The Ultimate Collection (Gladys Knight and The Pips album) The Ultimate Collection (Gladys Knight and The Pips album) The Ultimate Collection is a compact disc by Gladys Knight and The Pips, released on Motown Records, catalogue MOTD 0826, in October 1997. It is a collection of singles comprising many of the group's greatest hits, with liner notes written by Ruth Adkins Robinson. The disc contains every Top 40 hit on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and twelve top ten Rhythm and Blues singles chart hits enjoyed by Gladys Knight and the Pips that were released on the Motown associate label Soul Records imprint. One track was never released as a
Gladys Knight & the Pips now opening for top recording acts such as Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke. By 1959, Brunswick dropped the group and both Brenda Knight and Eleanor Guest left the group to begin families. They were replaced by another cousin, Edward Patten, and a friend, Langston George. Patten and George were involved in another group before joining the Pips. In 1961, they recorded their version of Johnny Otis' "Every Beat of My Heart". Because the group was without a record label, a local Atlanta label, Huntom Records, pushed the single and got a distribution deal with Vee-Jay Records to release the single.