Norman Whitfield facts for kids

Norman Whitfield's The Temptations

Norman Jesse Whitfield (May 12, 1940 – September 16, 2008) was an American songwriter and music producer. He worked with Berry Gordy's famous Motown record labels during the 1960s. Many people say he helped create the special "Motown Sound" that became so popular.

During his 25-year career, Norman Whitfield helped write and produce many huge hit songs for Motown artists. Some of these timeless songs include "Ain't Too Proud to Beg", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone". He worked a lot with the group The Temptations, producing eight of their albums. Later, he started his own record company called Whitfield Records in 1975. This label released the big hit song "Car Wash" by Rose Royce. In 2004, Norman Whitfield was added to the Songwriter's Hall of Fame alongside his writing partner, Barrett Strong. He wrote or co-wrote 61 hit songs in the UK and 92 in the US.

Early Life and Music Beginnings

Norman Whitfield was born and grew up in Harlem, New York. As a teenager, he spent a lot of time in local pool halls. When he was in his late teens, his family moved to Detroit, Michigan. His father went there to work in his sister's chain of drug stores. Norman attended Northwestern High School in Detroit.

When he was 19, Norman often visited the Hitsville USA offices, which was Motown's headquarters. He really wanted to work for the growing music company. The founder, Berry Gordy Jr., noticed how determined Norman was. He hired him for the quality control department. This team decided which songs were good enough to be released. Norman then joined Motown's team of songwriters. He helped write the hit song "Pride & Joy" for Marvin Gaye. He also co-wrote "Too Many Fish in the Sea" for The Marvelettes and "Needle in a Haystack" for The Velvelettes. In 1966, he took over from Smokey Robinson as the main producer for The Temptations. This happened after his song "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" did better on the pop charts than Robinson's "Get Ready".

A Career at Motown

Producing The Temptations

From 1966 to 1974, Norman Whitfield produced almost all of The Temptations' music. He loved to experiment with sound effects and new ways of producing songs. He found a great songwriting partner in Barrett Strong. Barrett Strong was the singer on Motown's very first hit song, "Money (That's What I Want)". Together, Whitfield and Strong wrote songs for The Temptations and other Motown artists. These artists included Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight & the Pips. Both of these artists recorded hit versions of the song "I Heard It Through the Grapevine". The version by Gladys Knight & the Pips was Motown's best-selling single at the time. However, Marvin Gaye's version, released a year later, became even bigger. In 1969, Norman Whitfield won three BMI Awards for his songs "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," "I Wish It Would Rain," and "You're My Everything."

Creating "Psychedelic Soul"

In 1968, the lead singer of The Temptations, David Ruffin, was replaced by Dennis Edwards. After this change, Norman Whitfield started to make the group's music sound tougher and deeper. This new style mixed psychedelic rock with funk music. It was inspired by groups like Sly & the Family Stone and Funkadelic. Norman also started writing songs about important social issues of the time, like war, poverty, and politics, instead of just love songs.

The first Temptations song with this new "psychedelic soul" style was "Cloud Nine" in late 1968. This song helped Motown win its first Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Performance by a Duo or Group, Vocal or Instrumental. Norman Whitfield's psychedelic soul records for The Temptations and other artists like Edwin Starr and The Undisputed Truth updated the Motown sound for the late 1960s. His productions often featured longer songs, distorted guitars, layered drums, and creative vocal arrangements.

However, Norman Whitfield and The Temptations sometimes disagreed. The group felt that Norman focused too much on the music and not enough on their singing. They also wanted him to write more romantic songs for them. Norman often recorded different versions of songs with different artists to try and get a hit. He did this successfully with Edwin Starr's "War" in 1970, which The Temptations had recorded first. He also did this with The Undisputed Truth's "Smiling Faces Sometimes" in 1971, which was also first recorded by The Temptations. The song "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" (1972) was first done by The Undisputed Truth. But Norman rerecorded it with The Temptations, making a longer, very successful version. The Temptations' version won a second Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for Whitfield and the group. Whitfield and Strong also won the award for Best Rhythm and Blues Song for writing it. The instrumental B-side of the single also earned Whitfield and arranger Paul Riser a Grammy Award for Best R&B Instrumental Performance.

One of Norman Whitfield's last big hits at Motown was Yvonne Fair's "It Should Have Been Me" in 1975. He had written this song in 1963 and first recorded it with Kim Weston.

Starting Whitfield Records

In 1975, Norman Whitfield left Motown after the company moved from Detroit. He decided to start his own record label, called Whitfield Records. His first group on the new label was The Undisputed Truth, who he convinced to leave Motown. Other artists included Rose Royce, Willie Hutch, and Junior Walker. The Undisputed Truth had their second biggest hit in 1976 with the disco song "You + Me = Love".

Norman Whitfield had a huge international hit in 1976 with Rose Royce's "Car Wash". This song was released on MCA Records. Rose Royce went on to record three more popular albums and had two big UK hits with "Wishing on a Star" (1977) and "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" (1978). However, they never topped the success of "Car Wash". This song was the main theme for the 1976 movie Car Wash. The Car Wash soundtrack won Norman Whitfield a Grammy Award for Best Album of Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special. He also wrote the theme song for the 1977 movie Which Way Is Up?, performed by Stargard.

In the early 1980s, Norman Whitfield started working as a producer for Motown again. He produced The Temptations' 1983 hit song "Sail Away" and the soundtrack for the movie The Last Dragon.

Norman Whitfield's Legacy

In his final months, Norman Whitfield was in the hospital in Los Angeles. He was receiving treatment for diabetes and other health issues. He passed away on September 16, 2008. He is buried in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills). Norman Whitfield left behind an amazing legacy of hit songs and a unique sound that shaped music history.

Discography

Hit Songs He Produced and Wrote

• 1963: "Pride & Joy" – Marvin Gaye (US #10, US R&B #2)
• 1964: "Too Many Fish in the Sea" – The Marvelettes (US #25, US R&B #5)
• 1964: "Needle in a Haystack" – The Velvelettes (US #45)
• 1964: "He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'" – The Velvelettes (US #64, US R&B #21)
• 1964: "Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)" – The Temptations (US #26, US R&B #11)
• 1966: "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" – The Temptations (US #13, US R&B #1, UK #21)
• 1966: "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep" – The Temptations (US #3, US R&B #1, UK #18)
• 1966: "(I Know) I'm Losing You" – The Temptations (US #8, US R&B #1, UK #19)
• 1967: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" – Gladys Knight & The Pips (US #2, US R&B #1), also recorded by Marvin Gaye (US #1, US R&B #1, UK #1)
• 1967: "You're My Everything" – The Temptations (US #6, US R&B #3, UK #26)
• 1967: "I Wish It Would Rain" – The Temptations (US #4, US R&B #1), also recorded by Gladys Knight & The Pips (US #41, US R&B #15)
• 1968: "I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)" – The Temptations (US #13, US R&B #1)
• 1968: "The End of Our Road" – Gladys Knight & The Pips (US #15, US R&B #5), also recorded by Marvin Gaye (US #40, US R&B #7)
• 1968: "Cloud Nine" – The Temptations (US #6, UK #15)
• 1968: "The Nitty Gritty" – Gladys Knight & The Pips (US #19, US R&B #2)
• 1969: "Friendship Train" – Gladys Knight & The Pips (US #17, US R&B #2)
• 1969: "Runaway Child, Running Wild" – The Temptations (US #6, US R&B #1)
• 1969: "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" – Marvin Gaye (US #4, US R&B #1, UK #5), originally recorded by The Temptations
• 1969: "I Can't Get Next to You" – The Temptations (US #1, US R&B #1, UK #13)
• 1969: "Don't Let The Joneses Get You Down" – The Temptations (US #20, US R&B #2)
• 1970: "You Need Love Like I Do (Don't You)" – Gladys Knight & The Pips (US #35, US R&B #3), also recorded by The Temptations
• 1970: "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)" – The Temptations (US #3, US R&B #2, UK #7)
• 1970: "War" – Edwin Starr (US #1, US R&B #3, UK #3), originally recorded by The Temptations
• 1971: "Smiling Faces Sometimes" – The Undisputed Truth (US #3, US R&B #2), originally recorded by The Temptations
• 1971: "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)" – The Temptations (US #1, US R&B #1, UK #8)
• 1972: "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" – The Temptations (US #1, US R&B #1, UK #8), originally recorded by The Undisputed Truth (US #63, US R&B #24)
• 1973: "Masterpiece" – The Temptations (US #7, US R&B #1)
• 1973: "Law of the Land" – The Temptations (UK #41), also recorded by The Undisputed Truth (US R&B #40)
• 1973: "Let Your Hair Down" – The Temptations (US #27, US R&B #1)
• 1974: "Help Yourself" – The Undisputed Truth (US #63, US R&B #19)
• 1975: "It Should Have Been Me" – Yvonne Fair (US #85, UK #5), also recorded by Gladys Knight & The Pips (US #40, US R&B #9)
• 1976: "Car Wash" – Rose Royce (US #1, UK #9)
• 1976: "You + Me = Love" – The Undisputed Truth (US #48, US R&B #37, UK #43)
• 1976: "I'm Going Down" – Rose Royce (US #70, US R&B #10)
• 1976: "I Wanna Get Next to You" – Rose Royce (US #10)
• 1977: "Ooh Boy" – Rose Royce (US #72, US R&B #3, UK #46)
• 1977: "Wishing on a Star" – Rose Royce (UK #3)
• 1978: "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" – Rose Royce (US #32, UK #2)