Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Jango Song Of The Day-Gladys Knight & The Pips

Artist:Gladys Knight & The Pips
Song:Midnight Train To Georgia
Album:Gold



Of course Gladys Knight is one of the all time great soul singers and the 1973 hit Midnight Train To Georgia is one of several Gladys Knight & The Pips hits. She was born May 28, 1944 in Atlanta and she won on Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour at age 7. She formed a group with her brother Merald, sister Brenda and cousins William and Elinor Guest called The Pips. They were named after another cousin James "Pip" Woods. Cousins Langston George and Edward Patten replaced Brenda and Elinor in 1959. The group had some success with VeeJay Records in the early 60s and after George left, Gladys quit to raise her children. She returned and Gladys Knight & The Pips signed with Motown in 1966. Their biggest hit at Motown was their 1967 version of Marvin Gaye's I Heard It Through The Grapevine. They left Motown for Buddah Records after Neither One Of Us reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973. Gladys said they felt they were a second string act at Motown. Midnight Train To Georgia was their second single on Buddah and it topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973. Neither One Of Us and Midnight Train To Georgia were both written by veteran Nashville songwriter Jim Weatherly. The original title was Midnight Plane To Houston and it was recorded by Cissy Houston in 1970. Weatherly was recording for Buddah at the time. Tony Camillo produced the song and played organ on the song along with sessionmen Bob Babbitt , Jeff Mironov and Mike & Randy Brecker. This 2CD comp on Hip-O is recommended because it covers the Motown and Buddah recordings. Gladys Knight & The Pips continue to perform today and they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 1996. Here's Gladys Knight & The Pips performing Midnight Train To Georgia 1973.

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