The Ultimate Collection (Gladys Knight and The Pips album)

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 Ultimate Collection
Compilation album by
Gladys Knight and The Pips
ReleasedOctober 7, 1997
Recorded1966-1974
GenreSoul music
Length74:01
LabelMotown Records
ProducerHarry Weinger
Gladys Knight and The Pips chronology
Anthology (version 3)
(1995)		 The Ultimate Collection
(1997)		 Essential Collection
(1999)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Content

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 The song "Here I Am Again" was initially slated to be Soul 35111 and withdrawn from release; that single designation went to "Between Her Goodbye and My Hello."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.

Personnel

Track listing

Singles chart peak positions from Billboard charts; for catalogue item Soul SS711 from Billboard 200.

TrackCatalogueRelease DatePop ChartR&B ChartSong TitleWriter(s)Time
1.Soul 350397/14/67#2#1I Heard It Through the GrapevineNorman Whitfield and Barrett Strong2:53
2.Soul 350421/25/68#15#5The End of Our RoadNorman Whitfield, Barrett Strong, Roger Penzabene2:21
3.Soul 350346/12/67#39#3Everybody Needs LoveEdward Holland, Jr. and Norman Whitfield2:56
4.Soul 350333/16/67#98Take Me in Your Arms and Love MeBarrett Strong, Roger Penzabene, Cornelius Grant2:55
5.Soul 350455/16/68#40#9It Should Have Been MeNorman Whitfield and Mickey Stevenson2:58
6.Soul 350478/8/68#41#15I Wish It Would RainNorman Whitfield, Barrett Strong, Roger Penzabene2:54
7.Soul SS71112/68#136Every Little Bit HurtsEd Cobb3:03
8.Soul 350572/13/69#63#11Didn't You Know (You Have to Cry Sometime)Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson3:33
9.Soul 350236/7/66Just Walk In My ShoesHelen Lewis and Kay Lewis2:47
10.Soul 350635/25/69#19#2The Nitty GrittyLincoln Chase3:01
11.Soul 3506810/6/69#17#2Friendship TrainNorman Whitfield and Barrett Strong3:45
12.Soul 350713/3/70#25#3You Need Love Like I Do (Don't You?)Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong3:35
13.Soul 3507810/29/70#9#1If I Were Your WomanGloria Jones, Pamela Sawyer, Clay McMurray3:12
14.Soul 350835/6/71#17#2I Don't Want to Do WrongJohnny Bristol, Gladys Knight, William Guest
Merald "Bubba" Knight, Katherine Schaffner		3:22
15.Soul 35111Here I Am AgainClay McMurray and Patricia Foster3:39
16.Soul 3509111/18/71#27#3Make Me the Woman That You Go Home ToClay McMurray3:45
17.Soul 350943/6/72#33#13Help Me Make It Through the NightKris Kristofferson4:19
18.Soul 3509812/26/72#2#1Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)Jim Weatherly4:21
19.Soul 351053/9/73#19#2Daddy Could Swear I DeclareJohnny Bristol, Gladys Knight, Merald "Bubba" Knight3:43
20.Soul 351077/10/73#61#28All I Need Is TimeBud Runeau3:22
21.Soul 351115/24/74#57#45Between Her Goodbye and My HelloJim Weatherly3:50
22.Soul 35039b7/14/67It's Time to Go NowNorman Whitfield and Barrett Strong2:42

References
  1. Allmusic review
  2. George, Nelson. Where Did Our Love Go? The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1985. ISBN 0-312-86698-4, pp. 113-114.


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