Talk about the good 'ol days.
Gladys Knight could tell you a few stories. There are the early days of Gladys Knight and the Pips when they opened for the likes of Sam Cooke or Jackie Wilson.
The civil rights movement. Motown.
Long before all of that, Knight, who started singing at age 4, was a fixture in Atlanta neighborhood talent shows and the children's choir at Mount Moriah Baptist Church.
"Every fourth Sunday we would sing in the youth choir" says Dorothy Brown, her former choir mate. "You couldn't get a seat.""
Knight, 64, is still creating memories and making music.
She appears Friday night in "Legends: A Celebration with Gladys Knight," a National Black Arts Festival concert at Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center.
Here is a brief oral history of Knight's launch from Atlanta.
• "We lived on Merritts Avenue. Then my father moved us back over to Chestnut Street. We were baptized in [Mount Moriah] church."
• "On the fourth Sunday, the children would sing. Oooh child, we could not sing and the lady could not play. Then as we grew up to be teenagers ... now that's when we started getting off ... Our choir became the fiery choir in the church. And on the fourth Sunday the church would be packed."
• "My mom had called her nephew James Woods. Guess what his nickname was? Pip. That's how we got our name. She called Pip and said 'I want you to get these children some engagements.' "
• "Pip knew every single person in town because he went out every night clubbin.' He was like a man about town. He knew all the club owners. He's always been there for us. He taught us etiquette. He knew how the big time artists around town acted."
• "We ended up working at the Royal Peacock (lounge on Auburn Avenue), which was the No. 1 club. We got introduced to Henry Wind, the top promoter at that time. We played the Casino, which was a new club across the street where all the new artists like Dinah Washington would come to play as well. I was in high school." (Knight attended Booker T. Washinghton High then transferred to her alma mater, Archer High.)
• "We would sing in the morning at church and we'd be called the Fountaineers and we were the Pips at night. That's how we got started around Atlanta."
The 411:
"Legends: A Celebration With Gladys Knight"
8 tonight. $20-$76. Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center, 395 Piedmont Ave. N.E. Atlanta. 404-658-7159 or 404-817-8700, www.atlantaciviccenter.com.
HOW 'MIDNIGHT TRAIN' CAME TO Georgia
Jim Weatherly, songwriter for Gladys Knight and the Pips' biggest hit, "Midnight Train to Georgia" originally called the song, "Midnight Plane to Houston."
Knight says she couldn't relate to the mode of transportation or the city because she's a Georgia girl.
The singer recalls how the group sensed something special the night they recorded the newly titled song. The studio was filled with record company executives.
And when Knight had trouble ad libbing the end of the song, she followed her brother Bubba's [Merald Knight] directions in her headphones. The famous ending of the classic tune was produced from Bubba singing the lyrics into Knight's ear.
Sensing a hit, the record execs stood up, applauded and said, "That's the one."
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