"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is the name of an R&B/soul song that resulted in two successful singles released by the Motown label: a 1967 US #2 hit by Gladys Knight & The Pips and a 1968 US #1 hit by Marvin Gaye.

History

Written by Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield, and produced by Whitfield, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" was recorded by a number of Motown artists in 1967 before Motown label chief Berry Gordy finally allowed the release of an up-tempo gospel-styled version recorded by Gladys Knight & The Pips, who had just joined the label the year before. Their version of the song reached #1 on the U.S. R&B charts, becoming the group's second R&B #1 after 1961's "Every Beat of My Heart". It reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in December 1967, with The Monkees' "Daydream Believer" holding on to the top spot. It was also was Motown's best-selling single up to that point.

Whitfield, however, wasn't entirely satisfied, because Gordy had repeatedly vetoed the release of his favorite version of the song, a slowed-down, psychedelic-inspired version, with Marvin Gaye on lead vocals, The Andantes on background vocals, and The Funk Brothers playing a voodoo-like instrumental track. Gordy relented slightly by allowing Whitfield to place the song on Gaye's 1968 album In the Groove. Radio stations across the nation began requesting Gaye's version of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" as a single, which was finally done in fall 1968.

Gaye's version of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" outsold Gladys Knight and the Pips' version, and until the release of The Jackson 5's "I'll Be There" twenty months later, it was the biggest hit single ever released on Motown. It stayed at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for seven weeks, from December 7, 1968 to January 25, 1969, when it was knocked out of the top spot by Tommy James & the Shondells' "Crimson And Clover."

The song was also recorded by Whitfield's main act The Temptations for their 1969 Cloud Nine LP, and was later covered by Creedence Clearwater Revival, and served as both the inspiration and the signature song for the ficticious singing group The California Raisins.

Credits

• Written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong
• Produced by Norman Whitfield
• Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers

Pips version

• Lead Vocals by Gladys Knight
• Background Vocals by Merald "Bubba" Knight, Eddie Patten, and William Guest

Gaye Version

• Lead Vocals by Marvin Gaye
• Background Vocals by The Andantes: Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps

External links

• Lyrics