Whitfield was responsible for ushering Motown into the 1970’s with his “psychedelic soul” genre of music.
He started his career as a $15-dollar-a-day Motown secretary, when he authored Marvin Gaye’s hit “Pride and Joy.”
Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, three legendary singers died in a plane crash today (February 3, 1959) near Clear Lake, Iowa, while traveling to Moorhead, Minnesota to perform a concert.
Holly, 22, had chartered the plane because he was fed up with the miserable conditions on the “The Winter Dance Party” tour. The conditions were so dire that Holly’s drummer Carl Bunch was frostbitten in his feet while on the tour.
Wilson was performing his hit single, “Lonely Teardrops” at a Dick Clark show at the Latin Casino in New Jersey, in September of 1975 when he suffered a massive heart attack.
A battle over his finances broke out between Wilson’s wife, Harlean and lawyers Edward Adourian and Wayne Bryant, who up until 1978, had guardianship over Wilson and controlled his finances.
