Curious about everyone's opinion of Diana Ross's performance of "The Nitty Gritty." I had heard Gladys Knight's version first of all, of course. Then I bought a Motown multi-CD collection and The Supremes' unreleased version was one of the bonus songs.

What's funny is that I wasn't really knocked out by Gladys Knight's version. It was funky and soulful, but I just never got into it. Then I heard Diana Ross singing it and even with the same [[?) backing track, I heard it very differently; I found I enjoyed it so much, I kept playing it over and over. The Diana Ross version just seemed to be much more fun to listen to.

I think what did it for me is while everyone knows Gladys can "throw down" on a song and give you soul from here to eternity, I was pleasantly surprised to hear Diana's take on it. To me, it just sounded like Diana was having a ball with this tune. She didn't really "soul", instead, she kinda "glides" and happily "skips" all over the tune and it's just an joyous, fun performance.

Maybe some with put the song down, comparing it unfavorably to Gladys's version; but for me, it was a really pleasant surprise that always makes me just a bit happier whenever I listen to it.