The CD-era duration does indulge Knight's middle-class vices. Amid the various shades of schlock and dancy compromise, the best songs are those she wrote with her coproducers, Sam Dees and Bubba Knight, and the only notable one is "Strivin'," the most straight-up bourgie boogie since "Bon Bon Vie." Even at its most committed, professionalism can get pretty boring. So she does what she's always done over "contemporary" settings that don't clash or mesh or otherwise call attention to themselves. The reflectiveness of her interpretations has never extended to her choice of material-the honest journeywoman in her must prefer contract songwriting. And to an extent it's attributable to flat material. To an extent it's a tribute to the authority this great pop singer still commands when she's in the mood. To an extent that's a tribute to Leon Sylvers's consistent vocal and rhythm arrangements. B+Īccurately acclaimed as her finest work in a decade, this is amazingly uniform for an album featuring eight different bassists and eight different drummers recorded in eight different studios in L.A., Nashville, and Vegas. The second disappointing album to include both "Midnight Train" and "Imagination" isn't at all bad, but it isn't what it says it is, either. Strongest cut: the Pips' (and Eugene McDaniels's) "Street Brother." C+ It took two production teams to turn out this arrant product, a sure sign she knows something's wrong. Success of the Vegas/television sort does more than pollute the sensibility-it diverts one's attention from the grubby business of making records.
#GLADYS KNIGHT SONGS PLUS#
Plus a version of "The Way We Were" that establishes her claim to a middle-class veneer in perpetuity. The material is still a little flat, but it does take in uptempo soul and Dionne Warwick pop and Bill Withers funk and Bill Withers sentiment. When she adds a squeal or a grunt or a growl on this album, or holds back a tear, or turns a song into a trembling sigh, you know she means exactly what she isn't saying, and I've never heard her in better voice. But she always radiates a great singer's luminous conviction, and beneath the moderation she's very comfortable with her emotional extremities. Her way with a ballad is suspiciously smooth and direct, and her demeanor flirts with the respectable. B-Ĭompared to sisters like Aretha Franklin or Tina Turner, Knight is a moderate.
Yet her moral seriousness loses none of its weight, and there's something in her voice, a hurtful rough place the honey missed, that makes me want to listen through the humdrum dynamics of the tracks. Or does she transcend her material after all? This is a typical Motown exploitation, comprising two strong songs that should have been on Neither One of Us plus manufacturer's seconds. It's a little skimpy (six songs plus one instrumental for just over thirty minutes), but given Mayfield's discursive propensities I'll withhold my complaints. Result: Knight's most satisfying regular-release LP. Gladys Knight, always in thrall to her material, meets Curtis Mayfield, always a more undisciplined composer than is safe for such an undisciplined singer. Weatherly's stuff does beat out the two Pips showcases, though-a transparently hokey "I Can See Clearly Now" and a song about Granny's window designed to recall the one about Daddy's mouth. Bĭamn right "Midnight Train to Georgia" is a great single, but that's no reason to devote an album to the wit and wisdom of Jim Weatherly. You'd think she was planning to leave her label. From the hits through the covers to the fillers she turns in a more than creditable job, but only on a slow version of "For Once in My Life" do you feel she couldn't go a little deeper. If Knight is the golden mean of female soul, here she could use some burnishing.
#GLADYS KNIGHT SONGS FULL#
Annoyance: the tasteful but extraneous strings on the remakes of "Every Beat of My Heart" and "Letter Full of Tears." A. Reviving "The Nitty Gritty" isn't a very good way of getting down there-nothing else here matches the shouting funk of "Grapevine" or "End of Our Road," and her penchant for solid schmaltz obviously goes way back. The Best of Gladys Knight & the Pips: The Columbia Years B.The Best of Gladys Knight & the Pips B+.Venue Details:Ħ South Joachim St.Robert Christgau: CG: Gladys Knight & the Pips There is an overall 8 ticket limit for this event. Gladys Knight which is specially known for Music, R&B.ACCESSIBLE SEAT INFORMATION CALL BOX OFFICE AT 25 OR 25
#GLADYS KNIGHT SONGS FREE#
RESERVED SEATING, CHILDREN 2 AND UNDER FREE WHEN HELD IN LAP. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CALL 25 (SAENGER) OR 25 (CIVIC CENTER). TICKETS MAY ALSO BE PURCHASED AT THE MOBILE CIVIC CENTER BOX OFFICE REGULAR BUSINESS HOURS 9AM-5PM, M-F.
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