Anyone else have a soft spot for Gladys & The Pips' version of this song? I think it’s a stunning rendition!!
Anyone else have a soft spot for Gladys & The Pips' version of this song? I think it’s a stunning rendition!!
Last edited by TomatoTom123; 03-08-2020 at 08:30 PM.
I've always like this track even though the instrumental break in the middle appears to contain nothing more than the orchestration that lies behind the verses.
Gladys adds some dynamics to the vocals that aren't found in other versions. A bit of a risk, but they really work.
Although the UK single [[which I don't have) is in mono, am I right in thinking that it's just a fold-down?
For trivia lovers, it's also worth noting that this track had verse 2 edited out for inclusion on Motown Chartbusters Volume 8 and that this edited version is more often found in compilations than the full-length track. Bit of a b*mmer, that!
I think we had this song as the follow-up to Help Me Make It Through The Night in the UK.
"Silk 'n Soul" was always one of my favorite Gladys Knight & the Pips albums on Motown. I loved the covers on the album. Although many of Motown's covers of popular songs were kind of ho-hum, I thought on this album the producers and arrangers excelled at making these songs all unique thanks to Gladys' beautiful voice and interpretation.
Their album "If I Were Your Woman" also included some great covers as well. And speaking of covers, that is, album covers, it had the most imaginative cover design, except for the fact that it basically showed Gladys in an incestuous relationship with her brother and two cousins!
I think that Gladys‘ voice is so classic and so warm that she makes almost any song sound like a standard. Even several of her originals such as “I feel a song” or “Neither one of us“ and even some of the stuff that came out after she left Motown such as “all I need is time“ somehow sounded like they could’ve been covers of famous songs from an earlier period.
I think the songs “feeling all right“ and “let it be“ were on the “if I were your woman” album, and I love those two songs by her so much. The harmonies of the Pips on “let it be” are just beautiful and sound right out of the church.
I am a Gladys fan, but other than the hits LPS, I am unfamiliar with the catalogue. I did give the Look of Love a listen, as well as Valley of The Dolls....I'll pass..not what I expected out of Gladys Knight...
When I got Compact Command Performances CD I fell in love with All I Need Is Time and Between Her Goodbye...they were new discoveries for me, the hits LP on Soul that I had and loved cut off earlier. I got a used copy of vinyl anthology laying around here somewhere...I will have to dig it out. I was buying a lot of new issue CDS at the time and it got "waylaid"
Gladys should have been paired with Levi Stubbs...they both can sing with a sense of urgency that would have worked well together
@gman what is about her performance of those songs that doesn’t appeal to you? I’m interested to know because I think she does them in such a classic way, understated and all. But don’t worry I won’t attack you. I really am curious! Not funky enough maybe for Gladys?
it was my first listen....they may grow on me if I kept at it. I was expecting something a lot more expressive and more peak/bite....Gladys ain't one of my understated go to singers..
Thanks gman.
I agree "All I Need is Time" is a great performance. A real "tour de force" as they say...almost like she's acting a role or playing in a musical. It always reminded of the same vibe in the song "Seconds" from one of her early Buddah albums, another great song.
And yes, the same is true for "Between Her Goodbye and My Hello." And wasn't it a throwaway track at the time, that got onto one of the albums that came out on Motown after she left the label? I want to listen to those tracks again, too.
I have to agree with @gman. I love Gladys Knight. But I always make a pass on those two songs. Maybe because I think Dionne Warwicks version is so smooth and perfect. Don’t think anyone could top her version. Gladys version seems too rough or not as smooth IMO. And I don’t like “The Look of Love” by anyone. But the best version to me is done by Dionne Warwick.
Another favorite version of mine is that of Diana Krall. She even named her album after the song:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lo...a_Krall_album)
Between Her Goodbye...had she stayed a bit longer I think it would have been released as a single. Wasn't there an overlap in released material when they went to Buddah? since Neither One of Us was such a great ballard performance and big hit, they most likely would have wanted something different and a bit of heat, a faster paced upbeat record to hit immediately following it, and then next returned with the ballard..BHGAMH
Bookmarks