Even amid all of this activity with the Temptations, he found other important outlets for his compositions, most notably in the person of Edwin Starr. He was 67. Norman Whitfield Wiki: Salary, Married, Wedding, Spouse, Family Music producer, arranger, and songwriter Norman Jessie Whitfield was born on May 12, 1941 in New York City. The film grossed over $35 million against a budget of $8 million. Norman Whitfield Born 12 May 1940, New York, NY, United States Died 16 September 2008, Los Angeles, CA, United States Member of Popcorn and The Mohawks The Temptations, , Marvin Gaye, The Undisputed Truth, Rose Royce Also Known As Norman Jesse Whitfield [birth name] Genres Motown Sound Share Tweet Follow 7 followers ADVERTISEMENT Discography 3 In the 2000s, Whitfield had many supporting roles on television and in films. In the early 1980s, Whitfield began working as a producer for Motown again, helming the Temptations' 1983 hit single "Sail Away" and the soundtrack to The Last Dragon.[1]. More than that, however, Whitfield and his personal drive became an important part of the psychological dynamic of the label, often pushing Motown founder Berry Gordy to try out songs and sounds that he didn't fully appreciate himself, to their mutual benefit. Thanks to him, songs could pass the 10-minute mark, use every studio trick available and speak to the concerns of a tougher, angrier black America. He worked with The Temptations as a producer and songwriter and produced eight of their albums. Norman Whitfield Biography. The song was so well-known that 22 years later, its lyrics ("War, what is it good for") figured in a key joke (involving Tolstoy's War and Peace) at the center of an episode of Seinfeld. Whitfield also starred in a number of movies in the 2000s and 2010s. Beginning with their soundtrack to the movie Car Wash, the group enjoyed a series of three hit albums and accompanying hit singles for Whitfield's label. CNN . He was to see sides and potential in that group's sound that would enhance both of their careers in the decade to follow. Advertisement Whitfield kept moving with the times, his songs taking on an edge of gritty social realism in their lyrics that were far removed from the romantic ballads on which much of the "Motown Sound" had been built across the company's first decade. In 1975, faced with reduced options at the recording company that had been his professional home for more than a decade, Whitfield left Motown to start his own label, Whitfield Records. During the next 12 years til 1974, he produced all the groups material, including eight studio albums, and also wrote a dozen of their hit singles. I knew that this was extremely unlikely given his ongoing struggles with a) illness and b) the IRS, not to mention a longstanding reluctance to talk to the press. He wanted Berry Gordy (head of Motown Records) to have Marvin Gaye record "I Heard It Through the Grapevine". Whitfield was born and raised in Harlem, New York. Undeterred,Whitfield gave the song to Gladys Knight and the Pips, who made it Motown's best-selling single to date. / music: "Which Way Is Up? Norman Whitfield, a long time friend and best friend during our growing up years, was laid to rest at the Lower Greens Creek Cemetery - he lived in Eastland at the time of his death. The early 1940s were dominated by World War II. The single's instrumental B-side earned Whitfield and arranger Paul Riser a Grammy Award for Best R&B Instrumental Performance. Whitfield fell into a coma, briefly improved, but eventually succumbed to diabetic complications. High School Dropout Berry Gordy Turned An $800 Loan Into Motown Records And A $400 Million Fortune. Photos by Larry Parham. A spokeswoman at Cedars-Sinai Medical Cent Whitfield was born in Harlem, where his main achievement was to become a skilled pool player. A lot more than that, nevertheless, Whitfield and his personal travel became a significant area of the mental dynamic . Norman Whitfield. Who is Teesha Renee? NEW YORK (AP) Barrett Strong, one of Motown's founding artists and most gifted songwriters who sang lead on the company's breakthrough single "Money (That's What I Want)" and later collaborated with Norman Whitfield on such classics as "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," "War" and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone," has died . : Lynn Whitfield became Josephine Baker, Budapest became Paris and Harlem as HBO raced to complete the first movie about the storied entertainer's life", "HBO's 'Josephine Baker': The Naked Truth", "Lynn Whitfield Shimmies into the Skin of Sultry Josephine Baker", "TV Weekend; With Josephine Baker Through a Long Life", "2 Emmys For James Earl Jones; 'L.A. 2023 L.E. After a long bout with diabetes and subsequent health issues, Whitfield died in Los Angeles, CA, on September 16, 2008, at age 65. Norman Whitfield, a Grammy-winning songwriter, producer and arranger for Motown Records whose many hits, including the signature song "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," helped solidify the. He was 68 and lived in Toluca Lake, Calif. [1] He found a songwriting collaborator in lyricist Barrett 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 as Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight & the Pips, both of whom recorded Whitfield-produced hit versions of the Whitfield/Strong composition "I Heard It Through the Grapevine". Story highlights. All these accomplishments provided a significant boost to Norman Whitfields wealth. Gordy then agreed to have Gaye record it, and Gaye's version remains Motown's biggest hit single. He is survived by his Daughters: Linda Dean, Ann-Marie Major, Sherry Beneby, Hilly Harper, and Lerlene Moss-Walcott; Sons: Eugene and Andrew Beckford; Adopted Daughter: Judy Deleveaux; and a host of other relatives . On the cover of their last album together, 1973's Masterpiece, his own picture loomed larger than the band's. "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. [1] - Fell in love with jazz guitarist, Slim Gaillard's young daughter, Janis Hunter. And even as the label's fortunes were starting to turn downward, Whitfield and the Temptations generated a triple-decker award-winning single in "Papa Was a Rolling Stone," which won two Grammys plus a songwriter's award. The family eventually relocated there, and Whitfield hustled pool and performed other marginal pursuits to survive, and also began watching and learning what was needed to work in music. When the record label chief vetoed a single release of Whitfield's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" that had been cut by Marvin Gaye, opting instead for a more romantic song, Whitfield refused to let the matter drop. One of Whitfield's last major hits at Motown was Yvonne Fair's "It Should Have Been Me" (1975), a song he had written in 1963 and recorded originally with Kim Weston. Lisa Wright always knew she was adopted, but had no idea her biological mother was a star on one of her favorite television shows. The critic Greil Marcus remembers friends who pulled their cars over the first time they heard Papa Was a Rollin' Stone and sat "waiting, shivering, as the song crept out of the box and filled up the night". New York-born music legend Norman Whitfield came to Detroit by chance. [12] In 1998, Whitfield had supporting role of an oncologist in the comedy-drama film Stepmom.[13][14]. He started there as a tambourine player; known for his keen ear, he was eventually put in charge of quality control by the labels founder, Berry Gordy Jr. Rather than content himself -- as most of his contemporaries did -- with producing one hit version of a song done a certain way and aimed at a particular audiences, he would treat the same song differently with a variety of artists, looking for new permutations of its appeal to put before the public. His interest in R&B dates from his mid-teens, and it was not long after that the New York-born Whitfield found himself stranded in Detroit, when his father's car broke down while on the way back from a relative's funeral in California. Norman Whitfield was born in 1940s. Whitfield made her professional screen debut in 1981 as Jill Thomas in the critically acclaimed NBC serial drama Hill Street Blues. After wood-shedding on local . [5][29], A Triumph of the Heart: The Ricky Bell Story, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie, Learn how and when to remove this template message, for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress Miniseries or Television Film, NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special, NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Thicker Than Blood: The Larry McLinden Story, Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special, Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, Mini-Series or Television Movie, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Outstanding Performance in a Youth or Children's Series/Special, Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special, "Lynn Whitfield Facts, information, pictures - Encyclopedia.com articles about Lynn Whitfield", "What Becomes a Legend Most? In 2005, he was sentenced to six months house arrest for tax evasion, avoiding imprisonment only because of diabetes and other health problems. Miss Whitfield was born September 5, 1975 in Hollywood, a daughter of Norman Whitfield and Asari Graham. TV Mini-Series documentary writer - 1 episode, writer: "Just My Imagination Running Away With Me", "Smiling Faces Sometimes", writer: "Just My Imagination Running Away With Me", writer: "Just my imagination running away with me" - as Norman I. Whitfield, writer: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "I Wanna Get Next to You", writer: "I Heard It Through The Grapevine", "Smiling Faces Sometimes", as N. Whitfield, "Holler If Ya Hear Me" / writer: "Holler If Ya Hear Me" - as N. Whitfield, writer: "Ball of Confusion That's What the World Is Today", Madonna: The Girlie Show - Live Down Under, TV Movie documentary writer: "Rain" - as N. Whitfield, TV Movie writer: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", Raisins Sold Out: The California Raisins II, TV Movie writer: "I Heard It Through The Grapevine", producer: "War" / writer: "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka", "War", writer: "I Heard it Through the Grapevine", TV Movie writer: "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" - uncredited, Documentary "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" / producer: "Ain't Too Proud To Beg", writer: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", writer: "Wherever I Lay My Hat That's My Home", TV Special documentary writer: "That's the way Love is", producer: "The Last Dragon", "Stand Your Ground", "The Final Test" / writer: "The Last Dragon", "Stand Your Ground", "The Final Test", TV Series writer - 1 episode, 1985 lyrics - 1 episode, 1982 music - 1 episode, 1982, Video writer: "Friendship Train", "I Heard It Through The Grapevine", writer: "Ain't Too Proud to Beg", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", TV Movie documentary writer: "Needle in a Haystack", Documentary "Just My Imagination Running Away With Me", lyrics: "WAR" - as N. Whitfield / music: "WAR" - as N. Whitfield, Bassie en Adriaan en het geheim van de sleutel, lyrics: "Which Way Is Up?" Auxiliary Post 5319. The following year, Gordy finally succumbed and Gaye's version was even bigger. The first Temptations single to feature this new psychedelic soul style was "Cloud Nine" in late 1968, which earned Motown its first Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Performance by a Duo or Group, Vocal or Instrumental). 1976 Grammy winner for Best Original TV or Motion Picture score for. Whitfield enjoyed some success as a composer with "Too Many Fish in the Sea" by the Marvelettes, and "Needle in a Haystack" by the Velvettes, but it was his drive and his vision as a producer that allowed him to take over the helm of the Temptations' records. Norman Whitfield, who died on Tuesday aged 67, was a songwriter and producer and one of the principal architects of the Motown sound; he was responsible for many of the label's greatest hits . Later that year his Cloud Nine, performed by The Temptations was honored with a prestigious Grammy Award which was followed by another Grammy for Papa Was a Rollin Stone which was released in 1973. His death was announced Sunday on social media by the Motown Museum, which did not immediately provide further details. After 1968, Whitfield turned towards darker and harder sound, blending funk and psychedelic rock. July 15, 2022 11:34 AM EDT. Thu., Sept. 18, 2008 Inspired by Sly and the Family Stone's wild arrangements, he wrote the hard-driving, socially aware Cloud Nine with lyricist Barrett Strong (who is himself currently recovering from a stroke) for the Temptations. But while Hayes was a famously charming and outgoing character hence those frustratingly reductive obits that mentioned Shaft and South Park and left it at that Whitfield was always a mystery. Its emblem, a W, was virtually an inverted Motown M with a different color scheme, and he took the Undisputed Truth with him and kept tinkering with their sound. The group hit right out of the box with another Whitfield song that managed to capture its time and place, "Smiling Faces Sometimes," which became a number three hit in 1971. Family Life He fathered four sons and one daughter. Associated With He wrote and produced songs for several legendary artists, including Marvin Gaye and The Temptations. He also changed the main subjects of his lyrics, from love to social issues such as politics, war and poverty. Skip Ancestry main menu Main Menu. Whitfield played the leading role of Lady Mae Greenleaf, the imperious minister's wife and the power- and money-hungry matriarch of the family. [1] The Undisputed Truth scored their second biggest hit in 1976 with the disco song "You + Me = Love", their first single on Whitfield Records. [27], Whitfield has been married twice. Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today), Gonna Keep On Tryin' Till I Win Your Love, I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You), Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me), (Loneliness Made Me Realize) It's You That I Need, Mama I Gotta Brand New Thing (Don't Say No), Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are), You Make Your Own Heaven and Hell Right Here on Earth, 2003-2023 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).
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