Knight & the Pips Gladys Knight & the Pips recorded "Grapevine" on June 17, 1967, in Motown's Studio A, also with Norman Whitfield as producer. After hearing Aretha Franklin's version of "Respect", Whitfield rearranged "Grapevine" to include some of the funk elements of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. According to David Ritz, Whitfield set to record a song that would "out-funk" Aretha. After Whitfield presented the demo tapes, Gladys Knight, Bubba Knight, William Guest, and Edward Patten worked for several weeks on their vocal arrangement. To make the song suitable for Gladys, the first line of the second verse ("I know a man ain't supposed to cry/But these tears I can't hold inside") was altered to ("Take a good look at these tears in my eyes/Baby, these tears I can't hold inside"). After much talk, Gordy reluctantly allowed the Pips' version to be a single on September 28, 1967, on Motown's Soul label. Other Motown artists In 1968, Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers recorded a version for their debut album based on Knight's recent hit. But after hearing the Marvin Gaye version, they felt they had made the wrong choice. In 1969, Whitfield produced a version for the Temptations "psychedelic soul" album, Cloud Nine, in which he "brought compelling percussion to the fore, and relegated the piano well into the wings". In 1971, the Undisputed Truth recorded the song in a Gaye-styled version. Releases Since both the Miracles' and Marvin Gaye's renditions of the song were rejected by Gordy as a single, Gladys Knight & the Pips' version became the first to be released, on September 28 1967, on Motown's Soul label, with "It’s Time to Go Now" on the B-side. Motown put little support behind it and the Pips relied on connections with DJs across the United States to get the record played. The Pips' version of "Grapevine" reached number one on the Billboard R&B chart on November 25, 1967, and stayed there for six weeks, making it the group's second R&B number one after 1961's "Every Beat of My Heart". It reached number two on the Billboard Pop Singles chart the same month, with the Monkees' "Daydream Believer" holding top spot. It was Motown's best-selling single to that point, remaining in the top 10 of the Hot 100 for nearly two months. The song was later placed on the Gladys Knight & the Pips album Everybody Needs Love.