‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’: How Marvin Gaye Claimed A Soul Classic
Only a year after Gladys Knight and the Pips took it to the top of the R&B chart, Marvin made ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine‘ his for keeps.
Even among the tall trees without number in the Motown songbook, “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” stands like a mighty redwood. So it’s strange to think what an uncertain history the Norman Whitfield/Barrett Strong composition had, how it was rejected twice in its infancy, and how the first hit version of it was eclipsed just a year later by the Marvin Gaye interpretation we all know as a worldwide classic.
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The song had first been recorded at Motown, in the summer of 1966, by the Miracles, but their version wasn’t released. Early in the new year, Gaye recorded a new, brooding arrangement, but again, it stayed in the Hitsville vaults. Producer Whitfield, angry with the rejection, turned to Gladys Knight and the Pips, with great success.
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Their uptempo rendition, infused as ever with Gladys’ invigorating, gospel-soul delivery, charted in October 1967, going to No.1 on the R&B chart and No.2 on the Hot 100. Other Motown acts including the Temptations and Bobby Taylor also cut the tune, and the Miracles did a recut that was released, but Whitfield was still determined to make it a hit for Gaye.
In the summer of 1968, now that “Grapevine” was a known song, Whitfield lobbied for it to be included on Gaye’s next album, In The Groove. When radio station WVON in Chicago started playing it as an album track, the phones went crazy. Berry Gordy was persuaded to release it as a single, and history was written.
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“I Heard It Through The Grapevine,” released on October 30 as Tamla 54176, crashed onto the Hot 100 on November 23 at a sky-high No.34, the highest new entry of the week. Just three weeks later, on the December 14 chart, it was the nation’s No.1, on its way to becoming Motown’s biggest-selling single ever to that point. In March 1969, the song hit No.1 in the UK, and 45 years later, reaffirmed its place in the hearts of British fans by being voted The Nation’s Favourite Motown Song in a 2014 ITV special of the same name.
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Listen to the Motown Classics playlist on Apple Music and Spotify.
Among the countless other versions of “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” that have emphasized the song’s towering durability, the epic 11-minute version by Creedence Clearwater Revival, on their 1970 album Cosmo’s Factory, belatedly became their final Billboard Hot 100 chart entry in 1976. Then in 1981, a rendition by 1980s synth-soul star Roger became not only his debut hit but an R&B chart No.1 for two weeks. Five years later, a television ad for the California Raisin Advisory Board, featuring Claymation characters dancing to “I Heard It Through The Grapevine,” with Buddy Miles singing lead, was a surprise American pop culture smash.
