“I believed every word of the song. It was happening to me."
May 26, 2024 3:44 AM Subscribe
The personal anguish underlying Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," perhaps the greatest song in Motown history, is starkly evident in the recording's haunting isolated vocal track (SLYT).
In a two part podcast series, scholar Andrew Hickey traces the convoluted history of a song that the label never thought would be a hit, and the lives of the many performers that shaped it. The episodes are part of Hickey's monumental History of Rock Music in 500 Songs series (recently and maddeningly on the blue here, and previously and previously).
In a two part podcast series, scholar Andrew Hickey traces the convoluted history of a song that the label never thought would be a hit, and the lives of the many performers that shaped it. The episodes are part of Hickey's monumental History of Rock Music in 500 Songs series (recently and maddeningly on the blue here, and previously and previously).
Just finished reading the transcript of part one and I'm hooked. Norman Whitfield is such an interesting and influential player and hitmaker in Motown, and it's cool to see some in-depth backstory on him (check The Undisputed Truth for later-period Norman Whitfield, featuring Taka Boom, Chaka Khan's little sister). Despite all the previouslies here on the Blue, I missed this until now so I'm glad you posted it.
posted by missmobtown at 8:09 AM on May 26 [1 favorite]
posted by missmobtown at 8:09 AM on May 26 [1 favorite]
I always wondered who ratted out the woman in the song: who was the one who gave the information to the protagonist to make him say "I heard it through the grapevine?"
From who? WHO?!
Another woman told him about "some other guy?" If so...who was this woman, and why did she rat the protagonist's significant other out?
WHY? WHO!
And, I love this song. The CCR version is pretty spectacular, but Marvin just hammers it.
posted by pthomas745 at 11:53 AM on May 26 [2 favorites]
From who? WHO?!
Another woman told him about "some other guy?" If so...who was this woman, and why did she rat the protagonist's significant other out?
WHY? WHO!
And, I love this song. The CCR version is pretty spectacular, but Marvin just hammers it.
posted by pthomas745 at 11:53 AM on May 26 [2 favorites]
Speaking of CCR, at karaoke last night with friends, someone got Proud Mary by the Turners cued up and I got all excited about the tempo shift that comes up after the first verse, but before it arrived they stopped it and restarted with the CCR version. BOOOOOOO!
posted by intermod at 12:27 PM on May 26 [2 favorites]
posted by intermod at 12:27 PM on May 26 [2 favorites]
I like the CCR version more, because there is menace in that song. Marvin's version is more anguished.
As someone who was cheated on, I just relate to CCR's version because that is how I was feeling when I found out.
posted by indianbadger1 at 1:44 PM on May 26 [3 favorites]
As someone who was cheated on, I just relate to CCR's version because that is how I was feeling when I found out.
posted by indianbadger1 at 1:44 PM on May 26 [3 favorites]
This song rules as one of those "so good everyone had to cover it" things that everybody today has still heard. It's timeless, and it was known immediately to be timeless by artists who heard it, because they all scrambled to put their own versions down.
You can see this happen with other stuff--the Beatles were really, really capable of creating songs like this; there's so many covers of Beatles songs in so many genres. You can do a whole two hour dj set of American soul/rn'b covers and Jamaican reggae covers of Beatles songs, and that's just the cream of what's available, no scrambling to find filler. Throw Brazillians in and you get to three hours.
I heard a song about a year ago that had that same immediate impact but somehow hasn't stuck around the same way. Was at my little brother's bachelor weekend and someone played the Joe Cocker version of Feelin' Alright, which I immediately went a little nuts for. Well, last week I did the dive, and found a lot of covers of the song--found out it was originally written by a guy in Traffic, but eventually ends up being done by the Bar-Kays, (relevant to this story) Undisputed Truth, and a ton of other acts. It's funny what is immediately known for what it is (a great song no matter who's playing it) and yet still becomes ephemeral, vs. what's known for what it is and then persists the way Grapevine has.
I won't speculate on what the music industry means now that we don't have songs like this anymore, where version on version on version quickly piles up after the initial release. Maybe BBL Drizzy is as close as we get to that nowadays.
posted by turntraitor at 2:08 PM on May 26 [3 favorites]
You can see this happen with other stuff--the Beatles were really, really capable of creating songs like this; there's so many covers of Beatles songs in so many genres. You can do a whole two hour dj set of American soul/rn'b covers and Jamaican reggae covers of Beatles songs, and that's just the cream of what's available, no scrambling to find filler. Throw Brazillians in and you get to three hours.
I heard a song about a year ago that had that same immediate impact but somehow hasn't stuck around the same way. Was at my little brother's bachelor weekend and someone played the Joe Cocker version of Feelin' Alright, which I immediately went a little nuts for. Well, last week I did the dive, and found a lot of covers of the song--found out it was originally written by a guy in Traffic, but eventually ends up being done by the Bar-Kays, (relevant to this story) Undisputed Truth, and a ton of other acts. It's funny what is immediately known for what it is (a great song no matter who's playing it) and yet still becomes ephemeral, vs. what's known for what it is and then persists the way Grapevine has.
I won't speculate on what the music industry means now that we don't have songs like this anymore, where version on version on version quickly piles up after the initial release. Maybe BBL Drizzy is as close as we get to that nowadays.
posted by turntraitor at 2:08 PM on May 26 [3 favorites]
Lots more info previously, if i do say so myself.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:05 PM on May 26 [7 favorites]
posted by kirkaracha at 6:05 PM on May 26 [7 favorites]
I LOVE this podcast and am so glad to see it on the blue! Great post.
posted by AV at 6:48 PM on May 26 [1 favorite]
posted by AV at 6:48 PM on May 26 [1 favorite]
Mod note: [Psst! Have you heard that this post has been added to the sidebar and Best Of blog? 🍇]
posted by taz (staff) at 2:06 AM on May 28 [2 favorites]
posted by taz (staff) at 2:06 AM on May 28 [2 favorites]
I'm always reminded of the station that played nothing but "I Heard It Through the Grapevine (scroll down) on repeat for years. I remember hearing the backstory on the radio, but can't seem to find the details online (something to do with running out the license on the station?).
posted by Eideteker at 7:22 AM on May 28
posted by Eideteker at 7:22 AM on May 28
The music industry does have songs like this today that are recognized for their greatness and covered extensively - it just happens in dance and electronic genres instead of pop.
posted by jordantwodelta at 4:22 PM on June 2
posted by jordantwodelta at 4:22 PM on June 2
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posted by HearHere at 4:05 AM on May 26 [2 favorites]