Gladys Knight & the Pips Knight & the Pips embarked on their final tour in 1988 and disbanded upon its conclusion, as Gladys Knight decided she wanted to pursue a solo career, ending a 37-year tenure. Following the group's amicable disbandment in 1989, Edward Patten and William Guest formed their own production company in Detroit, titled Guest and Patten Productions, later renamed the Crew Entertainment Company. Patten was diagnosed with diabetes, which led to amputations on his legs and being confined to a wheelchair. He later died of complications from the disease on February 25, 2005 in Livonia, Michigan. William Guest continued to lead the
A Weapon Called the Word of the album exist: the original 1990 release which has 12 tracks (the first twelve listed below) and a 1996 re-release by Musidisc which added two live recordings of the band's guitarist/vocalists Mark Chadwick and Simon Friend plus a remix of the track "Three Friends" to the end of the album. This album is noteworthy in the Levellers' catalogue for being the only full-length album to feature the musical input of Alan Miles, who played guitar, harmonica and mandolin and supplied backing vocals as well as contributing musical arrangements. He was subsequently replaced by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Simon Friend. The