NOT AVAILABLE / NIET LEVERBAAR. (never released)


Gladys Knight & The Pips - Imagination.

•  GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS formed in their native Atlanta in 1952 as The Pips. After recording with Brunswick Records in 1958 a later session resulted in a fine version of Johnny Otis’s ‘Every Beat Of My Heart.’ Gladys’s bluesy, compelling vocals brought ‘Every Beat…’ to the attention of Vee-Jay Records who subsequently leased and propelled the single to the top of the US R&B charts and top ten in the Pop charts in 1961. By this point the group were now credited as Gladys Knight and The Pips and had settled on the classic line up of Merald “Bubba” Knight, William Guest, Edward Patton and the “Empress Of Soul” herself, Gladys.

• After stints with Fury and Maxx records the group signed with the Motown subsidiary Soul in 1966 heralding a period of great success with countless hit singles including the original version of ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine,’ ‘The Nitty Gritty’ and ‘Friendship Train’ before smoothing out their bluesy style to a soulful, harmony led sound that gave them hits such as ‘I Don’t Want To Do Wrong’ and ‘Help Me Make It Through The Night.’ Despite their success The Pips were essentially a second tier act at Motown so a move was made to Buddah Records in 1973 when Motown relocated to L.A.

• The first album they cut for Buddah was IMAGINATION, a hugely pivotal moment in their career. Having keenly absorbed the way their records were made, and having had an influence on their own sound during their time at Motown the group co-produced IMAGINATION  with Tony Camillo and realised a watershed moment as they were in full control of their repertory,  proving how strong their musical intuition and artistry was. IMAGINATION has no less than 3 R&B #1’s with ‘Midnight Train To Georgia,’ ‘I’ve Got To Use My Imagination’ and ‘Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me’ as well as ‘Where Peaceful Waters Flow,’ the first single, which reached R&B #6. Other very strong tracks on this classic album are the poignant ‘Perfect Love’ and a superb cover of ‘I Can See Clearly Now’ led by The Pips incredible harmonizing. Both ‘Midnight Train To Georgia’ and ‘Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me’ later became massive hits in the UK where they made the top ten.

• BBR is very proud to bring you IMAGINATION, completely re-mastered and repackaged complete with extensive liner notes and a bonus track. Without any question IMAGINATION is an absolutely essential purchase for all R&B, Soul, Pop and Funk fans out there!


1.    MIDNIGHT TRAIN TO GEORGIA
2.    IT’S JUST MY IMAGINATION
3.    STORMS OF TROUBLED TIMES
4.    BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME
5.    ONCE IN A LIFETIME THING
6.    WHERE PEACEFUL WATERS FLOW
7.    I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW
8.    PERFECT LOVE
9.    WINDOW RAISIN’ GRANNY

BONUS TRACK :

10.    MIDNIGHT TRAIN TO GEORGIA (Single Version)  

Label : Big Break Records
CDBBRX  145
Ean : 5013929044531

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