Norman was raised in Harlem where he spent the majority of his spare time in pool halls. Norman Whitfield, who co-wrote a string of Motown classics including "War" and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," has died at 67. A NORMAN WHITFIELD SONGBOOK - YouTube He turned around and annoyed Gordy intensely, finally cajoling him into okaying another attempt at the song by Gladys Knight & the Pips. Among Mr. Whitfields other hits were Papa Was a Rollin Stone, written with Mr. Strong. She was a 1993 graduate of Hubbard High School and obtained a Bachelor's Degree from. He co-wrote "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone", "Ball of Confusion", "War", "Smilin' Faces", and "Just My Imagination (Runnin' Away with Me)". He was well known for working with Berry Gordy's Motown labels in the 1960s. His the best movie is Car Wash. .more .more 57 Dislike Share Save Alain Robert 12.3K subscribers Subscribe Comments 6 Add a. 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. [28] From 1990 to 1992, she was married to director Brian Gibson, with whom she had a daughter, Grace. "Barrett was not only a great singer and piano player, but he, along with his writing partner Norman Whitfield, created an incredible body of work," Motown founder Berry Gordy said in a statement. He wound up in Detroit when his father's car broke down on the way back from his grandmother's funeral in California and the family settled in. 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. 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Whitfield / music: "WAR" - as N. Whitfield, Bassie en Adriaan en het geheim van de sleutel, lyrics: "Which Way Is Up?" Whitfield fell into a coma, briefly improved, but eventually succumbed to diabetic complications. Whitfield's big success with his own label, however, and his last big commercial hit, came in 1976 with the group Rose Royce, which he had discovered during their time as Edwin Starr's backup band (known then as Magic Wand). Beginning with the single "I Wish It Would Rain," written in collaboration with lyricist Eddie Holland, he moved both the group and Motown into a new era, which opened up the subject matter as well as the sound of their songs. 1972 Grammy winner for Best R&B Song for "Papa Was a Rolling Stone.". When Motown moved to. His main interest as a youth was centered on the pool hall, not the dance hall -- according to Nelson George in his book Where Did Our Love Go?, Whitfield not only developed a steady hand with a pool cue, but a good eye for observing and sizing up those around him. Norman Whitfield Net Worth Motown producer/songwriter who helped define the label's sound. With partner Norman Whitfield wrote enduring hits "Heard It Through The Grapevine" and "Papa Was A Rolling Stone". Norman Whitfield Net Worth Over 25 years Whitfield co-wrote and produced many Motown hits including "Ain't Too Proud to Beg", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "(I Know) I'm Losing You", "Cloud Nine", "War", "I Can't Get Next to You", "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today", "Smiling Faces Sometimes", "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)", and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone". Lynn Whitfield's Early Life Whitfield was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the eldest of four children, and a daughter of Jean Butler, an officer of a finance agency, and Valerian Smith, a dentist. Leonard Levi Whitfield (1932-2021) - Memorial Find a Grave 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. Whitfield gave the song to Gladys Knight and the Pips, who made it Motown's bestselling single at the time. Whitfield has been credited with helping create the Motown Sound and helping the development of the subgenre psychedelic soul. Her daughter has opted to pursue a career in music, and Lynn has been very supportive of her endeavors. The trio never hit again as big as they did with that song, as Whitfield concentrated most of his efforts on the Temptations, but he used the Undisputed Truth to try out funk and psychedelic experiments, both with his own songs (including the first version of "Papa Was a Rolling Stone") and covers of other writers' songs. Levi and Shirley Whitfield enjoyed more than 66 years together until death parted them when Levi passed away on June 4, 2021. She began her acting career in television and theatre before progressing to supporting roles in film. A lot more than that, nevertheless, Whitfield and his personal travel became a significant area of the mental dynamic . Barrett Strong, Motown artist known for 'Money,' dies at 81 Whitfield created a new group around this time out of the ruins of a failed Motown act called the Delicates and one ex-member of a group called the Preps -- he put Billie Rae Calvin, Brenda Joyce Evans, and Joe Harris together as the Undisputed Truth and, calling all of the shots for the group as far as songs and recordings, they became one of his two principal vehicles for his musical ideas. [17], In 2015, Whitfield was cast as the main villain in Greenleaf, the Oprah Winfrey Network original scripted drama series about the unscrupulous world of the Greenleaf family and their sprawling Memphis megachurch. He worked with The Temptations as a producer and songwriter and produced eight of their albums. In this regard, Whitfield's approach to music resembled that of the record producers of what was, by then, a bygone era. Whitfield made her professional screen debut in 1981 as Jill Thomas in the critically acclaimed NBC serial drama Hill Street Blues. On January 18, 2005, Whitfield pleaded guilty for failing to report royalty income he earned from 1995 to 1999 to the Internal Revenue Service. 1 on the R&B charts in 1966. Following the death of Isaac Hayes last month, it's been a bad year for fans of heavily orchestrated, epic soul. Norman Whitfield net worth: Norman Whitfield was an American songwriter and producer who had a net worth of $10 million. He was born in Harlem in 1943. Whitfield later was cast in a leading role in Greenleaf's planned spinoff. That year he left Motown to set up Whitfield Records but his only subsequent major success was Rose Royce, who released the likes of Car Wash and Wishing on a Star, and he retired from music in the early 80s. With Eddie Holland, Mr. Whitfield wrote Aint Too Proud to Beg for the Temptations, which reached No. : 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. He was not imprisoned because of health problems such as diabetes. February 28, 2023 (76 years old) View obituary. She was a 1993 graduate of Hubbard High School and obtained a Bachelor's Degree from Ohio State University and a Master's Degree from UCLA. He produced soul group Masterpiece in 1980. It is certain that these achievements helped Whitfield to further increase his wealth. Whitfield was born and raised in Harlem, New York. 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 and Norman Whitfield were the only songwriters who successfully produced political/social protest songs against Gordy's standing order not to do so," Mr. Posner said. A junior figure at Hitsville, hungry for his big break, he hung around the studio watching more established producers such as Holland-Dozier-Holland at work. Born in New York in 1943, Whitfield wasn't yet in his teens when R&B began exerting itself as a major musical force. Among his hits there were the soundtrack album for the film Car Wash (1976), for which he wrote the score. On the cover of their last album together, 1973's Masterpiece, his own picture loomed larger than the band's. Even when one of his songs was a hit, he would try the song in a different way, placing it with an artist who would take it in a distinctly different direction. Buy Meta Added by Bastien Works 87 Discussions 1 All 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. Mr. Whitfield won a Grammy for the album, recorded by the band Rose Royce. Alongside his Motown lyrical collaborator Barrett Strong, he was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 2004. - Fell in love with jazz guitarist, Slim Gaillard's young daughter, Janis Hunter. Hayes and Whitfield were two of my heroes for the way they redrew the boundaries of soul, letting songs thunder and swirl far beyond the traditional pop song format. Auxiliary Post 5319. With Wynk Music, you will not only enjoy your favourite MP3 songs online, but you will also have access to our hottest playlists such as English Songs, Hindi Songs, Malayalam Songs, Punjabi Songs, Tamil Songs . - Written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. Survived by his daughter, Irasha; sons, Norman; Michael; Johnnie; and Roland; a brother, Bill; eight grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Royalty-free Creative Video Editorial Archive Custom Content Creative Collections. 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 Wiki: Salary, Married, Wedding, Spouse, Family Music producer, arranger, and songwriter Norman Jessie Whitfield was born on May 12, 1941 in New York City. Shere Whitfield Shares New Photo of Daughter Kaleigh Whitfield | Style She eventually moved to New York and appeared off-Broadway in such shows as The Great Macdaddy and Showdown Time before earning international acclaim touring the United States, Australia and London's West End in the 1977 production of the landmark play "for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf" alongside Alfre Woodard.[2]. War was recorded by the Temptations before Edwin Starr, and Papa Was a Rollin' Stone was tried out on Whitfield's pet group the Undisputed Truth prior to the Temptations. That success was complicated by the growing antipathy of the Temptations themselves, who sometimes felt like backup participants on their own records amid Whitfield's production efforts -- and Whitfield's prominent visual presence on Masterpiece's artwork -- a rare level of prominence for a producer -- couldn't have helped matters with the group. If he thought something was a hit, he would keep pushing until it was. Barrett Strong, Motown Icon And 'Money' Singer, Dies At 81 By age five, Whitfield decided she wanted to be in them. I could match him though, rhythm for rhythm, horn for horn., Norman Whitfield, Motown Songwriter and Producer, Dies at 68, https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/18/arts/music/18whitfield.html. Additionally, the 1968 single "Cloud Nine" became the first Motown record to win a Grammy Award, for Best Rhythm & Blues Performance by a Duo or Group.