{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = Nitty Gritty | type = Studio | image = Gladys Knight and the Pips – Nitty Gritty.jpg | artist = Gladys Knight & the Pips | label = Soul | released = September 25, 1969 | recorded = 1969 at Hitsville U.S.A. in Detroit | length = 42:13<ref name="AllMusic">{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/nitty-gritty-mw0000206212|title=Nitty Gritty - Gladys Knight & the Pips | Album | AllMusic|via=www.allmusic.com}}</ref> | venue = | studio = | prev_title = All In A Knight's Work | prev_year = 1968 | next_title = Greatest Hits | next_year = 1970 | misc = {{singles | type = studio | name = Nitty Gritty | single1 = Didn't You Know (You'd Have to Cry Sometime) | single1date = 1969 | single2 = The Nitty Gritty | single2date = June 26, 1969 | single3 = Friendship Train | single3date = October 6, 1969 }} }}
'''''Nitty Gritty''''' is the sixth studio album by Gladys Knight & the Pips, released in 1969 on Motown's Soul Records imprint.
== History == The album had three singles that became a hit. "Didn't You Know (You'd Have to Cry Sometime)" peaked at No. 63 on the pop chart, and No. 11 on the R&B chart.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.musicvf.com/song.php?title=Didn%27t+You+Know+(You%27d+Have+to+Cry+Sometime)+by+Gladys+Knight+&+the+Pips&id=17749|title=Didn't You Know (You'd Have to Cry Sometime) (song by Gladys Knight & the Pips) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts|website=www.musicvf.com}}</ref> "The Nitty Gritty", originally recorded by Shirley Ellis, peaked at No. 19 on the pop charts, and on No. 2 on the R&B charts.<ref>{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=330}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.musicvf.com/song.php?title=The+Nitty+Gritty+by+Gladys+Knight+&+the+Pips&id=17750|title=The Nitty Gritty (song by Gladys Knight & the Pips) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts|website=www.musicvf.com}}</ref> "Friendship Train" peaked at No. 17 on the pop charts, and No. 2 on the R&B charts.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.musicvf.com/song.php?title=Friendship+Train+by+Gladys+Knight+&+the+Pips&id=17751|title=Friendship Train (song by Gladys Knight & the Pips) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts|website=www.musicvf.com}}</ref> It was later nominated for a Grammy Award.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/artists/gladys-knight/16951|title = Gladys Knight|date = 23 November 2020}}</ref>
== Reception == {{Music ratings | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name="AllMusic"/> | rev2 = ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' | rev2score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books, {{ISBN|0-7535-0242-9}}, p. 2003.</ref> }}
John Lowe of AllMusic stated: "One of the reasons was their association with writer/producer Norman Whitfield, whose grittier, funkier style proved to be a key to Motown's counterattack to the rawer soul sounds that emerged in the latter part of the decade."<ref name="AllMusic"/>
== Track listing == {{Track listing | title1 = Cloud Nine | writer1 = Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield | length1 = 3:05 | title2 = Runnin' Out | writer2 = Ashford & Simpson | length2 = 2:15 | title3 = Didn't You Know (You'd Have To Cry Sometime) | writer3 = Ashford & Simpson | length3 = 3:20 | title4 = (I Know) I'm Losing You | writer4 = Cornelius Grant, Eddie Holland, Norman Whitfield | length4 = 2:33 | title5 = The Nitty Gritty | writer5 = Lincoln Chase | length5 = 2:57 | title6 = Ain't No Sun Since You've Been Gone | writer6 = Cornelius Grant, Norman Whitfield, Sylvia Moy | length6 = 3:20 }} {{track listing | title1 = All I Could Do Was Cry | writer1 = Berry Gordy Jr., B. Davis, George Gordy | length1 = 2:57 | title2 = Keep An Eye | writer2 = Ashford & Simpson | length2 = 2:48 | title3 = Got Myself A Good Man | writer3 = Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield | length3 = 2:58 | title4 = It's Summer | writer4 = B. Strong*, N. Whitfield* | length4 = 2:18 | title5 = The Stranger | writer5 = Ivy Jo Hunter | length5 = 3:07 | title6 = I Want Him To Say It Again | writer6 = Merald Knight*, G. Knight*, J. Bristol*, Wm. Guest* | length6 = 2:58 }}
== Charts == {| class="wikitable" |- ! Chart (1969) ! Peak<br/>position |- | US Billboard 200 (''Billboard'')<ref>{{cite web |title=Gladys Knight and the Pips Chart History (Billboard 200) |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/gladys-knight-and-the-pips/chart-history/tlp/ |website=Billboard |access-date=March 13, 2024}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|81 |- | US Hot Soul LPs (''Billboard'')<ref>{{cite web |title=Gladys Knight and the Pips Chart History (Top R&B/Hip–Hop Albums) |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/gladys-knight-and-the-pips/chart-history/blp/ |website=Billboard |access-date=March 13, 2024}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|11 |- |}
===Singles=== {| class="wikitable" !Song title !US Pop Charts<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130307134626/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gladys-knight-the-pips-mn0000667169/awards|archive-date=March 7, 2013|access-date=March 13, 2024|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gladys-knight-the-pips-mn0000667169/awards|title=Gladys Knight & the Pips - Awards}}</ref><ref name="MusicVF"/><ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/gladys-knight-and-the-pips/|title=Gladys Knight And The Pips | Biography, Music & News|website=Billboard}}</ref> !US R&B Charts<ref name="MusicVF">{{Cite web|url=https://www.musicvf.com/Gladys+Knight+%2526+the+Pips.art|title=Gladys Knight & the Pips Songs ••• Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts|website=www.musicvf.com}}</ref><ref name="auto"/> !Canada<br><small>CHUM/RPM</small><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-110.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=f74hoacm6uk64inshgv8rde7p7&q1=Gladys+Knight&q2=&interval=20|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130101030226/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-110.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=f74hoacm6uk64inshgv8rde7p7&q1=Gladys+Knight&q2=&interval=20|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-01-01|title=CAN Charts > Gladys Knight & the Pips|magazine=RPM|accessdate=2012-01-23}}</ref> |- |"Didn't You Know (You'd Have to Cry Sometime) | style="text-align:center;" | 63 | style="text-align:center;" | 11 | style="text-align:center;" | – |- |"Friendship Train" | style="text-align:center;" |19 | style="text-align:center;" |2 | style="text-align:center;" |27 |- |"The Nitty Gritty" | style="text-align:center;" |17 | style="text-align:center;" |2 | style="text-align:center;" |29 |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{Discogs master|251317|The Nitty Gritty}}
{{Gladys Knight and the Pips}} {{Authority control}}
Category:1969 albums Category:Gladys Knight & the Pips albums