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The Ultimate Collection | ||||
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Compilation album by | ||||
Released | October 7, 1997 | |||
Recorded | 1966-1974 | |||
Genre | Soul music | |||
Length | 74:01 | |||
Label | Motown Records | |||
Producer | Harry Weinger | |||
Gladys Knight and The Pips chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
The Ultimate Collection is a compact disc by Gladys Knight and The Pips, released on Motown Records, catalogue MOTD 0826, in October 1997. It is a collection of singles comprising many of the group's greatest hits, with liner notes written by Ruth Adkins Robinson.
The disc contains every Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and twelve top ten Rhythm and Blues singles chart hits enjoyed by Gladys Knight and the Pips that were released on the Motown associate label Soul Records imprint. One track was never released as a single, her cover of "Every Little Bit Hurts" previously done by fellow Motown artist Brenda Holloway, this version appearing on a full album of cover songs from 1968, Soul SS711 Silk 'n' Soul . One track is a b-side, "It's Time to Go Now" the flip of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," released a year before the version by Marvin Gaye. The song "Here I Am Again" was initially slated to be Soul 35111 and withdrawn from release; that single designation went to "Between Her Goodbye and My Hello." The disc was part of an "Ultimate Collection" series issued that year by Motown for many of their top-selling classic artists.
Starting in the late 1960s and early 1970s, standard industry practice shifted to a focus on album sales, where a single became less a separate entity and more simply an advertisement for an LP, and a lead single would be pulled off an album as a promotional tool. Prior to this, singles were concentrated upon as a profitable commodity, especially for smaller record labels, and albums were often built around already successful singles. Since Motown fixated on the hit single until the very end of its stay in Detroit, single versions of songs often featured different mixes than versions that would be later placed on albums. Singles were usually mixed "punchier" and "hotter" to sound better on car radios receiving AM broadcast. [2] The single versions are the ones appearing here.
Track | Song title | Writer(s) | Time |
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1. | I Heard It Through the Grapevine | Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong | 2:53 |
2. | The End of Our Road | Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong, Roger Penzabene | 2:21 |
3. | Everybody Needs Love | Edward Holland, Jr., Norman Whitfield | 2:56 |
4. | Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me | Barrett Strong, Roger Penzabene, Cornelius Grant | 2:55 |
5. | It Should Have Been Me | Norman Whitfield, Mickey Stevenson | 2:58 |
6. | I Wish It Would Rain | Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong, Roger Penzabene | 2:54 |
7. | Every Little Bit Hurts | Ed Cobb | 3:03 |
8. | Didn't You Know (You Have to Cry Sometime) | Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson | 3:33 |
9. | Just Walk in My Shoes | Helen Lewis, Kay Lewis | 2:47 |
10. | The Nitty Gritty | Lincoln Chase | 3:01 |
11. | Friendship Train | Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong | 3:45 |
12. | You Need Love Like I Do (Don't You?) | Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong | 3:35 |
13. | If I Were Your Woman | Gloria Jones, Pamela Sawyer, Clay McMurray | 3:12 |
14. | I Don't Want to Do Wrong | Johnny Bristol, Gladys Knight, William Guest Merald "Bubba" Knight, Katherine Schaffner | 3:22 |
15. | Here I Am Again | Clay McMurray, Patricia Foster | 3:39 |
16. | Make Me the Woman That You Go Home To | Clay McMurray | 3:45 |
17. | Help Me Make It Through the Night | Kris Kristofferson | 4:19 |
18. | Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye) | Jim Weatherly | 4:21 |
19. | Daddy Could Swear I Declare | Johnny Bristol, Gladys Knight, Merald "Bubba" Knight | 3:43 |
20. | All I Need Is Time | Bud Runeau | 3:22 |
21. | Between Her Goodbye and My Hello | Jim Weatherly | 3:50 |
22. | It's Time to Go Now | Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong | 2:42 |
Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American R&B/soul/funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades.
Gladys Maria Knight, known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman, and author. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight is known for the hits she recorded during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which also included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousins William Guest and Edward Patten.
Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a blend of motor and town, has become a nickname for Detroit, where the label was originally headquartered.
Jimmy Lee Ruffin was an American soul singer, and elder brother of David Ruffin of the Temptations. He had several hit records between the 1960s and 1980s, the most successful being the Top 10 hits "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" and "Hold On ".
"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 to date.
Norman Jesse Whitfield was an American songwriter and producer, who worked with Berry Gordy's Motown labels during the 1960s. He has been credited as one of the creators of the Motown Sound and of the late-1960s subgenre of psychedelic soul.
"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 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the Hot Soul Singles chart, the first of the duo's s two number 1 R&B hits. In the UK "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" reached number 34.
"Midnight Train to Georgia" is a 1973 number-one hit single 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" won the 1974 Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus and has become Knight's signature song.
"I Wish It Would Rain" is a 1967 song recorded by the Temptations for the Motown label and produced by Norman Whitfield.
I Heard It Through the Grapevine! is the eighth studio album by soul musician Marvin Gaye, released on August 26, 1968 on the Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records. Originally released as In the Groove, 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. The album and its title track are considered both as Gaye's commercial breakthrough.
"What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" is a hit single recorded by Jimmy Ruffin and released on Motown Records' Soul label in the summer of 1966. It is a ballad, with lead singer Jimmy Ruffin recalling the pain that befalls the brokenhearted, who had love that's now departed. The song essentially deals with the struggle to overcome sadness while seeking a new relationship after a breakup.
"Giving Up" is a popular song written by Van McCoy that was introduced by Gladys Knight & the Pips with an April 1964 single release. It was a Top 40 Pop hit, reaching No. 38 on the Billboard Hot 100. and a Top 10 R&B hit, reaching No. 6 on the Billboard R&B singles chart...inspiring cover versions by many artists. Gladys and her family group The Pips, (her brother Merald ,and their cousins, Ed Patten, and William Guest, later recorded a newer version of the song after being signed by Motown, which was released on their "Greatest Hits" album and Anthology on Motown's "Soul" subsidiary label several years later.
"Neither One of Us " is a song recorded by Gladys Knight & the Pips. Released on December 26, 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.
Everybody Needs Love is the third 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".
The Ultimate Collection is a compact disc by The Four Tops, released on Motown Records, catalogue 314530825-2, in October 1997. It is a collection of singles comprising many of the group's greatest hits, with liner notes written by Stu Hackel.
The Ultimate Collection is a compact disc by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, released on Motown Records, catalogue 314530857-2, in February 1998. It is a collection of singles comprising many of the group's greatest hits, with liner notes written by Stu Hackel.
The Ultimate Collection is a compact disc by Diana Ross and the Supremes, released on Motown Records, catalogue 314530827-2, in October 1997. It is a collection of singles comprising many of the group's greatest hits, with liner notes written by Diane Marie Weathers.
The Ultimate Collection is a compact disc by The Temptations, released on Motown Records, catalogue 314530562-2, in March 1997. It is a collection of singles comprising many of the group's greatest hits, with liner notes written by producer Harry Weinger.
"(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet" is a 1964 hit single by the Reflections, their recording of a composition by Bob Hamilton and Freddie Gorman.
All I Need Is Time is an album recorded by Gladys Knight & the Pips, released in June 1973 by Motown Records on the Soul Records label.