Midnight Train to Georgia

Last updated
"Midnight Train to Georgia"
Midnight To Geo.jpg
Single by Gladys Knight & the Pips
from the album Imagination
B-side
  • "Midnight Train to Georgia" (instrumental)
  • "Window Raisin' Granny" (optional)
ReleasedAugust 1973
Recorded1973
Studio Venture Sound, Somerville, New Jersey
Genre
Length4:38 (album version)
3:55 (single version)
Label Buddah
Songwriter(s) Jim Weatherly
Producer(s) Tony Camillo & Gladys Knight & the Pips Engineer/Mixer Ed Stasium
Gladys Knight & the Pips singles chronology
"All I Need Is Time"
(1973)		"Midnight Train to Georgia"
(1973)		"I've Got to Use My Imagination"
(1973)
Audio
"Midnight Train to Georgia" on YouTube

"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. [5]

Contents

The song is sung from the perspective of someone whose lover, having failed to become a Hollywood star, is leaving Los Angeles to move back to Georgia, taking the titular "midnight train". The singer expresses her commitment to accompanying him to Georgia: "And I'll be with him (I know you will)/ On that midnight train to Georgia" [6] [7]

Background

The song was originally written and performed by Jim Weatherly under the title "Midnight Plane to Houston", which he recorded on Jimmy Bowen's Amos Records. "It was based on a conversation I had with somebody... about taking a midnight plane to Houston," Weatherly recalls. "I wrote it as a kind of a country song. Then we sent the song to a guy named Sonny Limbo in Atlanta and he wanted to cut it with Cissy Houston... he asked if I minded if he changed the title to "Midnight Train to Georgia". And I said, 'I don't mind. Just don't change the rest of the song.'" [8]

Weatherly, in a later interview with Gary James, stated that the phone conversation in question had been with Farrah Fawcett, and he used Fawcett and her friend Lee Majors, whom she had just started dating, "as kind of like characters." [9] [10] [11] Weatherly, at a program in Nashville, said he had been the quarterback at the University of Mississippi, and the NFL didn't work out for him, so he was in Los Angeles trying to write songs. He was in a rec football league with Lee Majors and called Majors one night. Farrah Fawcett answered the phone and he asked what she was doing. She said she was "taking the midnight plane to Houston" to visit her family. He thought that was a catchy phrase for a song, and in writing the song, wondered why someone would leave L.A. on the midnight plane – which brought the idea of a "superstar, but he didn't get far". [5]

Gospel/soul singer Cissy Houston recorded the song as "Midnite Train to Georgia" (spelled "Midnight ..." on the UK single) released in 1973. Her version can also be found on her albums Midnight Train to Georgia: The Janus Years (1995), and the reissue of her 1970 debut album, Presenting Cissy Houston originally released on Janus Records. [5]

Knight had changed record companies from Motown to Buddah Records, a company with a broader appeal. [5] Weatherly's publisher forwarded the Houston version to Gladys Knight and the Pips, who followed Houston's lead and kept the title "Midnight Train to Georgia" but changed the character of the song. Tony Camillo and Ed Stasium recorded and produced the Al Green-inspired instrumental backing track using a basic band set-up. [5] The vocal recording introduced Knight to ad-libbing towards the end, assisted by her brother. The Pips featured prominently in the call-and-response aspect of the song. [5]

The single debuted on the Hot 100 at number 71 and became the group's first number-one hit eight weeks later when it jumped from number 5 to number 1 on October 27, 1973, replacing "Angie" by the Rolling Stones. It remained in the top position for two weeks. [5] It was replaced by "Keep On Truckin' (Part 1)" by Eddie Kendricks. It also reached number one on the soul singles chart, their fifth on that chart. [12] The record was awarded an RIAA Gold single (for selling one million copies) on October 18, 1973. On the UK Singles Chart, it peaked at number ten on June 5, 1976. [13]

Eddie Middleton had a degree of success with the song. His version made it into the Cash Box Top 100 Country chart and on the fourth week on July 2, 1977, it peaked at no. 84. [14]

In her autobiography, Between Each Line of Pain and Glory, Gladys Knight wrote that she hoped the song was a comfort to the many thousands who come each year from elsewhere to Los Angeles to realize the dream of being in motion pictures, television or music, but then fail to realize that dream and plunge into despair. [15]

In 1999, "Midnight Train to Georgia" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It currently ranks #470 on Rolling Stone 's updated list of their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. [16]

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [26] Platinum600,000‡
United States (RIAA) [27] Gold1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Appearance in other media

The song appears in the Vietnam War film The Deer Hunter , playing in a strip club in Saigon visited by Nick (Christopher Walken) in one scene.

The song plays a notable role in the 1987 film Broadcast News. The character Aaron Altman listens to the song while at home, upset at not being chosen to work on a special breaking news report. While reading a book and simultaneously juggling remotes for his stereo and his television to mute one or the other, he sings:

I can sing

while I read

I am singing

and reading both!

Episode 20 ("The Choice") of season 6 of the American medical drama House features a scene where the characters Gregory House, Robert Chase and Eric Foreman perform a karaoke rendition of the song.

Episode 210 of the TV series 30 Rock ends with Kenneth Parcell attempting to take the midnight train to Georgia after getting addicted to caffeine, only to return quickly noting that the train actually leaves at 23:45. The episode ends with a rendition of the song by most of the cast (and a speaking-only cameo by Knight herself). [28]

Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. re-enacted The Pips' dance moves from a live performance of the song for the season seven finale of American Idol . [29] [30]

Garry Trudeau did a Sunday color Doonesbury comic strip [31] [32] featuring this song, though Georgia was changed to the ignominious "Cranston" in Rhode Island, and an unnamed song/dance group; it was published on July 28, 1974. It has been informally referred to as the "Beats Working" strip. [33]

Episode 56 of Will and Grace featured the title characters posing as millionaires interested in purchasing Sandra Bernhard's co-op, with the latter inviting them to sing along during a rehearsal in which she was rehearsing this song. [34] Bernhard also performed the song during her 1998 one-woman show I'm Still Here... Damn It!

The song was mentioned in "The Ice of Boston", a song on The Dismemberment Plan's 1997 album The Dismemberment Plan Is Terrified . [35]

The cast of Modern Family sing the chorus of the song in the Season 5 episode "The Late Show".

Sports channel FS1 used the song in their closing montage for the 2021 World Series, as the Atlanta Braves won the World Series that year.

Personnel

Production and vocals

Track details

Initial track recorded at Venture Sound Studios, Hillsborough, New Jersey, 1973: [10]

Overdubs recorded at Venture Sound Studios:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gladys Knight & the Pips</span> American R&B/soul vocal group

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gladys Knight</span> American singer (born 1944)

Gladys Maria Knight, known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer. A ten-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousins William Guest and Edward Patten.

<i>Lady Soul</i> 1968 studio album by Aretha Franklin

Lady Soul is the twelfth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin released in early 1968 by Atlantic Records. The album stayed at #1 for sixteen weeks on Billboard's R&B album chart, and it hit number 2 on the pop album chart during a year-long run.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cissy Houston</span> American singer and mother of Whitney Houston (1933–2024)

Emily Drinkard, known professionally as Cissy Houston, was an American soul and gospel singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Houston began singing with three of her siblings in the family gospel group, The Drinkard Singers. By the early 1960s, Houston began a career as a session vocalist for several secular musicians in the rhythm and blues, soul, rock and roll, pop and rock genres. After initially joining her nieces' group the Gospelaires for a session with Ronnie Hawkins in 1961, Houston gradually took control of the group, which revamped into "The Group" with Houston, niece Sylvia Shemwell, Myrna Smith and teenager Estelle Brown. She eventually founded the girl group The Sweet Inspirations with Shemwell, Smith and Brown in 1967 and that year signed a contract with Atlantic Records where, with Houston as lead singer, they would record four albums before Houston departed for a solo career in 1970. Her best known solo singles include the top 20 R&B chart single, "I'll Be There" and the top 5 dance single, "Think It Over". Her solo career culminated with two Grammy Award wins, both in the Traditional Gospel Album category.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Heard It Through the Grapevine</span> 1966 song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing</span> 1968 single by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell

"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" is a 1968 single released by American R&B/soul duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, on the Tamla label in 1968. The B-side of the single is "Little Ole Boy, Little Ole Girl" from the duo's United LP. The first release off the duo's second album: You're All I Need, the song—written and produced by regular Gaye/Terrell collaborators Ashford & Simpson—became a hit within weeks of release eventually peaking at number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot Soul Singles chart, the first of the duo's two number-one R&B hits. In the UK "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" reached number 34.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smiling Faces Sometimes</span> 1971 single by the Undisputed Truth

"Smiling Faces Sometimes" is a soul song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for the Motown label. It was originally recorded by the Temptations in 1971. Producer Norman Whitfield had the song re-recorded by the Undisputed Truth the same year, resulting in a number-three Billboard Hot 100 position for the group. "Smiling Faces" was the only Top 40 single released by the Undisputed Truth, and was included on their debut album The Undisputed Truth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Pips discography</span>

Here is the discography of American R&B/soul vocal group Gladys Knight & the Pips.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Way We Were (song)</span> Song by Marvin Hamlisch with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman

"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).

<i>Imagination</i> (Gladys Knight & the Pips album) 1973 studio album by Gladys Knight & the Pips

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 End of Our Road" is a single written by Rodger Penzabene, Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong in 1967. Originally recorded by Gladys Knight & the Pips and issued as a single in 1968, the Pips' version of the song, became another top forty hit for the family group as it peaked at number fifteen on the pop singles chart and number five on the R&B singles chart.

James Dexter Weatherly was an American singer-songwriter who wrote mostly pop and country music. He played quarterback at the University of Mississippi while also writing music with his own bands. He subsequently chose songwriting over a football career. His notable songs include "The Need to Be" and "Midnight Train to Georgia".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me</span> 1973 song originally performed by Danny Thomas

"You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me" — also known simply as "Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me" — is a song written by Jim Weatherly, and produced by Don Law. It was first recorded in 1973 by Danny Thomas. Soon after it was done by Ray Price from his album You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me. The song enjoyed two runs of popularity, each by an artist in a different genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)</span> 1972 single by Gladys Knight & the Pips

"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.

Anthony J. Camillo was an American record producer, orchestrator and arranger.

"Everybody Needs Love" is a 1964 Motown song by Norman Whitfield and Edward Holland, Jr. The first version released was by The Temptations for their album The Temptin' Temptations in 1965, but the most successful version was on a single by Gladys Knight & the Pips, which peaked at #39 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and #3 on the Billboard R&B singles chart, in 1967. Other Motown acts that recorded this song were Mary Wells, which featured Eddie Kendricks of The Temptations in the background, Jimmy Ruffin, The Velvelettes, and The Miracles. All versions of the song were produced by Whitfield.

<i>Presenting Cissy Houston</i> 1970 studio album by Cissy Houston

Presenting Cissy Houston is the debut album by American soul singer/backing vocalist and former Sweet Inspirations lead singer Cissy Houston, originally released on Major Minor Records in 1970 in the United Kingdom. Her contract was sold to Janus Records the same year. They released the album in the United States as Cissy Houston in 1970. The 2012 CD re-release on Cherry Red Records incorporates bonus tracks from later recordings.

<i>Midnight Train to Georgia</i> (album) 1995 studio album by Cissy Houston

Midnight Train to Georgia is a compilation album by American soul singer Cissy Houston, released in 1995 on Ichiban Records. The album consist of songs recorded when she was on the Janus Records label, which released her debut album, Presenting Cissy Houston, as well as bonus tracks.

"Don't You Miss Me a Little Bit Baby" is a 1967 soul song originally recorded by Motown singer Jimmy Ruffin and released on the company's Soul subsidiary label.

References

  1. ↑ Breihan, Tom (April 24, 2019). "The Number Ones: Gladys Knight & The Pips' "Midnight Train To Georgia"". Stereogum . Retrieved June 18, 2023. Working with the producer Tony Camillo, they gave it a sweltering slow-burn soul arrangement.
  2. ↑ Stanley, Bob (13 September 2013). "This Is My Prayer: The Birth of Soul". Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop. Faber & Faber. p. 16]. ISBN   978-0-571-28198-5.
  3. ↑ Rolling Stone Staff (15 September 2021). "500 Best Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 30 October 2022. "I never really imagined writing R&B songs," Weatherly admitted. "I really thought I was writing country songs." It reflected the times...
  4. ↑ Kuge, Mara (7 February 2019). "14 Secretly Cruel Soft Rock Love Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Padgett, Ray (2017). Cover me : the stories behind the greatest cover songs of all time. New York. pp. 96–103. ISBN   978-1-4549-2250-6. OCLC   978537907.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ↑ "The Problem With This Song: Midnight Train to Georgia". CBC Radio . July 15, 2016. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
  7. ↑ Smith, Danyel (April 19, 2022). "Why Gladys Knight and the Pips' 'Midnight Train to Georgia' is still the perfect pop song". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved June 3, 2023.
  8. ↑ Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits. Billboard Books. pp. 357–. ISBN   978-0-8230-7677-2.
  9. ↑ "Midnight Train to Georgia". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  10. 1 2 Junior, Chris M. (14 April 2010). "Hop aboard the midnight train to Georgia with Gladys Knight & The Pips". Goldmine Magazine: Record Collector & Music Memorabilia. F+W. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  11. ↑ Padgett, Ray (2017). Cover me : the stories behind the greatest cover songs of all time. New York. pp. 87–95. ISBN   978-1-4549-2250-6. OCLC   978537907.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  12. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 330.
  13. 1 2 "Gladys Knight & the Pips". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  14. ↑ Cash Box, July 2, 1977 - Page 47 CASH BOX TOP 100 COUNTRY July 2, 1977 84, 6/25 88, Weeks on Chart 4
  15. ↑ Between Each Line of Pain and Glory: My Life Story, by Gladys Knight. p. 187.
  16. ↑ "Midnight Train to Georgia". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  17. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". 2012-03-30. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  18. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1973-12-15. Retrieved 2018-03-10.
  19. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN   0-89820-089-X
  20. ↑ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, November 10, 1973". Archived from the original on June 9, 2015. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  21. ↑ Canada, Library and Archives (July 13, 2017). "Image : RPM Weekly". Library and Archives Canada .
  22. ↑ Musicoutfitters.com
  23. ↑ "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 29, 1973". Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  24. ↑ Canada, Library and Archives (January 16, 2018). "Image : RPM Weekly". Library and Archives Canada .
  25. ↑ "Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  26. ↑ "British single certifications – Gladys Knight & the Pips – Midnight Train to Georgia". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  27. ↑ "American single certifications – Gladys Knight & the Pips – Midnight Train to Georgia". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  28. ↑ "Kenneth Takes the Midnight Train to Georgia - 30 Rock". NBC. 2008-01-10. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  29. ↑ "AMERICAN IDOL Finale: Jack Black, Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr aka 'The Pips'". Give Me My Remote. 2008-05-21. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
  30. ↑ Video on YouTube
  31. ↑ "Doonesbury", Boston Sunday Globe, July 28, 1974.
  32. ↑ "Pips get no respect". August 15, 2015.
  33. ↑ "All sizes | "Beats workin." Doonesbury on Gladys Knight and the Pips | Flickr - Photo Sharing!".
  34. ↑ "Rob's 'Will & Grace' Page - "Swimming Pools... Movie Stars"". willandgrace.tv. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
  35. ↑ "The Ice Of Boston Lyrics - Dismemberment Plan". Sing365.com. 2002-08-25. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
  36. ↑ Austin, Dan. "Alhambra Theatre — Historic Detroit". Historicdetroit.org. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.