Midnight Train to Georgia
Encyclopedia
"Midnight Train to Georgia" is a 1973 number-one hit single by Gladys Knight & the Pips
, their second release after departing Motown Records
for Buddah Records
. Written by Jim Weatherly
, and included on the Pips' 1973 LP Imagination, "Midnight Train to Georgia" won the 1974 Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus
and has become Knight's signature song
.
to move to Los Angeles
to become a "superstar, but he didn't get far". He decides to give up, and "go back to the life he once knew." Despite the fact that she's settled and secure in herself, the narrator decides to move to Georgia with him:
The song was originally recorded by singer Cissy Houston
, and released as a single a year earlier. Jim Weatherly had recorded one of his own songs, "Midnight Plane to Houston," on Jimmy Bowen's Amos Records. "It was based on a conversation I had with somebody... about taking a midnight plane to Houston," Weatherly recalls. "I wrote it as a kind of a country song. Then we sent the song to a guy named Sonny Limbo in Atlanta and he wanted to cut it on Cissy Houston... he asked if I minded if he changed the title to 'Midnight Train to Georgia.' And I said, I don't mind. Just don't change the rest of the song.'" Weatherly in an interview with Gary James, stated that the phone conversation was with Farrah Fawcett
and he used Fawcett and his friend Lee Majors
, who she'd just started dating, "as kind of like characters." Cissy Houston took Weatherly's song into the R&B chart. Her version can be found on the CD Midnight Train to Georgia: The Janus Years. Also, Weatherly's version began with "Nashville (not L.A.) proved too much for the man."
Weatherly's publisher forwarded the song to Gladys Knight and the Pips, who followed Houston's lead and kept the title "Midnight Train to Georgia." Their second single for Buddah, it debuted on the Hot 100 at number seventy-one and became the group's first number-one hit eight weeks later, as well as reaching number one on the soul singles chart, their fifth on that chart. On the UK Singles Chart
, it peaked at number ten.
"Midnight Train to Georgia" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. Rolling Stone
ranked it #432 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
In her autobiography, Between Each Line of Pain and Glory, Gladys Knight wrote that she hoped the song was a comfort to the many thousands who come each year from elsewhere to Los Angeles to realize the dream of being in motion pictures or music, but then fail to realize that dream and plunge into despair.
The song was featured during a scene in the 1978 film The Deer Hunter
by director Michael Cimino
, in which the character Michael (Robert DeNiro) searches for his friend Nick (Christopher Walken) in a strip club in Saigon as the girls gyrate to "Midnight Train to Georgia". The song was also featured in "Episode 210
" of the NBC
sitcom 30 Rock
, the episode "The Choice
" of House
, and the episode "Swimming Pools ... Movie Stars" of Will & Grace
. Ben Stiller
, Jack Black
and Robert Downey Jr reenacted The Pips' dance moves from a live performance of the song for the American Idol
finale.
NBC invited Gladys Knight
to the end of the season two of Las Vegas
. She sang "Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me" and "Midnight Train To Georgia".
In the movie He Was a Quiet Man
, Elisha Cuthbert
and Christian Slater
do a gig of this song at a restaurant when Venessa (Cuthbert) gets released to home care from the hospital. Bob McConnel (Slater) does the Pips.
Overdubs recorded at Venture Sound Studios:
Gladys Knight & the Pips
Gladys Knight & The Pips were an R&B/soul family musical act from Atlanta, Georgia, active from 1953 to 1989. The group was best known for their string of hit singles on Motown's "Soul" record label and Buddah Records from 1967 to 1975, including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Midnight...
, their second release after departing Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
for Buddah Records
Buddah Records
Buddah Records was founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's founding...
. Written by Jim Weatherly
Jim Weatherly
James Dexter Weatherly is an American singer-songwriter. Weatherly played quarterback at the University of Mississippi and was an All-American before choosing songwriting over a football career...
, and included on the Pips' 1973 LP Imagination, "Midnight Train to Georgia" won the 1974 Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus
Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals
The Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded between 1970 and 2011. From 1967 to 1969 and in 1971 the award included instrumental performances...
and has become Knight's signature song
Signature song
A signature song is the one song that a popular and well-established singer or band is most closely identified with or best known for, even if they have had success with a variety of songs...
.
Background
The theme of the song is how romantic love can conquer differences in background. The boyfriend of the song's narrator is a failed musician who left his native GeorgiaGeorgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
to move to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to become a "superstar, but he didn't get far". He decides to give up, and "go back to the life he once knew." Despite the fact that she's settled and secure in herself, the narrator decides to move to Georgia with him:
- "And I'll be with him
- On that midnight train to Georgia
- I'd rather live in his world
- Than live without him in mine."
The song was originally recorded by singer Cissy Houston
Cissy Houston
Emily "Cissy" Houston is a Grammy Award–winning American soul and gospel singer. She led a very successful career as a backup singer for such artists as Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson, Wishbone Ash and Aretha Franklin, and is now primarily a solo artist...
, and released as a single a year earlier. Jim Weatherly had recorded one of his own songs, "Midnight Plane to Houston," on Jimmy Bowen's Amos Records. "It was based on a conversation I had with somebody... about taking a midnight plane to Houston," Weatherly recalls. "I wrote it as a kind of a country song. Then we sent the song to a guy named Sonny Limbo in Atlanta and he wanted to cut it on Cissy Houston... he asked if I minded if he changed the title to 'Midnight Train to Georgia.' And I said, I don't mind. Just don't change the rest of the song.'" Weatherly in an interview with Gary James, stated that the phone conversation was with Farrah Fawcett
Farrah Fawcett
Farrah Fawcett was an American actress and artist. A multiple Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she first appeared as private investigator Jill Munroe in the first season of the television series Charlie's Angels, in 1976...
and he used Fawcett and his friend Lee Majors
Lee Majors
Lee Majors is an American television, film and voice actor, best known for his starring role as Colonel Steve Austin in The Six Million Dollar Man and as Colt Seavers in The Fall Guy ....
, who she'd just started dating, "as kind of like characters." Cissy Houston took Weatherly's song into the R&B chart. Her version can be found on the CD Midnight Train to Georgia: The Janus Years. Also, Weatherly's version began with "Nashville (not L.A.) proved too much for the man."
Weatherly's publisher forwarded the song to Gladys Knight and the Pips, who followed Houston's lead and kept the title "Midnight Train to Georgia." Their second single for Buddah, it debuted on the Hot 100 at number seventy-one and became the group's first number-one hit eight weeks later, as well as reaching number one on the soul singles chart, their fifth on that chart. On the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, it peaked at number ten.
"Midnight Train to Georgia" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
ranked it #432 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
In her autobiography, Between Each Line of Pain and Glory, Gladys Knight wrote that she hoped the song was a comfort to the many thousands who come each year from elsewhere to Los Angeles to realize the dream of being in motion pictures or music, but then fail to realize that dream and plunge into despair.
The song was featured during a scene in the 1978 film The Deer Hunter
The Deer Hunter
The Deer Hunter is a 1978 drama film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of Russian American steel worker friends and their infantry service in the Vietnam War. The film stars Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, John Savage, John Cazale, and George Dzundza...
by director Michael Cimino
Michael Cimino
Michael Cimino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and author. He is best known for writing and directing Academy Award-winning The Deer Hunter and the infamous Heaven's Gate. His films are characterized by their striking visual style and controversial subject...
, in which the character Michael (Robert DeNiro) searches for his friend Nick (Christopher Walken) in a strip club in Saigon as the girls gyrate to "Midnight Train to Georgia". The song was also featured in "Episode 210
Episode 210
The untitled tenth episode of the second season of the television series 30 Rock was first broadcast in the United States on January 10, 2008, on the NBC network. The episode was written by show runner Robert Carlock and Donald Glover, and was directed by Richard Shepard...
" of the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
sitcom 30 Rock
30 Rock
30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live...
, the episode "The Choice
The Choice (House)
"The Choice" is the twentieth episode of the sixth season of the American medical drama House and it is the 130th episode overall. It aired on May 3, 2010. It was written by David Hoselton and directed by Juan J. Campanella...
" of House
House (TV series)
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
, and the episode "Swimming Pools ... Movie Stars" of Will & Grace
Will & Grace
Will & Grace was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 21, 1998 to May 18, 2006 for a total of eight seasons. Will & Grace remains the most successful television series with gay principal characters...
. Ben Stiller
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....
, Jack Black
Jack Black
Jack Black , is an American actor and musician, notably of Tenacious D.Jack Black may also refer to:* Jack Black , late 19th - early 20th Century author and hobo* Jack Black , drummer for 1970s UK punk band The Boys...
and Robert Downey Jr reenacted The Pips' dance moves from a live performance of the song for the American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
finale.
NBC invited Gladys Knight
Gladys Knight
Gladys Maria Knight , known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman, humanitarian, and author...
to the end of the season two of Las Vegas
Las Vegas (TV series)
Las Vegas was an American television series broadcast by NBC from September 22, 2003 to February 15, 2008. The show focuses on a team of people working at the ficticional Montecito Resort & Casino dealing with issues that arise within the working environment, ranging from valet parking and...
. She sang "Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me" and "Midnight Train To Georgia".
In the movie He Was a Quiet Man
He Was a Quiet Man
He Was a Quiet Man is a 2007 serious-drama film, written and directed by Frank Cappello. Produced by Jason Hallock and Mike Leahy. The film stars Christian Slater, Elisha Cuthbert, Jamison Jones and William H. Macy.-Plot:...
, Elisha Cuthbert
Elisha Cuthbert
Elisha Ann Cuthbert is a Canadian film and television actress. Cuthbert is known as the former co-host of the Canadian children's television series Popular Mechanics for Kids. In 1998, she had her first film role in Airspeed. She followed this in 2003 with a role in Old School...
and Christian Slater
Christian Slater
Christian Michael Leonard Slater is an American actor. He made his film debut with a small role in The Postman Always Rings Twice before playing a leading role in the 1985 film The Legend of Billie Jean...
do a gig of this song at a restaurant when Venessa (Cuthbert) gets released to home care from the hospital. Bob McConnel (Slater) does the Pips.
Personnel
- Lead vocals by Gladys KnightGladys KnightGladys Maria Knight , known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman, humanitarian, and author...
- Background vocals by Merald "Bubba" Knight, Eddie Patten, and William Guest
- Written by Jim WeatherlyJim WeatherlyJames Dexter Weatherly is an American singer-songwriter. Weatherly played quarterback at the University of Mississippi and was an All-American before choosing songwriting over a football career...
- Produced by Tony CamilloTony CamilloTony Camillo is an American record producer, orchestrator and arranger. He worked on many soul and disco recordings of the 1960s and 1970s, including recordings by Dionne Warwick, Eric Carmen, The Stylistics, Dazz Band, Millie Jackson, Chambers Brothers, Peaches & Herb, Sha Na Na, Grand Funk...
- Co-produced by Gladys KnightGladys KnightGladys Maria Knight , known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman, humanitarian, and author...
, Merald "Bubba" Knight, Eddie Patten, and William Guest
Track details
Initial track recorded at Venture Sound Studios, Hillsborough, New Jersey, 1973:- Drums: Andrew Smith
- Bass: Bob BabbittBob BabbittBob Babbitt is an American bassist, most famous for his work as a member of Motown Records' studio band, the Funk Brothers, from 1966–1972, as well as his tenure as part of MFSB for Philadelphia International Records afterwards. Also in 1968-1970, with Mike Campbell, Ray Monette and Andrew Smith...
- Guitar: Jeff Mironov (playing a 1955 Fender Stratocaster)
- Electric piano: Tony CamilloTony CamilloTony Camillo is an American record producer, orchestrator and arranger. He worked on many soul and disco recordings of the 1960s and 1970s, including recordings by Dionne Warwick, Eric Carmen, The Stylistics, Dazz Band, Millie Jackson, Chambers Brothers, Peaches & Herb, Sha Na Na, Grand Funk...
Overdubs recorded at Venture Sound Studios:
- Acoustic piano: Barry Miles
- Hammond organ: Tony CamilloTony CamilloTony Camillo is an American record producer, orchestrator and arranger. He worked on many soul and disco recordings of the 1960s and 1970s, including recordings by Dionne Warwick, Eric Carmen, The Stylistics, Dazz Band, Millie Jackson, Chambers Brothers, Peaches & Herb, Sha Na Na, Grand Funk...
- Percussion: Tony CamilloTony CamilloTony Camillo is an American record producer, orchestrator and arranger. He worked on many soul and disco recordings of the 1960s and 1970s, including recordings by Dionne Warwick, Eric Carmen, The Stylistics, Dazz Band, Millie Jackson, Chambers Brothers, Peaches & Herb, Sha Na Na, Grand Funk...
- Violin: Norman Carr
- Cello: Jesse Levy
- Trumpet: Randy BreckerRandy BreckerRandal "Randy" Brecker is an American trumpeter and flugelhornist. He is a highly sought after performer in the genres of jazz, rock, and R&B, and has performed or recorded with Stanley Turrentine, Billy Cobham, Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Sandip Burman, Charles Mingus, Blood, Sweat & Tears,...
- Saxophone: Michael BreckerMichael BreckerMichael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...
- Trombone: Meco Monardo
- Vocals recorded in Detroit. Gladys Knight recorded her lead vocals in a single take, with a punch-in of a single line done later in New York City.
- Mixed by Ed StasiumEd StasiumEd Stasium is an American record producer and engineer who has worked on albums by The Ramones, Talking Heads, The Smithereens and Living Colour.- History :Stasium first surfaced in 1970 fronting the band Brandywine, appearing on their sole LP Aged....