Customer Reviews

Before Me

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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.

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.

Good, but a little disappointing. She didn't seem to have her whole heart into her singing.

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.

I couldn't believe my ears! Now that's a dull cliche isn't it? Gladys Knight nearly put me to sleep! I was expecting Ms. Knight to be MS. KNIGHT, not some scared little singer with no confidence in her OWN talent of interpreting songs HER WAY.

When Aretha Franklin was 20, she sang the Holy hell out of Billie Holiday's "God Bless The Child," but did it HER way. She even took Ruth Etting's "You Made Me Love You," and transformed the tune into an Aretha masterwork (she was 19).

Gladys, go back and pull out your Doris Day records. Now SHE could sing this music in the way that an expert POP singer could. I love you, Miss Knight, but somebody gave you the wrong advice here.

I love Gladys Knight (I've seen her live three times in the last year, for example.) I anticipated this collection with great expectations and can't even listen to it. I still love her rich, unique voice, but her vocals seem unmotivated, unmoving and forced. I don't buy any of it. I've heard her sing some of these live and the CD versions pale by comparison. Many of the arrangements seem to have been picked up in the discard bin and her vocals appear to have all be laid down in a short afternoon. Gladys: you can do SO much better - I know, I've heard you do it.

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.

This CD represents Gladys Knight's latest effort to move in new directions while she pays tribute to some of the greatest musical artists who ever came before her. The result is a beautifully prepared and touching tribute album with lush musical arrangements, Gladys in excellent form and a certain emotional experience that is rather difficult to put into words.

The CD opens strong with "Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me." This song with its beautiful musical arrangement draws in the listener and leaves them already very hungry for more. Gladys is very precise about where she accentuates a syllable and where she lets words slide more gracefully. "The Man I Love" follows; this is a timeless classic and a personal favorite of mine because it is so romantic. As Gladys says, this type of classic will never die. It is too pure, too pristine and too universal to ever leave us.

Other songs I particularly like on this CD include "God Bless The Child;" Gladys' beautiful rendition of "This Bitter Earth" which was made famous by Dinah Washington; "Someone To Watch Over Me" which highlights the universal human need for love and protection; "But Not For Me" with its mournful longing for a special someone to enter her life; the romantic "I'll Be Seeing You" and "Stormy Weather" which was made famous by Lena Horne in the MGM movie entitled Cabin In The Sky.

The sound quality is excellent throughout the CD. The liner notes provide an excellent essay by none other than Gladys Knight herself as well as some beautiful photos of Gladys. Wonderful!

You may go to the store and see on the shelf a version of this CD that includes a video interview with Gladys Knight. This interview is excellent and I highly recommend it. However, in order to view the interview on your PC you will need to first install software that comes already on the CD entitled "Universal Media Player." The installation is easy-- just pop in the CD and it automatically starts. I recommend you try it so see this great 11 plus minute interview with video clips of Gladys in the studio as well. If you want you can then delete "Universal Media Player" from your hard drive through "control panel" and then clicking on "add or remove programs." This may be the way to go since I do not know if the CD video software would conflict with Windows Media Player or anything else on your hard drive. You can always re-install it in just seconds by just popping in the CD again into the disc drive on your PC. I would imagine this works similarly for Macintosh computers as the CD does not mention the necessity of running either Windows or Macintosh software as a prerequisite for viewing the video.

Overall, this is a excellent CD: Gladys is in outstanding form; the musical arrangements just couldn't be better; and some very accomplished artists including Chris Botti join with Gladys to make this experience even more special! Chris Botti performs a brilliant trumpet solo for "I'll Be Seeing You." I highly recommend this CD for fans of Gladys, fans of classic pop vocals and fans of R&B. Great job, everyone!

This CD is full of wonderful classics, songs that I have loved for years. However, Gladys Knight takes something very special away from these songs on this CD. I didn't like the way she sung many of the selections. She should stick with what she is known for...soulful singing...not blues classics.

Gladys Knight is a wonderful singer, I grew up listening to her powerful, moving, soulful voice. Knowing just how much I love her voice, I pre-ordered this from Amazon.com......what a disappointment. The opening number "Do Nothin' Til you Hear From Me" sets the general pattern of the CD,...and, might I add, it is NOT pleasant.

Gladys Knight does some very strange things with the melody of the first song, singing horrible notes (YES..I said HORRIBLE), I totally agree with the reviewer who stated that somebody gave Ms. Knight the wrong advice, I feel that she could do a lot better and interpret the songs in a more powerful and more 'Gladys Knight' way. (Listen to what Queen Latifah does on her amazing Jazz/standard album!!!)

Ms. Knight seems to hold back a lot and it is only on "Since I Fell for You" that you can hear and feel her spirit. The other songs will send you to sleep, be warned...you just might have a nightmare. The CD cover is beautiful, the arrangements are very so-so, and the voice....well....not what I had expected, unfortunately!

I love jazz and I simply adore those BEFORE US. This album does not do them justice, nor does it do Gladys Knight any justice either!!! I believe she could have done a much better job.