Multiple Mondays: I Heard It Through The Grapevine

Gladys Knight and The Pips weren't the first people to record this song, but they were the first to release it. Their release was soon eclipsed by Marvin Gaye's recording (actually completed before the Knight recording), but both versions have inspired a lot of love... and a lot of covers. Here are some of the best.

Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers (who toured with Gladys & The Pips) do a cover, and then The Rustix (the first white band signed to Motown) does a cover. Then Creedence Clearwater Revival present their extended, eleven-minute workout of the song. (There also exist dueling live versions I haven't included here -- to keep it under ten versions -- from John Fogerty and from Creedence Clearwater Revisited, the band with the other two surviving members in it.)
We have a bluegrass cover (from the best ripoff bargain-bin album I ever bought, Pickin' on Creedence Clearwater Revival), and then Barrett Strong, the song's co-writer, tells us what it was like to write songs at Motown, and sings a great, stripped-down version.
Finally, we close with a remix of the Pips' version.

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Multiple Mondays - Do What You Gotta Do

Here's another song I heard first from Nina Simone. And it's also another Multiple Monday inspired by Okkervil River (this link right here has Will Sheff talking about "Do What You Gotta Do" AND "Simon Smith...", plus another version of "Do..."). Have I mentioned I'm seeing Okkervil River live next week? I am. (Expect more songs after the show.)

It's no secret that I'm not a big fan of Roberta Flack. And her version of this song doesn't do anything for me. (On the other hand, it doesn't grate on my nerves like Linda Ronstadt's version, which you'll note I have thoughtfully not included here.)

Which brings us to Ms. Meg Baird. This is a simple, stripped-down version, with just a voice and a guitar, expressing the sweetness and understanding of the lyrics. This is what I imagine Jimmy Webb (possibly the most underrated pop songwriter of the 70s -- "By The Time I Get To Phoenix," "Wichita Lineman," "The Worst That Could Happen") had in mind when he wrote this song -- one woman, one instrument, one audience member near tears.

Since there are only four versions of this song that I like, you get a special bonus today: Jimmy Webb talking about "Wichita Lineman", and singing it for "In Their Own Words" from 1994. (Sadly, he's never released a version of "Do What You Gotta Do.")

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Buy Jimmy Webb's performance from Amazon, Used for 2 cents