*First line is the artist name. 1968. This song was first recorded by the Miracles in 1966. Then by Gladys Knight and the Pips in 67. However, It was most popularly recorded by this artist the following years. The song was immortalized in a popular ad campaign for raisins in the 1980s. The song title is a phrase associated with enslaved Black people during the Civil War, who had their form of telegraph-the human grapevine.