Norman...Is That You?

THE WORKS OF WHITFIELD, AND THE PROMISE OF A DOCUMENTARY

When a notification about first-round voting in the 2021 Grammys slipped into my digital letterbox, the initial thought which came to mind was of Motown’s first such honour – for 1968’s “Cloud Nine” by the Temptations – and the man behind it, Norman Whitfield.

      The second thought was regret: that there has been so much less known, written and published about Whitfield and his work when compared to, say, Holland/Dozier/Holland. Brian, Lamont and Eddie have been blessed with longevity in life, of course, and eventually found the time to write their autobiographies. Even before those books, Come and Get These Memories and How Sweet It Is, they were happy to be interviewed, and frequently were.

      Whitfield died in 2008. Would he have ever put pen to paper with his life story, or drafted someone to help do that? It seems unlikely.

Norman Whitfield: ‘reserved and shy’

      The master writer/producer did become modestly accessible in 1976 for the launch of Whitfield Records, perhaps at the urging its distributor, Warner Brothers. Black Music, for one, carried “his first ever interview” then, by Denise Hall. (The first for Black Music, perhaps, but he had previously been in touch with Billboard. “Whitfield is so reserved and shy,” the trade weekly noted in August 1973, “that he only agreed to be interviewed over the phone.”) Some years later, Whitfield spoke to BBC Radio 1’s Stuart Grundy for the network’s The Story of Motown documentary, broadcast in 1984.

      There has occasionally been talk of a Whitfield documentary. In 2017, his onetime PR representative, Duane Moody, told me that this was in the works, and that Mickey Stevenson, Clarence Avant and Ray Parker, Jr., among others, had been interviewed for the project. Since then…silence.

      Both the Black Music and BBC interviews were wide-ranging and insightful. Whitfield told Hall about his beginnings in music, working at the label operated by Berry Gordy’s first wife, Thelma, and making records with the Distants, Roger Wade, Alberta Adams and the Sonnettes. “In a company like that, there was no one with any real experience, so it did leave a lot of leeway for creativeness,” he said, adding, “I used to go up to Motown to visit – in fact, Berry and them would be trying to put me out all the time, telling me there were no visitors on sessions. But that didn’t put me off at all.”

‘GIVING BLACK KIDS AN IDENTITY’

      Whitfield also praised the competitive atmosphere within Motown when he joined, and the firm’s positive influence on young people. “An important thing the company did was give a lot of black kids an identity, something to look up to for the first time. For those kids in the ghetto, it was a powerful experience to see a black-owned, black-run company become as important as Motown did.”

Paul Riser: Norman ‘had faith in me’

      A vital figure in Whitfield’s creative development was Paul Riser, the arranger of many of Motown’s pyramids of popular music, including “My Girl,” “What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted” (which he co-wrote) and “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone.” When I interviewed Riser many summers ago, he explained that his first Hitsville arrangement was for Whitfield’s first production, Marvin Gaye’s “Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s My Home),” recorded in September 1962. “We started off neck and neck,” said Riser. “He had faith in me to help him through. I came into Motown prior to Norman, but he followed shortly afterwards.

      “He was persistent in what he wanted, but a very, very, good-natured producer – probably the most good-natured of all of them. He was not a tense person, he’d keep it loose, but always work it how he wanted. He would work the rhythm section until he got it, and they enjoyed it.”

      Whitfield confirmed as much to Stuart Grundy. “I have to be down there with the musicians. I still get that little extra something…even though these were the same musicians that Smokey was using, Mickey Stevenson, Berry Gordy himself, Holland/Dozier/Holland, Hank Cosby. These guys were so great and so versatile, and came up with all those different sounds. I could never pay them enough, and I gave them small gifts, just as a token of my appreciation.”

      By the time of “Cloud Nine.” Whitfield was known for his supreme focus in the recording studio. “We’d start it with eight tracks and he would, of course, lay as much as he could there,” Riser told me. “He always filled his tracks up [with] guitar overdubs, though his bass thing was pretty much worked out. Mostly guitar stuff, keyboard overdubs and things. He was just a master at mixing. He would know where every little part was, no matter how minute or whichever track. He had it all memorised, like a computer.”

MAKING SURE OF THE HIT

      For the BBC interview, Whitfield discussed that studio style. “I was always the guy with the highest cutting percentage in the world, mainly because I would just go after that hit record. If I could get that hit record in 45 minutes or maybe an hour and a half, I would just let the musicians go. Most of the time, Berry would want people to go in and cut as many sides as they could in those three hours, because it was a matter of union scale and [recording] date. I would just devote my time to making sure I got the hit.

Inducted (with Barrett Strong) in 2004

      “I could always fill the album with different types of songs and stuff, but that hit record was the key – it was the vehicle in terms of selling the album, and selling the act.”

      Motown’s third, fourth and fifth Grammys wins came with 1972’s “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone,” widely considered to be Whitfield’s finest achievement. “That was his peak as far as sophistication was concerned,” agreed Riser, who arranged and orchestrated the track. “ ‘Papa’ was designed to be an instrumental, with the Temptations’ name on it. And they said, ‘Hey, we gotta sing something,’ and that’s how it came about.” Logically, then, the trio of Grammy awards which came about included one for R&B Instrumental Performance, with a statuette for Riser as well as the group. The other two honours were for R&B Song (to Whitfield and writing partner Barrett Strong) and R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus (to the Temptations).

      Whitfield’s Black Music interview took place in early 1976 as his own label was getting under way, and as he committed – after initial resistance – to creating the music for Car Wash, the movie. “It will be another vehicle for putting Whitfield Records and Rose Royce on the map,” he anticipated, correctly. With the help of Paul Riser, who directed the orchestra, the Car Wash soundtrack became a Top 20 album in Billboard, with a Number One title track. Better still, the project netted Whitfield another Grammy, for original movie score.

      As it happens, the producer of Car Wash, Gary Stromberg, was also interviewed for the Whitfield documentary mentioned by Duane Moody. So in the words of another of Norman’s Rose Royce recordings: “What You Waitin’ For.”

Hall notes: on April 21, 2024, Norman Whitfield was announced as one of the latest inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, honoured for his musical excellence. The ceremony was due to take place at the hall’s Cleveland location on October 19, 2024.

Music notes: here’s a selection of Norman Whitfield’s finest from 1962-1976, including productions of “It Should Have Been Me” from each decade and the glorious, unedited soundscape of “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone.”