BOOTH ANNOUNCER:
Shady Train...
the hippest trip in America!
60 nonstop minutes across the
tracks of your mind into the
exciting world of Soul!
And now, here's your host...
Don Cornelius!
Hi there! You're right on
time. Welcome aboard
for another raucous ride
to Soulsville, U.S.A.
on the Shady Train.
As always, we've
got you covered
with our exclusive
all killer - no filler
guarantee, so let's roll.
And we are excited to have as our special guests on this edition a family act
from Atlanta, Georgia, four beautiful people who are recognized as one of
the greatest groups in all of Soul. As they join us to do their original
version of the hit song "I Heard It Through The Grapevine,"
let's welcome them warmly-- the very gifted and talented
Gladys Knight and the dancing, swinging, singing Pips!
"I Heard It Through The Grapevine"
- Gladys Knight And The Pips (Nov./Dec. 1967/Jan. 1968,
highest chart pos. #1 R&B/#1 Cash Box/#2 Hot 100)
And it's another family affair on the big
train. Fifteen years have gone by since
this magnificent band of brothers gained
their first hit single with "Shout." They
are still going strong as ever and getting
better with each passing day. As they
join us to do their latest single on the
T-Neck label entitled "That Lady,"
a remake of "Who's That Lady?,"
a song they first recorded nearly
ten years ago in 1964, let's put
some hands togther, gang, for
the mighty-- Isley Brothers!
"That Lady (Part 1)" - The Isley Brothers
(Sept./Oct. 1973, highest chart pos.
#2 R&B/#6 Hot 100 & Cash Box)
(Sept./Oct. 1973, highest chart pos.
#2 R&B/#6 Hot 100 & Cash Box)
And right now let's welcome aboard what,
in my opinion, is fast becoming the most
exciting musical attraction in the business.
As they join us to do their latest single
on the ABC label entitled "Once You
Get Started," How 'bout it, gang,
for-- Chaka Khan and Rufus!
"Once You Get Started"
- Rufus Feat. Chaka Khan
- Rufus Feat. Chaka Khan
(Mar./Apr. 1975, highest
chart pos. #4 R&B, #6
Cash Box/#10 Hot 100)
chart pos. #4 R&B, #6
Cash Box/#10 Hot 100)
And let's welcome a dynamic young man
with a wealth of talent that has brought
him to super stardom in a short period
of time. He is the former lead singer of
The Time, a band that along with Prince, catapulted "The Minneapolis Sound" to mainstream popularity. This is his first
single as a solo artist, a song from the
Warner Bros. album Color of Success.
It's a biggin everybody's diggin'
entitled "The Oak Tree," and
his name is-- Morris Day!
"The Oak Tree" - Morris Day
(Oct. 1985, highest chart pos. #3 R&B,
#65 Hot 100, from 1985 album Color Of Success)
#65 Hot 100, from 1985 album Color Of Success)
And once again here are our special
guests climbing a mighty mountain
of Soul with their latest single for
Motown entitled "Neither One
of Us (Wants to Be The First
To Say Goodbye)." Give it up
guests climbing a mighty mountain
of Soul with their latest single for
Motown entitled "Neither One
of Us (Wants to Be The First
To Say Goodbye)." Give it up
one more time, gang, for--
Gladys Knight & The Pips!
Gladys Knight & The Pips!
"Neither One Of Us"
Gladys Knight And The Pips
(Mar./Apr. 1975, highest
chart pos. #1 R&B/#1
Cash Box/#2 Hot 100)
And look out now, don't hurt yourself.
It's the Shady Train gang, the Shady
Train line, comin' down the pike to
a sound you'll like. There's a right
way, a wrong way, your way, my
way and the highway, and this
is One Way with-- "I Didn't
a sound you'll like. There's a right
way, a wrong way, your way, my
way and the highway, and this
is One Way with-- "I Didn't
Mean To Break Your Heart!"
"I Didn't Mean To Break
Your Heart" - One Way
(Mar. 1981, B side
of "My Lady")
Your Heart" - One Way
(Mar. 1981, B side
of "My Lady")
And this funky soul man from Houston,
Texas, has been making records since
the early 60s. As he joins us to do his
latest single on 20th Century, a tough
tune that's catching fire in the UK as
well as the U.S. entitled "Don't Push It
Texas, has been making records since
the early 60s. As he joins us to do his
latest single on 20th Century, a tough
tune that's catching fire in the UK as
well as the U.S. entitled "Don't Push It
Don't Force It"... let's make some big
noise, gang, for Mr.-- Leon Haywood!
"Don't Push It Don't Force It" -
Leon Haywood (Apr./May 1980,
Leon Haywood (Apr./May 1980,
highest chart position #2 R&B,
#12 UK/#49 Hot 100/#60 C-Box)
And if that didn't get it, it can't be
gotten. You come on back and jam
with us again next time, and you
can bet your last money it's all
gonna be a stone gas, honey.
I'm Don Cornelius, and as
with us again next time, and you
can bet your last money it's all
gonna be a stone gas, honey.
I'm Don Cornelius, and as
always in parting, we wish
you love... peace... and soul!
A couple of new-to-me acts here (at least as far as my foggy brain can remember). Morris Day and One Way. Leon Haywood's name sounds familiar, but I don't recognize the song.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Rufus/Chaka Kahn number is "Ain't Nobody". :)
Always fun to watch the Train dancers. :D
Hi, Kelly!
DeleteMerry Pipsmas, dear friend, and thanks for being the early bird this week!
I'm a little surprised you don't remember Morris Day and The Time, one of the leading acts of Prince's Minneapolis Sound of the 80s. We ran Morris Day's conceptual music video for "The Oak Tree" day and night at the MTV style station where I worked at the time. Here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hqq5YSIU5Y8
I'm happy to know you like Chaka Khan and her funk band Rufus and that you also dig the hip and stylish Train Gang groovin' on down the tracks.
Thanks again for dropping in early, dear friend Kelly, and have a nice weekend!
Hmmm.... I guess it's just the wrong time and place for me. Although I liked a few Prince songs (Diamonds and Pearls, my fave), I really didn't know much about him or his "sound" until after he died. Thanks for sharing the link. It also reminds me of El Debarge and the music from the campy film, The Last Dragon.
DeleteSince you shared a link, I will, too. Here's what I'm listening to today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHIiWQLhfp4
Hi, again, Kelly!
DeleteThanks for coming back over to chat, dear friend. Looks like you and I are the only people blogging today. :) I am actually poking my head in periodically during a day-long work session. Mrs. S and I are across the state again this week working on the house and preparing to move next month. I am using a borrowed laptop and missing my office back home.
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to "Death Came A Knocking," the gospel blues song by Ruthie Foster. She has been compared to Bonnie Raitt and Aretha Franklin and she also reminds me of the Staple Singers, The Sweet Inspirations and The Mirettes.
You are a wonderful friend, Kelly. Thanks again for joining the Pip party and have a great weekend!
Love the Gladys Knight songs. She has such a great voice. I've heard of Morris Day but wasn't familiar with that song. I see from your comment above that you are moving. It's a busy time! Thanks for sharing these great songs.
ReplyDeleteJanet’s Smiles
Hi, Janet!
DeleteThanks for riding the Shady Train with me, dear friend! I was lucky to find those two nicely restored clips of Gladys Knight and The Pips appearing on Soul Train. In the first of the two, the group sings the original version of "Grapevine," the version of the song I like better than Marvin's, CCR's or that of any other artist. In the second clip, the group turns in what I think is a classic Soul Train performance of their great soul ballad "Neither One Of Us."
Yessum, Mrs. Shady and I are preparing to move for the third time in five years. It's a hassle but a necessary one. Next month around this time I will need to break way from blogging for three weeks to get it accomplished. As you can imagine, winter is the best time to move if you live in Florida because the temperature is cooler.
I'm glad you enjoyed the song lineup on this edition of Shady Train. Thanks again for coming, dear friend Janet, and have a great week!
Hi Shady and Don! Gladys Knight and The Pips are truly a sensational group, aren't they! I love "I Heard It Through The Grapevine". Gladys belts that classic hit out there like there's no tomorrow. I love every version of this song that I have heard, Marvin Gaye, and also, Creedence Clearwater! Then you bring us another side of the group with "Neither One of Us". Gladys gives such a natural performance, like it was unrehearsed! This is a beautiful, yet sad song. You almost forget it's sad by the way Gladys delivers it!
ReplyDeleteLeon Haywood's name is so familiar and his style on stage is also, but I just don't recognize "Don't Push It, Don't Force It". I liked the song, it's a good song, and the video was fun...the dancers dress colors made me think of Lifesavers candies, haha! Morris Day looks so familiar, but, again, I didn't recognize the song "The Oak Tree". I feel like I have seen Morris before, and I like his stage presence and style!
One cool group is the Isley Brothers! "That Lady"...so electrifying, and a good dance song. I like watching them perform, because you get the best of their musicians and vocal key changes and dynamics! Chaka Khan is another great and cool artist. I loved her from the first time I heard her name. I knew she had to be big! Good song, "Once You Get Started".
Fantastic song choices here, Don and Shady! I knew most of the them, and really enjoyed the Shady Train Gang and their colorful, and some, "risky" costumes! Good job to all!
Hope you are getting it all done, Shady! The end of this year is coming up fast and furiously, I'm afraid. But, I almost look forward to 2020! I don't know why, because I've never felt this way before! I think there will be many changes for all of us, with hopefully some positive outcomes.
Thank you for your friendship, Shady! Take care, and have a great week! ♫
Hi, Suzanne!
DeleteMerry Pipsmas, dear friend! :) Thank you for coming over on a Sunday. I'm very happy to see you!
I'm pleased that you found so much to like on Train ride #14. The Pips hark back to the 60s and 70s when smooth, slick, polished, well dressed soul groups sang love songs in sweet harmony and performed choreographed dance moves on stage. Only a few years later trashy P-Funk (Punk Funk) and Rap came along and changed the musical tastes of the record buying public. How about those matching blue suits worn by the guys in "Neither One Of Us"? Gladys sings with quiet confidence and the feeling comes from deep within. She is such a great talent.
Hard to believe, but Leon Haywood started releasing records in 1963 just prior to the JFK assassination. In late 1975 Leon had a top 20 pop/top 10 R&B hit with "I Want'a Do Something Freaky To You." Maybe that's how you remember him. "Don't Push It" was his biggest R&B hit in the U.S. and his only charting single in the UK, peaking at #12. That video shows Leon and his backing singers performing on the televised version of "Top-50" - a program carried by TROS on the Dutch PBS system. "Don't Push It' was a very big record on the disco circuit when I was in my second bachelorhood.
The Isleys and Chaka KHan are two other major star acts in this Shady Train lineup. I was tickled silly to find so many remastered clips for this edition - one gem after another. if you watched that One Way video to the end you saw Spiderman make an appearance on the tracks, evidence of the fact that, as the years went by, the Soul Train Gang became more imaginative in their dancing, dressing up in elaborate costumes, bringing props to the show and even acting out skits.
I too am looking forward to change in 2020. Things can't get much worse than they were in 2019, at least I hope not. As I already told you, my year will start with a move. My next post is scheduled for Friday, but I will be AWOL all day and into the evening because we need to rent a moving truck, load it and get as much of our stuff moved in advance as possible. If you happen to comment on my post that day, please understand that I will be on the road and nowhere near my keyboard until late in the evening. I might need to "sleep on it" and reply the following day. The next several weeks will be more of the same, and then comes a three week hiatus a month from now for the actual move. Thank you for understanding!
I appreciate your friendship, too, dear Suzanne. I hope all is well with you and Scootie. Thanks again for your visit and comment. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and have a wonderful week!
Tom,
ReplyDeleteGladys Knight and the Pips are a fabulous old group. What a classy act! I don't remember Morris Day or Leon Haywood so I appreciated the introduction. I really dig their soulful sound. I sure do like riding the Soul Train with you and Don. Y'all really know how to put the groove in one's move. Have a boogietastic week and have a joyful Christmas season!
Hi, Cathy!
DeleteMerry Pipsmas, dear friend, and thanks for riding the Shady Train with me!
Yessum, I agree that Gladys Knight And The Pips were a class act and I was elated to come across these two pristine performance clips from the Soul Train archives.
I'm surprised you and other readers don't remember Morris Day And The Time, one of the popular acts on Prince's roster of Minneapolis Sound artists of the 80s. Morris and The Time had hits with "The Bird, "Ice Cream Castles" and "Jungle Love." As a solo artist, Morris hit with "The Oak Tree" and "Color Of Success." His videos played heavily on the MTV station where I worked in the 80s and 90s.
Mrs. Shady and I are in the midst of packing and we're hitting the road this morning for a day of travel. This pattern will continue every few days until our big move a month from now when I will need to take a three week hiatus from blogging.
Thanks again for joining the fun and have a boogietastic week, dear friend Cathy!
Talk about Jivin'! I am back after my vacation and listened to all of these. I just shook my head at the pink skin tight onesie wore and think what she will do when has to go to the bathroom.Some good funkie songs. O like Glady Knight and Chaka Chan whom I hardly could recall from how svelte and beautiful she looked
ReplyDeleteHi, Birgit!
DeleteI'm happy to see you dear friend! Thanks for dropping in to your home away from home, Shady's Place.
I assume you are referring to the Soul Train dancer at the 2:50 mark of the One Way video - "skin tight and pretty in pink." I can imagine the producer of the show saying to the gang before they started taping the show, "If anyone can show just cause why they need to use the restroom, let them speak now... or forever hold their pee." :) Yessum, Gladys and Chaka were slender ladies in their youth. Chaka was bold enough to wear revealing outfits with her navel exposed on nationally syndicated television, but she was in great shape and pulled it off.
Thanks again for your kind visit and comment, dear friend BB!
My favourite ride in town! Thank you for getting me through lunch!
ReplyDeleteHi, Jessica Marie!
DeleteI know how much you love to ride this train. Thanks for hopping aboard for its 14th hip trip across the tracks of your mind into the exciting world of Soul! :)
I did not know that the Isley Brother's "That Lady" was a remake of one of their own songs. When I have time, I'm going to have to compare the two. Love Chaka Kahn. Of the two Gladys Knight and the Pips numbers, I prefer "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be The First To Say Goodbye)." It's just that Gladys vocal talents really come through on the slower, less raucous songs. In fact, I think had she sang "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" at the same pace Marvin Gaye sang it, she'd be more identified with the song than Gaye (I looked it up: the Pips version came first, which surprised me. I always thought it was a cover.)
ReplyDeleteAnother great edition of Soul Train. Say hi to Don for me.
Hi, Kirk!
DeleteThanks for coming over and hopping aboard the big train, good buddy!
The Isley Brothers started releasing records in the spring of 1957. Their first single was "The Cow Jumped Over The Moon." You will find that the original 1964 version of "Who's That Lady" aka "the supper club version," has a different sound and tempo. Many Isley fans agree that it is another fine recording by the group.
It would indeed be cool to take the backing track from Marvin Gaye's version of "Grapevine" and have Gladys Knight record the vocal for it. Although the Pips' rendition of the song is considered definitive by the Rodentia Intelligentsia, I agree that Gladys shines brightest on ballads. I prefer "Neither One Of Us" to "Midnight Train." Check out their early slow numbers: "Every Beat Of My Heart," "Letter Full Of Tears," "You Broke Your Promise" and "Giving Up."
Thanks again for your visit and great comment, good buddy Kirk, and enjoy the rest of your week!
I almost missed this train ride today! Late but happy to have made it over. As you know we've been gone but back to work this morning and taking time to stop by! I hate missing your posts and today there were many I didn't know but I sure do love Gladys Knight..her voice is wonderful and she's so darn pretty, even today after all these years. The dancers always make me smile as I notice the dress of the year. You can see the 70's and then see how in the 80's it's a bit more tekkie sounding and looking! Hope all's well with you Shady and you have a good week!
ReplyDeleteHi, YaYa!
DeleteThanks a lot for swinging by to ride the Train, dear friend! Knowing how much you like Motown artists I expected you to single out Gladys Knight And The Pips. They always look their best and perform with professionalism, and you were able to see evidence of it in the two nicely restored videos I recently found on YouTube and plugged into this volume of the series.
If you watched the Soul Train line all the way through that One Way clip, you saw some colorful, flashy, flamboyant outfits, a guy dancing with a guitar and even Spiderman coming down the tracks. As you noticed and mentioned, the Soul Train dancers of the 70s were more reserved in their attire, dance moves and attitude. In the 80s it was "anything goes."
Thank you again for coming to Don C's latest soul bash, dear friend YaYa. Enjoy the rest of your week!