The basic idea for the song came from Barrett Strong, who noticed, while walking through the streets of Chicago in 1966, how often he heard people using the title phrase, the provenance of which went back to the human telegraph chain of communication used by black slaves in the Civil War. Strong took the idea back to Norman Whitfield, who worked on the song and in particular formulated a coherent lyric.
The
first recording of the song appears to have been made by The Miracles, with
Whitfield in the producer’s chair, in August 1966, but Berry Gordy didn’t think
it would make a strong enough single and vetoed its release; it eventually
appeared on the group’s 1968 Special
Occasion album. Then came Marvin Gaye; that version took two months to
record, between February-April 1967 – this was a much more complex production involving
intricate arrangements for lead and backing vocals (including overdubs), the
Funk Brothers and the strings and principal French horn of the Detroit Symphony
Orchestra.
Whitfield
was convinced that the Gaye version would be a huge hit, but again Gordy
demurred, possibly not so much with the song’s content as with Gaye’s wracked
lead vocal, purposely recorded an octave higher than his comfort range – this was
not the smoothness expected of a new Nat Cole. Annoyed but persistent,
Whitfield then turned to Gladys Knight and The Pips; he had heard Aretha’s “Respect”
and thought that he could at least match
it, and at best surpass it. Using a far looser (and considerably faster)
arrangement, and some gender-related changes to the lyric, Gladys and The Pips worked on the vocal arrangement for some
weeks, with the final recording taking place in June 1967.
Although
Gordy remained reluctant to release it – the matter may have been as simple as
his basically not liking the song very much – this version did come out as a
single in September 1967. Motown put little promotional muscle behind it, but
radio DJs got on the record’s case and it steadily climbed to the top of the
R&B chart, and nearly became the last pop number one of 1967.
This
summary of 1967 might not have been what some readers expected – we have touched
upon soft psychedelia and the early stirrings of bubblegum – but overwhelmingly
it has told the story of the importance of black pop music in that era. Gladys
and The Pips do a fine job with the song and indeed take it back to church.
Knight’s lead vocal is never less than
committed – note her triple “just about”s in the choruses, and how that flows
into the eerie human telegraph as The Pips pass the words to each other, one by
one, underpinned by a sinister piano figure (as well as, as ever, James
Jamerson’s wondrous bass). Junior Walker’s alto even turns up briefly, but
finally the record’s velocity is such that Knight has to sing, or shriek, the
final verse in a high, sustained one-note fashion.
What
happened with the song after this will be told at the end of the next summary.
Date Record Made Number Two: 16 December 1967
Number Of Weeks At Number Two: 3
Records At Number One: “Daydream
Believer” by The Monkees and “Hello Goodbye” by The Beatles
UK Chart Position: None
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