Norman Whitfield (1940-2008) - 48 albums ~ CookingFood.Org

R.I.P. NORMAN WHITFIELD
1940-2008

Genuinely really sad to hear about this. I'd been re-listening to a lot of his work in preparation for the recent blog posts for the Temptations and Rose Royce.

Whitfield was a giant of music, a revolutionary in terms of production, arrangement and content. His politicised and orchestrated psychedelic productions for the Temptations and others at Motown, in combination with lyricist Barrett Strong, changed the way people saw the possibilities of the role music could play in the changing world, and strongly influenced the way everyone else at Motown and elsewhere worked afterwards.

His later work with the Undisputed Truth, Rose Royce, Stargard and others kept the funk alive within the emerging styles of disco, while at the same time pushing the line in terms of instrumentation, arrangement and production.

Here are three tracks that meant something to me, followed by a production discography at the end of the post with 48 album links :

*******************************************

PAPA WAS A ROLLING STONE - The Temptations (1972)

Twelve minutes of melancholy, soul, social politics, alternating sparseness and density, propelled by an insistent wah-wah guitar, haunting trumpet and building string orchestra. By 1972, others had picked up and run with Whitfield and Strong's psychedelic political soul from the late 60s, but here the masters show it's really done, lifting the bar another notch. A masterpiece.

CD rip

WAV - MP3

big file, it's a 12 min track

*******************************************

KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON - Rose Royce (1976)

While his former charges the Temptations were recording "Wings Of Love", Whitfield gathered Rose Royce together and wrote, arranged and produced the entire soundtrack of "Car Wash", even before the film was made. The tracks were played back on set to inspire the cast. While we're all probably immune now to the charms of the title hit, due to overexposure at countless weddings, 21st birthday parties and office christmas parties, I want to point to the final track on the album.

"Keep On Keeping On" recalls his large-scale Temptations productions. Gwen Dickey sings a melancholy plea for optimism over a building orchestral sound, comprised of pounding acoustic piano, string orchestra, and possibly the best ever performance by Melvin "Wah Wah" Ragin on guitar, as he battles against the orchestral peak with staccato, offbeat wah-screeches. A great piece.

CD rip

WAV - MP3

*******************************************

HIGH ON THE BOOGIE - Stargard (1981)

The lesser-known third track in a Stargard trilogy that begins with "Which Way is Up" and "What You Waiting For"; "High on the Boogie" is the one that nails the "funky disco" formula for the dancefloor. This track is a secret DJ weapon - just when you think it's hit the rhythmic funk peak, it lifts up yet another level. People have always asked what this is when I've played it out.

With "High on the Boogie", Whitfield incorporates disco without losing sight of the funk. He introduces drum machines, but keeps a human feel with live congas. He includes a growling synth bass that has learnt its lessons from Bernie Worrall, yet he still retains the funk slap of an electric bass guitar to complete the rhythm. There's early rap in this one, there's even a Beatle-esque telephone voice at some stage. See also the Rose Royce 12" from the other day, which comes from the same year, but "High on the Boogie" is the one that best represents this period for me.

my vinyl rip

WAV - MP3

*******************************************