Undeterred,Whitfield gave the song to Gladys Knight and the Pips, who made it Motown's best-selling single to date. Cloud Nine - The Temptations. [3] After a highly publicized casting call, Whitfield was chosen over hundreds of women. But Berry did not want to damage Temptations' image by blatant political statement. July 15, 2022 11:34 AM EDT. 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. Whitfield and lyrical collaborator Barrett Strong were inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 2004. But success corrupted the once-shy outsider. From 2016 to 2020, she starred as Lady Mae Greenleaf in the Oprah Winfrey Network dramatic series Greenleaf, for which she won critical acclaim and garnered two NAACP Image Awards and a Gracie Award. Dorian Lynskey. His work was also recorded over the years by artists as varied as Creedence Clearwater Revival and Bruce Springsteen. Norman Whitfield | Pop and rock | The Guardian 2023 Celebrity Net Worth / All Rights Reserved. Share Your Memories and Sympathies and Join the Bereaved! Barrett Strong, Motown artist known for 'Money,' dies at 81 Funeral Home website by. His first professional engagement came at his age of 19, when he began serving in Motown headquarters Hitsville U.S.A. in its quality control department. "[6] The New York Times added that Whitfield "powerfully captures her [Baker's] passionate determination. With Eddie Holland, Mr. Whitfield wrote Aint Too Proud to Beg for the Temptations, which reached No. 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 Popularity Most Popular #126320 First Name Norman #23 May 12 Singer #27 Last Name Whitfield #15 Norman Whitfield Is A Member Of Born In 1940 R&B Singers . If he thought something was a hit, he would keep pushing until it was. This was a classic Whitfield strategy. NORMAN WHITFIELD - Michigan Rock and Roll Legends In the meantime, he became an admirer of Berry Gordy as the latter emerged as the most promising new music entrepreneur in Detroit. She won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie and received a Golden Globe Award nomination for her breakout performance as Josephine Baker in the HBO biographical film The Josephine Baker Story (1991). Norman Whitfield - Soul Music Biographies, News and Reviews And the Temptations, whose singing had taken on a darker sound in 1968 when original lead singer David Ruffin was succeeded by Dennis Edwards, effectively became his "instrument," Whitfield conceiving ever more ambitious songs and productions in which to employ them; their singles and albums were his canvas, which he filled up with his songs, creating ever more involved and ambitious works in the process. Either way, he changed the landscape of soul. In 2005, he was sentenced to six months house arrest for tax evasion, avoiding imprisonment only because of diabetes and other health problems. During his last months alive, Whitfield was bed-ridden at Los Angeles's Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he underwent treatment for diabetes and other ailments. Whitfield has won a total of seven NAACP Image Awards. Norman Whitfield. [1] The Undisputed Truth scored their second biggest hit in 1976 with the disco song "You + Me = Love", their first single on Whitfield Records. The cause of death was heart and kidney failure due to diabetes. .more .more 57 Dislike Share Save Alain Robert 12.3K subscribers Subscribe Comments 6 Add a. When Whitfield wasn't producing the albums himself, Frank Wilson, using techniques and approaches he'd learned from Whitfield, was in charge. He is a celebrity Record producer, Songwriter, Film Score Composer. He was well known for working with Berry Gordy's Motown labels in the 1960s. LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Motown producer and songwriter Norman Whitfield, who helped create some of the legendary label's most important anthems, including Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the. 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 . With partner Norman Whitfield wrote enduring hits "Heard It Through The Grapevine" and "Papa Was A Rolling Stone". Mr. Whitfield, who often wrote both lyrics and music, had more than 450 songs released in his lifetime, his daughter said. [18][19] The series also starred Keith David, Merle Dandridge, Kim Hawthorne, and Oprah Winfrey. his father's car broke down there. Whitfield made her professional screen debut in 1981 as Jill Thomas in the critically acclaimed NBC serial drama Hill Street Blues. Whitfield worked extensively with the Temptations as a producer and songwriter, producing eight of their albums between 1969 and 1973. In 1969, Whitfield won three BMI Awards for the songs "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," "I Wish It Would Rain," and "You're My Everything."[5]. Her love of movies was shared by her maternal grandmother, Estelle Devall Butler, who exposed her to them. 10: Mr. Whitfields songs were recorded by a string of Motown luminaries, who besides Mr. Gaye included the Temptations and the Jackson Five. 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?" Photos by Larry Parham. Norman Whitfield: Songwriter and producer who added a political edge Tallahassee, Florida. Norman Whitfield - Rate Your Music 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. A demanding egotist in the studio, he worked the Temptations into the ground. The cause was heart and kidney failure resulting from diabetes, his daughter, Irasha Whitfield, said. Levi and Shirley Whitfield enjoyed more than 66 years together until death parted them when Levi passed away on June 4, 2021. In 2021, she co-starred in the comedy film Vacation Friends. He has been credited as one of the creators of the Motown Sound and of the late-1960s subgenre of psychedelic soul. 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". In 1975 he started Whitfield Records which produced the hit single "Car Wash" by Rose Royce. LOS ANGELES (AP) - Norman Whitfield, who co-wrote a string of Motown classics including "War" and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," has died. WHITFIELD Alan Victor of Darlington aged 77 years on 18th February, peacefully at home with his loving wife Joan and daughter Dawn by his side. Motown's Barrett Strong heralded at funeral as music icon, family man Thu., Sept. 18, 2008 Death notices in The Northern Echo between February 24 and March 3 She later co-starred in the films The Slugger's Wife, Silverado, and Jaws: The Revenge. How rich would Norman Whitefield be today? Norman Jesse Whitfield was born on the 12th May 1940, in Harlem, New York City, USA, and was a songwriter, music producer and arranger, and is best known for his collaboration with Berry Gordys record label Motown for which he wrote numerous hit singles such as I Heard it Through the Grapevine, War, Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me) and Papa Was a Rollin Stone among plenty of others. Auxiliary Post 5319. Norman Whitfield Biography, Songs, & Albums | AllMusic Facebook. A NORMAN WHITFIELD SONGBOOK 2,527 views Aug 29, 2019 One of the great composer of MOTOWN. Marvin Gaye, "Let's Get it On" (1973) - Written . Whitfield was born in Harlem, where his main achievement was to become a skilled pool player. - Written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong.
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