They broke through not by singing protest anthems (their biggest message song, “Friendship Train,” encouraged everyone to get along) but by advancing a wholesome yet gender-progressive image of pro-Black excellence.īy 1973, when Gladys Knight and the Pips released their biggest hit, “Midnight Train to Georgia,” and Phyl Garland, a critic at Ebony, deemed them “the best soul group of the day performing at its peak,” they were already something of a throwback. (The latter includes both Sly and the Family Stone’s performance of the interracial solidarity of “Everyday People” and Nina Simone’s recitation of a poem asking Black people if they were ready to kill.) Yet neither film knows quite what to do with Gladys Knight and the Pips-a group that, although it had begun in the nineteen-fifties, and recorded hit singles in the nineteen-sixties, didn’t take off until the early seventies. Soul!,” about the “Soul!” host Ellis Haizlip, and this year’s “ Summer of Soul,” a documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. Two recent soul documentaries tell a more nuanced story: the 2018 film “ Mr. But stories about soul also enforce a simple binary that Gladys Knight and the Pips resist, wherein supposedly assimilationist Motown entertainers such as the Supremes and nineteen-sixties Stevie Wonder are succeeded by unapologetically Black, conscious artists such as Nina Simone, James Brown, and nineteen-seventies Stevie Wonder. Histories of pop music tend to favor individuals over groups: Sam Cooke over the Soul Stirrers, Patti LaBelle over the pseudonymous trio in which she started out. “You’re like a diamond,” Knight declared, pointing a finger to the sky then shimmying her hand to signal the glimmer-“but she treats you like glass! Yet you beg her to love you-ha!-but me you don’t ask.” She’s not upset, she’s dancing, at least as much as the small stage permits she rows her torso forward, and sends up another vocal firework: “If I were your woman-woo!” By now it’s clear that Knight is not on the sidelines of anything, and that if she’s anyone’s woman, she belongs to-or, rather, is meant to shine with-the Pips.ĭespite their extraordinary talent, Gladys Knight and the Pips have been more beloved by fans than respected by music historians. Knight wore a low-cut, ankle-length purple dress, and her princess-style hairdo was fastened with a matching bow the Pips (all men) looked sharp in cream-colored turtlenecks and dark suits. Listen to the best of Gladys Knight on Apple Music and Spotify.In 1972, Gladys Knight and the Pips appeared on the television show “Soul!,” where they performed, among other hits, “If I Were Your Woman,” a ballad in which the singer tells a man who is already taken that he deserves better he deserves her. Hampton Court Festival 2023 includes the following shows:

Last year, the likes of George Benson, Jack Savoretti, Crowded House, and Kacey Musgraves wowed at HCP Festival. The Kaiser Chiefs headline on June 10, the ABBA parody act are set for June 16, While Astley will perform on June 17.Īt Hampton Court, artists perform in an intimate 3,000-seat auditorium in Base Court, set against the backdrop of Henry VIII’s magnificent Tudor Palace and attendees can enjoy picnics, drinks and street food in the Palace Gardens, whilst waterside gazebos are also available to purchase for those that want to sit back and relax in luxury.

Grace Jones, Kaiser Chiefs, Bjorn Again and Rick Astley were among the first acts confirmed to play the event. Welsh music legend Tom will top the bill on June 14, synth-pop pioneers Soft Cell – comprising Marc Almond and David Ball – headline on June 7, and funk and soul legends Kool and The Gang on June 9. Sir Tom Jones, Soft Cell and Kool and The Gang are also set to play the festival.

Gladys knight concert wichita ks