Working With Gladys Knight and Barbra Streisand (Commentary)

One of my favorite things I did in those early years was
Getting to do a duet with Gladys Knight
Here's somebody that, didn't really know me from Adam, I'm sure
And they put us together

We were the first ones to agree to do a song on that, Rhythm, Country and Blues record
With all those great collaborations, which I think is one of the neatest records ever
You know, all those collaborations were great
They were well thought out, and we were the first ones to agree to do it

And uh, because of that, I wound up on the cover of Jet magazine
"First white boy ever," I think they said on the cover of Jet magazine with Gladys
But what I remember most about
About that was I could, I could really sense her reservation about singing with me
'Cause I don't think she knew that I was a soul singer and there I was a soulful singer and
And I could, I could just, I could feel it from her and I could see it on her face
You know? It was like just a little bit of furrow brow and this and that and we went in to run it
And first time I open my mouth and, I could, she didn't know I could see her from my booth
And I started singing, and her face just lit up

So that was a neat, you know? Once again, anytime that
You probably think somebody's gonna, you know?
Probably pigeon hole you for being something
Because you're a country singer or you're a bluegrass singer, they think that's all you can be
And that's all that's you're gonna be, it's pretty neat to, to flip 'em, you know?
And it's a-it's a-it's a pretty great feeling, you know? So

Anytime, once again, you get to paint outside the lines and
You know? We're doing a great old Motown hit together
Nothing like the real thing and
And uh, it just, you know?
It turned out great and made a great friend and I got to, you know?
Do something with someone that I never thought I would have
You know? I couldn't have imagined that

Same would like, take a Barbra Streisand and I did a duet with her
She didn't know me, think Gladys Knight didn't know me
Our Streisand had no clue, about me or whatever
And that was a, that was a very memorable day, you know?
And just hysterical, umm, you know?
Once again, outside of my comfort zone so
I always felt uneasy, I always felt a little bit insecure, I felt a little bit scared