Still Together (1977)

 When producer/songwriter Van McCoy worked with Gladys Knight & the Pips, he usually did well by the group. It was McCoy who wrote "Giving Up" and "Lovers Always Forgive," two of their best pre-Motown singles of the early 1960s -- and he also proved to be an asset to Gladys Knight & the Pips when he co-produced their 1977 LP, Still Together. To his credit, he knew how to change with the times. His roots were doo wop and early soul, but by the mid-1970s, people associated him with disco thanks to the 1975 smash "The Hustle." So when McCoy was hired to produce Still Together, Knight didn't have to worry about sounding retro. But at the same time, no one would mistake this album for McCoy's club-oriented Disco Baby. Even though he gave the single "Baby Don't Change Your Mind" a certain amount of disco gloss, this is a soul LP first and foremost. Five of the eight songs on Still Together were co-produced (with Charles Kipps), arranged, and written or co-written by McCoy, including "Baby Don't Change Your Mind," the ballad "Walk Softly," and the sentimental "Home Is Where the Heart Is." A few of the selections are excellent, and the rest are at least decent. Still Together isn't among Knight's essential albums, but it's an enjoyable, if mildly uneven, effort that has more plusses than minuses.