums **

Jack Ashford Jack Ashford (born May 18, 1934) is an American musician who was a percussionist for Motown Records' in-house Funk Brothers band during the 1960s and early 1970s. Ashford is most famous for playing the tambourine on hundreds of Motown recordings ...

: vibes **

Henry Cosby Henry R. Cosby (May 12, 1928 – January 22, 2002) was an American songwriter, arranger, record producer and musician who worked for Motown Records from its formative years. Along with Sylvia Moy, Cosby was a key collaborator with Stevie Wonde ...

: tenor saxophone ** Mike Terry: baritone saxophone soloMoore, Dave. 'HOF: Mike Terry - Pre Production Inductee', Soul Source magazine, November 7, 2014 **

James Jamerson James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bassist. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases un ...

: bass ** Robert White: guitar **

Eddie Willis Eddie "Chank" Willis (June 3, 1936 – August 20, 2018) was an American soul musician. Willis played electric guitar and occasional electric sitar for Motown's in-house studio band, The Funk Brothers, during the 1960s and early 1970s. Career Bo ...

: guitar **

Earl Van Dyke Earl Van Dyke (July 8, 1930 – September 18, 1992) was an American soul musician, most notable as the main keyboardist for Motown Records' in-house Funk Brothers band during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Career Van Dyke, who was born in Det ...

: piano

Other recordings

The Action The Action were an English band of the 1960s, formed as the Boys in August 1963, in Kentish Town, North West London. They were part of the mod subculture, and played soul music-influenced pop music. History 1963–1964: The Boys The band ...

recorded their version in 1965, produced by

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...

. *

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...

recorded a version of the song to the same instrumental track as The Vandellas with additional instrumentation in 1966. It was produced by Holland-Dozier and intended to be included on their album ''

The Supremes A' Go-Go ''The Supremes A' Go-Go'' is the ninth studio album released by the Motown singing group the Supremes. It was the first album by an all-female group to reach number-one on the ''Billboard'' 200 album charts in the United States. Included are ...

'', but remained unreleased until 1998. *

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

recorded a version of the song for his album of soul covers, '' Going Back''.

References

1964 songs 1964 singles Martha and the Vandellas songs The Supremes songs Songs written by Holland–Dozier–Holland Song recordings produced by Brian Holland Song recordings produced by Lamont Dozier Motown singles Gordy Records singles {{1960s-R&B-song-stub