It’s the first time animated raisins have starred in the FCH featured image. These little guys were part of a 1980’s ad campaign by the California Raisin Advisory Board. This week’s tune was featured in the debut ad. I am not making this up. We’ll meet them again later.
I Heard It Through The Grapevine was written in 1966 by the crack Motown songwriting team of Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. It was initially written for The Miracles, but their version was the third iteration to be released by the record label.
We begin with Gladys Knight & The Pips.
Marvin Gaye. Say no more.
The aforementioned first recorded and third released Motown version:
Let’s take a trip to Cosmo’s Factory and listen to CCR’s album version. It’s a swell way to spend 11:08 of your time.
Ella Fitzgerald was trying to break through to the kids in 1970. It led to a pretty darn good version of the Whitfield-Strong classic.
A live version of this week’s tune from the 1995 Cropredy Festival. Fairport is joined by Richard Thompson and members of Roy Wood’s Wizzard. Wood was the leader of The Move and cofounded ELO with Jeff Lynne.
A reggaefied version of this week’s tune by Toots & The Maytals.
Finally, follow the bouncing raisin or some such shit. The California Raisins lead singer was legit, Buddy Miles who played with The Electric Flag, Jimi Hendrix, and Carlos Santana, among others.
What would the Friday Cocktail Hour be without instrumental versions of the week’s tune? This time, King Curtis followed by Bill Frisell.
That’s it for this week. Let’s drink to the return of sanity in our nation’s capital. It’s what Gladys Knight & The Pips would want. Never argue with them.
