I Heard It Through the Grapevine

Rare card · No. 62389

"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is a song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for Motown Records in 1966. The first recording of the song to be released was produced by Whitfield for Gladys Knight & the Pips and released as a single in September 1967. It went to number one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and number two on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and soon became the biggest selling Motown single up to that time. The Miracles were the first to record the song in 1966, but their version was not released until August 1968 when it was included on their album Special Occasion. The Marvin Gaye version was the second to be recorded in the beginning of 1967 but the third to be released. It appeared on his 1968 album In the Groove a year and a half later where it gained the attention of radio disc jockeys. Motown founder Berry Gordy finally agreed to its release as a single on the Tamla subsidiary in October 1968; the record went to the top of the Billboard Pop Singles chart...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Tamla Records, Public domain