David Van De Pitte, music arranger for Motown, dies at 67
Susan Whitall / Detroit News Music Writer

David Van De Pitte, the arranger who helped Marvin Gaye take jazz, soul and the rumblings of the counter-culture and turn it into the genius of "What's Going On," died at his Southfield home on Aug. 9 of cancer. The arranger, composer and music director was 67.

The work of arrangers isn't always understood by the general public; they take a creative but unfinished idea and translate it into musical language, spelling out what each musician is supposed to play.

When Van De Pitte arrived at Motown in 1968, he "brought a level of sophistication to the arrangements that wasn't there before," said Allan Slutsky, author of "Standing in the Shadows of Motown." "He was a great arranger. He could sit at a desk and write music, hearing all the instruments in his head."

When an arranger tweaks and advances the music, it's considered co-writing, and Van De Pitte did that on "What's Going On." He was nominated for a Grammy for best arranger for the album in 1971.

"We worked on that album for six, maybe eight months," Van De Pitte told The News in 2008. "I'd go to the house and Marvin wouldn't show. He was playing basketball. Or he was trying out for the Lions!"

As a Motown staff arranger from 1968-72, and as a freelance arranger after that, Van De Pitte arranged some of soul music's -- and Motown's -- most memorable works.

Along with the "What's Going On" album, he arranged Gaye's "Let's Get It On" album, as well as the songs "Still Waters (Run Deep)" by the Four Tops, "Ball of Confusion" and "Psychedelic Shack" by the Temptations, "Darling Dear" by the Jackson 5, "I Hear the Bells" by the Originals, "Keep on Truckin' " by Eddie Kendricks, "Indiana Wants Me" by R. Dean Taylor, "If I Were Your Woman" by Gladys Knight and "If You Really Love Me" by Stevie Wonder, among many others.

He also arranged music for Martha and the Vandellas, Michael Henderson, Stanley Turrentine, David Ruffin, Chuck Jackson, Paul Anka, Denise LaSalle, Millie Jackson -- even much of George Clinton's most vivid oeuvre with Parliament-Funkadelic.

Van De Pitte was born in Detroit on Oct. 28, 1941, and graduated from St. Joseph's. He studied music at the Westlake College of Music in Los Angeles, was proficient in classical, jazz and pop music and played the bass, among other instruments.

Right after Westlake, he returned to Detroit and started playing trombone with Johnny Trudell's orchestra, then switched to the upright bass. He and Trudell played together on and off for some 50 years.

"He was a genius, one of those people who come along every 100 years," said Trudell. "He never got the credit he really deserved. He was an unsung hero, because he was a low-key guy, but he was part of so many platinum and gold albums."

Van De Pitte got to know famed Motown bassist James Jamerson long before they both worked at "the Factory," as they called Motown, and Jamerson would sub for Van De Pitte playing bass in Trudell's orchestra at the Roostertail.

Jamerson was known as a creative bass player, but Van De Pitte was one of the few he trusted to write bass parts for him.

"He played note for note everything I wrote for him on 'What's Going On,' " Van De Pitte said. "He may have gotten a little inspired here and there ... but he played what I wrote out of respect for me."

"He could get into an artist's head. As an arranger, you had to put your ego aside. He understood how to help the artist achieve their vision," said Van De Pitte's partner of 26 years, Carolyn Barnett-Goldstein.

As a music director, Van De Pitte was responsible for the live music performed on Gaye's appearances on the "Ed Sullivan Show," as well as live appearances by the Temptations, Four Tops, Diana Ross' Las Vegas shows and Paul Anka's concert tours.

He also wrote music for ads and live shows for many corporations, including Ford, General Motors and Chrysler.

Van De Pitte was also an adjunct professor in the Jazz Studies program at Wayne State University from 1979-83.

He explained the difference between Motown and soul music labels like Stax to The News in 2008.

"The jazz thing, I think, really influenced the whole Motown thing," he said. "When we tried to do something a little out of the pocket, out of the norm, we could usually get away with it because Berry's ears were tuned to the way the guys played, so it swung a little jazzy."

In addition to Barnett-Goldstein, he is survived by two daughters from a previous marriage, two brothers and a sister.

Van De Pitte was cremated privately, but Barnett-Goldstein says a memorial concert featuring all the forms of music he played is being planned.
[Edited 8/19/09 13:37pm]

Is 2009 the year of celebrity deaths???

A few other arranging chores outside of classic Motown.






Another real "music" man gone...


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431