Norman Whitfield's Paranoia Soul

Norman Whitfield, who died last Wednesday, gave Motown the edge it needed as the 60's came to an end. You could say that the political slant of Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye were influenced by him, but Whitfield's best non-ballad moments verged on Paranoia Soul. "Smiling Faces", "War", and those psychedelic Temptation songs all paved the way for the rough turn Soul music would take in the early 70's. Once Motown dried up, he hooked up with Rose Royce for some Old School classics. He may be thought of as the second wheel in the non-performing sector of Motown's writers, but Whitfield was too tough a man to play second fiddle to anyone.