Norman Whitfield
The Grammy-winning songwriter who was a Motown legend
The Grammy-winning songwriter who was a Motown legend
Norman Whitfield
1941–2008
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Norman Whitfield, dead of diabetes at 67, was one of the major creators of the Motown sound. A composer of more than 450 songs, among them “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” and “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” Whitfield wrote or produced dozens of hits for such artists as the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and the Jackson Five. His R&B colleagues thought him so clever that they dubbed him “Gray Fox.”
Whitfield’s career sprang from a lucky accident, said the Los Angeles Times. Born in New York’s Harlem, he was traveling with his family as a teenager when their car broke down in Detroit, and the family just decided to stay. He joined the Motown label as a tambourine player and before long was writing songs, most notably with Barrett Strong. His early efforts included light pop tunes such as “Too Many Fish in the Sea” and “Just My Imagination.” But soon, “his ambitious production work helped move Motown from the catchy love songs that typified the label’s output in the early and mid-’60s into social commentary reflecting volatile issues that were at the heart of the civil-rights movement.” In addition to the pacifist anthem “War,” Whitfield’s output included “Cloud Nine,” which won Motown its first Grammy, in 1969, and the seven-minute opus “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” which snared three Grammys four years later.
Whitfield was a true innovator, said The Detroit News. “He sometimes had little more than a chord sheet to instruct the players, yet he could demonstrate exactly how he wanted sounds reproduced.” This informality worked both ways. Once, when Lionel Ritchie approached him with an idea for a song, Whitfield responded, “If you’ve got a great song, hum it to me. No drums, no nothing. It has to come from the melody.” By the 1970s, his work had come to define the edgy, funky sound known as psychedelic soul.
“As Motown began to fade and disco took over popular tastes in the mid-1970s,” said The Washington Post, “Whitfield left Detroit for Los Angeles, where he formed his own record label, Whitfield Records.” For the 1976 comedy film Car Wash he wrote the soundtrack and title tune, which won another Grammy. Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004, he “had all but faded from the news” until the next year, when he pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion for failing to report more than $4 million worth of income. Whitfield was fined $25,000 and received six months of home detention.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
“My thing was to out-Sly Sly Stone. He was definitely sly, his grooves were incredible,” Whitfield once said. “I could match him though, rhythm for rhythm, horn for horn.”
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
The Cabinet Minister: 'sparkling' comedy with a 'satirical sting'
The Week Recommends Nancy Carroll's revival of Arthur Wing Pinero's classic farce is a 'life-affirming triumph'
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
Cosy stays around the world
The Blend About time life gave you a hug? Then check in here...
By Delilah Khomo Published
-
The billion-dollar fight over the 'holy grail' of shipwrecks
In The Spotlight Several nations have staked a claim to the San José's treasure but who has the right to it?
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Dame Maggie Smith: an intensely private national treasure
In The Spotlight Her mother told her she didn't have the looks to be an actor, but Smith went on to win awards and capture hearts
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
James Earl Jones: classically trained actor who gave a voice to Darth Vader
In The Spotlight One of the most respected actors of his generation, Jones overcame a childhood stutter to become a 'towering' presence on stage and screen
By The Week UK Published
-
Michael Mosley obituary: television doctor whose work changed thousands of lives
In the Spotlight TV doctor was known for his popularisation of the 5:2 diet and his cheerful willingness to use himself as a guinea pig
By The Week UK Published
-
Morgan Spurlock: the filmmaker who shone a spotlight on McDonald's
In the Spotlight Spurlock rose to fame for his controversial documentary Super Size Me
By The Week UK Published
-
Benjamin Zephaniah: trailblazing writer who 'took poetry everywhere'
Why Everyone's Talking About Remembering the 'radical' wordsmith's 'wit and sense of mischief'
By The Week UK Published
-
Shane MacGowan: the unruly former punk with a literary soul
Why Everyone's Talking About The Pogues frontman died aged 65
By The Week UK Published
-
'Euphoria' star Angus Cloud dies at 25
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Legendary jazz and pop singer Tony Bennett dies at 96
Speed Read
By Devika Rao Published