Illustration of the spruce gall-louse from the article "The Spruce Gall-Louse (Chermes Abietis)" prepared for the Bureau of Forestry by Wm. Brodie, Toronto, 1898
I wrote about the passing of Motown legend Levi Stubbs yesterday, but I have to admit that I was more shook up when I heard about the death of Motown songwriter Norman Whitfield earlier this year. I've been learning about Motown through singles collections, and you don't have to hear many Motown hits before coming across a Norman Whitfield tune. He was writing for Motown as early as 1963, and he hitched himself to the Temptations' star fairly early in their rise to fame. By 1967, when the group fired lead vocalist David Ruffin, replacing him with Dennis Edwards (from the second-tier Motown group the Contours), Whitfield had become essential to the band's new sound, heavily influenced by the rise of funk music - the Temptations called their spin on it "psychedelic soul".
Based on that tag, I picked up a couple of the Temptations records from this period, Cloud Nine and Puzzle People, both produced by Norman Whitfield and composed primarily of songs written by him and his writing partner Barrett Strong (of "Money (That's What I Want)" fame). To be honest, the psychedelic flourishes are not a dominating part of the Temptations sound on these albums, but the songwriting and production are strong, and the group's vocals are, of course, amazing. My favorite song from this period is the 1969 hit "I Can't Get Next To You" - the verses give each vocalist a chance to shine, and the influence of funk bands like Sly & the Family Stone can be heard in the scratchy rhythm guitar and the groovy instrumental breaks. It's one of many often-overlooked masterpieces by an unparalleled songwriting talent who will be missed.
"I Can't Get Next To You" by the Temptations
0 comments:
Post a Comment