RIP Norman Whitfield

Motown songwriter Norman Whitfield dies at 67

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 18, 2008



LOS ANGELES - Norman Whitfield, songwriter and producer, who co-wrote a string of Motown classics including "War," "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," has died. He was 67.

A spokeswoman at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center said Whitfield died there Tuesday. He suffered from complications of diabetes and had recently emerged from a coma, The Detroit Free Press reported.

The New York-born Whitfield was a longtime Motown producer who during the 1960s and '70s injected rock and psychedelic touches into the label's soul music.

Many of his biggest hits were written with Barrett Strong, with whom he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004.

Here is a list of some of the great songs he wrote:
•1963: "Pride & Joy" - Marvin Gaye
•1964: "Too Many Fish in the Sea" - The Marvelettes
•1964: "Needle in a Haystack" - The Velvelettes
•1964: "He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'" - The Velvelettes
•1964: "Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)" - The Temptations
•1966: "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" - The Temptations
•1966: "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep" - The Temptations
•1966: "(I Know) I'm Losing You" - The Temptations
•1967: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" - Gladys Knight & the Pips, also recorded by Marvin Gaye and Creedence Clearwater Revival
•1967: "You're My Everything" - The Temptations
•1967: "I Wish It Would Rain" - The Temptations
•1968: "I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)" - The Temptations
•1968: "The End of Our Road" - Gladys Knight & The Pips
•1968: "Cloud Nine" - The Temptations
•1969: "Friendship Train" - Gladys Knight & the Pips
•1969: "Runaway Child, Running Wild" - The Temptations
•1969: "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" - Marvin Gaye
•1969: "I Can't Get Next to You" - The Temptations
•1969: "Don't Let The Joneses Get You Down" - The Temptations
•1970: "You Need Love Like I Do (Don't You)" - Gladys Knight & The Pips, also recorded by The Temptations
•1970: "Psychedelic Shack" - The Temptations
•1970: "Hum Along and Dance" - The Temptations (later covered by Rare Earth and The Jackson 5)
•1970: "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)" - The Temptations
•1970: "War" - Edwin Starr
•1971: "Smiling Faces Sometimes" - The Undisputed Truth, originally recorded by The Temptations
•1971: "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)" - The Temptations
•1972: "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" - The Temptations
•1973: "Masterpiece" - The Temptations
•1973: "Let Your Hair Down" - The Temptations
•1976: "Car Wash" - Rose Royce
•1976: "I'm Going Down" - Rose Royce
•1976: "I Wanna Get Next to You" - Rose Royce
•1977: "Ooh Boy" - Rose Royce
•1977: "Wishing on a Star" - Rose Royce
•1978: "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" - Rose Royce