One of the downsides of being a Motown fan is that reading obits can sometimes be a sad thing. Norman Whitfield one of the great producer/songwriters died on the 16th aged 68.
Like so many of the Motown team, he got a job there in his late teens just by hanging around the office. It wasn't long before he was co-writing songs for Marvin Gaye ("Pride and Joy", "Can I Get A Witness", Too Busy Thinking 'Bout My Baby"), The Marvelettes ("Too Many Fish In The Sea") and The Velvelettes ("Needle In A Haystack", "Boy From Crosstown", "A Bird In The Hand", "He Was Really Saying Something"). Among my personal favourites from his songbook are "Lonely Lonely Girl Am I" by Tammi Terrell, "Think Of The Times" by The Velvelettes, "I Know Better" by Barbara MacNair, "It Should Have Been Me" by Kim Weston and the Yvonne Fair 1970s cover.

He also was a major player in the success of Gladys Knight & The Pips with "You Need Love Like I Do", "The Friendship Train", "End of The Road" and "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" which of course he also produced for Marvin Gaye. He also gave Edwin Starr his biggest hit with "War" as well as "My Weakness Is You".

His biggest triumph for the label was guiding Motown safely into the 1970s through his involvement with The Temptations. When his co-written & produced "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" was a bigger hit than Smokey Robinson's song "Get Ready" for the band, he was given the green light to oversee their career and slowly he introduced a more funkier, urban sound to the band giving them a new lease of life and becoming one of Motown's most important acts..

Norman Whitfield co-wrote and produced all of the following: “(I Know) I’m Losing You”, “You’re My Everything”, “I Wish It Would Rain”, “I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)”, “Cloud Nine”, “Runaway Child, Running Wild”, “I Can’t Get Next To You”, “Psychedelic Shack”, “Ball of Confusion”, “Just My Imagination”, “It’s Summer", “Superstar”, “Take A Look Around” and “Papa Was A Rolling Stone”. A phenomenal body of music.

He found time to work with The Undisputed Truth, another group who brought a more urban sound to the label and whose biggest hit was the excellent "Smiling Faces Sometimes", actually a Temp's b-side.

After leaving Motown in 1973 he had huge success with writing and producing for Rose Royce including all their "Car Wash" hits as well as producing "Wishing On A Star" and "Love Don't Live Here Anymore". He returned to Motown in the 1980s but his career dwindled and his later years were troubled with ill health and financial problems leading to a 6 month home imprisonment sentence for tax evasion.

But he will be remembered for making some of the most bold and distinctive soul classics of the 1960s and 1970s.