Leaving...On a Midnight Plane to Houston?
One singing quarterback + one 6 Million Dollar Man + one Charlie's Angel= Gladys Knight's greatest hit.
In 1973, Gladys Knight and the Pips released “Midnight Train to Georgia.” It reached #1 on the charts and quickly became a soul standard.
Of course, we know this as Gladys Knight’s signature song. And she sings it with a lived-in experience that, even today, still hits with the throttle-down force of a southbound locomotive.
But the story of this song actually begins on a football field in Pontotoc, Mississippi.
Mississippi Stud
Jim Weatherly was the star quarterback for the Pontotoc High School football team. He was also a budding songwriter. It was the former talent that earned him a trip to the University of Mississippi. In 1963, Weatherly led the Rebels to a Southeastern Conference championship and earned honorable mention on the following year’s All-American Team.
But after graduation, Weatherly turned his full attention to songwriting. He moved to Los Angeles and released his debut album—Jim Weatherly & The Vegas—in 1965.
Still, Weatherly remained fond of football. And it’s fortunate that he did. Weatherly played in a local recreational league. This being L.A., one of his teammates was actor Lee Majors.
Colonel Steve Austin and P.I. Jill Munro
In 1972, Lee Majors was just one year away from landing his career-defining role as Colonel Steve Austin in the Six Million Dollar Man. Meanwhile, Lee’s girlfriend and future wife Farrah Fawcett was on her own path to superstardom. In four years, she would land her signature role as P.I. Jill Munro on Charlie’s Angels.
But when Jim Weatherly called Lee Majors one day in 1972, the only thing on his mind was football practice.
Then Fawcett answered the phone.
The conversation was brief, but before hanging up, Farrah mentioned that she was scheduled to be on a “midnight plane to Houston.”
The phrase echoed in Weatherly’s mind.
A Superstar—But He Didn’t Get Far
Weatherly wondered what might possess a person to board a plane from L.A. to Houston at the midnight hour. From here, he conjured the story of a woman who is disillusioned with Hollywood and the man who is willing to forego his own dreams of stardom to be with her.
The original recording—a country lament plucked on a chiming acoustic guitar—appeared on the 1972 album Weatherly. It made no commercial impact.
Train in Vain
Next Stop—Houston (the person, not the place). In search of wider visibility, Weatherly and his management sent the song to a man in Atlanta named Sonny Limbo. Limbo felt the tune was a perfect match for soul singer Cissy Houston (Whitney’s mother).
Ironically, it was Cissy Houston who suggested changing the titular destination from Houston to Georgia. Weatherly told Cissy she could change the location and mode of transportation as long as she left the heart of the story intact.
According to Cissy, ”When Sonny played me Jim's song, I loved it right away. It was a country ballad that told a good story--about two people in love. But I wanted to change the title. My people are originally from Georgia and they didn't take planes to Houston or anywhere else. They took trains. We recorded the single in Memphis in 1972 with a country-gospel thing going, and I arranged the background singers.”
Outside of these lyrical changes and Cissy's soulful vocal performance, the cover is fairly faithful to the original.
Once again, the song made no impact. As Houston recalls, “Janus, my label, didn't do much to promote it and we moved on.”
Gladys Knight Leaves Motown (ETD and mode of transportation unknown)
Gladys Knight spent the latter 60s burning up hits in the massive shadow of Diana Ross. It’s sometimes rumored that Motown relegated Knight to secondary status because the label’s bigger stars were tired of being upstaged by her in concert.
In 1973, Gladys Knight & the Pips finally had enough. They left Motor City and signed a one-album deal with rising bubblegum label Buddah. But before leaving, they landed one more pretty sizable hit for the legendary Detroit label.
It was a cover of a Jim Weatherly song.
"Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)” topped the Soul charts and served as the title track to their Motown swan song.
The point is, Gladys Knight was already a fan of Weatherly’s work when she heard “Midnight Train.”
“I listened to Cissy's version and loved it--but I knew I wanted to do something different,” the Atlanta-born singer once explained.
"I wanted an Al Green thing, you know, something moody with a little ride to it. I've always liked my tracks full—horns, keyboards and other instruments—to create texture and spark something in me.”
Though Weatherly was originally quite specific about retaining the core narrative of his song, he was more than receptive to Knight’s take.
“I also wanted to change a few of Jim's original lyrics—add a word or two and take out a few. So I'd call him every day. I'd say, 'Hey Jim, what do you think of 'So he's leaving a life he's come to know?' instead of 'we've come to know?’ Jim was cool with everything. He allowed us that freedom."
The result was a song that achieved immortality.
Midnight Train Rolls to #1
Included on their 1973 LP Imagination, “Midnight Train” became the Pips’ first chart-topping single as well as the 1974 Grammy winner for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus.
So why does the Pips version seem to hit so much harder, and resonate more deeply—aside from the obvious fact that Gladys Knight is a knockout, drag-down, powerhouse of a singer? Well, contrary to Weatherly’s version, which was essentially an imaginary story about two characters, Knight sings from experience.
“While recording that single, I was thinking about my own situation. My husband at the time was a beautiful saxophonist and so gifted. But he was unhappy that we didn't have a more traditional marriage because I was often on the road or recording. Ultimately it all proved too much for him, like the song said, and we divorced later, in '73. I was going through the exact same thing that I was singing about when recording—which is probably why it sounds so personal.”
Simply stated, Knight’s version is the real deal.
Here’s a little mix inspired by Jim, Cissy, and Gladys.
I was surprised when Gladys Knight was picked to sing the National Anthem at the 2019 Super Bowl.
Not only did she look great at nearly 75, but she nailed it, and I think she did it live too. That's a pro, folks.
https://youtu.be/kTuoq6TllaU
Great post! I did not know (or at least I’d forgotten) the backstory. Thanks!