Gladys Knight & the Pips’ epic song, Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye), was their last release before leaving Motown for Buddah Records in February 1973.
One of the greatest break-up songs in soul music was originally written and first recorded by fledgling country singer-songwriter Jim Weatherly.
Jim Wetherly gave up a football career to pursue a career in music. The singer, songwriter wrote mostly pop and country songs. The success of Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye) lead Gladys Knight & The Pips to record several more of Jim Weatherly’s songs including Midnight Train To Georgia and Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me.
Shortly after Producer Joe Porter suggested the song to the group, Gladys Knight recorded her lead vocal in one take at MoWest Studios.
But when the group traveled by car back from Los Angeles to Detroit, they decided to return to the studio to add more background vocals and re-record Gladys’s lead vocals.
Motown issued the song for promotional use in December 1972. Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)steadily began climbing the charts on both the pop and R&B charts. It became the group’s biggest hit since “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” roughly six years before.
On March 17, 1973, the song reached number one on the Hot Soul Singles chart, staying there for four consecutive weeks.
We’re talking about nighttime diabetes management with musical inspiration from Gladys Knight & The Pips courtesy of SONY Music.
Gladys Knight doesn’t have diabetes, but the disease is as close to her heart as the memories of her mother, Elizabeth Knight, who died of complications from the disease in 1997. A five-time Grammy award winner, Knight is as busy as ever gracing the entertainment world with her exceptional voice. Yet she never misses an opportunity to voice the message of early detection and treatment of diabetes.
Gladys shares her final words of wisdom: ” Do something about diabetes … Know more, do more!” Knight feels nearly as passionate about spreading that message as she does about the incredible singing career her mom helped her launch some 54 years ago.
Guests include Stacey Harris aka ‘The Diabetic Pastry Chef’, Mary Ann Hodorowicz, RD, LDN, MBA, CDE, CEC, the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach, SleepyHead Central founder Tamara Sellman RPSGT, CCSH, Poet Lorraine Brooks and Mama Rose Marie.
I am not only obsessed with Luther’s fantastic ability to put his stamp on classic songs, A House Is Not A Home, Superstar, and Anyone Who Had A Heart, but also his genius at mashing up two separate songs to create one phenomenal masterpiece. For example, his classic Power Of Love/Love Power celebrating its 30th anniversary this week.
Do you know that this song is a medley of two songs, his original Power of Love and the remake of Love Power? Love Power had been a minor hit in 1968 by the one-hit-wonder R&B group, The Sandpebbles (I’m crossing my fingers for a reunion tour) and then, Dusty Springfield performed a live version.
I echo the sentiments expressed by music critic Ken Tucker for Entertainment Weekly, ” Luther Vandross has joined two different songs, both featuring gliding, colliding melodies that offer the singer an opportunity to apply his delicate tenor to witty, chanted variations on the songs’ titles.”
Luther’s version, Power Of Love/Love Power, spent two weeks at #1 on the US R&B chart and peaked at #4 on the US pop chart, becoming his biggest pop solo hit (at the time). We played Luther’s Power Of Love/Love Power at the end of every one of Divabetic’s national Makeover Your Diabetes diabetes outreach programs.
Learn more about the backstory of the making of Power Of Love/Love Power on this remarkable FANDROSS video:
