How did all the hits with Gladys Knight come together?
JW: I went to L.A. after college in 1966. I moved there with a rock ‘n roll band called Gordian Knight, who I played with for about four years. We did one album for Verve. After the band split up, I met Jim Nabors through Lee Majors, whom I had become friends with. Lee introduced me to Jim, and Jim asked if I wanted to start writing songs. I said “Sure.” What else was I going to do besides walk the streets and park cars? When Jim’s variety show ended, we parted ways. At that point, I was just walking the streets trying to find someone who liked what I did. That was when I met Gary Usher. He was one of the original surfers and he wrote a lot of songs with Brian Wilson. He wrote for Jan & Dean and The Handels. I asked Gary to listen to some of my songs, and he was very gracious about it. He introduced me to Larry Gordon, who became my publisher and manager. Larry was a really fine publisher, a one-man operation. Basically, it was his company, and he didn’t have to answer to anybody. He w
