Rosalind Ashford helped the group to distinguish themselves from the other girl groups in the label including the pop-oriented Marvelettes and the doo-wop-influenced Supremes with a rougher, brassier gospel-influenced sound. Reeves was a brassy alto while Annette was a deep contralto, and Rosalind was a high soprano. Like the Supremes' Florence Ballard, the Marvelettes' Wanda Rogers and The Four Tops' Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Ashford registered as the high background vocal in Vandellas records. After "Quicksand" gave the group a third top forty pop hit, Beard left to start a family with her new spouse. Reeves recruited a former member of The Velvelettes,
Pat Ballard Pat Ballard Pat Ballard, born Francis Drake Ballard (June 19, 1899 – October 26, 1960), was an American songwriter, producer, music editor and author. He was born in Troy, Pennsylvania, to Frank Ballard, a jeweller-optician, and Lucille, a soprano. He was the great-great-grandson of Orrin P. Ballard, one of the pioneers of the region. He was married to Hilda Gramlich, a dress designer. He died of a cardiac arrest at the Medical Arts Centre in New York City, New York, in 1960. He composed "Mr. Sandman" and "(Oh Baby Mine) I Get So Lonely". He was a member of the