"
How Sweet It Is" is a 1964 hit song written and produced by the Motown songwriting team of Holland–Dozier–Holland. It was originally recorded by American
soulSoul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
singer
Marvin GayeMarvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
and became one of his most popular songs. Gaye peaked at #6 on the
Billboard Hot 100The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
pop singles chart with the song in January 1965, and #3 on Billboard's
R&B SinglesHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart making it Gaye's most successful single to that point with record sales well over 900,000 copies.
It has been
coveredIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
on many occasions, including by fellow Motown artist
Jr. Walker & the All StarsJunior Walker & the All Stars were signed to the Motown label in the 1960s, and became one of the label's signature acts.-Biography:...
, who took it to #3 on the R&B singles chart and number 18 on the Hot 100 in 1966.
The most successful cover of the song was by
James TaylorJames Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
, whose version in mid-1975 reached number one on the Easy Listening chart and number five on
Billboard Hot 100The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. On this version,
Carly SimonCarly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her work...
performed harmony vocals and
David SanbornDavid Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school...
played saxophone.
Other notable versions include those by
Jerry Garcia BandJerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
(who recorded and included the song in their rotation for twenty years),
Cissy HoustonEmily "Cissy" Houston is a Grammy Award–winning American soul and gospel singer. She led a very successful career as a backup singer for such artists as Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson, Wishbone Ash and Aretha Franklin, and is now primarily a solo artist...
(who cut a gospelized version on her Grammy winning album,
Face to Face, in 1996), and
Michael BubléMichael Steven Bublé is a Canadian singer. He has won several awards, including three Grammy Awards and multiple Juno Awards. His first album reached the top ten in Canada and the UK. He found worldwide commercial success with his 2005 album It's Time, and his 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible was...
(who released the song on his album
It's Time).
A cover of the song was featured on
Karen DaltonKaren J. Dalton was an American folk blues singer and banjo player associated with the early 1960s Greenwich Village folk music scene, particularly with Fred Neil and the Holy Modal Rounders as well as Bob Dylan.-Biography:Dalton, whose heritage was Cherokee, was born Karen J. Cariker in Enid,...
's 1971 (re-released in 2006) cult folk album "
In My Own Time-Track listing:#"Something on Your Mind" - 3:23#"When a Man Loves a Woman" - 2:59#"In My Own Dream" - 4:18#"Katie Cruel" - 2:22...
", and has since became a favorite in the underground folk scene.
The song was also covered and gave title to an album by
Joan OsborneJoan Elizabeth Osborne is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her song "One of Us". She has toured with Motown sidemen the Funk Brothers and was featured in the documentary film about them, Standing in the Shadows of Motown.-Biography:Originally from Anchorage, Kentucky, a suburb...
, as well as by
Kenny RogersKenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
and also by
Jimmy NeedhamJimmy Needham is an American contemporary Christian musician signed to Inpop Records. His second Inpop studio album, Not Without Love, was released on August 19, 2008...
in his album
NightlightsNightlights is the third studio album by contemporary Christian musician Jimmy Needham, released on May 18, 2010.- Track listing :# "Moving to Zion" # "Being Small" # "Yours to Take" # "The Reason I Sing"...
Personnel
- Lead vocals by Marvin Gaye
- Background vocals by The Andantes
The Andantes were a prolific female sessions group for the Motown record label during the 1960s. Composed of Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps, the group sang background vocals on numerous Motown recordings, including songs by Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, The Temptations, Stevie...
- Written and produced by Edward Holland, Jr.
Edward Holland, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter and record producer....
, Lamont DozierLamont Herbert Dozier is an American songwriter and record producer, born in Detroit, Michigan. Dozier has either co-written or produced several US Billboard #1 hits.-Career:...
and Brian HollandBrian Holland is an American songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of Holland–Dozier–Holland. That songwriting and production team that was responsible for much of the Motown sound and numerous hit records by artists such as Martha and the Vandellas, The Supremes, The Four Tops,...
- Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers was the nickname of Detroit, Michigan, session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown Records recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972...
- Produced by Lamont Dozier
Lamont Herbert Dozier is an American songwriter and record producer, born in Detroit, Michigan. Dozier has either co-written or produced several US Billboard #1 hits.-Career:...
and Brian HollandBrian Holland is an American songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of Holland–Dozier–Holland. That songwriting and production team that was responsible for much of the Motown sound and numerous hit records by artists such as Martha and the Vandellas, The Supremes, The Four Tops,...