The Little Big Horns - I Heard It Through The Grapevine (Smokey Robinson & The Miracles Cover)

From '' Ultra-Lounge - On The Rocks Part Two ''
Label: Capitol Records -- 7243 8 55433 2 6
Format: CD, Compilation, Remastered
Country: UK
Released: 1997

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"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is a landmark song in the history of Motown Records.
Written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong in 1966, the single was first recorded by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles.
Released on September 25, 1967 as Soul 35039 by Gladys Knight & the Pips who recorded the third version of the song, it has since become a signature song for singer Marvin Gaye, who recorded his version of the song prior to the Pips' but released it after theirs on October 30, 1968 as Tamla 54176.
Creedence Clearwater Revival released their version of the song in 1970.

Gaye's version has since become a landmark in pop music.
In 2004, it ranked No.80 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
On the commemorative 50th Anniversary of the Billboard Hot 100 issue of Billboard magazine in June 2008, Gaye's version was ranked as the 65th biggest song on the chart.

Early recordings

In 1966, Barrett Strong, a former recording artist for Motown Records and the singer behind the label's breakthrough hit, "Money (That's What I Want)", had begun to work in the songwriting staff after failing to produce a follow-up hit. Motown CEO Berry Gordy hired Strong to work with Norman Whitfield to work on recordings for The Temptations following the success of Whitfield's recording of the group's "Ain't Too Proud to Beg". Strong originally composed "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" due to his own personal relationship.
Whitfield began collaborating with Strong on the song and eventually decided to record it with The Miracles, who recorded the song on August 6, 1966.
Due to Gordy's strong veto power during Motown's annual Friday meetings at Hitsville USA's Quality Control Department, the Miracles' version was deemed unreleasable.
Gordy thought the song was "horrible" and advised Whitfield and Strong to create a stronger single, however the duo refused to budge.
Years later, a second version by The Miracles, with a similar arrangement to their first version, appeared as an album track on their 1968 Special Occasion LP.
Their original recording was issued years later on a compilation album entitled Motown Sings Motown Treasures.

Other notable covers and references in media

Following Marvin Gaye's 1968 release of the single, his version has been frequently covered by artists of varied genres.
In 1969, Whitfield produced a version for The Temptations for their hit album, Cloud Nine though their version recalled The Pips'. In 1971, The Undisputed Truth became the final Motown act to record the song in its Marvin-styled version.
The song was also covered by The Chi-Lites on their 1969 debut album Give It Away.

Creedence Clearwater Revival recorded an eleven-minute version for their album, Cosmo's Factory, released in 1970.
Other versions have been recorded in other genres such as punk rock where the UK-based The Slits recorded a heavily dub version as a b-side of their first single recording it in the Marvin Gaye version.
Other groups such as Tuxedomoon, The Crust Brothers and the disco band, P'Zzazz, featuring Mildred Vancy on vocals, also recorded the song.

In 1981, funk musician Roger Troutman, released a cover of the song in an extended version off his debut solo project, The Many Facets of Roger. Troutman's version brought the song back to number one on the R&B chart in early 1982 marking the third time the single reached the top spot on that chart. It also made the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number seventy-nine.
During the 1990s, the song is heard briefly in the movie Friday.

In 1986, several studio singers re-recorded the song and featured it in a commercial for the clay-animated singing group The California Raisins.
Their version became their signature tune, mainly due to a pun on the fact that raisins originate from "the grapevine."

Other artists to have recorded the song have included Trini Lopez, the Soultans and the Flying Pickets, the Doug Anthony All Stars, Giorgia, Marisa Monte, Kaiser Chiefs, Michael Chapdelaine, Paul Weller and Amy Winehouse in a duet version while performing on Jools Holland, The Robustos, Tina Turner, Elton John, Diana DeGarmo, Michael McDonald, Birds of Tokyo, Craig David and Fairport Convention in a live version with vocals by Richard Thompson.

A humorous cover of the song was recorded by Paul Shanklin for the album, Bill Clinton: The Early Years, based on former President Bill Clinton. Antonio Forcione recorded an instrumental version on his live album.
Queen Latifah used the song in Gaye's version as a basis for her 1998 single Paper, produced by Pras Michel for her album Order in the Court.

Marvin Gaye's version has been featured in films including The Big Chill (1983) and Remember the Titans (2001) and was featured in the 2008 play, The Big Payback.

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