Music Notes

I Heard It Through the Grapevine (CCR)

My ninth track is a cover: I Heard It Through the Grapevine, by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Released in 1970 after having become a stage song of theirs, it features an extended jam session and John Fogarty's unique vocals.

I only know about this through my mom, who became enamored of it at some point during the pandemic (alongside Creeque Alley) and declared it far better than the more well-known and popular Marvin Gaye version.

I didn't really think much of the rather pathetic theme in those days. As I built my own playlist later on, however, I added it as part of my CCR collection. Once I put on my good earbuds, I knew what Mom was so impressed with: the eerie, Voodoo-esque drums, combined with John's anguished voice, definitely hits differently from anything else I've ever heard. It becomes almost hypnotic.

The funny thing is, neither of us listened to the full eleven-minute version. It was always the just-under-four-minute mono version, and that's what I have saved on my old phone. To write a proper blog post, I sat down this evening and played the "real thing." I don't think I've ever listened to an oldies band jamming together before, certainly not with proper binaural sound. (Dolby Atmos on my budget Galaxy, YouTube, with a $5 pair of truly wireless earbuds. It doesn't take much to have good audio quality these days.)

Wow. What an experience. I haven't the faintest understanding of the music theory behind the improvised composite sound, but I know it's the kind of thing I could indulge my sensory sensitivities in, with layers of John's guitar, Clifford's drums, and goodness knows who on bass, all working in amazing synchronicity. It's easy to tell the band members were "in the zone" when they recorded this.

In the comments below the full version, people were chiming in with praise and memories: some trite, speaking about where they were when it hit them hardest; some more intellectual, marveling at the sheer skill of John's guitar licks and how much of a bond the band must have had to be able to improvise so well.

I'm glad I got a chance to experience CCR's complete I Heard It Through the Grapevine tonight—on the edge of a hurricane, no less, as I'm preparing these posts ahead of time.

Words: 394.