John North Editor & Publisher

The two questions I heard repeatedly were whether The Pips would be in attendance and perform with Knight, a resident of the Fairview community of Buncombe County, and what songs she might sing.

People wondered if Knight would sing her group’s top hits, such as “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967 and No. 1 on the R&B charts for six weeks; or “Midnight Train to Georgia,” which reached No. 1 on the pop charts in 1973.

Instead of her hits, Knight sang just one song at the Obama rally — “God Bless America” — and her vocal pyrotechnics proved stirring to the crowd of 3,500 or so.

Indeed, during her hour-long speech, Michelle Obama noted her excitement when she learned that Knight had agreed to appear at the rally, noting that she instantly began singing Knight’s rousing refrain of “I got to go....” from “Midnight Train to Georgia.”

In researching Knight’s career, I learned that Knight and her group were from Atlanta and were active much longer than I thought — from 1953 to 1989. Their strongest years were from 1967 to 1975.

The longest-lived lineup included Knight on lead vocals, with The Pips, featuring her brother Merald “Bubba” Knight and their cousins Edward Patten and William Guest, as backup singers.

Gladys-promo-copy.jpg

Gladys Knight & the Pips perform aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ranger on Nov. 1, 1981. From left are William Guest, Edward Patten, Merald “Bubba” Knight, and Gladys Knight.

I also never realized that Knight got her big career boost when she was seven years old by winning Ted Mack’s “Original Amateur Hour” television-show contest.

A year later, she and the others started a singing group called The Pips, named after another cousin, James “Pip” Woods.

Interestingly, she said Motown removed her group as opening act for Diana Ross & The Supremes in 1966 because they were too good; and “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” proved to be an even bigger hit for Marvin Gaye than for Knight.

The ultimate irony in my research of Knight was learning that she now is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

With her religious preference, I would think she might have found herself conflicted if Mitt Romney remained in the race. Romney, of course, is a Mormon.

Of course, Romney is considered a conservative Republican, while Obama is a liberal Democrat, if not a progressive.

Obviously, Knight is in the Obama camp for political and personal reasons. Based on her vocals last Friday, they may want to take her out on the road to help the campaign.

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John North, publisher and editor of the Daily Planet, may be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .