She loves the Knight life

Monday, March 13, 2000 | 10:08 a.m.

What: "Smokey Joe's Cafe," starring Gladys Knight.

Where: Caesars Palace Circus Maximus showroom.

When: Wednesday through June 11.

Tickets: $53.

Information: Call 731-7333.

Sometimes you never know who you'll find yourself bowling next to.

On the left it might be the team captain for Acme Plumbing. On the right it might be Gladys Knight.

And Knight might have the better score.

"Let me tell you, I love it," Knight said during a recent telephone interview from the MCA music studios in Detroit. "I hosted a bowling tournament up in San Francisco not long ago. These guys who were bowling next to us were good, but I bowled a 180."

It was an appropriate score, given Knight's life -- from night-life reveler to member of the Mormon Church and band leader to soloist -- which has taken a 180-degree turn over the past several years. The Las Vegas frequenter and one of the Strip's most popular headliners, Knight stars in "Smokey Joe's Cafe, a musical celebration of the songwriting legacy of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.

The musical begins Wednesday and runs through June 11 at the Circus Maximus Showroom at Caesars Palace. The production opened on Broadway in 1995, won a Grammy for best musical in 1996 and was nominated for seven Tonys a year earlier.

"Smokey Joe's" embarked on a successful U.S. tour in September 1998. The show is set at the dawn of rock 'n' roll in the early '50s and chronicles Leiber and Stoller's struggles to survive against an industry-wide movement to "tame" rock 'n' roll.

It didn't work, especially in the case of Leiber and Stoller.

In a career spanning more than 40 years the duo crafted a jukebox full of rock 'n' roll classics: "Hound Dog," "Jail House Rock," "Stand By Me," "Charlie Brown" "Searchin" "Young Blood," "Love Potion No. 9," "Stand By Me" and "Yakety Yak."

Leiber and Stoller are widely credited by music historians -- and pretty much anyone with a keen interest in pop music -- with being a crucial bridge between rhythm and blues and today's manifestation of rock 'n' roll.

Count the haughty-voiced, 55-year-old Knight among the believers.

"The music spoke to all of us and they were certainly pioneers in terms of being all-inclusive," Knight said. "Everybody did their songs. The Coasters, Ben E. King, Elvis. ... But 'Hound Dog' was around before Elvis."

Yep, sung by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton in 1953.

"There were some true pioneers before Elvis and the people we recognize for creating the sound of rock 'n' roll," Knight said. "Leiber and Stoller were true pioneers."

Knight is relishing the chance to tackle the 40-song production.

"Each entertainment arena has its own, shall we say, taxation. It's all very taxing, but I love it," Knight said. "The road is one thing, and the theater is all something unto itself. I like performing in productions where I can grow, venture, stretch out and interact in different scenes. It's much different than getting up and singing song after song, but I like that too.

"The great thing about this industry is its variety, and I love the variety."

Knight's career has spanned recording, live tours, television, Broadway and writing. She still has obvious affection for her legendary backing vocalists, the Pips. Her cousin and original Pip, Bubba Knight, is a member of the "Smokey Joe's" cast.

Knight said she never tires of being asked about the Pips.

"That was such an awesome time in my life," Knight said, addressing the inevitable topic. "I spent 40-some years with those guys, and I was with them because I chsoe to be with them. When I was ready to venture, I did so, even if people didn't know where I was coming from."

Cousins Bubba and William Guest are still active performers, but Edward Patten suffered a stroke in 1994 and is unable to perform. As an active entity, Gladys Knight and the Pips have been defunct for more than a decade, but the music endures. "Letter Full of Tears," the pre-Marvin Gaye "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" "Midnight Train to Georgia," "Neither One of Us" "I've Got to Use My Imagination" and "Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me," remain classic pop standards that vaulted the group into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.

Along with a busy solo career, Knight joined Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder and Elton John on the AIDS-benefit recording "That's What Friends Are For," her best-selling non-Pips effort, which led to her fourth Grammy. The first three were for "Midnight Train To Georgia," "Neither One of Us" and "Love Overboard," the latter from the group's last album, "All Our Love," in 1987.

Knights' most recent album, "Many Different Roads," was released in 1999 and featured her first recording in a decade with the Pips, who backed her on one song, "Good Morning Heavenly Father."

More recently Knight made a dramatic change in lifestyle by joining the Mormon Church more than two years ago. At the time Knight was working through a divorce from her third husband, inspirational speaker Les Brown, and was drawn to the church for its strong family principals.

"I'm taking care of myself, period," Knight said. "I needed to make a change. I stopped smoking. I stopped doing everything that was bad. I want a wholesome, family-oriented environment and I want my entertainment to be the same way. I'm a homebody and that's my life."

Not that her present, or future, is stagnant. Knight is working on an album she hopes will be out by June.

"I'm doing a lot of creating right now," she said. "I went back to Nashville and got in touch with my country roots, where I've had a lot of success. Country with an R&B flavor is my true background. 'Midnight Train to Georgia' was inspired by country music."

Knight is also writing an updated biography, "The Body Temple," which she said is a sort of self-help book from a wizened woman.

"I'm really into getting healthy, both physically and spiritually," she said. "I've been on a charge with getting healthy and I want to share that positive energy with others. I want to be an inclusive person."

As a multifaceted entertainer, family woman, avid bowler and devout Mormon, Gladys Knight is just that.