Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me - Gladys Knight, Ellington, Duke
The Man I Love - Gladys Knight, Gershwin, George
Good Morning Heartache - Gladys Knight, Drake, Ervin
Since I Fell for You - Gladys Knight, Johnson, Buddy [1]
God Bless the Child - Gladys Knight, Herzog, Arthur Jr.
This Bitter Earth - Gladys Knight, Otis, Clyde
I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) - Gladys Knight, Ellington, Duke
Someone to Watch Over Me - Gladys Knight, Gershwin, George
But Not for Me - Gladys Knight, Gershwin, George
I'll Be Seeing You - Gladys Knight, Fain, Sammy
Stormy Weather - Gladys Knight, Arlen, Harold
Come Sunday - Gladys Knight, Ellington, Duke
By now, the list of late-career standards-coverers stretches a mile long--in addition to Rod Stewart, Barry Manilow, Smokey Robinson, and a host of less-successful others, add Gladys Knight to the tally. Don't just lump he... more »r in, though, because Before Me differs from its forebears in ways that won't let you forget it. Here is a flawlessly selected and executed exercise in nostalgia for all the right reasons: Knight, in a voice entirely undiminished, extracts the elegance from each of these legendary numbers and smears it all over the surface, something most listeners would expect only from a master stylist on the order of Tony Bennett. Yet the former Pip leader presides with a light touch. Replacing the powerful pop-soul that launched her legend with the swankiest, most black-tie jazz imaginable, she whispers her way through George and Ira Gershwin's "The Man I Love" and the candy-sweet lament "I'll Be Seeing You." Elsewhere, she smokes up the Lady Day classics "Good Morning Heartache," "The Man I Love," and "God Bless the Child," unintentionally turning the latter into a master course of vocal restraint. If "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)" is the disc's wild card--Knight plays it light--the Duke Ellington stunner "Come Sunday," made popular by gospel legend Mahalia Jackson, is its five-star clincher: Knight punches her way through tirelessly, with a true believer's fervor. --Tammy La Gorce« less
By now, the list of late-career standards-coverers stretches a mile long--in addition to Rod Stewart, Barry Manilow, Smokey Robinson, and a host of less-successful others, add Gladys Knight to the tally. Don't just lump her in, though, because Before Me differs from its forebears in ways that won't let you forget it. Here is a flawlessly selected and executed exercise in nostalgia for all the right reasons: Knight, in a voice entirely undiminished, extracts the elegance from each of these legendary numbers and smears it all over the surface, something most listeners would expect only from a master stylist on the order of Tony Bennett. Yet the former Pip leader presides with a light touch. Replacing the powerful pop-soul that launched her legend with the swankiest, most black-tie jazz imaginable, she whispers her way through George and Ira Gershwin's "The Man I Love" and the candy-sweet lament "I'll Be Seeing You." Elsewhere, she smokes up the Lady Day classics "Good Morning Heartache," "The Man I Love," and "God Bless the Child," unintentionally turning the latter into a master course of vocal restraint. If "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)" is the disc's wild card--Knight plays it light--the Duke Ellington stunner "Come Sunday," made popular by gospel legend Mahalia Jackson, is its five-star clincher: Knight punches her way through tirelessly, with a true believer's fervor. --Tammy La Gorce
Jeanne C. (Jeanne-Marie) from TAMPA, FL Reviewed on 10/28/2006...
A great CD. I received a gift copy in addition to the one I had. The songs are fantastic and Gladys never sounded better!
0 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.
CD Reviews
Good Intentions Go Horribly Awry
El Lagarto | Sandown, NH | 10/12/2006
(1 out of 5 stars)
"I saw Gladys Knight & The Pips perform once and I remember thinking at the time that, as much as any singer I'd ever heard, (not just female singers but all singers), this was a performer who sang from the balls of her feet. When she walked off the stage, she didn't take anything back to the dressing room with her, everything she had to give - she gave the audience. That's what makes an R&B and blues belter like Aretha or even Chaka Khan, (Chaka Khan, when she's at the top of her game), but it's not what makes a jazz singer.
I wouldn't include Gladys Knight with the legion of hacks, (read Rod Stewart among others), who insist on churning out retreads from the American songbook like so many pounds of unsalted butter, at least her intentions were pure. In fact, that's what's saddest about this absolutely awful CD. Knight knew many of these women, she honors the enormous debt she owes them, and she genuinely wanted to pay a fitting tribute. What she did instead was prove that nailing notes to the wall is a whole lot different than teasing them out of your soul one tear at a time.
Billie Holiday was a dreadfully coarse woman, but you'd never know it from her astoundingly subtle and delicate styling. Dinah Washington had real power, but it was always controlled, making for tension, restraint, and nuance in every note. The irony here is that Ms. Knight, in attempting to throw laurels at the feet of those who preceded her, has only succeeded in demonstrating that what they could do, and what she can't, is much harder than even she imagined."
Yeahhhhh, but......
Diana B. Revell | Brentwood, TN United States | 11/10/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I still love Gladys - whenever and for whatever reason she opens her mouth - but, for some reason, I can't get Gladys and these songs to do justice to each other. There's some verve missing, and it may be technique...or it may be that the orchestration and arrangements here are too "finished" for this gutsy and raw soul diva. There are many other Gladys things I like so much better."
A disappointing mixed bag--not quite up to par. . . .
Danniray99 | Expatriate in Germany | 02/09/2007
(2 out of 5 stars)
"With "Before Me" Gladys Knight's tries her hand at a number of classic pop standards and show tunes from the 30's, 40's and 50's previously sung by legends such as Dinah Washington and Billie Holiday. Despite the album's high production values, the result is a very mixed bag--although Knight is consistently engaged from start to finish. The album kicks off promisingly enough with the lively strut of Duke Ellington's "Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me." But then the rest of the CD slides into mush: the tempos of most of the songs are slow and there is a sameness to her sound here that quickly bores. One MAJOR problem is that when you hear Knight's ill-advised covers of songs like "The Man I Love," and "Stormy Weather," you are constantly reminded of the much better renditions by Ella Fitzgerald and Lena Horne. It's an unfair but inevitable comparison. More than anything, "Before Me" exposes Knight's limitations: most of the songs require a kind of lightness, an instrumental smoothness, or at least some facility with jazz vocalizing (i.e., scat singing) that she just doesn't have. At her best, Gladys Knight is a first-class R&B singer with a gospel-inspired soul that can rock just about any house. Her greatest songs--"I heard it through the Grapevine," "Friendship Train" and the riveting "Midnight Train to Georgia"--were powerhouse anthems that were at once feisty and vulnerable. "Neither One of Us" (one of the very best pop ballads from the 70's)also showed off Knight's warm, smoky contralto to wonderful effect. In fact, throughout the 1970's and early 80's, Knight showed that she could be a surprisingly versatile (and effective) stylist within the soul, R&B and pop arenas. However, "Before Me" makes it abundantly clear that she is NOT an effective interpreter of jazz standards. I really wanted to like this CD, but I came away feeling that Gladys Knight is out of her depth here and should stick to what she does best."
YET ANOTHER 60's SURVIVOR STILL MAKIN' MUSIC
saint james | Boston, MA | 10/11/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I love Gladys Knight's voice. Of all the ladies who were considered her contemporaries in the 60's and 70's she sounds the best. She sounds more like herself than Patti, Diana, Aretha, Dionne, Chaka, Natalie and many others.
Regarding this CD I was somewhat suprised. Verve is a label that is widely known as a jazz label. I don't hear anything that approaches jazz on this project. Gladys does a good job lending her style and dusky voice to some standards but I can almost see her struggling to find a tighter melody line closer to her gospel and R&B roots. The project feels a little awkward to my ears. I don't think Gladys ever dropped into the right pocket on this project. It is not for lack of effort becqause she sings beautifully here; she just does not bring to the table what was needed. Her almost gospelized version of "God Bless the Child" is the purest example of the point I am trying to make. There are 2 songs on which this was particularly frustrating for me; "Do nothing Till You Hear From Me" and "This Bitter Earth". On these Gladys just seems a little out of the groove. I think her take on "Good Morning Heartache" is very good. It's bluesy and smokey; you can feel the resignation the lyrics intend. She comes close to ruining it with her ad-libs and commentary which kinda lightens the mood. Diana Ross's version is more plaintive and is the winner to my ears. All in all its a good job from a r&b and gospel (of late) chanteusse. The best of the lot to my ears are "Stormy Weather" and "Come Sunday". She sounds the most convincing on the latter where she is clearly in touch with her origins. Though I did keep hearing Mahalia's version in the background of my mind. Gladys may have loved and respected these great women of song but she never really approximates their depth or interpretations. Perhaps I'd like this better if she was "LIVE". Gladys is hot live! This CD does nothing to show her versatility. If you love her voice as I do you may enjoy it. If you are looking for something to expand your jazz/standards collection. Try "Blue" by her former label mate Diana Ross or Rod Stewart's American Songbook or something by Michael Buble."
Gladys Knight
Kim Norman | 01/09/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Good, but a little disappointing. She didn't seem to have her whole heart into her singing."