Track Listing

1. I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Gladys Knight & The Pips, Norman Whitfield
2. The End Of Our Road - Gladys Knight & The Pips, Norman Whitfield
3. Everybody Needs Love - Gladys Knight & The Pips, Norman Whitfield
4. Take Me In Your Arms And Love Me - Gladys Knight & The Pips, Norman Whitfield
5. It Should Have Been Me - Gladys Knight & The Pips, Norman Whitfield
6. I Wish It Would Rain - Gladys Knight & The Pips, Norman Whitfield
7. Every Little Bit Hurts - Gladys Knight & The Pips, Norman Whitfield
8. Didn't You Know (You'd Have To Cry Sometime) - Gladys Knight & The Pips, Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson
9. Just Walk In My Shoes - Gladys Knight & The Pips, Johnny Bristol, Harvey Fuqua
10. The Nitty Gritty - Gladys Knight & The Pips, Norman Whitfield
11. Friendship Train - Gladys Knight & The Pips, Norman Whitfield, Jerry Long
12. You Need Love Like I Do (Don't You) - Gladys Knight & The Pips, Norman Whitfield, Paul Riser
13. If I Were Your Woman - Clay McMurray, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Paul Riser
14. I Don't Want To Do Wrong - Gladys Knight & The Pips, Johnny Bristol, Paul Riser
15. Here I Am Again - Clay McMurray, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Tom Baird, Jerry Long
16. Make Me The Woman That You Go Home To - Clay McMurray, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Robert White, Paul Riser
17. Help Me Make It Through The Night - Gladys Knight & The Pips, Johnny Bristol, H.B. Barnum
18. Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye) - Gladys Knight & The Pips, Joe Porter, Artie Butler, Michael Omartian
19. Daddy Could Swear, I Declare - Gladys Knight & The Pips, Johnny Bristol, H.B. Barnum
20. All I Need Is Time - Gladys Knight & The Pips, Joe Porter, Artie Butler, Paul Riser
21. Between Her Goodbye And My Hello - Gladys Knight & The Pips, Joe Porter, Paul Riser, Jimmie Haskell
22. It's Time To Go Now - Gladys Knight & The Pips, Norman Whitfield

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10668 in Music
• Released on: 1998-08-10
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds
• Running time: 72 minutes

Customer Reviews

The best Motown tracks of Gladys & her Pips
Not many people know that it wasn't Marvin Gaye who first recorded "Heard it through the Grapevine" but actually Gladys Knight. Her version is a lot more bluesier but no less impressive.At Motown she was always underrated but listening to this collection it's hard to understand why she never reached the stature of a Diana Ross or Smokey Robinson. Maybe she was just to raw and honest for the slick hit-producing machine that Motown was at the time. Gladys tears it up on "Grapevine", "Nitty Gritty" , "Just walk in my shoes" and many more but also caresses with some of the most heart-tearing deep soul ballads ever recorded. "If I were your woman", "Help me make it through the night" and "I don't want to do wrong" will have you in tears every time you hear them. In short, a brilliant collection of one of soul's biggest voices. Supplement with the "Greatest Hits" on Camden and you have an excellent carreer overview. Essential. Get it now.

The first successful recordings
Gladys Knight and the Pips made some records before they signed to Motown, but those records were not successful, so these are the earliest important recordings.

I heard it through the grapevine was their first major hit, going to number two in the American pop chart (and topping the R+B chart) and also giving them a minor British hit. Gladys recorded the song at around the same time as Marvin Gaye, but Motown originally selected the version by Gladys and the Pips for single release. Marvin’s version was released as a single a year later and topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. The two versions are very different despite both being produced by Norman Whitfield. He obviously loved the song as he also produced versions by the Isley brothers and the Miracles.

There are many other classic songs here, including Take me in your arms and love me, It should have been me (revived by Yvonne Fair in the seventies), Every little bit hurts, If I were your woman, Help me make it through the night and Neither one of us.

Gladys Knight is best remembered for the recordings she made after she left Motown for Buddah, including Midnight train to Georgia, but her Motown music is well worth a listen.

So much more than the Midnight Train to Georgia
What a remarkable collection of tracks from the early days of a belter of a performer. The only reason I'm holding back from giving it 5 stars is that there are times when Gladys is not holding back and is wailing a bit too much for my taste. Sometimes less is more, but she puts in great versions of familiar tunes like Every Little Bit Hurts, If I Were Your Woman, a scorching You Need Love Like I Do and a husky version of Help Me Make Through the Night.

There are so many styles of tunes and vocalising going on you'd swear it's a different singer. For instance, on Take Me In Your Arms (and Love Me) she sounds just like Dionne Warwick doing a forgotten Bacharach track. And I can't think why I've never heard some of these brilliant tracks before, especially The End of Our Road and I Wish It Would Rain. WTPPA (worth the purchase price alone).