On May 12th, 1940, psychedelic soul innovator, Motown affiliate, record executive, producer, composer, songwriter, and 70's funk pioneer-Norman (Jesse) Whitfield was born in Harlem, New York. TOV covered the artist’s death in the September 16th post. Please refer to it for more information. Whitfield is most known for his production work for Motown artists during the late 1960's, as ‘psychedelic soul’ was in its infancy. Groups like The Temptations, Edwin Starr, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Barrett Strong, and Marvin Gaye all benefited from songs Whitfield wrote and composed. Tracks like Cloud 9, Psychedelic Shack, Smiling Faces Sometimes, Papa Was A Rolling Stone, I Heard It Through The Grapevine, Runaway Child Running Wild, Ball Of Confusion, War, The Nitty Gritty, I Can’t Get Next To You, and many more can all be attributed to Whitfield.
Norman started Whitfield Recordsto launch the careers of acts like The Undisputed Truth, Rose Royce, and Mammatapee. It also was the primary label home for Willie Hutch, after he left Motown in the mid 1970's. The late 70's and early 80's were a great time period for his label, his acts, his songwriting, and his compositions. Some of his biggest hits of this era were with Rose Royce (The Car Wash Soundtrack, and songs like Wishing On A Star, Ooh Boy, Car Wash, I’m Going Down, Love Don’t Live Here Anymore, and I Wanna Get Next to You. His career spanned three decades. Norman Whitfield was 68 years old when he passed away.
| | |
On May 12th, 1948, blues/rock innovator, English musician, singer, keyboardist, producer, guitarist, songwriter, multi-label recording artist, and former member of The Spencer Davis Group, The Powerhouse, Blind Faith, Ginger Baker’s Air Force, & Traffic-Steve Winwood (Stephen Lawrence Winwood) was born in Handsworth, Birmingham, England, UK. Winwood became very popular in the 1980's, and 1990's, with songs like Higher Love (duet with Chaka Khan-1986), Roll With It (1988), and It’s All Right (Curtis Mayfield cover, 1994). He has a unique and distinct voice, that is sometimes confused with Michael Bolton’s tone. Windwood is his own guy however, with a much deeper discography-and in my opinion, he sounds a lot better.
He started singing, playing organ, and backing blues musicians like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Bo Diddley, B.B. King, T-Bone Walker, and Otis Spann in his early teens. He joined The Spencer Davis Group when he was 14, and stayed with the group until the late 1960's, before joining Eric Clapton and The Powerhouse in 1966. He also played organ for Jimi Hendrix on Voodoo Chile (1968) while an active member in Traffic. In 1969 he formed a super rock group called-Blind Faith. He worked with the reggae group Third World and then went solo in the late 70s releasing his self-titled debut (1977). He released 7 more LPs from 1980 to 2008. By adding in his LPs from his stint with Traffic, Blind Faith, Ginger Baker’s Air Force, Third World, Go and his session work, he’s been featured on over 100 recordings as a singer, guitarist, vocalist, producer, songwriter and/or keyboardist. He’s 71 today.
| | |
On May 12th, in 1956, seminal session musician, singer, producer, keyboardist, musical director, arranger, songwriter, pianist, composer, and the man that had significant musical input on all of Michael Jackson’s solo albums-Greg Phillinganes (Gregory Arthur Phillinganes) was born in Detroit, Michigan. He’s most known for his association with Stevie Wonder’s 1976 LP-Songs in the Key of Life. Stevie introduced him to the King of Pop-Michael Jackson. He worked with Michael and/or his family for over 30s dating back to the Jackson 1978 LP-Destiny. Phillinganes was the arranger on this album. He played keys on their 1980 LP-Triumph and began working closely with the family in the early 80s.
Some of his staple keyboard style can be heard on Off The Wall (1979) and Thriller (1982). He also appears on Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991), HIStory: Past Present and Future Book I (1995), Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix (1997) and Michael Jackson’s This is It (2009). Other groups he’s worked with as a writer, composer and keyboardist are: Toto, Eric Clapton, Earth Wind & Fire, Donna Summer, George Benson, Richard Marx, Anita Baker, Quincy Jones, Aretha Franklin, Al Jarreau, Joan Armatrading, Paul McCartney, Patti LaBelle, Jill Scott, David Gilmour, Cirque Du Soleil, Donald Fagen, Stevie Nicks and Donald Byrd. He also released two solo LPs in the early 80s: Significant Gains (his debut, 1981) and Pulse (1984). He’s 63 today.
| | |
HONORABLE MENTION: On May 12th, in 1950, rock musician, arena rock song innovator, guitarist, singer, bassist, songwriter, keyboardist and the man that crafted the classic break beat-The Big Beat: Billy Squier (William Haislip Squier) was born in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Most hip hop, electronic and urban music producers/listeners know Squier from the Big Beat which has a drum break intro that’s been sampled several thousand times. He was inspired to become a musician after hearing John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers (featuring Eric Clapton). He formed several bands of his own and played with Ringo Starr and elements of the New York Dolls. He’s 69 today.
On May 12th, in 1965, seminal soul singer-Wilson Pickett and Steve Cropper recorded their newly penned song-In the Midnight Hour at Stax studios in Memphis, TN. He laid his vocals, while the house band-Booker T. & the M.G.’s laced the beat. Musicians present for the session included: Steve Cropper on guitar, Al Jackson Jr on drums and Donald Duck Dunn on bass. Booker T. didn’t play on the session. However, Pickett’s vocals did more than make up for his absence. The song reached the #1 slot on the Billboard and was released in June of 1965. Many music critics debate on who has the best version of the song which has been covered by numerous musicians.
Speaking of powerful vinyl releases during the 60s, On May 12th, 2 years later in the UK-the Jimi Hendrix Experience released their debut LP-Are You Experienced?. The UK release had a different cover (shown) than the US version. The song listings, and order were also different. Hey Joe, The Wind Cries Mary and Purple Haze were not on the UK version, while Red House, Can You See Me, May This Be Love and Remember weren’t on the US version. It shows how record companies shape the market based on region. Both LPs should’ve had all the songs on them to keep crate diggers form having to buy 2 albums. Capitalism...
On May 12th, in 2011, we a lost seminal figure in ska music, percussionist, session musician and drummer for the Skatalites-Lloyd Knibb. The Kingston native is most known for his work with the Skatalites, Coxsone Dodd, Duke Reid, Prince Buster, and Phillip Yap. He pioneered the sound of ska and reggae during the mid 40s up to his death. He played his last show in Peru on April 23rd, 2011. His sound helped pave the way for reggae, dub and dancehall, all of which were genres he played within as the times and musical preferences changed. Most of his recordings can be found on Studio One, Top Hat and Treasure Isle Records. He was 80 when he passed.
For more information on any musician or event reviewed in posts, or for additional information on The Wandering Eyes Blog overall, use the search bar and search the artist or event using keywords. It’s like a Google search for the site. A wide variety of information, covering several topics exists on this site going back to 2013 when it was created. PEACE