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, including such classics as Money (That's What I Want) and I Heard it Through the Grapevine, a chart-topper on both sides of the Atlantic in 1968 that became the biggest-selling record in the label's history.
Two of the four versions of I Heard it Through the Grapevine which Whitfield recorded with various Motown acts became hits. One, by Gladys Knight & the Pips, reached number two in the American charts in 1967; while the version by Marvin Gaye went to number one in both Britain and the United States in 1968. Gaye's brooding, experimental version ranks at number 80 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Having frittered away his teenage years in pool halls, Whitfield began writing for Motown when he was 19. Some of the classic songs he wrote for Berry Gordy's Motown artists were covered by some of the biggest acts in the world. The Beatles covered Money on their second album in 1963, and the Rolling Stones recorded a version of his Ain't Too Proud To Beg.
Norman Jesse Whitfield was born in Harlem, New York, on May 12 1941.
When he was in his teens the family moved to Detroit, where eventually Norman began pestering Berry Gordy for a job at the Motown offices known as Hitsville USA; the Motown founder agreed to give him a job in the quality control department, which selected the songs the label would release.
Having become a member of Motown's resident songwriting team, Whitfield had some minor successes, but made his name only when he started producing recordings of his own songs.
His big break came when he replaced Smokey Robinson as the Temptations' principal producer on Ain't Too Proud To Beg (1966). Whitfield's decision to highlight the rasping vocals of David Ruffin paid off, and he continued to foster a rougher sound in the group's subsequent hits, including Beauty Is Only Skin Deep and (I Know) I'm Losing You (both 1966).
After Ruffin's departure, Whitfield steered the Temptations into the realms of psychedelic soul with his controversial Cloud Nine (1969). At first Berry Gordy objected to the song on the ground that it appeared to promote drugs, but Whitfield convinced him otherwise, and the record earned Motown its first Grammy award.
With his songwriting partner, the lyricist Barrett Strong, Whitfield continued to supply the Temptations with such gritty classics as Psychedelic Shack, Ball Of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today) (both 1970), Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) (1971) and Papa Was A Rolling Stone (1972).
I Heard it Through the Grapevine was another collaboration with Barrett Strong; and in 1969 Whitfield penned a follow-up hit for Marvin Gaye, Too Busy Thinking About My Baby. The following year he had another chart success with the uncompromising War, recorded by Edwin Starr.
Having left Motown in 1973 to form his own eponymous label, Whitfield had a smash hit three years later with Car Wash by Rose Royce, originally Edwin Starr's Motown backing group. The track was used as the theme song to the 1976 film of the same name, and the soundtrack album won Whitfield another Grammy in 1977.
His subsequent hit numbers for Rose Royce included I Wanna Get Next To You (1976), Wishing On A Star (1977) and Love Don't Live Here Anymore (1978).
He returned to the Motown label in the early 1980s and produced another hit single for the Temptations, Sail Away (1983), and the soundtrack to Berry Gordy's film, The Last Dragon (1985).
In 2005 Whitfield was convicted of tax evasion on income of more than $2 million. He was sentenced to six months' house arrest and fined $25,000. He was spared prison on account of his various health problems, notably his diabetes.
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