Norman Whitfield R.I.P.

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And the hits just keep on coming…..

Among the ranks of America’s greatest soul songwriters and composers, few stand taller than Norman Whitfield, who died at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles after a lengthy illness. His contributions to American soul music count among the most prized and revered. His studio experimentations with sound shaped a blueprint for the significant, powerful changes in the Motown sound and the sound of northern soul that took place in the 1970′s.

Whitfield shared both the producer helm and co-songwriting duties on a number of Motown staples with Barrett Strong, producing a string of classics for The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Edwin Starr, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Rare Earth and The Undisputed Truth. As a composer, he is most well known for the soundtrack to the 1970′s film Car Wash, a soundtrack whose relevance to R&B, soul music, funk and disco surpassed the impact of the film itself. The soundtrack would win a Grammy in 1977 for Album of Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special.

Whitfield had been suffering from diabetes. No funeral arrangements have been made at this time.

Rare Earth – Hum Along and Dance

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