Another Motown classic that charted for different Motown acts. Gladys Knight & The Pips took Barrett Strong penned I heard it through the grapewine to #2 in 1967 becoming first of their seven Top-5 hits. However it was only the third version recorded of the song, the previous ones having been rejected by Gordy. The year after Marvin Gaye scored a #1 hit with it, first of his three and becoming one of his signature songs. This was the second recording of it, also rejected by Gordy at first place. He did make mistakes sometimes. Rarely, but he's only human, too :-)
Other covers include The Miracles (maybe the original version vetoed by Gordy to be unreleased and to find a stronger recording for the single), also the Isley Brothers may have recorded it and been sacked, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers. The Temptations, Bettye Laville and Queen Latifah sampled it to her Paper.
It's been also a popular song for advertising campaigns like this one that launched Nick Kamen's career. He also went onto cover Motown in his future career but more about that later.
Comments