By Bob Berry

It seems all great singers, or groups-the ones who do not write their own material, have one great muse.

At Motown, it was The Supremes with Holland-Dozier-Holland. At Stax-Volt, David Porter and Isaac Hayes with Sam and Dave. The Monkees with Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. It’s a long list.

For Gladys Knight and the Pips, it was a former All-SEC quarterback from Ole Miss, Jim Weatherly; who wrote 1973’s Grammy Award-winning “Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First to Say Goodbye)“.

It was the beginning of a magical run.  Dissatisfied with their second-tier status at Motown, Gladys and the Pips moved to a new record label, Buddah, recording Weatherly’s “Where Peaceful Waters Flow”, the million-selling “You’re The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me“, and “Between Her Goodbye and My Hello.”

And, there was one more.

“Midnight Train To Georgia” was released in August of 1973, and was an instant smash, going all the way to Number One on this day, October 27th, 1973. It became the group’s signature song, won a Grammy in 1974 for Best R&B Performance by a Group, was named to Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

Slow Dance Number One is on Keener 13!

By Bob Berry

August 28th, 1961. Motown Records released “Please Mr. Postman” by The Marvelettes on the Tamla label.

It was the group’s first release, and history was about to be made.

The girls from Inkster High School, Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman and Wanda Young; were about to have a million-selling hit, and become the first Motown group to hit Number One on both the pop and r&b charts.

And perhaps most surprisingly, given Berry Gordy’s “Ford-inspired “assembly line approach” to hit-making; they did it with a song Gladys Horton found, and co-wrote!

While The Marvelettes never again hit Number One, they had a string of hits, notably “Beechwood 4-5789”, “Playboy”, “Too Many Fish In The Sea”, “The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game” and the million-selling “Don’t Mess With Bill”. And “Please Mr. Postman”, recorded by The Beatles for their second album, went to Number One again in 1975, with The Carpenter’s very pop version. And, it sold a million copies the second time around!

We hope you enjoyed our Keener Friday song, with Motown’s first great girl group, The Marvelettes.