Norman Whitfield | |
|---|---|
| Born | Norman Jesse Whitfield May 12, 1940 |
| Died | September 16, 2008(2008-09-16) (aged 68) |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Songwriter,record producer,arranger |
| Instrument(s) | Keyboards,tambourine |
| Years active | 1958–1986 |
| Labels | Motown,Whitfield |
Norman Jesse Whitfield (May 12, 1940 – September 16, 2008) was an Americansongwriter,composer, andproducer, who worked withBerry Gordy'sMotown labels during the 1960s.[1] He has been credited as one of the creators of theMotown Sound and of the late-1960s subgenre ofpsychedelic soul.[1]
During his 25-year career, Whitfield co-wrote and produced many enduring hits for Motown artists, including "Ain't Too Proud to Beg",[2] "(I Know) I'm Losing You", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "Cloud Nine", "I Can't Get Next to You", "War", "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)", "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)", "Smiling Faces Sometimes", and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone". Whitfield worked extensively withthe Temptations as a producer and songwriter, producing eight of their albums between 1969 and 1973. He then started his own label,Whitfield Records, in 1975, which yielded theRose Royce hit "Car Wash". Alongside his Motown lyrical collaboratorBarrett Strong, he was inducted into theSongwriters Hall of Fame in 2004.[3] He wrote or co-wrote 61 hits on the UK charts and 92 on the US charts.[4] In 2024, Whitfield was posthumously selected for induction into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in the musical excellence category.[5][6] Whitfield was also inducted into theNational Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2021.[citation needed]
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Whitfield was born and raised inHarlem, New York, and spent much of his teen years in localpool halls. In his late teens, he and his family moved toDetroit, Michigan, so that his father could join his sister and work in her husband's chain of drug stores, Barthwell Drugs. He attendedNorthwestern High School.
At 19, Whitfield began frequenting Motown'sHitsville USA offices for a chance to work for the growing label. FounderBerry Gordy Jr. recognized Whitfield's persistence and hired him for the quality control department, which determined which songs would or would not be released. Whitfield joined Motown's in-house songwriting staff, co-writing theMarvin Gaye hit "Pride and Joy",the Marvelettes's "Too Many Fish in the Sea" andthe Velvelettes's "Needle in a Haystack". He took overSmokey Robinson's role as the main producer forthe Temptations in 1966, after his "Ain't Too Proud to Beg"[2] performed better than Robinson's "Get Ready" on the pop charts.
From 1963 to 1974, Whitfield produced virtually all of the Temptations' music, experimenting withsound effects and other production techniques.[1] He found a songwriting collaborator in lyricistBarrett Strong, the performer on Motown's first hit record, "Money (That's What I Want)", and wrote material for the Temptations and other Motown artists such asMarvin Gaye andGladys Knight & the Pips, both of whom recorded Whitfield-produced hit versions of the Whitfield/Strong composition "I Heard It Through the Grapevine". The Gladys Knight & the Pips' version was the best-selling Motown single so far, but it was surpassed a year later by Gaye's version. In 1969, Whitfield won threeBMI Awards for the songs "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "I Wish It Would Rain", and "You're My Everything".[7]
After Temptations lead singerDavid Ruffin was replaced byDennis Edwards in 1968, Whitfield moved the group into a harder, darker sound that featured a blend ofpsychedelic rock andfunk heavily inspired by the work ofSly & the Family Stone andFunkadelic.[8] He added contemporary song topics, moving from love songs to the social issues of the time, such as war, poverty and politics. The first Temptations single to feature this newpsychedelic soul style was "Cloud Nine" in late 1968, which earned Motown its firstGrammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Performance by a Duo or Group, Vocal or Instrumental.
The psychedelic soul records Whitfield produced for the Temptations and other artists such asEdwin Starr andthe Undisputed Truth experimented with and updated the Motown sound for the late-1960s.[1] Longer songs, distorted guitars, multitracked drums, and inventive vocal arrangements became trademarks of Whitfield's productions, and later of records produced by Motown staffers he coached, includingFrank Wilson. But friction and antagonism grew between Whitfield and the Temptations; the group hated how Whitfield put more emphasis on the instrumentation instead of their vocals, and that he was writing fewer romantic ballads for them.
Whitfield often recorded notably different versions of songs with different artists in search of a hit, and did so successfully in the cases of Edwin Starr, with "War" (1970; originally recorded by the Temptations), and the Undisputed Truth, with "Smiling Faces Sometimes" (1971; also originally by the Temptations). "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" (1972) was done first by the Undisputed Truth, before Whitfield rerecorded the song with the Temptations for a longer, more definitive (and massively successful) version. The Temptations' version earned a second Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for Whitfield and the Temptations, and Whitfield and Strong shared the songwriters' award forBest Rhythm and Blues Song. The single's instrumental B-side earned Whitfield and arrangerPaul Riser aGrammy Award for Best R&B Instrumental Performance,
One of Whitfield's last major hits at Motown wasYvonne Fair's "It Should Have Been Me" (1975), a song he had written in 1963 and recorded originally withKim Weston.
In 1975, Whitfield left Motown, following its move from Detroit, to form his own label,Whitfield Records. His first act wasthe Undisputed Truth, whom he had convinced to leave Motown, followed byRose Royce,Willie Hutch, Yvonne Fair, Nytro, Mammatapee andJunior Walker.[1] The Undisputed Truth scored their second biggest hit in 1976 with the disco song "You + Me = Love", their first single on Whitfield Records. Norman Whitfield had an international smash hit in 1976 withRose Royce's "Car Wash", issued onMCA Records. Rose Royce (whose members were originally Edwin Starr's backing band while at Motown) went on to record three more popular albums, and had two huge UK hits with "Wishing on a Star" (1977) and "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" (1978), but could never top the success of "Car Wash", which served as the theme song to the 1976motion pictureCar Wash. TheCar Wash soundtrack won Whitfield aGrammy Award for Best Album of Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special.[1] He also composed the theme song for the 1977motion pictureWhich Way Is Up?, performed byStargard. He produced soul group Masterpiece in 1980.
In the early 1980s, Whitfield began working as a producer for Motown again, helming the Temptations' 1983 hit single "Sail Away" and the soundtrack toThe Last Dragon.[1]
On January 18, 2005, Whitfield pleaded guilty for failing to report royalty income he earned from 1995 to 1999 to theInternal Revenue Service. Facing charges oftax evasion on more than$2 million worth of income, he was sentenced to six months of house confinement and a $25,000 fine. He was not imprisoned because of health problems such asdiabetes.
During his last months alive, Whitfield was bed-ridden atLos Angeles'sCedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he underwent treatment for diabetes and other ailments. Whitfield fell into a coma, briefly improved, but eventually succumbed to diabetic complications.[3] Whitfield died on September 16, 2008. He is interred in theForest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills).
