Creedence Clearwater Revival - I Heard It Through The Grapevine

(Written By: Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield)

«I Heard It Through the Grapevine» is a song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for Motown Records in 1966. The first recording of the song to be released was produced by Whitfield for Gladys Knight & the Pips and released as a single in September 1967. It went to number one on the Billboard R & B Singles chart and number two on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and shortly became the biggest selling Motown single to date. The Miracles were the first to record the song in 1966, but their version wasn't released until August 1968 when it was included on their album Special Occasion. The Marvin Gaye version was the second to be recorded, in the beginning of 1967, but the third to be released. It was placed on his 1968 album In the Groove, a year and a half later, where it gained the attention of radio disc jockeys, and Motown founder Berry Gordy finally agreed to its release as a single in October 1968, when it went to the top of the Billboard Pop Singles chart for seven weeks from December 1968 to January 1969 and overtook the Gladys Knight & the Pips' version of being the biggest hit single on the Motown label (Tamla). The Gaye recording has since become an acclaimed soul classic. In 1998 the song was inducted to the Grammy Hall of Fame for «historical, artistic and significant» value. In 2004, it was placed 80 on the Rolling Stone list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, then re-ranked at 81 in 2010. In 2021, it was ranked 119. And on the commemorative fortieth anniversary of the Billboard Hot 100 issue of Billboard magazine in June 2008, Marvin Gaye's «Grapevine» was ranked sixty-fifth. In 2018, the Gladys Knight & the Pips version was also inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The song is composed in E-flat minor. The lyrics tell the story in the first person of the singer's feelings of betrayal and disbelief when he hears of his girlfriend's infidelity only indirectly «through the «grapevine»». By 1966, the singer Barrett Strong, had the basics of a song he had started to write in Chicago, where the idea had come to him while walking down Michigan Avenue that people were always saying «I heard it through the grapevine». The phrase is associated with black slaves during the Civil War, who had their form of telegraph: the human grapevine. Producer Norman Whitfield worked with Strong on the song, adding lyrics to Strong's basic Ray Charles influenced gospel tune and the single chorus line of «I heard it through the grapevine». This was to be the first of a number of successful collaborations between Strong and Whitfield. In 1969, Whitfield produced a version for the Temptations «psychedelic soul» album, Cloud Nine, in which he «brought compelling percussion to the fore, and relegated the piano well into the wings». In 1971, the Undisputed Truth recorded the song in a Gaye-styled version as did Bettye LaVette on her 1982 Motown album, Tell Me a Lie. In addition to being released several times by Motown artists, the song has been recorded by a range of musicians including Creedence Clearwater Revival, who made an eleven-minute interpretation for their 1970 album, Cosmo's Factory and was released as a single and reached 43 on Billboard's chart, with more modest success in other countries.

Album: Creedence Clearwater Revival ‎- Cosmo's Factory

Credits

Arranged By, Producer: John C. Fogerty/Artwork [Inner Sleeve]: Richard Taddei/Bass Guitar [uncredited]: Stu Cook/Drums [uncredited]: Doug Clifford/Lead Guitar [uncredited], Lead Vocals [uncredited], Saxophone [uncredited]: John Fogerty/Photography By: Bob Fogerty/Rhythm Guitar [uncredited]: Tom Fogerty

Companies, etc.

Pressed By: RCA Records Pressing Plant, Hollywood/Printed By: The Bert - Co Enterprises/Published By: Jondora/Published By: Figure Music/Published By: Peer International/Published By: Hi - Lo/Published By: Presley Music/Published By: Jobete Music

Label: Fantasy – 8402
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, Hollywood Pressing
Country: US
Released: Jul 1970
Genre: Rock, Blues
Style: Blues Rock, Rock & Roll, Southern Rock, Classic Rock

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