Undisputed Funk: The Norman Whitfield Laboratory

by Super J, May 2000

PART 1: NORMAN WHITFIELD: Who it is

Whitfield worked with Marvin in the late 60's with limited success

orman Whitfield grew up in Harlem, seeking a way to crack into the music business. With the advent of Motown records in Detroit and other labels such as Westbound he went to Detroit to seek his fortune in the late 1950's. He landed a position as a Quality Control Engineer at Motown records in the early 1960's. He made himself visible there by generally hanging around enough to secure more influence. He was permitted to produce some B-sides for the Temptations (who were then being produced by fellow Motowner Smokey Robinson) (the album was "Temptin' Temptations from 1965), the Marvelettes, and a few B-sides for other acts. He also co-produced "I Hear a Symphony" album by the Supremes, which was a smash album in 1966. He produced a bunch of tunes for Marvin Gaye in the late 60's which were only recently released. They apparently are rather typical of the Marvin Gaye aesthetic and Whitfield did not provide too much as far as production goes (he wrote the tunes, but the sound is not the one typically associated with Norman Whitfield).

He soon took over the role of producer for the Temptations from Smokey Robinson. He brought a raw edge to Motown unheard of before. He commenced by penning some raw bluesy tunes for Gladys Knight and the Pips. Berry Gordy, the label co-owner, tolerated Norman's artistic boldness due to the fact that he recognized the brilliance that Whitfield had, even though he usually didn't agree with his methods or tastes. Gordy was seeking a smooth, friendly tone for Motown, while Whitfield was searching for darkness and aggressiveness in Motown's music.

Norman Whitfield's key influences for his style were Sly and the Family Stone and Funkadelic. However, their music style did not appeal to him at first. He eventually fell into their groove and tried a few cuts for himself. There was no turning back. His groove workouts have become definitions of psychedelic soul. He used traditional Motown studio cats as the musical backdrop, with traditional Motown vocals, but using aggressively political lyrics (supplied by Barret Strong), psychedelic effects, and complex mixing techniques. The results sound like the equivalent of "Extended Version"-style mixes of 70s soul-funk. Typically, choruses repeat an extra few times, the instrumentation constantly varies as the strings drop out, bass booms in, guitar echoes away, drums re-enter, vocals spookily echo in and out throughout the tunes. It definitely is soul from the dark side, not the sunny-side-up soul that Motown was (and still is) associated with. In 1975 he left Motown to start his own label, Whitfield records.

PART 2: EDWIN STARR: NW Guinea Pig

The Marvelettes were another early Whitfield collaborator

Edwin Starr and Norman Whitfield were a suitable match-up right from the beginning. Starr sported a rough vocal style like James Brown, which suited Whitfield very well, as he was trying to move Motown away from silky soul towards a more raw sound. Some of the efforts by Starr sound patched-together, or uncertain in direction, indicating Whitfield's experimental tendencies. But there is no doubt that there is always a driving groove.

Edwin Starr is also known for his wicked track "Easin' In" on the "Hell up in Harlem" soundtrack. The track was produced by Freddy Perrin, and in some ways sounds similar in atmosphere to Whitfield's experiments.

Some of the Edwin Starr work for Whitfield shows an increased presence of electric guitar, which would figure only slightly in hs upcoming work with The Undisputed Truth and the Temptations. His biggest single for Whitfield was "War", although Ball of Confusion also made an impact. Ball of Confusion would be revisited by UTruth and the Temps. Edwin Starr's is very long and spacey, and somewhat loose, although still interesting version. Edwin Starr has switched between many different producers, labels and styles over the years. In 1984 he sang duets with Marvin Gaye, and since then has toured in smaller venues.

yo, go to Part 3...

Super J, a 26-year old funk enthusiast, resides in Toronto, Canada. He is a computer software developer by profession and a slap-bass funkateer by religion. He is also a funk record collector and is rapidly running out of space for his albums.