Norman Whitfield-The Daddy Remembers You

"A might oak has fallen in the forrest."
--Rev. Jessie Jackson,
eulogizing Dr. Martin Luther King
"I remember you.
You're the one who made my dreams come true.
A few kisses ago.
I remember you.
You're the one who said, "I love you too."
Didn't you know?"
--songwriter Johnny Mercer

This afternoon, the daddy is being lazy. He's sitting in a coffee shop thinking, mumbling the song "I remember you," which Johnny Mercer wrote for Judy Garland (He had a crush on her):

Between verses of "I remember you," the daddy is remembering the Harlem born, Detroit raised and, later, Los Angeles resident Norman Whitfield, the great producer/songwriter who partnered with fellow songwriter Barrett Strong to write and produce some of the greatest hits of the 60's and early 70's.

Whitfield, 65, died yesterday, September 16, 2008, from complications related to diabetes at a hospital in Los Angeles.

You may not know him, but you know his songs. My friend James, who knows music much better than I, described Whitefield this way:

"{Whitfield} wrote many hits for the Motown stable of stars, rivaled there only by the equally genius writing trio of Holland/Dozier/Holland. His hits were varied and numerous...His ability to weave a tune, then get the "Funk Brothers" to transpose his raw ideas into memorable hooks and signature bass lines were legendary; no one in the industry was ever able to match or copy it; he had a "lock" on that musical brand which became the very definition of "sophisticated soul/funk" from 1963 until 1974."

Soul Patrol, an on-line site dedicated to R&B, was even more assertive:

"No one in the media will cover this, but this is hands down the most tragic of the losses we've sustained this year, even moreso than the loss of Isaac Hayes. No one had more influence on complete revolutionizing Motown and its transition from party music in its early days to the social relevance and taking the pulse of American culture than Norman Whitfield...He was the bridge that kept the company going after Holland-Dozier-Holland (rightfully) bolted. Very simply, Mr. Whitfield single-handedly changed the framework of Black popular music, making the intersection between Southern soul/funk, urban cool, rock rebellion and sophisticated pop."

From the age of 19, Norman hung around the studio, playing tamborine for Edwin Starr at Motown Records, known as "Hitsville U.S.A." He got his break when he began producing songs for the Temptations. Between 1966 and 1974, Whitfield wrote and produced numerous songs for the Temptations, including "Papa was a rolling stone," "I wish it would rain," "Girl, why do you want to make me blue?" "Beauty is only skin deep," "I know I'm losing you," "Ain't too proud to beg," "You're my everything," "Cloud nine, "I can't get next to you," "Psychedelic Shack," "Ball of confusion," "Just my imagination" and many others. In fact, Whitfield wrote and produced so many hits for this group that he was called "the man behind the Temptations." But he wrote and produced others as well.

The songs he wrote and produced for Marvin Gaye included "Heard it through the grapevine," "Pride and Joy," "Too busy thinking about my baby," among others. He wrote and produced "I heard it through the grapevine,"End of our road," and "Friendship train" for Gladys Knight and the Pips. And he wrote "Car wash," "I'm going down," and "Wishing on a star" for Rose Royce.

In 1973, Whitfield left Motown and started his own record producing company. Except for the hit "Car wash," he was unable to come near the success he achieved with acts like The Temptations, Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight and the Pips. But perhaps more than any other single individual, Whitfield was responsible for what was called "the Motown sound."

Another mighty oak has fallen in the forrest; and, Norman, the daddy remembers you. You, too, made a lot of dreams come true.