In my opinion, this lady as well as this group, does not get enough recognition. Gladys, is such a great singer and gets no props!! What gives?

shorttrini said:

It must be something about Gladys that the business does not care for. I've never heard anything bad about her, but you never know what kind of reputation she has among record executives.

Or, maybe she doesn't care about that either. She has one of the longest careers in the business and never gets props, so something is going on.

This is a group that, despite all of their accomplishments, remains very underrated (much like the Isley Brothers). Whereas people bug out over The Supremes or the Jackson 5 (since technically Gladys & the Pips were also a family group), I believe Gladys Knight & the Pips were one of the best things to happen to Motown.

Timmy84 said:

Maybe you had to marry into or have a relationship with Mr. Gordy.

I still believe the Isley Brothers along with Ike Tuners should been with the 1st group of inductee's into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Anywho.

Yea, I agree about Gladys & the Pips and their contribution to Motown. Why Gladys and the Pips didn't get the same accolades by the public, I do know. The only thing I can gather, with all this amazing music being made at the time Gladys Knight & the Pips and the Isley Brothers just got lost in the wash.

As far as Motown/Gordy is concerned... he and his team missed the boat. As always the b.s., office politics, and the first tier artist vs the second tier artist came back to bite him and Motown in the ass. It's ironic both groups left for Buddha Records after their Motown deals were up.

TD3 said:

VERY ironic and the fact the Isleys got PLATINUM after moving to CBS was even more biting for Berry.

Timmy84 said:

Oops! Mr. Gordy always claimed he was never interested in Motown becoming a BIG company. I think Gordy was and is a small minded person who could never think beyond his shoe size. It appears he (I may be wrong) had these grandiose ideas of being some type of power broker, "godfather type" who appeared more interested power-plays in his little kingdom. Or, should I say the power-plays hijacked and retarded what Motown could have been,but this isn't uncommon in business, just look at the automotive big 3.


Here's a interview (part 2) that Ms. Knight did with Tavis in '06.


[Edited 4/27/09 9:55am]

Gladys Knight, the most under celebrated female r&b singer of all-time.
She is all that and a bag of chips. People always rave about Patti LaBelle afte Aretha Franklin, it should be Gladys Knight.
"Neither One Of Us" and "On and On" and "Save The Overtime" wooweeee Gladys.

RnBAmbassador said:

It's amazing how Patti's career took off when she signed to MCA. When Gladys signed, her career didn't explode like Patti's. Gladys did have lots of hits at MCA, but her appeal didnt' grow like Patti's did.

Maybe it's because Gladys is not as flamboyant as Patti or Aretha? I don't know.

Timmy84 said:

Maybe you had to marry into or have a relationship with Mr. Gordy.

I still believe the Isley Brothers along with Ike Tuners should've been with the 1st group of inductee's into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Anywho.

Yea, I agree about Gladys & the Pips and their contribution to Motown. Why Gladys and the Pips didn't get the same accolades by the public, I don't know. The only thing I can gather, with all the amazing music being made at that time Gladys Knight & the Pips and the Isley Brothers just got lost in the wash.

As far as Motown/Gordy is concerned... he and his team missed the boat. As always the b.s., office politics, and the first tier artist vs the second tier artist came back to bite him and Motown in the ass. It's ironic both groups left for Buddha Records after their Motown deals were up.
[Edited 4/27/09 9:52am]

daPrettyman said:

No it was because Gladys wasn't into wearing big-ass wigs and also she didn't shout just to be shouting nor was she rolling all around the stage like a roller pin and taking everybody's singing spot.

Sorry, Patti.

Timmy84 said:

Well, I wanted to say something like that, but I picked "flamboyant" instead.

I don't think Gladys appeals to the gay audience as much because she's not as wild.

TD3 said:

If you've ever seen, "Talk To Me", with Don Chedle, his character said that Berry was Motown's biggest pimp. I guess it's true.

shorttrini said:

"Talk To Me" was nothing. You should read this book:


It tells lots of stories about Berry, his family and the stars of Motown. It has court papers to back up its stories. Great read if nothing else.

Gladys and Berry's feud is discussed in detail in this book.

- Gladys is what I call a "soul streamer"; not much of a belter/wailer but just keeps things nice and smooth

Besides could you imagined Ms. Knight rolling all over the floor? We'd swear she was on somethen.

Mstrustme said:

Besides could you imagined Ms. Knight rolling all over the floor? We'd swear she was on somethen.