THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

214-Gladys Knight & the Pips-The Way We Were/ Try to Remember.

1975-Number 4 single.

Best Bit-At 1.38. A ‘Brucie’ bonus today, two songs for the price of one.

Gladys Maria Knight (see also best songs 667) was born on May 28th, 1944, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, she was a member of the ‘Pips’ from their inception in 1952, through until 1962, then rejoined the band in 1964, through until their breaking up in 1989, when she then continued as a solo artist. Gladys Knight and the Pips released 24 studio Albums between 1962-1987, and 76 singles between 1958-1988. there are also two Albums recorded in 1977 and 1978 by the ‘Pips’ without Gladys Knight. In America on the Billboard Hot 100 Gladys Knight and the Pips achieved 25 top 40 singles, with ‘Midnight Train to Georgia’ making Number 1, while in the UK, 18 of their singles have made the top 40, with this song and ‘Baby Don’t Change Your Mind,’ both charting the highest at Number 4. As a solo artist Gladys Knight has issued 10 studio Albums between 1978-2014, and 18 singles, reaching Number 1 on Billboard with her collaborations on ‘That’s What Friends Are For’ in 1985, and also reaching Number 25 in 1996, when featuring on the song ‘Missing You,’ but she has never had an American hit single with only her name given as the sole performer, while in the UK she did reach Number 6 in 1989 with ‘Licence to Kill,’ the theme from the 16th James Bond film.

‘The Way We Were’ was originally recorded by Barbra Streisand, (see also best songs 699 and 145) and was written by Alan Bergman, and his wife Marilyn Bergman, (1928-2022) (see also best songs 229) with music by Marvin Hamlisch, (1944-2012) for the 1973 film ‘The Way We Were’ starring Barbra Streisand. In 1974 Gladys Knight and the Pips recorded a live version of the song as part of a medley with a spoken intro taken from the 1960 composition ‘Try to Remember,’ which had originally been written for the musical comedy ‘The Fantasticks.”Try to Remember was co-written by Tom Jones, (not the Welsh one you are thinking of) who provided the lyrics, and Harvey Schmidt, (1929-2018) who wrote the music. The pair teamed up on many occasions during their illustrious careers, with ‘The Fantasticks’ becoming the longest running musical in history, which ran off-Broadway for 42 years, from 1960 to 2002. Prior to the Gladys Knight and the Pips recording, the most successful version of ‘Try to Remember’ was by the Australian band ‘New World,’ who took their recording to Number 11 on Billboard in 1968.

‘The Way We Were/Try to Remember’ was released as the fourth and final single from Gladys Knight and the Pips 13th studio Album ‘I Feel a Song’ from 1974. The Album was their third release on the ‘Buddah’ record label, after they had left ‘Motown’ records in 1973. The band had always thought they were second class citizens at Motown, with high profile acts such as the Supremes, and Marvin Gaye always being offered the best songs ahead of them. ‘The Way We Were/Try to Remember’ was recorded live at the ‘Pink Knob Music Theartre’ in Clarkson, Michigan, United States, and is one of three live recordings on this ‘1000 Best Songs’ list (see also best songs 924 and 56.)

‘Memories like the corners of my mind, memories, misty watercolour memories of the way we were. Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behind, smiles we gave to one another for the way we were.’