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MASHANTUCKET, Conn. - With a double bill of Gladys Knight and Al Green, you can't ask for more of a soul sound harking back to the 1970s than that.

Both golden voices performed at the MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino Sunday night.

Knight, 64, opened up, and her alto voice sounds as crisp and deep as her height of popularity in the early 70s.

Backed by a 14-piece orchestra, the sound in the new theater was splendid. Knight was backed by six fellow singers, two keyboardists, two drummers, and two guitarists.

One of the first songs was "Every Beat of My Heart" written by Johnny Otis and Knight and the Pips' first million seller, in 1961. "Love Overboard" a 1987 Grammy winner, was as energetic as usual.

An obvious crowd pleaser was "Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me," a No. 3 song off 1973's double Grammy album, Imagination, that also featured Knight's signature tune, the No. 1 "Midnight Train to Georgia" and "I've Got to Use My Imagination." All three singles went gold.

"I love that song," Knight told the crowd of the former song, which she really stretched her vocal cords on.

Knight then dipped into a tribute to "all the great names who came before me," including a jazzy cover of Ella Fitzgerald's "My Man" and some blues numbers.

"I am so grateful with the journey I've taken after these trailblazers," Knight said. The fans heartedly clapped along to the sizzling "I've Got to Use My Imagination," with the spotlight on Knight's dance steps.

The show turned a bit comical when one of the Pips, Knight's older brother Merald "Bubba" Knight, joined Knight on stage for some jostling before the two sang a duet of the group's 1967 charter-topper "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" that Marvin Gaye later covered to more success.

The percussion ending is something to hear.

Another early hit, "Neither One of Us," followed, and Knight's set wrapped up, no surprise, with the ballad "Midnight Train to Georgia," another audience clap and sing-along.

After a somewhat lengthy intermission, Green, 62, took the stage with a more simple stage and band, which featured a grooving three-piece horn section: saxophone, trombone, and trumpet.

There were also two backup singers, guitarists, drummers, and keyboardists - one whom played the organ. The falsetto-voiced Green has a new funky album out, "Lay It Down," produced with the Roots. Opening up with "I Can't Stop" from 2003 and "Everything's OK" from two years later, both were danceable tunes.

It was then on to some gospel Green has been heavy into for decades as he became a preacher in the 70s following the suicide of a former girlfriend and a fall he had from a stage he took as a sign from God.

The highlight, of course, was Green's biggest number, "Let's Stay Together," No. 1 in 1971.

"How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" the Bee Gees also did slowed the tempo down. The show picked up with 1973's "Here I Am (Come and Take Me) UB40 redid in the 80s.

Green paid heritage to his roots with a medley that featured "I Can't Help Myself" by the Four Tops, "My Girl" by the Temptations, "Wonderful World" by Sam Cooke, and "(Sittin' on the) Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding.

The dynamic singer then sang a string of his hits, 1971's "Tired of Being Alone" - his first gold single, "I'm Still In Love With You," a million seller from 1972, and that year's "Love and Happiness" that capped the show.

Green didn't sing three of his best-known songs, "Sha-La-La (Makes Me Happy)," "L-O-V-E," and "Take Me to the River" the Talking Heads covered.

Green, born to a large family of sharecroppers, sold an incredible 20 million albums by 1973.

Knight and the Pips were probably the nation's most successful vocal groups by that year.

Incidentally, both Knight and Green had their start in gospel and toured before their teen years.