"I've Got to Use My Imagination" is a song recorded by

Gladys Knight & the Pips Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American R&B, soul and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s. Starting out as simply ...

. Released from the hit album, '' Imagination'', which was their debut album with

Buddah Records Buddah Records (later known as Buddha Records) was an American record label founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's foun ...

. It was a success on the soul and pop charts, spending a week at number one on the

Hot Soul Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart in early 1974 and peaking at number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It became one of the band's highest charting songs and eventually sold more than one million copies. On the television series ''

A Different World ''A Different World'' is an American sitcom (and a spin-off of '' The Cosby Show'') television series that aired for six seasons on NBC from September 24, 1987 to July 9, 1993. The series originally centered on Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet) a ...

'', Whitley, Jaleesa and another classmate perform the song to audition to sing backup for

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys K ...

(who made a special guest appearance on the show). The song has been covered by such artists as

Joan Osborne Joan Elizabeth Osborne (born July 8, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and interpreter of music, having recorded and performed in various popular American musical genres including rock, pop, soul, R&B, blues, and country. She is best kn ...

Professor RJ Ross Professor RJ Ross is a smooth jazz and classic R&B singer and pianist. His debut solo album ''Face To Face'' was released by Music Force Media Group in 2008. Early career Ross's career began as a founding member of Detroit funk band Brainstor ...

Bobby Bland Robert Calvin Bland (born Robert Calvin Brooks; January 27, 1930 – June 23, 2013), known professionally as Bobby "Blue" Bland, was an American blues singer. Bland developed a sound that mixed gospel with the blues and R&B. He was descr ...

, Joe Cocker and

The Rides The Rides are an American blues supergroup, featuring guitarists Stephen Stills, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and keyboardist Barry Goldberg. The group formed in 2013 following a performance by the trio at a benefit led by Stills. Stills called the band ...

Ian Moss Ian Richard Moss (born 20 March 1955) is an Australian rock musician from Alice Springs. He is the founding mainstay guitarist and occasional singer of Cold Chisel. In that group's initial eleven year phase from 1973 to 1984, Moss was recorded ...

recorded a version for his sixth studio album, '' Soul on West 53rd'' (2009).

Charts

References

External links

* Song Reviewon

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

1973 singles 1973 songs Gladys Knight & the Pips songs Songs with lyrics by Gerry Goffin Songs written by Barry Goldberg {{1970s-single-stub