[soundbitten1]

What version do you like better?

[Diamond Dog]

Sorry man, but every time I hear John Fogerty sing " I hoid it through the grapevine... ", I've got Motown on my mind...

D.D.

[elasticnorseman]

of the choices, Marvin Gaye... but I'm fond of the version by The Slits

[jimdgoulding]

of the choices, Marvin Gaye... but I'm fond of the version by The Slits

The Slits, eh.  That's one I missed.   I'll split my vote between Gladys Knight and The Pips and Mr. Gaye.

[won ton on]

I kind of like Bill Frisell's version.

[Bob in St. Louis]

I kind of like Bill Frisell's version.

Amen to that.
Well....except for the last 60 seconds, it get a bit too funky for my tastes.

Bob

[S Clark]

... but I'm fond of the version by The Slits

Just watched about 15 seconds of their version, not my cuppa tea.  Give me Gladys Knight and the Pips-- although I could have sworn I had heard an Aretha Franklin version that was better, but can't find it.
Scott

[soundbitten1]

Sorry man, but every time I hear John Fogerty sing " I hoid it through the grapevine... ", I've got Motown on my mind...

D.D.

I agree that is grating but I think the "psychedelic" interlude makes up for it.

[ZLS]

    Because at least one person asked, (Hey Jim) the Marvin Gaye version to me is definitive.  The song is really about pain and the lack of honesty in a relationship.  The Gladys Knight version is fun, the Marvin Gaye version is real.

    Another song that is similar in that two different interpretations convey two entirely different meaning, is Save The Last Dance For Me. 
The original by the Coasters is a fun listen.  The cover by Aaron Neville connects to the emotional core of the song.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMp79hazFd0  Save The Last Dance For Me was written by Doc Pomus who due to having contracted polio as a child was confined to a wheel chair is whole life.  He wrote the song as he watched his wife dancing with other men at his wedding.   

[Diamond Dog]

I agree that is grating but I think the "psychedelic" interlude makes up for it.

There is that. What makes the Creedence version appealing to me is the way they just take the song in a whole other direction with their interpretation ( including the trippy section you're referring to ). The Marvin Gaye version and the Creedence version both offer menace but in different ways. Gaye's version is that heartbroken feeling in the pit of your stomach that you get when, as Robert Cray once sang, "I can't go home 'cuz I know what I'm gonna find there..." The Creedence version opens the possibility that when he gets home, all hell's gonna break loose.
 
Interesting topic.

D.D.   

[jimdgoulding]

ZLS has sold me on his interpretation.  Plus, I suspect he's down with most of the older R&B Atlantic groups as am I. 

[Diamond Dog]

Just to mess with everybody's heads on this one, I found a duet in my music collection of Marvin Gaye AND Gladys Knight doing Heard It Through The Grapevine for the win ! 

D.D.

[Diamond Dog]

And then there's this. As much as I love this woman.....aw jeez. 
Oh, and Rammstein called - they want their stage back, Tina.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is95TGxVYJ4

D.D.

[Bob in St. Louis]

And then there's this. As much as I love this woman.....aw jeez. 
Oh, and Rammstein called - they want their stage back, Tina.

Wow.  That's just sad. I made to 1:38 and couldn't take any more.
She totally didn't "get it".
I like her too, but that stage was waaaaaayyyyyy over the top.
It looked more like the grand unvieling of the next Military aircraft or something.

Here's the Bill Frisell version I like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMVJg6WuCzg
But like I said earlier, once he gets to about the 6:45 mark, he starts losing me with the funk factor. 

[Diamond Dog]

Here's the Bill Frisell version I like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMVJg6WuCzg
But like I said earlier, once he gets to about the 6:45 mark, he starts losing me with the funk factor. 

Pretty cool, Bob. Thanks ! Retains the foreboding atmosphere of the original but takes it to some interesting places. Good covers do that to my way of thinking. Turning a song into a smarmy production number suitable for a Seventies variety TV show like Tina did, not so much.

D.D.

[jimdgoulding]

I kind of like Bill Frisell's version.

Sweet.  Nice sound, too.  I saw Bill Frisell play with his quartet in a club late last year.