Gladys Knight & the Pips Gladys Knight & the Pips Gladys Knight & the Pips were an R&B/soul family musical act from Atlanta, Georgia that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for three decades. Starting out as simply The Pips in 1952, derived from a cousin's nickname, the founding members were Gladys Knight, brother Merald "Bubba" Knight, sister Brenda Knight and cousins Eleanor and William Guest. After a couple of years performing in talent shows, the group signed with Brunswick Records in 1957, recording a couple of singles that failed to chart. Brenda Knight and Eleanor Guest were eventually replaced by another
A Trick of the Tail on an ARP 2500 synthesizer. Collins thought the group could carry on as an instrumental act, but other group members felt that it would be boring without vocals. The group had still not decided on a replacement singer, so they decided to start recording backing tracks and audition singers as they went. Some songs such as "Ripples..." were written with the intention that Collins could sing them, similar to "More Fool Me" on "Selling England by the Pound", but he did not want to take over as a permanent replacement, opting instead to teach potential lead singers the songs. The