Just Because

This came on the ipod yesterday. I've said it before but at the risk of repeating myself, you can keep your Aretha's, Diana's,  Martha's et al, Gladys had and still has the best voice out of all of them.

Gladys Knight And The Pips - Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me.

Gladys Knight

Did you catch Gladys Knight on Later last week? What an incredible voice she still has. She has always been my favourite of the really famous soul singers. Her performance was in stark contrast, sadly to that of Martha Reeves, who was terrible when she appeared on the Hootenanny.

Any way here is one of my favourite tracks by Gladys Knight and the Pips

Gladys Knight and the Pips - Here Are The Pieces Of My Broken Heart

And in case you missed it, here is Gladys on Later

Its Friday . . . Let's Dance

Today it's the turn of 2 big hitters in the world of soul. One each from 2 of the most influential labels of the 60's, Stax and Motown.

First up is a track from my all time favorite soul album Otis Blue. This album was released in 1965 and was Otis' third album most of the tracks on the album are down tempo tunes, however with Shake, Otis turns an already good dance tune by Sam Cooke into an absolute stormer that you just can't help but move to.

Otis Redding - Shake

The next track is an unreleased track from Motown by Gladys Knight & The Pips - If You Ever Get Your Hands On Love. Like a lot of stuff from the Motown archives, when this came to light it became an in demand track on the Northern Soul Scene, even though the pressings were crackly copies from poor master tapes. It never ceases to amaze me the quality of the stuff that Gordy either never got around to releasing or deemed not good enough.

Glady Knight & The Pips - If You Ever Get Your Hands On Love