Creedence Clearwater Revival – "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (1968)

You could have told me yourself

That you love someone else 

Instead I heard it through the grapevine

[NOTE: Creedence Clearwater Revival’s cover of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” is actually a cover of a cover of a sort of cover.  Smokey Robinson and the Miracles were the first to record the Norman Whitfield–Barrett Strong song for Motown, but their version wasn’t the first to be released.  The song was next recorded by Marvin Gaye, but his version wasn’t the first to be released either.  That honor went to the Gladys Knight & the Pips version, which was released in 1967 and promptly went to #1 on the Billboard “Hot 100.”  I think the Creedence version is really a cover of the Marvin Gaye cover, which was released subsequent to the Miracles and Pips records and was clearly the best of the three quality-wise.  The Gaye cover surpassed the Gladys Knight & the Pips cover as the best-selling Motown single up to that time.  (Got all that straight?  There may a pop quiz later.). In any event, the Creedence cover – one of the members of the initial class of the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” COVER RECORDS HALL OF FAME – doesn’t sound much like any of the Motown versions, which is one of the reasons it’s a great cover.  What follows is a lightly edited version of my original February 17, 2011 post about this record.]

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If I had to pick one band that personifies good ol' American-style rock and roll music, it would be Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Here's what the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame says about Creedence:

Creedence Clearwater Revival . . . were progressive and anachronistic at the same time.  An unapologetic throwback to the golden era of rock and roll . . . [t]heir approach was basic and uncompromising, holding true to the band members’ working-class origins.

The term "roots rock" had not yet been invented when Creedence came along, but in a real way they defined it, drawing inspiration from the likes of Little Richard, Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and the artisans of soul at Motown and Stax.  In so doing, Creedence Clearwater Revival became the standard bearers and foremost celebrants of homegrown American music.

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"I Heard It Through The Grapevine" was a huge hit – not once, but twice – for Motown artists before CCR recorded it.

Their version of "Grapevine" was released on the Cosmo's Factory album in July 1970.  That was only about 18 months after Marvin Gaye's version of the song had reached the #1 spot on the Billboard "Hot 100."

Creedence's cover of the song is eleven minutes long.  You might think that's too long, but it isn't.  (I wouldn't mind if it was an hour long.) 

It has the no-frills feel of a live performance – compared to the Motown versions, it's a white T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans.

By the way, did you know that CCR performed at Woodstock?  Thanks to the Grateful Dead's endless jamming, Creedence didn't take the stage until 3 AM.  CCR frontman John Fogerty thought their performance wasn't up to snuff, so they are missing from the movie and the original soundtrack album.  (The 25th-anniversary Woodstock box set does include six CCR songs.) 

CCR at Woodstock

Here's one other odd fact about Creedence, which never got the respect it deserved:  the band never had a #1 hit, but had five #2 singles.

Click here to listen to CCR's cover of "Grapevine."

Click here to buy the record from Amazon.