12 Most Hated Classic Rock Songs (On Great Albums)
6. I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival always seemed to get blasted by critics throughout their glory years. While the band kept pumping out hit after hit, many magazines got on their case as being nothing more than a singles band who padded out the rest of their records with filler. In hindsight though, almost every one of the band's records were filled to the brim with classic material.
Out of all the great country style rock and roll the band laid down, Cosmo's Factory is probably their most accomplished, with great hits like "Up Around the Bend" balanced out by album cuts like the roaring "Ramble Tamble." Even with all the great music at play here, John Fogerty still harbors a particular distaste for their cover of the Motown classic "I Heard It Through the Grapevine." This tune was already a classic by Marin Gaye before CCR picked it up, but Fogerty decided to take the original groove and turn it into a guitar freakout track, which led the song to balloon into 11 minutes.
With "Ramble Tamble" already setting up the listener with a long heavy track, this cover feels like the band just trying to create a monstrous cut and falling a bit flat. The album is great on its own, but it would be near perfect if a few minutes were cut off this track's runtime.