Norman Whitfield to me is one of the best producers ever. He was progressive and just as important, he wasn't afraid of pushing the envelope in black music. Taking his cue bigtime from fearless artists such as Hendrix, The Beatles and Sly, he also lifted damn near wholesale from early Funkadelic. He combined all of this into his productions. He's most known for his work with The Temptations i.e. Cloud Nine, Papa Was A Rolloing Stone (this was brilliant), etc.
He also was behind a very good group called Undisputed Truth. His best albums though to me are two by The Temptations: "Masterpiece" and "1990". He went "Way Out" with these, taking it to a phase where the music was beyond definition, even by 70's standards. Which I thought was very cool. With these productions, I say he jumped "Sgt. Pepper" on their ass. He was also behind the "Car Wash" album which was also great. Personally, I think the cat was baad!

blackguitaristz said:

Ndeed!! I think he helped bring that into the mainstream..and yeah he was definitely liftin' from Funkadelic, According To early Funkadelic bassist Billy Nelson, Norman was always at Funkadelic shows, checkin' them out...Billy says occasionally someone from the Temptations would tell them , "Man, you know that tune y'all was doin' last night? well, Norman just cut us on that in the studio today!"

It's a shame that his work with "Undisputed truth"&
"Rose Royce" is sohard 2 find on cd.
His poduction is so spaced out it would B a joy 2 hear them remastered.
He keeps such a low profile these days.I wonder what he's up 2.
I heard that he was producing a "Four tops" album but that was years ago
& still nothing released.
/peace Manki

paligap said:

Yep, he did bring that into the mainstream. Yeah, he would be armed with a tape recorder at Funkadelic shows. Even though Norman's my boy, they should have whooped his ass for that shit!

blackguitaristz said:

manki said:

Manki, here's their latest compilation, it's less than a year old. I dig it.

blackguitaristz said:[quote]Norman Whitfield to me is one of the best producers ever. He's most known for his work with The Temptations i.e. Cloud Nine, Papa Was A Rolloing Stone (this was brilliant), etc.
I agree. This was some of Whit's best work.

claye said:[quote]

blackguitaristz said:

Well, his work on "Masterpiece' and '1990" is his best to me.

Norman Whitfield was known to sit up at Funkadelic dates with his tape gear rolling, making a very conscious effort to capture the Funkadelic sound. He'd shuffle those tapes off to the studios and get guys like the Funk Brothers, Dennis Coffey and Robert Ward to recreate the exact same effects in the studio.

Yeah that psychedlic soul of Undisputed Truth and Temptations is a big bite out of the PFUNK monster, but I love 'em both!

His "Car Wash" project was his HIGHLIGHT imho!

It showcased his chops all over, I really love that soundtrack.

Harlepolis said:

I think it's more his "revenge against Motown" as he had run that formula down to the ground and Motown cut him loose. He's made more money off RR for himself instead of getting small percentages from Gordy.

I'm not sure what "chops" you're talking about cuz Normy don't play no instruments. From what I remember he can't really read or write music, but he is a respected by musicians for his engineering, producing and mixing abilities. Has one hell of a fiery ego too!

slow response from my ISP
[This message was edited Wed Jul 28 9:41:14 2004 by PFunkjazz]

PFunkjazz said:

Thats what I ment, plus he's a helluva arranger. He & Smokey are right up there when it comes to their lyrics writing.



You should read what Marvin said about him in the "Divided Soul: The Life Of Marvin Gaye" book by David Ritz lol it was funny!

Overall, I don't mind Norm's cockiness,,,,hell, at least his shit got substance to begin with which backs up his attitude(Miles & Marvin had the same "my shit don't stink" attitude too).

Now when you see these young cats like Usher & Kanye West who lift their noses up on the air over nothing lol makes you think about the major difference

Speaking of Undisputed Truth.

Did u know that Taka Boom(Chaka Khan's sister) served as lead their vocalist for in 1975? Not only that but she also joined the Norman Whitfield produced group Dream Machine for one album entitled 'Dream Machine' for the RCA label in 1981.