Gladys Knight & the Pips which became another top 40 hit in early 1962. After a string of single releases on Fury Records Langston George left the group in 1962. The group's success was halted by Gladys Knight's sudden departure in 1962 to start a family with husband Jimmy Newman, a musician. Knight gave birth to the couple's son James Gaston Newman III in August. A daughter, Kenya Maria Newman, was born in November 1963. During this period, the Pips kept performing and recording to little fanfare and eventually each Pip took odd jobs while Gladys Knight began performing solo with Jimmy Newman being her
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