In sad news today, Motown super producer Norman Whitfield died Tuesday in Los Angeles from complications with Diabetes. He was 67. Whitfield was a producer and writer for Motown and produced numerous hits for the Temptations. The most well known and covered hit he had was "I Heard it Through the Grapevine."
According to CNN, Whitfield was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004 with his co-writer Barrett Strong and the two won a Grammy in 1972 for the major hit "Papa Was a Rolling Stone." A song that for whatever reason I couldn't get out of my head last night.
Among Whitfield's other songs, according to the Songwriters Hall Web site, are "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep," "Cloud Nine" and "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)," all hits for the Temptations; and "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby," a 1969 hit for Marvin Gaye. In the tv movie, based on the true story of the "Temptations," Whitfield was portrayed by actor Mel Jackson.
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