Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through Grapevine

Dave Marsh, in his book The Heart Of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made, ranks Marvin Gaye's version of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" at #1. It's hard to argue with his choice. It's that good.

Stereo version

The first appearance of the stereo version on CD is on one of Motown's very first batch of CDs, the Marvin Gaye collection Compact Command Performances 15 Greatest Hits (1983). It sounds surprisingly good here, with a great dynamic range, nice EQ, no evidence of noise reduction, and seemingly very low-generation source tapes. The Compact Command Performances can vary wildly in quality from disc to disc, and even track to track, but this one is sturdy. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Motown's 25 #1 Hits From 25 Years Vol. 1 (1985) - digital clone, about 1.6 dB louder
• Motown's Motown's Biggest Pop Hits (1986) - digital clone, about 0.4 dB louder
• Motown's Motown 9000 Series (1987) - digital clone, about 2.4 dB louder
• Time-Life's Classic Rock Vol. 11 1968 The Beat Goes On (1989)
• Cema's Entertainment Weekly Presents Rock Archives Vol. 1 (1990) - digital clone of Classic Rock; about 1.4 dB or 1.5 dB louder
• PolyGram's promo PGD Presents Sound Savers Vol. 1 (1991) - digital clone, exactly 1.6 dB quieter

All of the above sound about the same. None fade early, have any odd EQ, or extra add any noise reduction.

There's a new analog transfer on Rhino's Billboard Top R&R Hits 1968 (1988 pressing only; this song was replaced with "Tighten Up" on the 1993 rerelease of this disc). To my ears, it sounds like a new transfer of the same source tape used for Compact Command Performances. The sound quality is basically the same as Compact Command Performances, too, also with a great dynamic range, nice EQ, no evidence of noise reduction, and seemingly very low-generation source tapes. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Time-Life's Superhits Vol. 2 1968 (1990) - left/right channels reversed and fades about four beats early; avoid
• Time-Life's AM Gold Vol. 4 1968 (1990) - is digitally identical to Superhits, so also has left/right channels reversed and fades about four beats early; avoid
• Time-Life's Rhythm And Blues Vol. 4 1968 (1991) - erroneously repeats the opening tamborine hit twice (which is pretty weird) and fades about two beats early; avoid
• Time-Life's Solid Gold Soul Vol. 3 1968 (1991) - digitally identical to Rhythm And Blues Vol. 4, so also erroneously repeats the opening tamborine hit twice and fades about two beats early; avoid

Some outliers, which aren't based on the above two masterings:

• Motown/Silver Eagle's 3-CD Motown 25th Anniversary (copyright 1983) - has horrendously narrowed soundstage, sounds extremely muffled - avoid this disc at all costs
• Heartland/Warner Special Products' 2-CD Real Rock (1987) - sounds like a different analog transfer of the same awful source tape used for Motown 25th Anniversary; the Warner Special Products collections from around 1992 onward are significantly better than the early ones
• Motown's Motown Year By Year 1968 (1995) - it sounds fine here but doesn't use any of the above masterings. This series of collections is interesting because it occasionally uses non-hit/alternate versions of some of the songs. It's the stereo version of the hit here.
• Motown's The Big Chill soundtrack - the first appearance of a 5:01 version that didn't exist in 1968

Mono version

The 45 was in mono. If given a choice, go with mono for this song.

The mono version first appeared on CD on Motown's superb 4-CD Hitsville USA Vol. 1 (1992). Although this set is pretty much flawless in every way, this song does have a 60 Hz hum throughout, which is noticeable on the fade. I suspect that's just how it is on the mono mixdown tape of the song.

There's a new analog transfer, with the hum muffled somewhat, on Motown's 2-CD Anthology (1995) and 4-CD The Master 1961-1984 (1995). These two collections are digitally identical, and I'm not sure which came first. The reduction in hum is a minor improvement over Hitsville; it's not night-and-day by any means. There are digital clones on:

• Time-Life's Gold And Platinum Vol. 1 1964-1970 (1997) - digitally exactly 2 dB quieter
• Time-Life's Legends Of Soul Vol. 2 Marvin Gaye (2001) - digitally identical

One outlier, which is mastered too loud - Hip-O Select's The Complete Motown Singles Vol. 8: 1968 (2007).

My recommendations

Go for mono. Any of the Motown or Time-Life discs I mentioned above will serve you well. If you want 45 versions of some of the later hits, go with Anthology (1995). If you prefer LP versions of some of the later hits, go with The Master 1961-1984 (1995).

For stereo, I actually recommend Motown's Compact Command Performances 15 Greatest Hits (1983). Motown nailed it the first time around (for this one song). If you have the Rhino disc, rest assured that it sounds about as good as the old Motown disc. If given a choice, avoid the Time-Life discs that fade early.

To AutumnAarilyn:

As I seem to recall, the extended "Grapevine" is
simply an edited repeat of the last(?) verse,
therefore it can be recreated with an even better
mastering if you can't find it cheaply.

Promo and first-pressing 'Big Chill' vinyl LPs had the
standard stereo version; later vinyl pressings
contained the elongated version probably due to the
song's undocumented resurgence in popularity.

Andy

AndrewChouffi wrote: To AutumnAarilyn: As I seem to recall, the extended "Grapevine" is simply an edited repeat of the last(?) verse, therefore it can be recreated with an even better mastering if you can't find it cheaply. Promo and first-pressing 'Big Chill' vinyl LPs had the standard stereo version; later vinyl pressings contained the elongated version probably due to the song's undocumented resurgence in popularity. Andy

You actually get a repeat of the second verse,
instrumental bridge, and third verse. I'm the Silver
Surfer and not a huge fan of files.

LunarLaugh wrote: The edit was made for the song to fit over the entirety of the movie's ending credits. I guess whomever the music supervisor or soundtrack producer was so impressed with the edit work that they decided to carry it over to the actual soundtrack album.

Thanks. Makes sense!

Andy

Edited by AndrewChouffi

Marvin's version was actually recorded before Gladys
Knight's version was (in 1967) but it lingered on the
shelf until after Gladys' version had finished its run.
I believe the first group to ever record the song was
actually The Miracles. Their version slipped out later
on their "Special Occasion" LP.

Just some further history: The time of "Grapevine's"
chart success ushered in a bit of a strange period for
Marvin Gaye as he would have to deal with the personal
loss of his close friend and duet partner Tammi Terrell
which sent him in to a very deep depression when he was,
at the same time, having his biggest success to date
(with follow-ups like "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby"
and "That's The Way Love Is" reaching the top 10).

This wave of success, and his production work for Motown
group The Originals, meant that eventually Motown could
no longer deny him the creative freedom he was craving
and he would record and release the "What's Going On"
album soon afterwards.