MOTOWN GIANT NORMAN WHITIELD PASSES....ONE OF MY HEROS!

WHITFIELD WAS A PART OF THE LEGENDARY MOTOWN SONGWRITING TEAM

Norman Whitfield, the man behind many of Motown’s biggest hits, has died in the United States after a long bout with diabetes.

Whitfield began writing for Motown when he was 19 years old.

Some of the classic songs he wrote for Motown artists, we covered by some of the biggest acts in the world. The Beatles’ covered ‘Money (That’s What I Want), The Stones did a version of his ‘Ain’t Too Proud To Beg’, Creedence Clearwater Revival did a cover of his ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’.

Between 1966 and 1974, Whitfield produced nearly every song by The Temptations.

He died on September 16.

Highlights of the hits of Norman Whitfield are:

1963: "Pride & Joy" - Marvin Gaye
1964: "Too Many Fish in the Sea" - The Marvelettes
1964: "Needle in a Haystack" - The Velvelettes
1964: "He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'" - The Velvelettes
1964: "Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)" - The Temptations
1966: "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" - The Temptations
1966: "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep" - The Temptations
1966: "(I Know) I'm Losing You" - The Temptations
1967: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" - Gladys Knight & the Pips, also recorded by Marvin Gaye and Creedence Clearwater Revival
1967: "You're My Everything" - The Temptations
1967: "I Wish It Would Rain" - The Temptations
1968: "I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You) - The Temptations
1968: "The End Of Our Road" - Gladys Knight & The Pips
1968: "Cloud Nine" - The Temptations
1969: "Friendship Train" - Gladys Knight & the Pips
1969: "Runaway Child, Running Wild" - The Temptations
1969: "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" - Marvin Gaye
1969: "I Can't Get Next to You" - The Temptations
1969: "Don't Let The Joneses Get You Down" - The Temptations
1970: "You Need Love Like I Do (Don't You)" - Gladys Knight & The Pips, also recorded by The Temptations
1970: "Psychedelic Shack" - The Temptations
1970: "Hum Along and Dance" - The Temptations (later covered by Rare Earth and The Jackson 5)
1970: "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)" - The Temptations
1970: "War" - Edwin Starr
1971: "Smiling Faces Sometimes" - The Undisputed Truth, originally recorded by The Temptations
1971: "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)" - The Temptations
1972: "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" - The Temptations
1973: "Masterpiece" - The Temptations
1973: "Let Your Hair Down" - The Temptations
1976: "Car Wash" - Rose Royce
1976: "I'm Going Down" - Rose Royce
1976: "I Wanna Get Next to You" - Rose Royce
1977: "Ooh Boy" - Rose Royce
1977: "Wishing on a Star" - Rose Royce
1978: "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" - Rose Royce

WATCH THIS SPACE................... OVER THE NEXT WEEKS I WILL POST ALL THE SONGS LISTED AS WE PAY TRIBUTE TO AN AMERICAN MUSIC MASTER

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Permalink Reply by Edie Antoinette on January 9, 2009 at 8:37am

I used to listen to this LP in the 70's..and was delighted to insert it here. They jammed some Whitfield, that's for sure.

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Permalink Reply by Ronn Nichols on January 9, 2009 at 11:41am

Boy Did They EVer. I thank you so much for sharing it I had not heardv the whole thng since the 70's. I come bay and jam every so often.....since you posted. Love You for that!!! MWAH!

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Quincy Jones is thoroughly entwined in the musical background of my young adulthood. A genius of unique quality. I have been posting blogs and music throughout the years and decided to embark on the arduous but satisfying task of gathering some of it to remember the excellent legacy that he left.

Maze Feel That You're Feelin
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The history of the Butlers/Raw Soul is dense, but for all of us music nerds, that's normal. It is not totally clear what year the Butlers actually formed but they released their first single in 1963 on Liberty Records. That single was "She Tried To Kiss Me" and another single followed on Guyden entitled "Lovable Girl." After the Guyden single the Butlers took a break not recording another record until the single "Laugh, Laugh, Laugh" was released on the Phila label in 1966. The group also backed Charles Earland and Jean Wells on one Phila single ("I Know She Loves Me").

As you might be noticing, the Butlers were doing a fair amount of recording but not achieving much success. The group's recordings sold regionally but never had the promotion to make an impact on the national scene. After the single with Phila, the Butlers moved to the Fairmount label (part of the Cameo-Parkway family) and released a handful of singles, some being reissued singles of the past. The Butlers were with Fairmount for 1966-67 and then moved to Sassy Records. Sassy released the group's greatest single (in my opinion) "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" b/w "If That's What You Wanted." A copy of that 45 sold for just under $500 last summer on eBay. Even though that isn't that much in the world of record collecting--it's still a hefty sum. The Butlers released another single on Sassy ("She's Gone" b/w "Love Is Good") that appears to be even

harder to come by then the "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" single.

The true history become a bit blurred here as the AMG biography states that the Butlers last record was released on C.R.S. in 1974 (". However, between 1971 and that single, Frankie Beverly formed a group called Raw Soul and released a number of singles. Some of the songs recorded by Beverly during this period are "While I'm Alone," "Open Up Your Heart," (both on the Gregor label) and "Color Blind." "Color Blind" was released by the Eldorado label and rerecorded by Maze. Beverly's big break came when Marvin Gaye asked Raw Soul to back him on a tour. Gaye helped Beverly/Raw Soul get a contract at Capitol. Beverly decided to take the group in a different direction, a name change occurred, and Maze was created.

The above isn't the most complete history of Beverly but hopefully someone will know a way to get in touch with the man or his management because a comprehensive pre-Maze history needs to be done on Frankie Beverly (his real name is Howard, by the way). Below you'll find every Frankie Beverly (pre-Maze) song available to me right now ("Color Blind" will be up soon).

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Enjoy. "She Kissed Me" (Fairmount, 1966 or 1967)

"I Want To Feel I'm Wanted" (not sure which label or year) "Laugh, Laugh, Laugh" (Phila, 1966) "Because Of My Heart" (Fairmount, 1966 or 1967)

"Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" (Sassy, 1967)

"If That's What You Wanted" (Sassy, 1967)

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Beverly would later enjoy great success fronting Maze and Conway would become a

well-known penning Double Exposure's

"Ten Percent" and the Intruders' "Memories Are Here To Stay."

While Maze is a phenomenal group, Beverly's work before that group will always stand out as his best (imo).

The Butlers produced tunes that most Northern Soul fans would kill for and Raw Soul gave the funksters something to pursue. The Butlers recorded their first single in 1960 titled "Loveable Girl". Left to right John Fitch, T Conway, Frankie Beverly, Sonny Nicholson and Joe Collins.