Imagination | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 9, 1973 | |||
Recorded | June – September 1973 | |||
Studio |
| |||
Genre | Soul | |||
Length | 36:55 | |||
Label | Buddah 5141 | |||
Producer | Tony Camillo, Kenny Kerner, Richie Wise, Gladys Knight, Bubba Knight, William Guest, Edward Patten | |||
Gladys Knight & the Pips chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Imagination | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Christgau's Record Guide | B [2] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [3] |
Imagination is the eleventh studio album recorded by American R&B group Gladys Knight & the Pips, released in October 1973 on the Buddah label. The album, the group's first for Buddah after leaving Motown, includes their first and only Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit "Midnight Train to Georgia", which also reached number-one on the R&B singles chart. Larry Wilcox was credited for the string and horn arrangements.
The album also produced other successful singles, including "I've Got to Use My Imagination" and "Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me", with both songs peaking at number-one on the R&B singles chart and top five on the Billboard Hot 100, and the moderately successful single "Where Peaceful Waters Flow". The album was also their second studio album to make the top ten on the Billboard 200 and their second of five R&B albums chart-toppers.
Rolling Stone wrote that "Imagination is exactly what this album so desperately lacks," and noted the pattern of "nice touches, brilliant moments overcome by the anonymous production and banal lyrics." [4]
All tracks are written by Jim Weatherly, except where noted
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Midnight Train To Georgia" | 4:38 | |
2. | "I've Got to Use My Imagination" | Gerry Goffin, Barry Goldberg | 3:29 |
3. | "Storms of Troubled Times" | 3:44 | |
4. | "Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me" | 3:45 | |
5. | "Once in a Lifetime Thing" | 3:41 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
6. | "Where Peaceful Waters Flow" | 4:24 | |
7. | "I Can See Clearly Now" | Johnny Nash | 4:28 |
8. | "Perfect Love" | Paul Williams | 2:37 |
9. | "Window Raisin' Granny" | William Guest, Gladys Knight, Merald Knight, Edward Patten | 6:09 |
Chart (1973) | Peak [5] |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report) [6] | 27 |
U.S. Billboard Top LPs | 9 |
U.S. Billboard Top Soul LPs | 1 |
Year | Single | Chart positions [5] | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
US | US R&B | US A/C | UK [7] | ||
1973 | "Where Peaceful Waters Flow" | 28 | 6 | 18 | — |
"Midnight Train to Georgia" | 1 | 1 | 19 | 10 | |
"I've Got to Use My Imagination" | 4 | 1 | — | — | |
1974 | "Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me" | 3 | 1 | 10 | 7 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada) [8] | Gold | 50,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [9] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American R&B, soul, and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s.
Stone Gon' is the second studio album by American R&B singer Barry White, released in 1973 on the 20th Century label. The album was arranged by Barry White and Gene Page.
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is a song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for Motown Records in 1966. The first recording of the song to be released was produced by Whitfield for Gladys Knight & the Pips and released as a single in September 1967. It went to number one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and number two on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and shortly became the biggest selling Motown single up to that time.
Prince is the second studio album by the American musician Prince. It was released on October 19, 1979, by Warner Bros. Records. The album was written, arranged, composed, produced and performed entirely by Prince. Overall, Prince was regarded as more diverse than For You (1978), and performed better critically and commercially. Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau wrote: "This boy is going to be a big star, and he deserves it".
"Midnight Train to Georgia" is a song most famously performed by Gladys Knight & the Pips, their second release after departing Motown Records for Buddah Records. Written by Jim Weatherly, and included on the Pips' 1973 LP Imagination, "Midnight Train to Georgia" became the group's first single to top the Billboard Hot 100. It also won the 1974 Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus and has become Knight's signature song.
Here is the discography of American R&B/soul vocal group Gladys Knight & the Pips.
In the Groove is the eighth studio album by soul musician Marvin Gaye, released on August 26, 1968 on the Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records. It was the first solo studio album Gaye released in two years, in which during that interim, the singer had emerged as a successful duet partner with female R&B singers such as Kim Weston and Tammi Terrell. In the Groove was reissued and retitled as I Heard It Through the Grapevine after the unexpected success of Gaye's recording of the same name, which had been released as a single from the original album.
"The Way We Were" is a song by American singer Barbra Streisand from her fifteenth studio album of the same name. It was released as the album's lead single on September 27, 1973, through Columbia Records. The 7" single was distributed in two different formats, with the standard edition featuring B-side track "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?"; the Mexico release instead included an instrumental B-side. The song was written by Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, and Marvin Hamlisch, while production was solely handled by Marty Paich. "The Way We Were" was specifically produced for the record, in addition to three other tracks, including her then-upcoming single "All in Love Is Fair" (1974).
Can't Get Enough is the third studio album by American R&B/disco singer Barry White, released on August 6, 1974 by the 20th Century label.
Claudine is a Gladys Knight & the Pips album, written and produced by Curtis Mayfield. The disc is the soundtrack album for the 1974 20th Century Fox motion picture Claudine, starring James Earl Jones and Diahann Carroll. The album was released in March 1974 on the Buddah label.
I Feel a Song is the thirteenth studio album recorded by American R&B group Gladys Knight & the Pips, released in November 1974 on the Buddah label. It was their third overall album for Buddah.
2nd Anniversary is the fifteenth studio album recorded by American R&B group Gladys Knight & the Pips, released in October 1975 on the Buddah label. It was their fourth overall album for Buddah.
"Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)" is a song recorded by Gladys Knight & the Pips. Released in December 1972 on Motown's Soul Records imprint as S 35098, it became one of their biggest hit singles to date, and was also the last single the group released prior to them leaving Motown for Buddah Records in February 1973.
"I Feel a Song (In My Heart)" is a song written by Tony Camillo and Mary Sawyer. The song was originally recorded by Sandra Richardson in 1971.
"I've Got to Use My Imagination" is a song recorded by Gladys Knight & the Pips. Released from the hit album, Imagination, which was their debut album with Buddah Records. It was a success on the soul and pop charts, spending a week at number one on the Hot Soul Singles chart in early 1974 and peaking at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. It became one of the band's highest charting songs and eventually sold more than one million copies.
The One and Only is an album by the American musical group Gladys Knight & the Pips, released in August 1978 on the Buddah label. It was their eighth and final album recorded for Buddah.
Everybody Needs Love is the third studio album by Gladys Knight & the Pips and their first album for Motown Records' Soul imprint. The LP, chiefly produced by Norman Whitfield, features the singles "Just Walk in My Shoes", "Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me", "Everybody Needs Love" and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine".
Neither One of Us is the ninth studio album by American R&B quartet Gladys Knight & the Pips, released in early 1973 by Motown Records on the Soul Records label.
Gladys Knight is the second studio album by American singer Gladys Knight. It was released by Columbia Records in 1979 in the United States. Her only album with that label, it peaked at number 71 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Gladys Knight would remain Knight's last solo album until the 1991 release of Good Woman.
Visions is an album by the American soul group Gladys Knight & the Pips, released in 1983.