Joeleen : Neither One Of Us

Joeleen Covers “Neither One Of Us” of the Legendary Group GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE PIPS.

“Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)” is a song recorded by Gladys Knight & the Pips. Released on December 26, 1972 on Motown’s Soul Records imprint as S 35098, it became one of their biggest hit singles to date, and was also the last single the group released prior to them leaving Motown for Buddah Records in February 1973.

By 1972, Gladys Knight & The Pips had spent six and a half years with Motown Records, having signed with the label in 1966. Though well known prior to signing with Motown, they achieved widespread success with the label with hits such as “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”, “Nitty Gritty” and “If I Were Your Woman”. However, the group would recall being treated like outsiders in the label. Lead singer Gladys Knight recalled on A&E’s Biography that she and the group were regarded as a second-string act and that “Diana (Ross) & The Supremes, The Temptations and Marvin Gaye were given all the hits, while we took the leftovers”. While on Motown, Knight & The Pips recorded for Soul Records, a label Motown used for acts that recorded material with more of an R&B flavor than a pop flavor. In 1972, the group had success with their cover of musician Kris Kristofferson’s ballad, “Help Me Make It Through the Night”. The song helped to make the group’s transition from soul and blues-oriented material to more middle of the road flair.

Gladys Knight & the Pips were an R&B/soul family musical act from Atlanta, Georgia that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for three decades.

Starting out as simply The Pips in 1952, derived from a cousin’s nickname, the founding members were Gladys Knight, brother Merald “Bubba” Knight, sister Brenda Knight and cousins William and Eleanor Guest. After a couple years performing in talent shows, the group signed with Brunswick Records in 1957, recording a couple of singles that failed to chart. Brenda Knight and Eleanor Guest were eventually replaced by another cousin, Edward Patten and a non-relative, Langston George in 1959. This lineup produced the group’s first hit single, “Every Beat of My Heart”. After the single was released on three different labels, they changed their name to Gladys Knight & the Pips in 1961. Langston George left the same year and Gladys Knight left in 1962 to start a family with musician Jimmy Newman. Knight rejoined in 1964 and this lineup continued until the group’s disbandment in 1989.

The group reached commercial success after signing with Motown Records in 1966. After a year and a half, the group recorded the first hit single version of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” in 1967, which led to several hit singles for Motown’s Soul Records label, including “Nitty Gritty”, “Friendship Train”, “If I Were Your Woman” and “Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)”, before leaving the label for Buddah Records in 1973, where they recorded the hits “Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me”, “I’ve Got to Use My Imagination” and their number-one hit single, “Midnight Train to Georgia”. Contractual difficulties with their labels forced the group to record side projects until 1980 when they signed with Columbia Records. Later hits included “Save the Overtime (For Me)” and the Grammy-winning single “Love Overboard”. In 1989, the group disbanded with the Pips retiring and Knight embarking on a successful solo career.

Gladys Knight & the Pips are multiple Grammy and American Music Award winners and are inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1996 and 2001 respectively.