NORMAN WHITFIELD 1942 - 2008

Norman Whitfield died last week. He wrote (or co-wrote) many of the definitive late 60's/early 70's songs for Motown, so his name should be recognizable to anyone record-geek enough to actually peruse songwriting credits. Among them, "War" (which has to be the most powerful anti-war song to ever chart; #1 in 1971), "Ain't to Proud to Beg", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "Ball of Confusion", "Cloud Nine", "I know I'm Losing You" and roughly 300+ other songs (see the massive listing at the Songwriters Hall of Fame).

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As with any good song, the proof is in the pudding: how do the cover versions stack up? For "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" I'm including a link to the Slits decidely sparse version, and for "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" I had to include a link to the Pioneers version, my favorite, over even the Temps original. I tried to find D.O.A.'s cover of War (the only version that comes close to updating the intensity of the Edwin Starr original) to no avail (but turn up Starr's version and see if it doesn't still hit you in the gut). "Paint the White House Black" is a 1993 post-Motown song, co-written by Whitfield, George Clinton and about a half dozen others.

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This is just a sampling. For more Whitfield songs, check out the sites hosting these MP3s. And you should really read his bio/obit at the Guardian, to throw everything into context. (Thanks to Ted for the suggestion. I owe you again Snail!)

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War -Edwin Starr MP3 + Cloud Nine - Temptations + 3 other Whitfield/Strong songs at Bag of Songs
I Heard it Through the Grapevine - the Slits MP3 + 3 other Whitfield/Strong songs at Moistworks
Papa Was a Rolling Stone - the Pioneers MP3 + Temptations original version at Funky 16 Corners

Paint the White House Black - George Clinton MP3 @ Snuhthing/Anything (w/Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Public Enemy & Shabba Ranks)
Norman Whitfield: Death of a Soul Icon obituary/bio at Guardian.co.uk
Norman Whitfield at the Songwriters Hall of Fame