R&B legend Gladys Knight is 81 years old but you’d never know it from her singing.
Knight’s amazing voice, a signature sound of classic pop and R&B, remains a wonder of the world. She sounds almost no different now than she did in 1973 when “Midnight Train to Georgia” sent her and the Pips to number 1 after more than a decade of hits. There’s no age defined raspiness or lack of strength. The richness of her light baritone is undiminished.
We’re lucky she’s still touring — not just solo but also on a Divas tour with Patti Labelle, Chaka Khan, and Stephanie Mills. But why is this member of the Rock Hall, Grammy winner, one time variety show host, still riding around in a caravan of gigantic streamlined silver showbiz buses from town to town? She could be home in North Carolina or even Las Vegas enjoying her grandchildren, and signing autographs.
One reason might be that she didn’t write her hit songs, so she gets no publishing royalties. Every time you hear her records playing on the radio, in a store, or anywhere, the writers of the songs are the ones getting paid. Until Congress okays a performance royalty, that won’t stop. So if Knight wants regular income, this is the only way to get it.
There may be other reasons she’s still on the road, that aren’t totally clear. Another is that this exercise makes her happy. Don’t worry — on stage she’s clearly enjoying herself.
When she appeared Saturday night at the sold out beautiful Ridgefield Playhouse in tony Fairfield County, Connecticut, Gladys was guided by three backup singers. The audience was wildly happy to see her. The legendary singer of “I Heard it Through the Grapevine’ and “Neither One of Us” got a proper, revved up standing ovation of applause and hoots of appreciation.
Once upon a time, a Gladys Knight and the Pips (her brother and cousins) show was a big affair with lavish shiny costumes and killer dance moves. It could also run from 90 minutes to 2 hours. Now the show is one hour, which surprised the audience expecting something from the old days. The costumes are gone, replaced by fashionably cut earth tone suits. The band is six, plus three back up singers. All of them are top notch, and on the spot versatile.
The singers, in particular, are required to be the creme de la creme because Gladys only sings parts of songs now. In most cases, she does the opening verse and then vamps on the chorus. Her singing is a muscle memory. It’s almost as if she’s in a trance. As she did say at another show, in a video, “I’ve been doing this since I’m three years old.” The music is hard wired into her and comes out of her mouth with the most magnificent sound. She’s letter perfect even when she’s improvising or studying her Teleprompter. Hearing Gladys Knight sing is as exciting was it was in the 60s and 70s.
There are some concerns. Noticeably thin, Gladys — who was once voluble telling stories on stage — doesn’t speak to the audience. She smiles widely and continuously, almost robotically, and often blows kisses to phantom fans that seem stored in her head. In a couple of numbers, the gospel ones, she suddenly gets very teary eyed to the point of crying. She holds the hands of the three lady singers behind her, sitting on stools, often looking at them for prompts of words to start the songs. But once she’s up on her metaphoric bicycle — like a little girl learning to balance — she rides off triumphantly.
Saturday night’s show ran just under one hour, but it satisfied the audience to hear glimpses of Gladys’s many hits. On the pop ballads — like “Neither One of Us ” or “Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me” — she seemed to lose concentration as the singers guided her to the end. But on the funky numbers — like “(I’ve Got Use My) Imagination” or “On and On,” she shimmied as if no time had passed, and her eyes lit up.
By the end of the hour, a condensed version of “That’s What Friends Are For” — the hit she had with Dionne Warwick, Elton John, and Stevie Wonder — is mostly performed by the backup singer. It’s a signal that it’s time to take a bow, blow a kiss, and say goodnight.
PS The band is not introduced, so if anyone knows who’s who, please send me names at showbiz411@gmail.com
Below: some short videos from the thrilling if perplexing night.
