Marvin, of course. The Funk Brothers’ instrumentation is what makes this song as great as it is, and I know they played on Marvin’s version.
That would be better if they weren’t trying to force the chorus to sound like “Respect”.
Marvin is #1, but CCR is a close second.
And nobody’s mentioned The Slits’ version yet??? WTF!!!?!?!?
Voted for Marvin, but I’ve always been sympathetic to Fogerty’s view that it should sound like voodoo music. It’s got kind that heartbeat/swamp drums rhythm, that could be played up some in Marvin’s. The problem is that CCR’s version is too simple and Fogarty can’t sing like Gaye.
Also I can’t forgive the fact that CCR didn’t include the song’s best line (“People say believe half of what you see; some or none of what you hear.”)
Anyway. There’s room yet for a definitive version. One Grapevine to Rule Them All.
I voted for Marvin Gaye, but I too would have loved the above option!
Came into the thread expecting an option to vote for this. Fave!
As far as I’m concerned, Marvin Gaye is the standard version. So I voted for that out of the choices given.
But I also listened to the suggestions from other posters. And…
Kaiser Chiefs: a lot of fun, but not enough to upset the standard
Gladys & the pips - already in the poll, why is there another link to it??
Zapp - Very funky! But not a standard buster sorry.
DAAS - It’s like the Twilight version
Slits - Why did they pick this song for a first person shooter? Also, not enough audio to judge.
Buddy Miles - can only find Gerard M3 tributes, so cannot judge
Marvin Gaye remains the winner.
I forgot the Flying Pickets. Still good. The a cappella actually makes it slightly more ominous. But still, not enough to overcome Marvin, sorry.
With regards to the original choices:
Gladys - actually, I agree this starts out better, but then it totally FAILS during the chorus
Smokey - the music sounds exactly the same, but the voice sounds falsetto, and the chorus is too standard chorusy
CCR - actually, a close second, but is funky while retaining a lot of the love of Gaye, but still fails to surpass Gaye
I always got the feeling that Fogerty had either misheard the original lyrics or just screwed up that line. I’m actually not sure what he’s saying there.
(And, they hadn’t quite finished putting the lyrics to every song ever written on the internet by 1970.)
What do you mean not enough audio? it’s the entire track.
Yeah, he’s just mushmouthing. Stephen Stills executes a similar fake job in CSNY’s version of Woodstock on the line “We got caught in the Devil’s bargain.”