Norman Whitfield: The Undisputed King of Psychedelic Soul
By Colleen “Cosmo” Murphy
“Norman Whitfield was King Midas in my opinion”
- Eric Duncan, Still Going & Rub n’ Tug
“Norman was many things but if I had to sum it up in one word, then that word would be FUNKY!!!”
- Dave Lee, AKA Joey Negro, The Sunburst Band
“He is soul personified!”
- King Britt, Sylk 130
Norman Whitfield was one of the greatest soul producers and songwriters of all time yet after his passing in September of last year, the press did not step up and sing his praises loud and clear. He passed quietly and without much fuss as the glossy music magazines failed to offer the big retrospectives. However, the influence he has had on today’s dance music scene is undisputed. “Norman Whitfield is absolutely that unsung hero that we all know about but forgot to put in that list next to Quincy Jones,” states Philly funk producer King Britt.
Whitfield got his break at Motown when he took over the role as producer of the Temptations from Smokey Robinson. Taking musical cues from Sly and The Family Stone and George Clinton, Whitfield developed his signature psychedelic soul style and helped transform and contemporize the Motown Sound. “He definitely brought a very cerebral sound to Motown,” elucidates Britt. “He had a certain vibe that his ‘sound’ created through the speakers. ‘Cloud Nine’, ‘Hum Along and Dance’ and ‘Smiling Faces’, are just a few that really set the Psychedelic Soul sound off. Along with Charles Stepney [Rotary Connection and Earth, Wind & Fire], these two really took soul music into experimental territory.”
As one of the new architects of the Motown Sound, Norman contributed heavily orchestrated soul productions, longer song durations, atypical vocal arrangements and distorted guitars all heavy on the drums. Fan Dave Lee aka Joey Negro of The Sunburst Band explains, “Norman had a very recognizable style - long loose breakdowns, big reverbed handclaps, druggy synths, multi-layered guitar rhythms, punchy brass, and moody string parts often creating a menacing and intense mood. Take Undisputed Truth’s drawn out 11 minute “You + Me = Love” which like many Whitfield marathon productions goes from stomping northern disco into throbbing electronics – maybe best described as Philly on acid.”
Whitfield was one of the first soul producers to use the actual studio as an instrument, a technique that is integral in today’s dance music. Ashley Beedle likens his use of sound effects and sonic experimentation to Jamaican dub producers like Lee Scratch Perry. “I’ve always wondered if Whitfield and Perry listened to each other,” he ponders. “For young producers, listening to Whitfield’s productions it’s like going to school!” And today’s hottest producers like Eric Duncan of Rub n’Tug and Still Going on DFA revere Whitfield as one of the most inspiring and influential producers. “My Mom and Dad had plenty of Norman Whitfield’s productions layin’ around and then as I got older and more and more into soul music, I found every time checked the back of an album I really liked, Norman’s name was on it. The way he did rock style productions with soul music, that set it off for everybody else to follow. Super long versions, tons of tape delay and all that good stuff. When you heard one of his productions you knew it was him as he had such a unique style.”
Not only did Whitfield develop the psychedelic soul sound by integrating rock guitars and production techniques into the mix, but along with co-writer Barrett Strong, he brought socially conscious and political lyrics into the Motown soul sound. War, civil rights and poverty were topics that were spurned by commercially successful soul acts and Motown helmsman Berry Gordy preferred his acts to proffer less controversial subject matter in order to appeal to the White audience. However, Whitfield and Marvin Gaye changed all of that and their social realism reflected the signs of the times and won over the collegiate hippy rock audience and helped Motown cross over into a new age.
“(War) It ain’t nothing but a heartbreaker
(War) Got one friend, thats the undertaker
War has shattered many young men’s dreams
Made him disabled, bitter and mean
Life is but too surely precious, to spend fighting wars each day
War can’t give life, it can only take it away!
AAH! War… Huh… Good God y’all!
What it is a good for?
Absolutely nothing!”
- performed by Edwin Starr, produced and written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong
After earning Motown its first Grammy in 1968 with the Temptations’ “Cloud Nine” and then again in ’73 with “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone”, Whitfield’s producer persona started to take centrestage leaving the Temps feeling like they were a back up band for Whitfield’ s ideas. In many ways, he was the harbinger to the concept of the producer being the main impetus of the music as it is in today’s dance music. In 1973 due to the Temp’s growing antipathy, he left Gordy’s camp and set up his own label, Whitfield Records. Here he pushed his sound even further with acts like Undisputed Truth, Rare Earth and Rose Royce with whom he earned another Grammy with the “Car Wash” soundtrack.
One of the most interesting facets of Whitfield’s career is the fact that he would record his own tunes time and time again with his different acts such as the multiple recordings of “I Know I’m Losin’ You” by Rare Earth, The Temps and Undisputed Truth. Like another iconic inspiring figure to today’s dance scene, Arthur Russell, it was as if Whitfield was more into the process of recording rather than the actual product. Or perhaps like Russell, he was perpetually in search of the most perfect and definitive version of his songs. Did he achieve the perfection he so desired? Sadly, we will never know if Whitfield was ever satisfied. But for today’s A Class dance producers, the answer is an undisputed “Yes!”
