| Author | Message | ||
  David Meikle (david_meikle) 5-Doyen Username: david_meikle Post Number: 233 Registered: 3-2004 Posted From: 81.130.211.124 |
A quick scan of Norman's BMI file shows that he has written/co-written 25 BMI award winning songs. And many classics which failed to make it. | ||
Spyder Turner (spyder_turner) 1-Arriviste Username: spyder_turner Post Number: 2 Registered: 7-2004 Posted From: 68.42.246.252 |
YEA, I'VE SEEN SOME OF HIS BMI CHECKS,,,,HOLY-MOLY!!!!!!!!!!! ! | ||
Cool Ju (cool_ju) 3-Pundit Username: cool_ju Post Number: 64 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 64.12.116.138 |
Hey Spyder, see my "$$$Money$$$" thread! | ||
Eli (phillysoulman) 6-Zenith Username: phillysoulman Post Number: 774 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 68.236.51.238 |
Man, Norman looked so "worn" on the awards show and not like himself. I miss the big afro! He looked more like Ice T's daddy. | ||
Spyder Turner (spyder_turner) 3-Pundit Username: spyder_turner Post Number: 35 Registered: 7-2004 Posted From: 68.42.246.252 |
HEY ELI, TO THE FIRST PART OF YOUR POST, NORMAN WAS REAL SICK FOR A WHILE, FOR THE SECOND PART, I LMAO, AND I'M STILL LAUGHING, WHEW, THAT'S FUNNY | ||
Eli (phillysoulman) 6-Zenith Username: phillysoulman Post Number: 778 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 68.236.51.238 |
Hi Spyder, I had no idea that Norm had been ill. My bad. I do love to make people laugh,allthough I can sometimes become cynically irreverant! | ||
Spyder Turner (spyder_turner) 3-Pundit Username: spyder_turner Post Number: 36 Registered: 7-2004 Posted From: 68.42.246.252 |
HEY ELI, I CALLED A COUPLE OF MY FRIENDS TO TELL THEM TO LOOK AT YOUR POST, NOW WE'RE ALL LAUGHING LIKE HELL, THE MORE YOU THINK ABOUT IT THE FUNNIER IT GETS. I HAVE TO ADMIT, THAT'S A GOOD ONE | ||
Eli (phillysoulman) 6-Zenith Username: phillysoulman Post Number: 782 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 68.236.51.238 |
Man, Id love to be a fly on the wall right about now! Hey Spyder,here's a Whitfield related story. Back in '84, I produced an LP on Rose Royce called Music Magic which features the semi hit Magic Touch. By that time Ricci Benson had replaced Gwen. Everyone else was still intact. First I met with Kenny and Michael in my hotel in L.A. Then, several days later I met with Ricci and Duke and the others at a studio on cahuenga in L.A. When they entered the room where I was, they kind of did a double take because from the corner of their eyes they thought I was Norman!! I had a tight curly afro and I was "light skinned" and a bit chunky. Aparantly their later day experiences with him had not been all that cool so thats why they reacted as such. After the ice was broken we got along famously and did a great album. | ||
Spyder Turner (spyder_turner) 3-Pundit Username: spyder_turner Post Number: 37 Registered: 7-2004 Posted From: 68.42.246.252 |
YEA, THAT WAS A GREAT ALBUM. I DIDN'T KNOW THAT YOU PRODUCED IT , OH YOU DA MAN, GREAT WORK! | ||
Eli (phillysoulman) 6-Zenith Username: phillysoulman Post Number: 783 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 68.236.51.238 |
Thanks Spyder! I hope to meet you soon. I would have been in D last week but, I had promised H&O that I was coming to their show in New Jersey, and since I recently worked on their new cd,I couldnt let them down. Old homies, ya know! | ||
Caleb (caleb7) 1-Arriviste Username: caleb7 Post Number: 10 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 63.154.60.83 |
Eli,what type of work did you do on the new H&O album?What new album -album currently out?Or too be released? | ||
Eli (phillysoulman) 6-Zenith Username: phillysoulman Post Number: 790 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 68.236.51.238 |
Caleb, Hall and Oates have a new cd to be released in September called "Our kind of soul". It mainly consists of Philly and Detroit songs that they have loved and grew up with over the years plus several new songs which are in that vein. Since I have known H&O from way before they became famous, and when we were all signed to the same production/publishing company, they decided to have me play on the new cd. We had a ball recording the stuff, had a ton of laughs, and I just know that it will surprise a lot of folks. (Message edited by phillysoulman on July 23, 2004) | ||
Don (don) 5-Doyen Username: don Post Number: 395 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 68.75.59.17 |
Norman Whitfield and Barret Strong we're like the Lennon and McCarthy of Motown of they're time and era. WHY!!! Don | ||
Dennis Coffey (dennis_coffey) 3-Pundit Username: dennis_coffey Post Number: 40 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 64.12.116.138 |
Hi folks. I have a lot of great memories working for Norman. He always treated me right. He was the first producer to use me at Motown. He gave me the freedom to use effects and improvise on a lot of his records with the Temptations and Gladys Knight. | ||
Lady Mystique (ladymystique) 6-Zenith Username: ladymystique Post Number: 424 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 199.224.119.116 |
I saw a picture of Norman Whitfield in a book...MAN his hair was HUGE! I give him his props...he gave his songs that UMPH, especially on the Tempts' songs. He sure knew how to work his artists!  | ||
Eli (phillysoulman) 6-Zenith Username: phillysoulman Post Number: 805 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 68.236.51.238 |
yeah, Norman was what record PRODUCTION is all about. Out on the floor "in the trenches" with the guys, hands on, just like we did in Philly. Not like those fools who call them producers today. They cant even pronounce the freekin word. | ||
Cool Ju (cool_ju) 4-Laureate Username: cool_ju Post Number: 71 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 152.163.252.200 |
Hey Dennis, how about a list of the Whitfield tunes that you played on? | ||
Gil (gil) 3-Pundit Username: gil Post Number: 44 Registered: 5-2004 Posted From: 67.33.166.196 |
Producers today seem to just sit in the studio and bop their head up and down. I think the sound engineers are the real producers of todays popular music (in most cases). | ||
Eli (phillysoulman) 6-Zenith Username: phillysoulman Post Number: 820 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 68.236.47.183 |
The word "producer" is a misnomer anyway. The term should be "director" as he/she is the one who directs the session, unless of course he/she is the financier, than the term "producer" is correct. Most of these "new jack" clowns dont know a flatted fifth from a fifth of Vodka. One of these a**holes once told me that he likes red sauce on his andante and glissandos! Just because some thug goes into his back room and "makes a beat" doesnt make him a producer. They better go to school and learn how to play some musical instruments and learn theory and communication skills. And why does one need a posse of his homies in the studio anyway? What a stupid and ignorant concept!! | ||
Gil (gil) 3-Pundit Username: gil Post Number: 45 Registered: 5-2004 Posted From: 65.3.37.238 |
Amen to the nth degree, Eli! | ||
Dennis Coffey (dennis_coffey) 3-Pundit Username: dennis_coffey Post Number: 42 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 152.163.252.200 |
Hi Cool Ju. I played on Cloud Nine, Ball of Confusion, Don't Let the Jones Get you Down, I Can't Get Next to You, I Wish it Would Rain, Just my Imagination, Psychedelic Shack, Runaway Child for the Temptations, Smiling Faces - Undisputed Truth, War - Edwin Starr, That's the Way Love is -Marvin Gaye, Friendship Train and Nitty Gritty - Gladys Knight. There are probably others, but I remember these right now. My new book, Guitars, Bars, and Motown Super Stars, published by U of M Press, has more details. | ||
Caleb (caleb7) 2-Debutant Username: caleb7 Post Number: 11 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 4.250.132.28 |
Very interesting Bobby regarding new H&O album.What about Thom Bell recording the three tenors?What's the latest on that?Any word? | ||
Eli (phillysoulman) 6-Zenith Username: phillysoulman Post Number: 829 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 68.236.47.183 |
Hi Caleb, As far as I know and from what I heard as recent as last week, its still in the works. Its supposed to be recorded in Philly but in the state that Sigma is in right now, I seriously doubt it. | ||
Caleb (caleb7) 2-Debutant Username: caleb7 Post Number: 12 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 63.154.60.60 |
Might I ask who provided updated information on this possible project?Was it Babbitt or Collins?Or perhaps another Thom Bell related source-if it's not too personal?Picked up a cd by T Bell's nephew Leroy.Man's a fine talent.Robust slash earthy vocals-check it out.Peace | ||
Graham Finch (acooolcat) 4-Laureate Username: acooolcat Post Number: 134 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 210.200.105.225 |
Here's one of Norman's earliest productions. The date is written on the label! (1962) The song was originally released on the (Detroit) Thelma label. The Distants were closely connected with The Temptations... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA PI.dll?ViewItem&category=306&i tem=4027230512&rd=1&ssPageName =WDVW | ||
Spyder Turner (spyder_turner) 3-Pundit Username: spyder_turner Post Number: 67 Registered: 7-2004 Posted From: 68.42.246.252 |
JUST A BIT OF INFO, THE LAST TIME I SAW NORMAN HE WAS RECORDING A CD ON HIMSELF. HE DID MASTERPIECE OVER AND HE IS DOING THE SINGING. THE OTHER SONG HE DID WAS WHAT I THINK IS A SMASH--I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE, WITH AN ALL NEW ARRANGEMENT, HE SOUNDS LIKE CURTIS MAYFIELD. | ||
Cam (cam) 2-Debutant Username: cam Post Number: 19 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 4.229.66.168 |
Norman Whitfield is part of the reason I ended up writing my screenplay that Motown and Hitsville USA play an important part in. I remember being absolutely blown out of the water by his production. He was the first producer that I actually paid attention to. I loved the Beatles music but never paid attention to what George Martin did or did not bring to the table. Brian Wilson was brilliant at times, of course. But Norman...oh man, Norman's productions were far and away my favorites. The texture, the color, the brillance of his records were the stuff dreams are made of. I envy you cats who have worked with him or even met him. Norman Whitfield: a pure genius in my book. Cam | ||
Eli (phillysoulman) 6-Zenith Username: phillysoulman Post Number: 987 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 70.16.140.126 |
Hey Spyder, did he SOUND like Ice T's daddy too?? | ||
Milli Vanilli (millie) 3-Pundit Username: millie Post Number: 31 Registered: 3-2004 Posted From: 68.62.7.219 |
Hey Cam! Good to see you back on SD! How are you feeling? Any more news on the screenplay? Any word from Jeff Daniels yet? What is your projected timetable until production begins? Millie | ||
Cam (cam) 2-Debutant Username: cam Post Number: 21 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 4.229.66.168 |
Hi Millie: Got some very positive feedback from a Producer today, and also some news from a funding source in Flint. Jeff Daniels is in the process of filming about 780 films over the next few months. I plan to start shooting the 1972 scenes by early spring at the latest. Probably going to go with Digital Video 24p. A few cinematographers have told me that gives a "rich film texture." Plus I can bump it up a bit to give real vibrance to the flashback scenes. Then (I hope) Jeff Daniels will consider doing the present day scences that bookend the film. The head injury still has me wobbly and forgetful, but who cares? Nothing I can do about it but push ahead. Besides, now I finally have a reason for acting weird. I didn't have that huge advantage when we worked at KISS-FM. Best to ya, Millie. Cam | ||
Spyder Turner (spyder_turner) 3-Pundit Username: spyder_turner Post Number: 69 Registered: 7-2004 Posted From: 68.42.246.252 |
HEY ELI!!!! YOU'RE CRAZY MAN, WE'LL MOST LIKELY HAVE A LOT OF FUN WHEN WE HOOK UP | ||
Cam (cam) 3-Pundit Username: cam Post Number: 33 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 4.229.120.193 |
Another Norman Whitfield track I enjoy a whole bunch is "Ma" by Rare Earth. Great jam. |
