50 years ago: Marvin Gaye hit #1 with “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”

I Heard It Through the Grapevine Marvin Gaye

Writer(s): Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield (see lyrics here) Released: October 30 1968 First Charted: November 16, 1968 Peak: 17 US, 15 CB, 14 GR, 11 HR, 17 RB, 13 UK, 8 CN, 40 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, -- UK, 6.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 6.0 radio, 64.5 video, 299.89 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Marvin didn’t want to record it, RS500 Motown didn’t want to release it, RSP and Berry Gordy, the company head honcho, thought it was horrible. FB Naturally it became Gaye’s first pop #1 and biggest hit, as well as Motown’s longest running #1 to date. FB Norman Whitfield, a producer for Motown, had a habit of pushing the same song on multiple acts. While it frustrated some of his charges, it also worked, at least on occasion. Never was that more the case than with Gaye’s cover of “Grapevine.” RS500 First the Miracles put their spin on it, then the Isley Brothers, whose version is still locked somewhere in the Motown vaults. FB In 1967, both Gaye and Gladys Knight & The Pips tackled it. WK Before year’s end, the Pips had a #1 R&B and #2 pop hit with it. Gaye’s version was more aligned with the song’s lyrical theme. TB It was spookier than the Pips’ “journeyman rendition,” MA slowed down “to a voodoo chant pace” TC and “accenting a more churchy, Ray Charles feel.” TC When they were recording the song, Whitfield encouraged the reluctanct Gaye to sing in a high, raspy voice. As was generally the case, Whitfield got his way. WK Whitfield championed Gaye’s “Grapevine,” but it was shelved for more than a year, finally emerging when filler was needed for Gaye’s In the Groove album. A DJ on a radio station in Chicago began playing the song and when it was obvious it was a hit, Gordy finally gave in and allowed the single to be released. WK Resources: FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 249. TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Page 188. DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 84. MA Dave Marsh (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. New York, NY; New American Library. Page 2. RSP Rolling Stone. (September 8, 1988; Issue 534)."The 100 Best Singles of the Last 25 Years." New York, NY; Straight Arrow Publishing Company. Page 65. RS500 Rolling Stone (12/04). “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 106. WK Wikipedia.org Related Links: First posted 11/16/2011; last updated 2/3/2023.

“Midnight Train to Georgia” hit #1

Midnight Train to Georgia Gladys Knight & the Pips

Writer(s): Jim Weatherly (see lyrics here) First Charted: August 25, 1973 Peak: 12 BB, 11 CB, 3 GR, 11 HR, 2 RR, 19 AC, 14 RB, 10 UK, 14 CN, 52 AU, 2 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.6 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 45.58 video, 295.27 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The song started out as “Midinght Plane to Houston” in 1970. It was inspired by a phone conversation songwriter Jim Weatherly had with actress Farrah Fawcett. He’d called to talk to his friend Lee Majors, who’d just started dating Fawcett. He wasn’t home and she explained that she was packing to go visit her parents – she was taking a midnight plane to Houston. After getting off the phone, Weatherly spent 45 minutes writing a song RC which he explained “was about a girl that comes to LA to be successful but maybe she’s not successful but the guy loves her and goes home with her.” TC Cissy Houston recorded the song in 1972. She described it as “a country ballad that told a good story – about two people in love.” MM However, she wanted to change the title, saying “my people are originally from Georgia, and they didn’t take planes…they took trains.” MM The song also underwent a change in becoming about a woman following her man back to Georgia after his failure to become a star. Her version wasn’t a hit, but in the hands of the Pips it would become their only #1 on the pop charts. Gladys Knight & the Pips formed in 1952 when she was eight years old. Her siblings Bubba and Brenda and their cousins William and Eleanor Guest rounded out the group, originally known just as The Pips. By 1955, they were performing around Atlanta on the talent show circuit and in 1957 they signed a record contract with Brunswick Records. Two years later, the label dropped the group. The Pips would go through different members, have a a hit with “Every Beat of My Heart” in 1961 (#6 BB, #1 RB), and another label before signing with Motown in 1966. They picked up two more top-ten pop hits/#1 R&B songs with “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” and “If I Were Your Woman” before leaving the label for Buddha Records in 1973. The group recorded Weatherly’s song “Neither One of Us Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye” and it reached #2 on the pop charts and #1 on the R&B charts. The group asked Weatherly if he had any more songs and he gave them “Midnight Train to Georgia.” Knight said she loved Cissy’s version but wanted “an Al Green thing going…something moody with…horns, keyboards, and other instruments to create texture and spark something in me.” MM She also changed some lyrics with Weatherly’s blessing and gave it some gospel ad-libs. She struggled with the latter so in the recording studio her brother Bubba fed her lines into her headset. MM It became the fifth R&B chart-topper for the Pips. Critic and author Dave Marsh called it “the best vocal performance of Gladys Knight’s career.” DM Resources: RC Rod Couch (2015). The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era: 1955-2015. Pages 428-9. TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Page 382. DM Dave Marsh (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. New American Library: New York, NY. Pages 210-11. MM Marc Myers (2016). Anatomy of a Song. Grove Press: New York, NY. Pages 217-21. Related Links: First posted 1/14/2024.