The first recording of the song, by the Miracles, was in the summer of 1966, but it wasn’t even deemed worthy of release. The checkered story of ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’ included Gladys and the group’s R&B No.1 version, before Marvin took ownership of the song. Paul Sexton wrote about it for I Discover Music. The song eventually became a Motown classic, but it had a rough start, as executives at the company thought it was too bluesy and lacked hit potential. They refused to credit another writer, so Strong took it to Whitfield, who helped put it together. Strong came up with the idea and asked Motown writers Holland-Dozier-Holland to work on it with him. The classic about a man who finds out his woman is cheating on him was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. It seems like everyone in Motown heard about this song "through the grapevine" before it was finally recorded. There’s a story behind them getting to record it and see their version released ahead of the iconic version by Marvin Gaye. Gladys Knight and The Pips scored a major hit on the charts for Motown with “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” in 1967, which was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong in 1966. RELATED STORY: Remembering the doo-wop sounds that rang from every urban street corner It was a big hit at what I’ll call “blue-lights in the basement hooky parties” in my neighborhood. Though they recorded “Every Beat of My Heart” in 1961, the song always reminds me of earlier doo-wops from the 1950s. In 1960, the group produced their first Rhythm and Blues (R&B) Top-20 hit in 1961 with a version of Johnny Otis's "Every Beat of My Heart," which attracted national attention and moved to number six on the R&B charts in July of 1961. By then, the group expanded to include cousins Edward Patten and Langston George along with Gladys, Bubba and William Guest Brenda Knight and Guest had left the group to be married. Gladys Knight and the Pips toured nationally with Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke before Gladys was 13, but their 1957 recording debut with Brunswick went nowhere. The group started out singing at supper clubs and for their congregation. Knight’s Musicians Guide bio continues after the 1953 creation of The Pips-a group of Knight’s siblings and cousins, named for cousin James “Pip” Wood.
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