Track Listing

1. I Heard It Through The Grapevine
2. The End Of Our Road
3. Everybody Needs Love
4. Take Me In Your Arms And Love Me
5. It Should Have Been Me
6. I Wish It Would Rain
7. Every Little Bit Hurts
8. Didn't You Know (You'd Have To Cry Sometime)
9. Just Walk In My Shoes
10. The Nitty Gritty
11. Friendship Train
12. You Need Love Like I Do (Don't You)
13. If I Were Your Woman
14. I Don't Want To Do Wrong
15. Here I Am Again
16. Make Me The Woman That You Go Home To
17. Help Me Make It Through The Night
18. Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye)
19. Daddy Could Swear, I Declare
20. All I Need Is Time
21. Between Her Goodbye And My Hello
22. It's Time To Go Now

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4744 in Music
• Released on: 1998-08-10
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 72 minutes

Customer Reviews

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.

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.