Gladys Knight & The Pips – Everybody Needs Love (1967/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 15:59 minutes | 665 MB | Genre: Soul
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Motown
Everybody Needs Love is the third album by Gladys Knight & the Pips and their first album for Motown Records’ Soul imprint. The LP, chiefly produced by Norman Whitfield, features the singles “Just Walk in My Shoes” (the 1966 group’s Motown debut), “Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me”, “Everybody Needs Love” and “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”.
“Everybody Needs Love”, which peaked at number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100, was Knight & the Pips first major Motown hit, but “Grapevine”, which peaked at number 2, was a major success for the group and Motown. Selling over 2.5 million copies, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” became Motown’s best-selling single to that point. Its success would be overshadowed by Marvin Gaye’s version of the song, which would be issued on Motown’s Tamla label a year after Knight & the Pips’ recording.
The big news for Gladys Knight & the Pips in 1967 was, of course, their late-year smash with “I Heard It Through The Grapevine,” which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December. But before that, “Everybody Needs Love,” released in June on Motown’s Soul label, was their first Top 40 pop hit for the company. It performed even better on the R&B charts, with a Top 3 peak which was a stronger showing than most of the group’s output for their previous label home, Maxx Records.
Gladys & the Pips signed to Motown in early 1966, moving from Maxx in the company of that outfit’s owner, Larry Maxwell, who was simultaneously appointed the Detroit firm’s national promotion manager. By April, the quartet was recording in the West Grand studio, cutting “In My Heart I Know It’s Right” during their first session, as well as “Just Walk In My Shoes,” their Soul debut. Later that same month, they cut “Everybody Needs Love” under producer Norman Whitfield.
When they weren’t in the studio, the group was in concert, drawing audiences with their soulful vocalizing and razor-sharp choreography. In particular, they performed on the same bill as Stevie Wonder for a number of dates in ’67, including an all-important appearance at Motown’s first national sales convention in Detroit in August, and a week-long stint at the city’s Fox Theater as part of the Christmas Motor Town Revue. By then, “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” was at its chart peak and the group was stepping up to become one of Motown’s most important attractions – as they would be for the next five years.
Tracklist:
1. Gladys Knight & The Pips – I’ll Be Standing By (02:21)
2. Gladys Knight & The Pips – Since I’ve Lost You (02:37)
3. Gladys Knight & The Pips – I Heard It Through The Grapevine (02:48)
4. Gladys Knight & The Pips – You Don’t Love Me No More (02:31)
5. Gladys Knight & The Pips – Ain’t No Sun Since You’ve Been Gone (02:43)
6. Gladys Knight & The Pips – Take Me In Your Arms And Love Me (02:55)
