Good songs serve their genre well; great songs transcend these musical categories into something more universal—a phenomenon aptly demonstrated by Gladys Knight’s stunning cover of Kris Kristofferson’s hit, “Help Me Make It Through the Night.” Gladys Knight and the Pips released their version of the lovesick ballad in 1971 to moderate success. We believe it deserves another listen.
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Following Kristofferson’s death in September 2024, countless renditions of his prolific song catalogue have surfaced. Many of these covers fall within the same musical category as Kristofferson: somewhere in the realm of country or folk. But Gladys Knight is definitively R&B-oriented.
Yet, Knight’s take on Kristofferson sounds more accurate than other acoustic guitar-wielding folks who have tried before and after her.
Gladys Knight Covers Kris Kristofferson
Known for Motown hits like “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” and “Midnight Train to Georgia,” Gladys Knight and the Pips are one of the greatest R&B outfits of all time. But in the midst of their growing success within these genre-specific charts, Knight heard Kristofferson’s moving song, “Help Me Make It Through the Night.”
Changing a few pronouns (suddenly, the singer is the one with the ribbon in her hair), Knight offered her version of Kristofferson’s hit song on the Pips’ 1971 release, Standing Ovation. She performs the song live for the BBC in 1972 below.
The soft, breathy delivery of the first verses adds an extra layer of intimacy that leaves listeners hanging on every word Knight practically whispers into the microphone. Even Kristofferson’s rough-around-the-edges version was vulnerable in its original form, but something about Knight’s vocal approach makes it even more so. Once the rest of the band comes in, you’re reminded just how much soul an R&B outfit can infuse into a traditional country tune.
An Inside Look at the Singer’s Musical Choices
Fortunately, Gladys Knight and the Pips recorded their version of Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It Through the Night” at a time when spoken introductions to recorded songs were the norm. This means we got a first-hand account from the singer herself as to why she and the rest of her R&B colleagues would choose to cover a song so far outside of their usual genres.
“I’m imagining a lot of happy people,” Knight says in the album version of the song. “Most of you are with someone you love. Well, you are the lucky ones. All over the world, there are lots of people who are alone tonight. I imagine most of us have been in that situation at some time or another.”
“Recently, I heard a most beautiful song with a dynamic lyric that really expresses this feeling of loneliness,” Knight continued. “It means a lot to me, personally, and I’d like to share it with you. I think you’ll see what I mean.”
If anyone was still on the fence about what she meant, they certainly knew by the end of the first chorus. Gladys Knight’s stunning rendition of “Help Me Make It Through the Night” is a testament to both her abilities as a singer and performer and Kristofferson’s tremendous songwriting skills.
Photo by Derry Brabbs/TV Times via Getty Images
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