Released July 26, 1965 Length 2:57 | Genre Soul | |
B-side Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things) Format vinyl record (7" 45 RPM) Recorded Hitsville USA (Studio A); 1965 | ||
"You've Been in Love Too Long" is a 1965 dance single recorded by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. Their fourth straight Top 40 hit in two years, this song focused on a pro-feminist theme under a gritty R&B background with the narrator (lead singer Martha Reeves) explaining to the woman in question that after years of holding on to an unfaithful and abusive lover that she should let him go saying "you're a fool for your baby". The song, produced and written by William "Mickey" Stevenson, Ivy Jo Hunter and Clarence Paul, peaked at #25 R&B and #36 Pop in 1965. Many radio jocks preferred the "B" side, "Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things)" in which caused split airplay and lower chart positioning. Bonnie Raitt covered the song on her 1973 album, Takin' My Time