The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars (343 page)

After Barrett, Floyd seemed a remarkably consistent creative body for some years, although the first signs of a rift emerged after the group finished what was to be their commercial peak, the 45-million-selling
Dark Side of the Moon
(1973). Despite this phenomenal success, a combination of personal issues and bad investment (which at one point saw the group taxed over 80 percent of its own income) left Floyd’s members in an increased state of turmoil. By the release of tenth studio set
Animals
(1977), Waters had assumed very tight control of the Pink Floyd ship. Much of this strain and frustration could be heard in Wright’s self-produced solo debut
Wet Dream
(1978), which, perhaps unsurprisingly, did not fare well either critically or commercially. His and Waters’s relationship broke down completely during the making of 1979’s
The Wall,
and as a result, Wright was forced to quit the band. Perhaps the biggest irony of all, though, was that Wright, in becoming essentially a salaried session musician for the band, as opposed to a contributing member, actually returned a profit from this highly successful album - not to mention its hit single, tour and movie - unlike his former band mates. While Floyd recorded the somewhat hit-and-miss
The Final Cut
(1983) without any of his input, Wright poured his energies into a new project, the synth duo Zee. Teamed with new-romantic musician Dave Harris (of Fashion), the project was unfortunately a resounding flop. Wright later denounced his one Zee album,
Identity
(1984), as an ‘experimental mistake’. He then spent several years in the wilderness.

‘In the welter of arguments about who, or what, was Pink Floyd, Rick’s enormous input was frequently forgotten.’

David Gilmour

Wright’s inevitable return to Pink Floyd finally happened on 1987’s
A Momentary Lapse of Reason.
With Waters now safely out of the way working on his own projects, Wright - once again, as a hired musician -joined the Gilmour-led project. Despite some haphazard preparations (plus continued threats of litigation from Waters over use of the band’s name), the record and subsequent tour fared comparatively well, encouraging the three remaining members of Pink Floyd to come together again a few years later to make
The Division Bell
(1993). Although this collection saw the first Wright songwriting credits on a Pink Floyd album since 1975’s
Wish You Were Here,
the musician later claimed that he felt slighted still not to be considered a permanent member of the band. The experience did, however, inspire him to issue the much-improved second solo set
Broken China
in 1996. Waters finally rejoined Wright, Gilmour and Mason a full decade later at the 2005 Live 8 show in London’s Hyde Park. This was the first time the classic line-up had taken to the stage together since the release of
The Wall.
Rick Wright’s failing health curtailed many more live performances, though he did join Gilmour for some European shows to celebrate the guitarist’s sixtieth birthday the following year.

Richard ‘Rick’ Wright died from an undisclosed form of cancer on 15 September 2008. At the time of his passing, the musician had been working on another solo record, which has yet to see a release.

Golden Oldies#76

Norman Whitfield

(Harlem, New York City, 12 May 1940)

On 16 September 2008, the popular music world lost another contributor to its heritage in Norman Jesse Whitfield - songwriter, producer, arranger and all-round vital cog in Motown’s machine during the era when the label cemented its position as a major national force.

Before he was eighteen, Whitfield had played (briefly) with The Distants - the Detroit group that was to prove a launch-pad for The Temptations - and had even produced sides for local label, Thelma. After strong reservations, Motown honcho Berry Gordy saw something in the persistence of this young musician and fan who was so desperate to play a part in the building of the early Hitsville USA empire. Whitfield’s time spent as a pool hustler had made him a sharp observer of those around him, and his persuasive charm saw him quickly graduate from quality control adviser to inhouse songwriter. Here, early successes included Marvin Gaye’s pop and R & B Top Ten ‘Pride and Joy’ (1963 - co-written with the singer and producer Mickey Stevenson), The Marvelettes’ ‘Too Many Fish in the Sea’ (1964 - with Eddie Holland) and The Velvelettes’ classic, ‘Needle in a Haystack’ (1964 - with Stevenson).

Whitfield was most instrumental, however, in shaping the sound of his old pals The Temptations. In 1966, his R & B chart-topper ‘Ain’t Too Proud to Beg’ out-performed Smokey Robinson’s previous efforts, and Whitfield thus usurped Robinson’s role as songwriter and producer for the group. Between 1966 and 1974 (generally considered The Temps’ finest years), Whitfield oversaw all of the group’s output, which included classic cuts like ‘Beauty Is Only Skin Deep’ (1966), ‘You’re My Everything’ (1967), ‘I Wish It Would Rain’ (1968), and later psychedelic soul standards such as ‘Cloud Nine’ (1968 - a song that won Motown its first Grammy), ‘I Can’t Get Next to You’ (1969) and ‘Papa Was a Rolling Stone’ (1973 - another pop/R & B number one and Grammy-winner). Whitfield’s collaboration with longtime pal Barrett Strong also gave the world Motown’s most famous tune, ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’. Recorded at the time by several of the label’s artists, most famously Gladys Knight (1967, US number two) and Marvin Gaye (1968, US/UK number one), ‘Grapevine’ was initially denounced by Gordy as ‘horrible’. It, of course, became the label’s biggest-selling song until the mid-1980s.

During the early seventies, even The Temptations felt second-string to Whitfield’s successes. With the relationship starting to falter, Whitfield tinkered with lesser acts like The Undisputed Truth, who earned him another major hit in 1971’s ‘Smiling Faces Sometimes’. Whitfield kept this group on as he started his own label, though inevitably success came on a smaller scale. An unexpected high-spot, however, was the 1977 Grammy won by Rose Royce for his soundtrack to the movie
Car Wash.
Despite the crafting of such a seminal disco piece, Whitfield had little further success in this field and was quiet during the dance boom. He briefly returned to Motown to work with The Temptations during the 1980s.

Whitfield’s later life was less happy. He was arrested and incarcerated for tax evasion in 2005 and suffered numerous ailments in his final years. The writer and producer of some of the modern era’s most timeless songs died in the hospital from complications of diabetes, at the age of sixty-eight.

See also
Paul Williams (
August 1973); Elbridge Bryant (
October 1975); Georgeanna Tillman (
January 1980); Marvin Gaye (
April 1984); David Ruffin (
June 1991); Eddie Kendrick(s) (
October 1992); Melvin Franklin (
February 1995); Gladys Horton (e Golden Oldies #125))