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46-513: During his 25-year career, Whitfield co-wrote and produced many enduring hits for Motown artists, including " Ain't Too Proud to Beg ", " (I Know) I'm Losing You ", " I Heard It Through the Grapevine ", " Cloud Nine ", " I Can't Get Next to You ", " War ", " Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today) ", " Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me) ", " Smiling Faces Sometimes ", and " Papa Was

92-645: A Grammy Award for Best R&B Instrumental Performance , One of Whitfield's last major hits at Motown was Yvonne Fair 's " It Should Have Been Me " (1975), a song he had written in 1963 and recorded originally with Kim Weston . In 1975, Whitfield left Motown, following its move from Detroit, to form his own label, Whitfield Records . His first act was the Undisputed Truth , whom he had convinced to leave Motown, followed by Rose Royce , Willie Hutch , Yvonne Fair, Nytro, Mammatapee and Junior Walker . The Undisputed Truth scored their second biggest hit in 1976 with

138-407: A $ 25,000 fine. He was not imprisoned because of health problems such as diabetes . During his last months alive, Whitfield was bed-ridden at Los Angeles 's Cedars-Sinai Medical Center , where he underwent treatment for diabetes and other ailments. Whitfield fell into a coma, briefly improved, but eventually succumbed to diabetic complications. Whitfield died on September 16, 2008. He is interred in

184-472: A Funkadelic ) was released under the name Funkadelic in 1981. The album was recorded by former Funkadelic members and original Parliaments Fuzzy Haskins , Calvin Simon , and Grady Thomas , who had left P-Funk in 1977 after disagreements with George Clinton's management practices. This LP, notable for its heavy use of Thomas "Pae-dog" McEvoy's jazz horn , contains the track called "You'll Like It Too", which became

230-474: A Haystack". He took over Smokey Robinson 's role as the main producer for the Temptations in 1966, after his " Ain't Too Proud to Beg " performed better than Robinson's " Get Ready " on the pop charts. From 1963 to 1974, Whitfield produced virtually all of the Temptations' music, experimenting with sound effects and other production techniques. He found a songwriting collaborator in lyricist Barrett Strong ,

276-528: A Rollin' Stone ". Whitfield worked extensively with the Temptations as a producer and songwriter, producing eight of their albums between 1969 and 1973. He then started his own label, Whitfield Records , in 1975, which yielded the Rose Royce hit " Car Wash ". Alongside his Motown lyrical collaborator Barrett Strong , he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004. He wrote or co-wrote 61 hits on

322-610: A chance to work for the growing label. Founder Berry Gordy Jr. recognized Whitfield's persistence and hired him for the quality control department, which determined which songs would or would not be released. Whitfield joined Motown's in-house songwriting staff, co-writing the Marvin Gaye hit " Pride & Joy ", the Marvelettes 's " Too Many Fish in the Sea " and the Velvelettes 's "Needle in

368-529: A collection of Funkadelic outtakes and demos from the Free Your Mind and America Eats Its Young era. Critical reception of the album has generally been positive. In April 2013, the band released their first single in over 25 years when they released "The Naz". The song is a collaboration with Sly Stone and tells the story of Jesus Christ. The B-side to the song is "Nuclear Dog" which is guitar solo by P-Funk guitarist Dewayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight. Funkadelic had

414-615: A decade is more than proud to boogie!" English singer-songwriter Rick Astley covered the song for his 1988 album Hold Me in Your Arms . Originally recorded in 1986, the track was re-recorded for his new album due to a fire at the PWL studios destroying the original master. The song was released as a single in the US and Japan in the summer of 1989. This was Astley's last single with producers Stock Aitken Waterman . On New Year's Eve 2019, Astley performed

460-399: A long working relationship between Worrell and Clinton. The album Maggot Brain followed in 1971. The first three Funkadelic albums displayed strong psychedelic influences (not least in terms of production) and limited commercial potential, despite containing many songs that stayed in the band's setlist for several years and would influence many future funk, rock, and hip hop artists. After

506-464: A reissue in 2007. It features a cover of "Sunshine Of Your Love" by Cream . The album did not receive any publicity, but still received favorable reviews. Clinton continued his P-Funk collective in the 1990s and 2000s, with a revolving stable of musicians, some of whom remain from the classic lineups of Funkadelic and Parliament. The rock-oriented sound of Funkadelic has diminished, as Clinton has moved towards more of an R&B and hip hop sound. In 1997

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552-665: A tighter guitar and horns-based funk (circa 1971–75), which subsequently, during the height of Parliament-Funkadelic success (circa 1976–81), added elements of R&B and electronic music, with fewer psychedelic rock elements. The band made their first live television performance on Say Brother on October 7, 1969. They played a jam with songs "Into My Own Thing" ( Sly and the Family Stone cover), "What Is Soul?", " (I Wanna) Testify ", " I Was Made to Love Her " ( Stevie Wonder cover), "Friday Night, August 14th" and "Music for My Mother". The group's self-titled debut album, Funkadelic ,

598-498: A very popular breakbeat source for the hip hop community in the 1980s. Former band member drummer Jerome Brailey released the album Mutiny on the Mamaship , by his new band Mutiny. In the early 1980s, with legal difficulties arising from the multiple names used by multiple groups, as well as a shakeup at Parliament's record label, George Clinton dissolved Parliament and Funkadelic as recording and touring entities. However, many of

644-647: The Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) . Ain%27t Too Proud to Beg " Ain't Too Proud to Beg " is a 1966 song and hit single by the Temptations for Motown Records ' Gordy label, produced by Norman Whitfield and written by Whitfield and Edward Holland Jr. The song peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Pop Chart , and was a number-one hit on the Billboard R&;B charts for eight non-consecutive weeks. The song's success, in

690-669: The JB's, in 1972 – most notably Bootsy Collins and the Horny Horns . Bootsy and his brother Catfish Collins were recruited by Clinton to replace the departed Nelson and Hazel. Bootsy in particular became a major contributor to the P-Funk sound. In 1972, this new line-up released the politically charged double album America Eats Its Young . The lineup stabilized a bit with the album Cosmic Slop in 1973, featuring major contributions from recently added singer-guitarist Garry Shider . After first leaving

736-580: The Parliaments (later the full-fledged band Parliament ), but eventually pursued a heavier, psychedelic rock -oriented sound in their own recordings. They released acclaimed albums such as Maggot Brain (1971) and One Nation Under a Groove (1978). The group that would become Funkadelic was formed by George Clinton in 1964, as the unnamed backing section for his doo wop group the Parliaments while on tour. The band originally consisted of musicians Frankie Boyce, Richard Boyce, and Langston Booth plus

782-509: The Parliaments' name, the ensemble began playing under the name Funkadelic. As Funkadelic, the group signed to Westbound in 1968. Around this time, the group's music evolved from soul and doo wop into a harder guitar-driven mix of psychedelic rock, soul and funk, much influenced by the popular musical (and political) movements of the time. Jimi Hendrix , Sly Stone , the MC5 , and Vanilla Fudge were major inspirations. This style later evolved into

828-518: The R&;B charts, around the time that Parliament was enjoying the #1 R&B singles " Flash Light " and " Aqua Boogie ". Uncle Jam Wants You in 1979 continued Funkadelic's new more electronic sound production. The album contains the fifteen-minute " (Not Just) Knee Deep " featuring former Spinners lead singer Philippé Wynne , an edited version of which topped the R&B charts. The final official Funkadelic album, The Electric Spanking of War Babies ,

874-478: The Temptations and Whitfield were confident they had a major hit on their hands. However, both "Ain't Too Proud" and " Get Ready ", a Temptations track produced by Smokey Robinson with Eddie Kendricks on lead, turned up at the same Quality Control meeting. Since Robinson was the Temptations' main producer, his song was released and Whitfield's was shelved. Cornelius Grant , the Temptations' road guitarist, band director, and songwriter, recalled that after that decision

920-520: The Temptations and other artists such as Edwin Starr and the Undisputed Truth experimented with and updated the Motown sound for the late-1960s. Longer songs, distorted guitars, multitracked drums, and inventive vocal arrangements became trademarks of Whitfield's productions, and later of records produced by Motown staffers he coached, including Frank Wilson . But friction and antagonism grew between Whitfield and

966-577: The Temptations). " Papa Was a Rollin' Stone " (1972) was done first by the Undisputed Truth, before Whitfield rerecorded the song with the Temptations for a longer, more definitive (and massively successful) version. The Temptations' version earned a second Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for Whitfield and the Temptations, and Whitfield and Strong shared the songwriters' award for Best Rhythm and Blues Song . The single's instrumental B-side earned Whitfield and arranger Paul Riser

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1012-474: The Temptations; the group hated how Whitfield put more emphasis on the instrumentation instead of their vocals, and that he was writing fewer romantic ballads for them. Whitfield often recorded notably different versions of songs with different artists in search of a hit, and did so successfully in the cases of Edwin Starr, with " War " (1970; originally recorded by the Temptations), and the Undisputed Truth, with " Smiling Faces Sometimes " (1971; also originally by

1058-900: The UK charts and 92 on the US charts. In 2024, Whitfield was posthumously selected for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the musical excellence category. Whitfield was also inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2021. He is one of the world's most famous artists. Whitfield was born and raised in Harlem, New York, and spent much of his teen years in local pool halls. In his late teens, he and his family moved to Detroit, Michigan , so that his father could join his sister and work in her husband's chain of drug stores, Barthwell Drugs. He attended Northwestern High School . At 19, Whitfield began frequenting Motown's Hitsville USA offices for

1104-458: The anthology The Best of the Early Years . As Parliament began achieving significant mainstream success in the 1975–1978 period, Funkadelic recorded and released its most successful and influential album, One Nation Under a Groove in 1978, adding former Ohio Players keyboardist Walter "Junie" Morrison and reflecting a more melodic dance-based sound. The title track spent six weeks at #1 on

1150-484: The band, Eddie Hazel spent a year in jail after assaulting an airline flight attendant and air marshal while under the influence of PCP, then he returned to make major contributions to the album Standing on the Verge of Getting It On (1974). Hazel only contributed to P-Funk sporadically thereafter. George Clinton revived Parliament in 1974 and signed them to Casablanca Records . Parliament and Funkadelic featured mostly

1196-691: The catch-all term for George Clinton's rapidly growing stable of funk artists). In 1975, Funkadelic released its most successful album yet, Let's Take It to the Stage , which nearly cracked the R&B top ten and the Billboard 100. Later in 1975 Michael Hampton , a teen guitar prodigy, replaced Hazel as the premier lead guitarist in Parliament-Funkadelic, and was a major contributor to the next several Funkadelic albums. Funkadelic left Westbound in 1976 and moved to Warner Brothers . Their first album for Warner

1242-446: The disco song " You + Me = Love ", their first single on Whitfield Records. Norman Whitfield had an international smash hit in 1976 with Rose Royce 's " Car Wash ", issued on MCA Records . Rose Royce (whose members were originally Edwin Starr's backing band while at Motown) went on to record three more popular albums, and had two huge UK hits with " Wishing on a Star " (1977) and " Love Don't Live Here Anymore " (1978), but could never top

1288-513: The early 1980s, Whitfield began working as a producer for Motown again, helming the Temptations' 1983 hit single "Sail Away" and the soundtrack to The Last Dragon . On January 18, 2005, Whitfield pleaded guilty for failing to report royalty income he earned from 1995 to 1999 to the Internal Revenue Service . Facing charges of tax evasion on more than $ 2 million worth of income, he was sentenced to six months of house confinement and

1334-449: The five members of the Parliaments on vocals. Boyce, Boyce, and Booth enlisted in the Army in 1966, and Clinton recruited bassist Billy Bass Nelson and guitarist Eddie Hazel in 1967, then added guitarist Tawl Ross and drummer Tiki Fulwood . The name "Funkadelic" was coined by Nelson after the band relocated to Detroit. By 1968, because of a dispute with Revilot, the record company that owned

1380-424: The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . Filmmaker Yvonne Smith of New York City-based Brazen Hussy productions produced Parliament-Funkadelic: One Nation Under a Groove, a full-length documentary about the groundbreaking group, which aired on PBS in 2005. As of 2008, Clinton was at work on a new Funkadelic album for his new record label. In November 2008, Westbound Records released Toys ,

1426-604: The musicians in later versions of the two groups remained employed by Clinton. Clinton continued to release new albums regularly, sometimes under his own name and sometimes under the name George Clinton & the P-Funk All-Stars. In the mid-1980s, the penultimate Funkadelic studio album By Way Of The Drum was recorded by Clinton with P-Funk personnel and many electronic devices. The album was rejected by its record label and did not see official release in America until it appeared as

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1472-570: The performer on Motown's first hit record, " Money (That's What I Want) ", and wrote material for the Temptations and other Motown artists such as Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight & the Pips , both of whom recorded Whitfield-produced hit versions of the Whitfield/Strong composition " I Heard It Through the Grapevine ". The Gladys Knight & the Pips' version was the best-selling Motown single so far, but it

1518-481: The release of Maggot Brain , the Funkadelic lineup expanded greatly. Tawl Ross was unavailable after experiencing either a bad LSD trip or a speed overdose, while Billy Bass Nelson and Eddie Hazel quit due to financial concerns. From this point, many more musicians and singers would be added during Funkadelic's (and Parliament's) history, including the recruitment of several members of James Brown 's backing band,

1564-400: The same stable of personnel but operated concurrently under two names. At first, Parliament was designated as a more mainstream funk ensemble dominated by soulful vocals and horn arrangements, while Funkadelic was designated as a more experimental and freestyle guitar-based funk band. The ensemble usually toured under the combined name Parliament-Funkadelic or simply P-Funk (which also became

1610-484: The song as a "plaintive, slow-shufflin’ blues -soaked ode about a love-sick fella who'll go any lengths to keep his gal at his side." On Friday mornings at Motown's Hitsville USA offices, the creative team held Quality Control meetings, at which potential single releases were voted for or against release. To Whitfield's disappointment, "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" failed twice to make it through Motown's Friday morning Quality Control meetings, with Berry Gordy commenting that

1656-523: The song for their album It's Only Rock 'n Roll (1974). They also released it as a single, which reached number 17 in the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The official promotional video features the band, in bright clothing, performing the song on a stage. In 2007 the band performed the song at Isle of Wight Festival with Amy Winehouse . Record World said that the Stones' "first oldie hit stab in

1702-483: The song was good, but "needed more story". For the third recorded version of "Ain't Too Proud", Whitfield had David Ruffin's lead vocal arranged just above his actual vocal range. As a result, the singer was forced to strain through numerous takes in order to get out all of the song's high notes. By the end of the "Ain't Too Proud" recording session, recalls Temptation Otis Williams , Ruffin was "drowning in sweat and his glasses were all over his face". By this point, both

1748-519: The song with YolanDa Brown on the BBC's Jools' Annual Hootenanny . Funkadelic Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. As one of the two flagship groups of George Clinton 's P-Funk collective , they helped pioneer the funk music culture of the 1970s. Funkadelic initially formed as a backing band for Clinton's vocal group

1794-407: The success of "Car Wash", which served as the theme song to the 1976 motion picture Car Wash . The Car Wash soundtrack won Whitfield a Grammy Award for Best Album of Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special . He also composed the theme song for the 1977 motion picture Which Way Is Up? , performed by Stargard . He produced soul group Masterpiece in 1980. In

1840-672: The wake of the relative underperformance of the previous Temptations' single, " Get Ready ", resulted in Norman Whitfield replacing Smokey Robinson , producer of "Get Ready", as the Temptations' main producer. In 2004 it finished number 94 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs poll thanks to its inclusion in The Big Chill soundtrack. Notable covers have been recorded by the Rolling Stones (1974) and by Rick Astley (1989). Cash Box described

1886-474: The work of Sly & the Family Stone and Funkadelic . He added contemporary song topics, moving from love songs to the social issues of the time, such as war, poverty and politics. The first Temptations single to feature this new psychedelic soul style was " Cloud Nine " in late 1968, which earned Motown its first Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Performance by a Duo or Group, Vocal or Instrumental ). The psychedelic soul records Whitfield produced for

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1932-400: Was Hardcore Jollies released in 1976. Just before leaving Westbound, Clinton provided that label with a collection of recently recorded outtakes, which Westbound released as the album Tales of Kidd Funkadelic . That album did significantly better commercially than Hardcore Jollies and included "Undisco Kidd", an R&B Top 30 single. In 1977, Westbound capitalized further by releasing

1978-638: Was made, "it was as if the veins jumped out of Norman's neck." Whitfield was less than pleased at the Quality Control department's decision, and stated plainly that "never again am I gonna lose out on a release like that". . As a compromise, Gordy promised Whitfield that "Ain't Too Proud" would be the next single if "Get Ready" failed to reach the Top 20 on the Billboard Pop Chart . Shipments figures based on certification alone. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. The Rolling Stones recorded

2024-526: Was released in 1970. The credits listed organist Mickey Atkins plus Clinton, Fulwood, Hazel, Nelson, and Ross. The recording also included the rest of Parliament's singers (still uncredited because of contractual concerns), several uncredited session musicians then employed by Motown , as well as Ray Monette (of Rare Earth ) and future P-Funk mainstay Bernie Worrell . Bernie Worrell was officially credited starting with Funkadelic's second album, Free Your Mind... and Your Ass Will Follow (1970), thus beginning

2070-402: Was released in 1981. The release was originally a double-album project, but it was reduced to a single disc under pressure from Warner Brothers. Some of the deleted tracks would appear on future P-Funk releases, most notably the 1982 hit single " Atomic Dog " which appeared on the first George Clinton solo album. Meanwhile, the album Connections & Disconnections (re-issued on CD as Who's

2116-407: Was surpassed a year later by Gaye's version. In 1969, Whitfield won three BMI Awards for the songs "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," "I Wish It Would Rain," and "You're My Everything." After Temptations lead singer David Ruffin was replaced by Dennis Edwards in 1968, Whitfield moved the group into a harder, darker sound that featured a blend of psychedelic rock and funk heavily inspired by

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