Song of the Day: 'Midnight Train to Georgia' by Gladys Knight and the Pips

This one's in honor of the great singer-songwriter Jim Weatherly -- best known for writing "Midnight Train to Georgia" -- who died Wednesday at 77 of natural causes. 

In addition to the seminal Gladys Knight and the Pips single, Weatherly also wrote "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)" and "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me," both of which were also smash hits for Gladys and the boys.

Read his Washington Post obituary the learn how a phone call to Lee Majors intercepted by Farrah Fawcett -- who was preparing to take the the midnight plane to Houston -- inspired a Grammy-winning record.

Song of the Day: 'By the Time I Get to Phoenix" by Gladys Knight and the Pips

I'm off to Phoenix today to visit my Southwest family members -- above all my mom, who has been in bad shape since my brother Bill's passing -- before spending the weekend in Vegas to celebrate turning 50 with four childhood friends who were also born during the Summer of Love. Tune in for the usual departments, plus a few surprises along the way ...

A Knight to Remember

There was a time when going to concerts by female singers who only needed one name was all I lived for. But the older I get, the less I appreciate the spectacle, and the more I appreciate the simple beauty of a singer and her microphone. So on Friday, I took Michael for a bucket list night at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center to see the legendary Gladys Knight, on tour now with the O'Jays. 

Gladys is Michael's all-time favorite female vocalist -- she was dear to his late mother, so the affection and sentimental attachment runs deep -- so when Ms. Knight walked on stage at 8 o'clock sharp, it was like she was singing directly to us in our fourth-row center seats. (No zoom required on these pics.)

At 69, Gladys' voice is still a thing of beauty. And hearing the seven-time Grammy winner belt out the R&B soundtrack of our youth -- "Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me," "If I Were Your Woman," "I've Got to Use My Imagination," "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," "The Way We Were," "Midnight Train to Georgia" and "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)," which brought the audience to its feet and tears to Gladys' eyes -- was one for the ages. And that Michael teared up too more than made up for the raping I took on StubHub.

The O'Jays, who I have loved since being introduced them on my mom's "Believe in Music" K-Tel album in 1972, had a tall order going on second. (The Empress of Soul insists on going on first -- woman's got to get to bed at a reasonable hour!)

 But with the enthusiasm and vocal range of men half their age, they kept the crowd smiling with their catalogue of hits -- "Backstabbers," "Love Train," "I Love Music," Use ta Be My Girl" -- even if we were all a little on edge wondering if leader Eddie Levert might drop dead of a heart attack at any moment up there! If you get the chance, don't miss this double bill. 

Song of the Day: 'I've Got to Use My Imagination' by Gladys Knight and the Pips

Chalk this one up to kismet: Michael and I saw "Lovelace" over the weekend (review TK) and "I've Got to Use My Imagination" by Gladys Knight and the Pips led the exceptional soundtrack. While discussing the film the next day in Madison Square Park, Michael mentioned how Gladys was an artist he needed to see before it's too late. We'd missed her by one night in Vegas once, and the injury still stings. We happen to check Ticketmaster right then and there and who happens to be on tour right now? Gladys along with the O'Jays, another band we both have loved since childhood. While Ticketmaster only had nosebleeds left for the show at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, I nabbed a couple of Front Orchestra/Row DD seats for the show a week from Friday! If she seems a little out of it in this clip, it's because she's quite pregnant at the time it was filmed. Here's hoping her post-menopausal routine is more energetic!