Creedence Clearwater Revival – I Heard It Through The Grapevine

The Eleven-Minute Jam That Became A Comeback Single

Recorded in 1970 for the Cosmo’s Factory album, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” wasn’t released as a single until January 1976, three years after Creedence Clearwater Revival disbanded. Fantasy Records edited the sprawling 11-minute track down to a radio-friendly three minutes and watched it climb to number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it CCR’s final chart entry. The release came during bitter legal battles between John Fogerty and label owner Saul Zaentz, a feud that would consume decades. For a band that had been gone since 1972, hitting the charts again felt like a ghost returning to haunt both Fantasy Records and radio playlists.

The album version stretched to 11 minutes and seven seconds, making it the longest track Creedence Clearwater Revival ever recorded. It also helped push Cosmo’s Factory to number one for nine consecutive weeks in both the US and UK, cementing the album as their commercial peak. FM radio stations embraced the full version immediately, ignoring its length entirely. That marathon runtime became part of its identity, particularly the extended instrumental jam that turns the final five minutes into a hypnotic, bluesy groove. The single version reached number 76 in Canada, but most fans who discovered it in 1976 had no idea the band no longer existed.

Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong wrote the song for Motown in 1966. Smokey Robinson and The Miracles recorded it first, though Berry Gordy never released that version. Gladys Knight and The Pips made it a hit in 1967, reaching number two on the Hot 100. Marvin Gaye’s 1968 version became the definitive recording, spending seven weeks at number one and becoming Motown’s biggest seller at the time. John Fogerty heard Gaye’s version winding down on radio and thought all those lush strings and horns masked the song’s raw power. He wanted to strip it down, turn it into something gritty and dangerous. He reimagined the riff as a guitar thing, worked out a road map for an extended jam, and took it into their Berkeley warehouse rehearsal space.

Fogerty played a Gibson Les Paul Custom through the entire session, using a variable speed oscillator to create those eerie, swirling tones during the instrumental sections. He also sang all the backing vocals himself, layering his voice to create the illusion of a chorus. The band recorded it live at their warehouse, the same space drummer Doug Clifford nicknamed Cosmo’s Factory. That raw, spontaneous energy defines the track. Where Gaye’s version feels intimate and heartbroken, CCR’s sounds like barely controlled rage. The drum and bass battles between verses create tension, then the jam explodes into something primal. They shot a four-minute promotional film at the warehouse where the band mimed to the recording, though it wasn’t released commercially until 2009.

The track appeared on Cosmo’s Factory, their fifth album in just two years and arguably their masterpiece. Six singles from that album hit the top five, including “Travelin’ Band,” “Up Around the Bend,” and “Lookin’ Out My Back Door.” The album mixed covers like “My Baby Left Me” and “Ooby Dooby” with Fogerty originals, creating a heady stew of R&B, soul, country, rockabilly, and psychedelia. Despite the commercial triumph, tensions simmered. Tom Fogerty left by the end of 1970, and the band imploded two years later over creative control and their disastrous contract with Fantasy Records.

The California Raisins made the song a pop culture phenomenon again in 1986 when their claymation commercial singing “Grapevine” became a sensation. Buddy Miles, Jimi Hendrix’s former drummer, provided the vocals for the raisins, and their version hit number 84 on the Hot 100. Ray Charles and Michael Jackson both appeared as claymation raisins in later commercials. The song also appeared in films like Remember the Titans and Where the Buffalo Roam. John Fogerty rarely performed it live during his solo career, saving it for special occasions like his 2011 Cosmo’s Factory anniversary concert at the Beacon Theatre.

The song endures because Creedence Clearwater Revival transformed a Motown masterpiece into swamp rock without losing its soul. That 11-minute version remains a testament to what happens when a band trusts their instincts and lets a jam breathe. Decades after the California Raisins danced across television screens and Fantasy Records tried to squeeze one last hit from a broken band, the music still sounds massive and raw and completely uncompromising.