Isleys and Gladys & Pips--did Motown try?

[luke]

Did Motown make a strong effort to keep these incredible talents from leaving?

[reese]

Not sure about the Isleys.

But in her book and in other interviews, Gladys and Bubba said that the group wanted to stay with Motown, and they were actually renegotiating. But they didn't get a satisfactory response, and there was some other things done around that time regarding taxes that the group didn't like. Also, I think Berry was really concentrating on movies during this time, and was leaving day to day business to Ewart Abner and others.

In the end, it was most likely best that both groups left, as they went on to greater success after Motown.

[roger]

Wasn't Mr Gordy so pre-occupied with other matters that he wasn't even aware when GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS had left. I recall someone posting on the forum that when he first heard "Midnight Train To Georgia" he thought it was the latest Motown hit. Or is that just another urban myth?

Roger

[theboyfromxtown]

Seeing audiences leave Ronald Isley's concerts because of his refusal to perform the Isley's famous Motown hits on his UK tours tells me a lot about what he thinks about the group's stay with Motown. Shame.

[Kamasu_Jr]

Wasn't Mr Gordy so pre-occupied with other matters that he wasn't even aware when GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS had left. I recall someone posting on the forum that when he first heard "Midnight Train To Georgia" he thought it was the latest Motown hit. Or is that just another urban myth?

Roger

It appears Gladys Knight & the Pips timed their exit from Motown perfectly. They were hot on the charts after Neither One of Us and Daddy Could Swear. I can see them leaving while Berry Gordy's attentions were focused elsewhere. They got a good offer from Buddah.
But I've often wondered if the songs they recorded first for Buddah could have been on Motown?
The Imagination album was recorded in Detroit with some ex-Funk Brothers.
."...Peaceful Waters..." sounds like Motown. I'm thinking by 1973 Motown was letting Gladys & the Pips produce themselves. Afterall, Gladys found songwriter Jim Weatherly didn't she?

The Isleys were floundering when they left Motown...they had no major hits. I don't think Motown really cared until It's Your Thing became a major hit.

[motown01]

I think their contract was up, they chose not to renew it.

[reese]

It appears Gladys Knight & the Pips timed their exit from Motown perfectly. They were hot on the charts after Neither One of Us and Daddy Could Swear. I can see them leaving while Berry Gordy's attentions were focused elsewhere. They got a good offer from Buddah.
But I've often wondered if the songs they recorded first for Buddah could have been on Motown?
The Imagination album was recorded in Detroit with some ex-Funk Brothers.
."...Peaceful Waters..." sounds like Motown. I'm thinking by 1973 Motown was letting Gladys & the Pips produce themselves. Afterall, Gladys found songwriter Jim Weatherly didn't she?

The Isleys were floundering when they left Motown...they had no major hits. I don't think Motown really cared until It's Your Thing became a major hit.

It is possible that if they had stayed with Motown, some of the Jim Weatherly material on their first Buddah album IMAGINATION could have come out on Motown. But according to Gladys, although they were already working on the material, they didn't actually start recording for Buddah until April of 1973, as their Motown contract expired in March.

During 1972, Motown might have also been playing hardball with the group while negotiations were going on. During that year, the group had only one single release in the US, HELP ME MAKE IT THROUGH THE NIGHT, and no albums. [[Technicially, NEITHER ONE OF US was a 1972 release. But it was released on December 26, and didn't hit until the next year.)

[midnightman]

The Isley Brothers didn't have fond memories of being at Motown. They all felt like outsiders. I doubt anyone on the label opened up to them because they were "outsiders". I think of the acts, only Marvin & Stevie had any talk with them because they respected them while the other members of Motown's "family" thumbed their noses at them. The same can be said about Gladys Knight and the Pips. Gladys though herself had some problems with even Stevie and Marvin [[for different reasons obviously; Gladys thought Stevie should've gave her Aretha's song in '73; Gladys once accused Motown for stealing a riff out of a song she and the Pips had done and using it on "Grapevine" with Marvin flatly denying it lol) but she still was able to get along with them [[you can tell Gladys and Marvin dug each other when they performed in 1983, probably after Motown 25). I think Gladys does have fond memories because while the Isleys were unable to have a second hit after "This Old Heart", Gladys still sings her Motown hits with pride.

[soulster]

I could just see Berry turning on the radio, hearing "Where Peaceful Waters Flow", and thinking it's on the Soul Label!

[theboyfromxtown]

Would that be after he read the royalty statement to confirm it wasn't on Soul!

LOL-just teasing!

[marv2]

I don't think they tried hard at all , nor did they really have to at that point. Motown was one of the top, if not the top record company in the World during that time. Their "home grown" acts were already very popular by the time they signed the Islely Brothers and Gladys Knight & the Pips.

[midnightman]

Ron Isley has said they learned a lot about handling their own business after being under the thumb of Berry Gordy and Motown. Because as soon as they were done with Motown, they revived their T-Neck imprint.

[midnightman]

For Gladys and the Pips, it was more of the outsiders tag though they had their own hits in the label, if not as much as the "home grown" acts.