The End of Our Road

{{Infobox song | name = The End of Our Road | cover =The End of Our Road.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = [[Gladys Knight & the Pips]] | album = Feelin' Bluesy | B-side = Don't Let Her Take Your Love From Me | released = January 25, 1968<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.45cat.com/record/S35042 |title=The End of Our Road / Don't Let Her Take Your Love from Me - Soul - USA |website=45cat.com|access-date=24 February 2026}}</ref> | recorded = 1967, [[Hitsville USA]], [[Detroit]] | studio = | venue = | genre = [[R&B]], [[soul music|soul]] | length = 2:19 | label = [[Motown Records Group|Soul]] | writer = [[Rodger Penzabene]]<br />[[Norman Whitfield]]<br />[[Barrett Strong]] | producer = [[Norman Whitfield]] | prev_title = [[I Heard It Through the Grapevine]] | prev_year = 1967 | next_title = [[It Should Have Been Me (Norman Whitfield song)|It Should Have Been Me]] | next_year = 1968 }} '''"The End of Our Road"''' is a single written by [[Rodger Penzabene]], [[Norman Whitfield]] and [[Barrett Strong]] in 1967. First recorded in 1967 by [[Gladys Knight & the Pips]], the group's version of the song, released in 1968, became another top forty hit for them as it peaked at number fifteen on the pop singles chart and number five on the R&B singles chart.

==Background== As with the last two songs in Penzabene's trilogy for [[The Temptations]], "[[I Wish It Would Rain]]" and "[[I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)]]", "The End of Our Road" talked about the demise of a couple's relationship. The sentiment behind the song's words, as lyricist Penzabene wrote his songs as personal statements to his wife, was about publicizing his pain of his own marriage falling apart. Unable to handle the extreme pain and hurt caused by this, he wrote the songs, drawing from his real-life heartbreak. After all three songs were completed and recorded, Penzabene committed suicide.

==Gladys Knight & the Pips version== *Lead vocals by [[Gladys Knight]] *Background vocals by [[Merald "Bubba" Knight]], [[William Guest (singer)|William Guest]] and [[Edward Patten]] *Instrumentation by [[The Funk Brothers]]

===Chart positions=== {| class="wikitable" !Chart (1968) !Peak<br />position |- |U.S. [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] |align="center"|15 |- |U.S. ''Billboard'' [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|R&B Singles]]<ref>{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=330}}</ref> |align="center"|5 |}

==Marvin Gaye version== Much like the minor controversy with "[[I Heard It Through the Grapevine]]", Whitfield produced a different version of the song with [[Marvin Gaye]]. It was first issued as a track on Gaye's 1969 studio album, ''[[M.P.G.]]'', and then as a single on May 19, 1970. The song peaked at No. 40 on the ''[[Billboard Hot 100]]'' pop singles chart. It was the first song counted down on the first show of the syndicated radio countdown program ''[[American Top 40]]'' on the weekend of July 4, 1970.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Appel|first1=Rich|title=Casey Kasem: The Man Who Made Countdowns "Coast To Coast"|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6121429/casey-kasem-the-man-who-made-countdowns-coast-to-coast|magazine=Billboard|accessdate=14 February 2016|date=15 June 2014}}</ref>

*Lead vocals by [[Marvin Gaye]] *Background vocals by [[The Andantes]] *Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers

''[[Record World]]'' called it "a great vehicle for Marvin Gaye."<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Single Picks of the Week|magazine=Record World|date=June 6, 1970|page=1|accessdate=2023-04-26|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/70/RW-1970-06-06.pdf}}</ref> ''[[Cash Box]]'' said "The results once more are astounding. The vocal is inflated by production work that is strictly Motown monopoly."<ref>{{cite magazine|title=CashBox Singles Reviews|magazine=Cash Box|date=May 30, 1970|page=42|accessdate=2023-04-26|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1970/CB-1970-05-30.pdf}}</ref>

===Chart positions=== {| class="wikitable" !Chart (1970) !Peak<br />position |- |U.S. [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] |align="center"|40 |- |U.S. ''Billboard'' [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|R&B Singles]]<ref>{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=225}}</ref> |align="center"|7 |}

==References== <references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:End of Our Road, The}} [[Category:1967 songs]] [[Category:1968 singles]] [[Category:1970 singles]] [[Category:Gladys Knight & the Pips songs]] [[Category:Marvin Gaye songs]] [[Category:Motown singles]] [[Category:Songs written by Barrett Strong]] [[Category:Songs written by Norman Whitfield]] [[Category:Songs written by Rodger Penzabene]] [[Category:Tamla Records singles]]