I Heard It Through the Grapevine

[TheBigA]

The Creedence version I heard did not last longer than any other station this oldies station played.

We understand that. As we discussed earlier, there is an edited version on the Chronicle album that is less than 4 minutes.

My point is that the Creedence version was not a hit. It therefore has no place on a classic hits or oldies station.

If it's a classic rock station, they should play the album version, which is what was played on rock stations at the time.

There were songs that Top 40 stations played at the time that didn't become hits. You hear those songs on the classic AT40 shows. You rarely hear those songs in Classic Hits playlists today.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Now that I can't edit, I have to say it didn't last longer than any other song.

Anyway, this particular station plays a lot of songs that one wouldn't expect on oldies radio. Standards radio, maybe. Some stations are called middle of the road. This one is all over the road.

 

[fybush]

Now that I can't edit, I have to say it didn't last longer than any other song.

Anyway, this particular station plays a lot of songs that one wouldn't expect on oldies radio. Standards radio, maybe. Some stations are called middle of the road. This one is all over the road.

There's no rule on this site prohibiting the mention of a station's actual call letters. In fact, it's rather encouraged.

 

[firepoint525]

I have the cassette of Chronicle, and it does indeed have the edit of "Grapevine" on it. I seem to recall that the CD has the full version of the song, but I may be mistaken on that. (I thought that the LP had the extended version, but even that is apparently not true.)

 

[kevtronics]

How about the California Raisins version? It was a #84 hit in 1988:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHDswoD_IxI

The lead vocals were by Buddy Miles, who was a member of several rock and R&B groups and played with Jimi Hendrix and Carlos Santana.

 

[TheBigA]

How about the California Raisins version? It was a #84 hit in 1988:

I wouldn't call #84 a hit. Creedence charted higher (although not by much #73)

 

[kevtronics]

I wouldn't call #84 a hit. Creedence charted higher (although not by much #73)

It was in a popular TV commercial, so I'm sure people will remember it even if they didn't care enough to go out and buy the full version of the song at the time.

 

[TheBigA]

It was in a popular TV commercial, so I'm sure people will remember it even if they didn't care enough to go out and buy the full version of the song at the time.

So you're saying classic hits stations should play cover versions of hits rather than the originals? What's wrong with Marvin or Gladys?

 

[CTListener]

So you're saying classic hits stations should play cover versions of hits rather than the originals? What's wrong with Marvin or Gladys?

Aren't some playing the Blues Brothers' version of "Soul Man" instead of Sam & Dave's? I remember WDRC-FM Hartford playing it in regular rotation during its final year or two in the classic hits format before being sold. I assume other stations were doing the same, and maybe still are today. Of course, the Aykroyd/Belushi soul cover did far better nationally as a current than the Raisins' did.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I'd rather hear Sam & Dave myself. And Percy Sledge should do "When a Man Loves a Woman". And Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes should do "If You Don't Know Me by Now".

 

[CTListener]

I'd rather hear Sam & Dave myself. And Percy Sledge should do "When a Man Loves a Woman". And Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes should do "If You Don't Know Me by Now".

The problem is the Sam & Dave and Sledge songs are from the '60s and the Melvin tune is from the '70s. The covers -- from the '80s and later -- are the ones the listeners in their 30s and 40s are more likely to remember as current hits and prefer to hear on the radio in 2019. For what it's worth, I really like the Simply Red version and often wonder why Mick Hucknall didn't become a much bigger star.

 

[vchimpanzee]

The problem is the Sam & Dave and Sledge songs are from the '60s and the Melvin tune is from the '70s. The covers -- from the '80s and later -- are the ones the listeners in their 30s and 40s are more likely to remember as current hits and prefer to hear on the radio in 2019. For what it's worth, I really like the Simply Red version and often wonder why Mick Hucknall didn't become a much bigger star.

My opinion is I don't like Mick Hucknall, but that's just me.

 

[vchimpanzee]

And back on topic.

Good Time Oldies played CCR this morning. I've heard them play Ike and Tina too, but this morning CCR's version started when the clock in my car said 9;28, and ended at 9:31.

 

[gr8oldies]

There was a truncated version of "Grapevine" that ran on some top 40 stations.

I think that your time frame is a little bit off:
"Suzie Q" 1968 11

"Proud Mary" 1969 2

"Bad Moon Rising" 2

"Green River" 2

"Down on the Corner" 3
"Fortunate Son" 6
"Travelin' Band" 1970 2
"Who'll Stop the Rain" 13
"Up Around the Bend" 4

"Lookin' Out My Back Door" 2

"Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" 1971 8
"Hey Tonight" — — 9
"Sweet Hitch-Hiker" 6

There were also flip sides, "Run Through the Jungle" and "Long As I Can See the Light". Other songs charted but didn't make the top 20.

 

[CTListener]

There was a truncated version of "Grapevine" that ran on some top 40 stations.

The last sentence in Semoochie's quoted post indicates that he was listing only CCR's Billboard Top 20 hits, not lower charters or flip sides. The one CCR B-side I remember getting lots of airplay on Boston radio was "Lodi," which was on the other side of "Bad Moon Rising." It may not have reached the top 20 on its own, but it still made its way into oldies stations' playlists in the '80s and '90s.

 

[michael hagerty]

There was no edited promo version of this song that I know of until 1973. Prior to that, the only version was on the album.

If you have a promo version with an earlier copyright date, let me know.

BigA:

Creedence's "Grapevine" was like the Beatles' "A Day in the Life" or Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven"---it might not have been a 45, even a radio-only version, but many Top 40 stations played it when the album came out. Mostly at night. Some played the entire 11-minute LP version, others took it into the production studio, whittled it down to 3:30-5:00, and carted it. KHJ was forced on it by KRLA, where Jimmy Rabbitt was playing the whole thing. I heard it on KFRC at the time, as well---and most top 40 stations I worked for had a carted homemade edit (it was pretty easy to do) in the library.

 

[TheBigA]

Creedence's "Grapevine" was like the Beatles' "A Day in the Life" or Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven"---it might not have been a 45, even a radio-only version, but many Top 40 stations played it when the album came out. Mostly at night.

Not enough for it to chart or become a hit. This was also before monitored airplay. So even if it got airplay at night, it might not have been reported to Billboard.

My comment about the promo version was in response to another post about edited promo singles.

 

[KeithE4]

Not enough for it to chart or become a hit. This was also before monitored airplay. So even if it got airplay at night, it might not have been reported to Billboard.

My comment about the promo version was in response to another post about edited promo singles.

A single of CCR's version of I Heard it Through the Grapevine was released in December 1975, and entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #90 the week of January 31, 1976. It was Fantasy Records #759 (or F-759 in some listings). It peaked at #43 the week of March 19th, and spent 8 weeks on the chart. It was released at the same time that Fantasy released the album Chronicle, Vol. 1.

Not saying that there weren't "custom" edited-for-length versions of the song before this, but this one was an official release. Similar to the release of The Beatles' Got to Get You Into my Life single that was paired with the release of their Rock 'n' Roll Music album later in '76, although that one did much better (peaked at #7 on the Hot 100).

https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1976-01-31
https://www.billboard.com/music/Creedence-Clearwater-Revival/chart-history/HSI/song/575084

 

[TheBigA]

A single of CCR's version of I Heard it Through the Grapevine was released in December 1975,

We discussed this earlier in the thread. That single version came from the album Chronicle, promoting that album, not the original Cosmos Factory.

It is edited to 3:52. I have seen the single version.

 

[michael hagerty]

Not enough for it to chart or become a hit. This was also before monitored airplay. So even if it got airplay at night, it might not have been reported to Billboard.

My comment about the promo version was in response to another post about edited promo singles.

My point, BigA, is that it got Top 40 play at the time of the album's release in many, if not most, markets. People in 1970 were listening to their local radio station, not to the Billboard chart. So it wouldn't be a terribly big stretch to play it on an oldies station.