Gladys Knight & the Pips
UK Motown 2 on 1's
UK Release date 6th November 2006

Hey! welcome back to the superb 2 on 1 series of re-issued albums and this time its the time of the diva of all Motown acts the lovely Ms Gladys knight & the Pips whose Motown recordings between 1967 - 1973 make an essential additional to any soul fans collection. Never before have we ever seen so much material on Gladys issued in one go with the release of ten fine soul album sets from her years at Hitsville between 1967 - 1973 before she eventually left the label and scored further success at Buddah Records and eventually CBS.

As we all known and appreciate Gladys was one of the finest voices ever to grace Motown and although she never quite got the same amount of hit status as some of the other artists on the roster, it certainly wasn't due to the fact that their music wasn't as good as some of the other groups, its just one of those things that she recorded her finest moments as LP cuts - sure, she had a number of hit singles but it was her hidden LP tracks and 'B' sides that were her best work. The first of these couplings were her first two LP's for Motown the excellent 'Everybody Needs Love' from 1967 which opens with the title track first appearing as a 45 in 1967 which had already been recorded by the Velvelettes but it was certainly tailor made for Glady's sultry vocal style and the mid tempo arrangement with finger clickin' intro just lets you know your in for a performance of a lifetime. Her backing group the Pips played an equal part of her success with their slick dance routines and perfect vocal harmonies on par with the Andantes.

The flip side to the aforementioned single 'Since I Lost You' must surely rate as being one of the all-time Motown flip sides with its glorious bluesy feel and lead guitar and bass line courtesy of the Funk Brothers coupled with some gorgeous complimentary orchestration making this the jewel in the crown.

Still in 1967 and on the back of Motown songwriters Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong the group recorded the funky 'Grapevine' which saw some chart action at the lower end of the UK charts that year, but it was to be Motown's biggest selling pop single of the decade when fellow artist Marvin Gaye recorded his version at a much slower pace to worldwide success. Gladys' version has a more funkier feel to it and some neat electric piano work making this just as appealing as Marvin's hit.

Gladys enjoyed her best UK success in the summer of '67' when she scored a major hit with the sexy 'Take Me In Your Arms And Love Me' and again another heavily orchestrated affair with strong backing vocals and yet she could still wow the fans of uptempo Motown songs with great versions of 'Ain't No Sun Since You've Been Gone' a song recorded by Chuck Jackson a year later, and 'He's My Kind Of Fellow' a great Motown mid tempo dance track that was also recorded using the same backing track by Motown songstress Brenda Holloway.

Have a listen at Ms Knight's take on 'Yes I'm Ready' featuring a stunning performance on this Chicago soul influenced piece of soul magic and you wonder why this song didn't make it to the single schedule's? A year later Gladys had released her second LP 'Feelin' Bluesy' which carried on where the previous LP had left off and bearing in mind that much of the songs contained therein tended to be less frantic in arrangement that most of the other songs being issued by the company at that time there was definitely a shift in style at that time and Gladys was in pole position to spearhead the slower arrangements that were emanating out of Hitsville.

'The End Of Our Road' seemed be another take on her hit 'Grapevine' with such a similar arrangement with different words (Motown had done this with the 4 Tops already). It is very difficult to pinpoint who at Motown recorded hit tunes first as we all know that many of the artists there were given the opportunity to record different takes on songs before they were eventually allocated to artists and there's a great version of 'That's The Way Love Is' which Marvin Gaye scored with post 'Grapevine' and her version of the popular 'Boy From Crosstown' a song also recorded on The Velvelettes and Marvelettes but choose your favourite version - nothing wrong with this one!

I particularly loved her performing 'I Know Better' which I suspect had also been recorded on Barbara McNair and her take on a song that eventually made some noises during the early 1970's for Yvonne Fair entitled 'It Should Have Been Me'. Two cracking titles back to back for the very first time and are the essential first purchase for collectors of Motown's sixties output.

'Silk 'N' Soul and 'Nitty Gritty' are the next two pieces of magic and it had been decided by Mr. Gordy that her third LP would be an album full of cover versions and the result was a collection of pop and soul tunes that really could have been her own songs. From her interpretation of 'I Wish It Would Rain' to Burt Bacharach's 'The Look Of Love' and her rendition of the great Little Anthony song 'Going Out Of My Head' it was a very clever move by Motown who found that Gladys was winning over a new audience who were hooked on her soulful singing and her vocal dexterity in dealing with just about any song she was given.

Cover versions included here are 'Tracks Of My Tears' 'Every Little Bit Hurts' 'You're My Everything' ' Cloud Nine' ' Groovin' ' Baby I Need Your Loving' all delivered with pride, soul and conviction to the cause and make very good listening indeed . Bear in mind too that each of these versions feature the Funk Brothers and it's great to hear how they deliver these instrumentation too. 'Nitty Gritty'  was the fourth LP and featured even more songs from the pen of maestro Norman Whitfield who at this point was heavily involved with all of their subsequent material and songs like the title track a real funky tambourine and guitar led piece of dirty funk that James Brown would have been proud of. Motown's musical style and arrangements were on the change to a more funkier approach and this slotted in nicely with what the Temptations were doing at that time.

'All I Could Do Was Cry' is a real gem here as Gladys recalls her agony watching a wedding of her former lover but the real gem is the guitar licks from the Funks, and Gladys' plea from the heart as she cries every word from the bottom of her heart. It takes a very special singer to perform songs like these and this lady is a master of her trade. Two tracks of note for the dancers amongst you in the form of 'The Stranger' which is a glorious uptempo affair from the glory days, and 'Keep An Eye' which if my memory serves me right appeared here in the UK as a flip side - either way its one of those nice dance songs that also brings the Pips to the forefront of the song with their great harmonies.

Whether by accident or intentional Gladys had found her niche at Motown with the love ballads and her career went from strength to strength and she quickly became a household name as a result. Her next LP 'If I Were Your Woman' with its title track which was issued as a '45' scored reasonably well and began to set the benchmark for the way that Motown would channel a number of its acts at the beginning of the 1970's . For a start there were new names at the songwriting helm such as Johnny Bristol, Clay McMurray, Joe Hinton, and one Gloria Jones and not forgetting Pam Sawyer the whole album was a joy to listen to with the title track being nominated for a Grammy award in 1971 for best R & B record of that year.

Another gem here is her take on the Fifth Dimension's hit song 'One Less Bell To Answer' as well as Lennon & McCartney's hit song for the Beatles 'Let It Be' and Sly Stone's 'Everybody Is A Star'. It is often said the the first thirty seconds of any song is the deciding factor whether you continue listening to it, or skip to the next track - well if that statement is true then the opening bars to 'Here I Am Again' will have you hooked for life as Ms Knight takes you on an aural trip of sensual soul at its very best.

'Standing Ovation' was released in December 1971 at a time when soul music generally was HOT! Although featuring a number of cover versions it mattered not as most soul artists were doing this too and the main hit tune from this set was the award winning hit tune 'Help Me Make It Through The Night' and the James Taylor hit 'Fire & Rain' and the Beatles song 'The Long And Winding Road' but its the absolutely fabulous 'It Takes A Whole Lotta Man' that demonstrates perfectly just what this lady is capable of and this track IS the jewel in the crown on this album even though a close contender has to be the uptempo northern soul flavoured 'No One Could Love You More' where this great lady reminds us all that she can still kick ass amongst the northern soul fraternity as she belts out one fabulous song.

Its 1973 and yet another LP from Gladys and the Pips who by now had been at Hitsville for seven years and had carved out a career and image as being one of the worlds finest R & B singers and at one point was a serious contender to steal Aretha Franklin's coveted crown as being the Queen of Soul. The self titled album 'Neither One Of Us' produced a number one single on the US R & B charts and went top ten pop too, and has been sampled numerous times on modern day songs. Again, as with the previous LP's there are a number of cover versions such as Bill Withers' 'Who Is He And What Is He To You' (also recorded by Doris Troy & Creative Source) during the seventies, and Stevie Wonder's 1968 Motown hit 'For Once In My Life' . Another single release this time its the uptempo 'Daddy Could Swear, I Declare' which found fame on the nations dancefloors and gave them a slot on Don Cornelius' ever popular TV show Soul Train where you can click the link at the bottom of this page and see Gladys in action on various Soul Train shows.

'All I Need Is Time' was another LP for Motown although this one didn't spawn any singles it nevertheless is crammed full of classic soul and is peppered with hit material yet no singles emerged. Gladys was clearly on a roll and couldn't put a foot wrong and her polished performances went from strength to strength and yet she was only twelve months or so from quitting Motown and moving to Buddah Records where she scored even more hits which turned her into a world wide soul superstar. Our press release highlight's 'The Only Time That You Love Me' a soul drenched piece of late night soul delivered with pin point precision to extract maximum impact from her listening audience. How this could, and should have been a hit single.

More covers given Gladys' personal touch include a credible take on Yvonne Fairs' 1976 UK single 'It Should Have Been Me' (featuring some classic Funk Brothers guitar riffs) and Sly Stone's 1973 funk single 'Thank You' which gets a typical Stevie Wonder feel to it and wow is this street cred!

The last two titles in this latest issue of re-releases entitled 'Knight Time'/'A Little Knight Music' from 1974 a year after the foursome had left for Buddah Records. Both albums were compiled of left over tracks and out takes of their many recordings and quickly assembled to presumably counteract any success with their new label. 'Knight Time' was typical early seventies soul with a mixture of dance of ballads using a variety of songwriters and producers but all still simmering with brilliance! Have a listen at the opening track 'How Can You Say That Ain't Love' a snappy uptempo affair that you could imagine her opening with on her concert tours to get her many admirers into an instant groove.

Out of nowhere Gladys drops the tempo on 'Between Her Goodbye And My Hello' to a sexy sultry delivery of pure orchestrated soul that makes no mistake in appointing her as the queen of soul - there's nothing to touch her! In a similar vein you'll find the equally appealing 'We've Got Such A Mellow Love' and 'Can You Give me Love With A Guarantee' whereas she can, and does turn the tides and deliver some blistering uptempo northern soul such as 'No One Can Love You' and 'The Lonely Heart' which is sure to attract the attention of collectors of obscure sixties style soul as this really will hit home . Finishing off with two live versions of 'The Nitty Gritty' and 'Ain't No Sun Since You've Been Gone' this little 2 on 1 really delivers and in its own way rates as good as any of the aforementioned titles.

Overall rating for all titles 9/10

Click here to catch Gladys Knight in action in the 1970's