Which Song Earned Motown Its First Grammy Award?
You Beat Me to the Punch by Mary Wells was the first music released by Motown to be considered for a Grammy award. It was submitted for consideration in the category of best rock and roll recording in 1962. (rather than best rhythm and blues recording, where it would have more comfortably fit).
What was the first song to win a Grammy?
Domenico Modugno’s “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)” was awarded both Record of the Year and Song of the Year, while Henry Mancini’s “The Music from Peter Gunn” was given the prize for Album of the Year. Both of these honors were presented at the very beginning of the year. Sinatra, for his part, was lucky enough to not return home empty-handed.
What was Stevie Wonder’s first Grammy?
In March of 1974, rock ‘n’ roll legends Chuck Berry and Little Richard presented Stevie Wonder with his very first GRAMMY award. Wonder had won the Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male category for his track “Superstition,” which was included on Talking Book. His mother was beaming with pride as they made the presentation.
What was Motown’s first psychedelic soul song?
In late 1968, the Temptations released their debut single with this new psychedelic soul sound. The song was titled “Cloud Nine,” and it won Motown its first Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Performance by a Duo or Group, Vocal or Instrumental).
Did Motown’s Cloud Nine win a Grammy?
It was certified gold, and at the eleventh annual Grammy Awards, which took place in March of the following year, the song helped Motown win their very first Grammy, in the category of Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance. You may buy the song “Cloud Nine” here, which is included on the album of the same name.
What is the best-selling Motown single of all time?
Whitfield produced almost all of the music that the Temptations released between the years 1966 and 1974. During that time, he explored a variety of production techniques and included various sound effects into his work. He 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 “.
He found a songwriting collaborator in lyricist Barrett Strong, who was the performer on Motown’s first hit record, ” Money (That’s What I Want).” The version performed by Gladys Knight & the Pips was the highest-selling Motown song up until a year later, when Marvin Gaye’s version overtook it in terms of sales.
After David Ruffin was replaced as the main vocalist of the Temptations in 1968 by Dennis Edwards, Whitfield steered the group towards a tougher, darker sound that incorporated a combination of psychedelic rock and funk that was greatly inspired by the work of Sly & the Family Stone and Funkadelic.
He contributed modern song subjects, transitioning from love songs to songs about societal concerns of the day, such as war, poverty, and politics. He also included contemporary song topics. In late 1968, the Temptations released their debut single with this new psychedelic soul sound. The song was titled “Cloud Nine,” and it won Motown its first Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Performance by a Duo or Group, Vocal or Instrumental).
The songs “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “I Wish It Would Rain,” and “You’re My Everything” received Whitfield three BMI Awards in the year 1969. In 1973, “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone” won Whitfield and the Temptations their second Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.
What was George Whitfield’s last song with Motown?
Whitfield Records and subsequent years – In 1975, after Motown relocated its headquarters from Detroit to Los Angeles, Whitfield quit the company to start his own record label, Whitfield Records. His first act was The Undisputed Truth, whom he had persuaded to quit Motown; subsequent acts included Rose Royce, Willie Hutch, Yvonne Fair, Nytro, Mammatapee, and Junior Walker.
- He was also a member of Mammatapee.
- The disco song “You + Me = Love,” which was released by The Undisputed Truth as their debut single for Whitfield Records in 1976, became the band’s second greatest success of the year.
- In 1976, Norman Whitfield was responsible for the production of Rose Royce’s “Car Wash,” which was released by MCA Records and became an international smash success.
Rose Royce, whose members were originally Edwin Starr’s backing band while at Motown, went on to record three more successful albums and had two huge UK hits with ” Wishing on a Star ” (1977) and ” Love Don’t Live Here Anymore ” (1978), but they were never able to top the success of “Car Wash,” which was the theme song for the film Car Wash, which was released in 1976.
- Whitfield was awarded the Grammy for Best Album of Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special for his contribution to the music for the film Car Wash.
- In addition, he was the composer of the theme song for the film Which Way Is Up?, which was performed by Stargard and released in 1977.
In 1980, he was the producer for the soul group Masterpiece. In the early 1980s, Whitfield started working as a producer for Motown once more. He was responsible for producing the smash song “Sail Away” by the Temptations in 1983 as well as the music to the movie The Last Dragon.
On January 18, 2005, Whitfield entered a guilty plea to the charge of failing to declare to the Internal Revenue Service any royalty revenue he had collected between the years 1995 and 1999. Because he was accused of evading taxes on income totaling more than two million dollars, he was given a term of home arrest for six months and a fine of twenty-five thousand dollars.
Because he suffered from health issues such as diabetes, he was not put behind bars. At the end of his life, Whitfield was confined to a bed at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he was being treated for diabetes as well as a number of other conditions.