On June 17, Shout! Factory will reissue the soundtracks to the original motion pictures [title]Claudine[/title] and [title]Pipe Dreams[/title] on one disc, celebrating both the films and the work of Gladys Knight & The Pips and Curtis Mayfield.

Written and produced by Curtis Mayfield, Claudine, the soundtrack to the original motion picture of the same name, was originally released in 1974 on Buddah Records. Gladys Knight & The Pips had signed to the Buddah label in 1973 after some unsatisfying years at Motown, and had a gold record with Imagination, which boasted three hits including “Midnight Train To Georgia,” “Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me” and “I’ve Got To Use My Imagination.”

Claudine the movie and music score were purposeful artistic missions, with the 1974 film providing a heartwarming antidote to all of the “blaxploitation” flicks of the era. Starring veteran actress Diahann Carroll, who received an Oscar® nomination for her role in the film, Claudine is the story of a struggling single mother of six in Harlem who falls in love with a charming garbage man named “Roop,” portrayed by the legendary James Earl Jones.

The songs on the soundtrack and Gladys’ unique voice made it the perfect instrument to express Claudine’s inner story. The Claudine soundtrack bore two #2 Hot Soul Singles, “On And On,” and the film’s triumphant ending song “Make Yours A Happy Home,” which wasn’t actually released as a single until two years later. “Mr. Welfare Man” reflected Claudine’s frustration with being forced to “cheat” the welfare system. “Hold On” is a wee-hours woman’s blues, revealing Claudine’s inner struggle over clinging to a man she feels is predestined to stray . Meanwhile, the instrumental “Claudine Theme” of flutes, strings, beats and brass is the soundtrack to her daily grind. On “To Be Invisible,” Mayfield’s brilliant account of author Ralph Ellison’s depiction of the Black man as a victim in America, Gladys sings a musing on what the future holds for Black boys. “The Makings Of You,” a beautiful and timeless meditation on love and family that Curtis first recorded on his 1970 debut solo LP, Curtis, but that Gladys renders here in equally spellbinding fashion.

Two years later Gladys starred in the film Pipe Dreams with her real-life husband at the time, Barry Hankerson. Pipe Dreams, a love story that took place in Alaska, had a soundtrack that showcased a variety of musical styles for Gladys Knight & The Pips. The one single from the album was the tear-jerking theme and Top 20 Hot Soul hit “So Sad The Song,” written by Gerry Goffin and Michael Masser. Other songs on the Pipe Dreams soundtrack include “Alaskan Pipeline,” written by rhythm and blues vet Ivory Jo Hunter, the scat swing vocal of the piano-punctuated “Pot Of Jazz,” penned by Pip Merald “Bubba” Knight, the inspiring numbers “I’ll Miss You” and “Follow My Dreams” by the Reverend James Cleveland. Also included are “Nobody But You,” which was written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, and on which then-current hits “Lean On Me,” “You’ve Got A Friend” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water” are referenced, and “Pipe Dream,” the main title theme written by Gladys and The Pips producer Tony Camillo, who’d just cowritten their hit “I Feel A Song (In My Heart).”

1. Mr. Welfare Man
2. To Be Invisible
3. On and On
4. The Makings of You
5. Claudine Theme (Instrumental)
6. Hold On
7. Make Yours a Happy Home
8. So Sad the Song
9. Alaskan Pipeline
10. Pot of Jazz
11. I'll Miss You
12. Nobody But You
13. Pipe Dream
14. Find a Way
15. Follow My Dreams
16. So Sad the Song (Instrumental)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0018OAPCA/?tag=imwan-20