Advertisement
Probably less than two years separate the Jackson 5's first sides for Steeltown Records of Gary, Indiana, and their 1969 debut on Motown Records, "I Want You Back." In terms of the groove, they are light-years apart.
The sons of Joe and Katherine Jackson were a squeaky ensemble in the hands of the Steeltown producers, who may have seen them as a local response to Chicago's teen soulsters the Five Stairsteps. "We Don't Have to Be 21 (to Fall in Love)" is an uptempo affair: the vocal and instrumental tracks sound out of sync with one another, and the group's harmonies are wafer thin. "Big Boy," a ballad, is marginally better.
"I Want You Back," of course, kick-starts like a hot new model from the Motown assembly line: Freddie Perren and Fonce Mizell tool up a piano glissando; David T. Walker fuel-injects his guitar licks; Wilton Felder pumps out some fluid bass; and the Jacksons trade high-octane vocal lines with authority and electricity.
Berry Gordy unveiled his priority act for the Seventies the same year that his Sixties superstars Diana Ross and the Supremes fractured in two. But he harnessed Diana's name power to market the youngsters, advancing them as her discovery and titling their first album Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5. But according to Tom Noonan, a former Motown executive, true credit for finding the brothers belongs to a Motown musician named Bobby Taylor.
The Jackson 5 were signed in 1968, says Noonan, who watched them perform at a special poolside showcase at one of Berry Gordy's mansions in Detroit. Then they relocated to Los Angeles for Motown's full artist-development treatment.
The recording of "I Want You Back" began in the summer of '69, when neophyte songwriters Freddie Perren and Fonce Mizell connected with Motown staff producer Deke Richards in California. "He liked our stuff and said he'd like to work with us," Perren says. "He said one way to get the spotlight on you right away is to find someone who's cold and write a hit on them."
Gladys Knight fell into that category at the time, claims Perren, so he and Mizell composed a song, "I Want to Be Free," with her in mind. They cut the track, then felt the result might even be good enough for Diana Ross.
Gordy had a different idea, Perren recalls: "He said, 'We just signed these five brothers out of Gary, Indiana, and this sounds like a lively young track. Why don't you rewrite the song for them?' "
It was the first of many changes suggested by the Motown chief. "There were certain things he would adjust." Perren says. "He would say, 'Yeah, it's good, but it still needs to have this.' and 'I don't get the feeling that it's really sincere in this part,' and 'Can you do something with that part?' "
Advertisement
Eventually, "I Want You Back" was finished and ready to record. "The only thing I was concerned about was the keys," says Perren. "I knew that this thing went up to a high E-flat and thought, 'Wow, this guy really needs to sing high to get this.' I worried about that much more than anything else.
"Michael didn't say much at all. He wasn't as outgoing or playful as the other guys; he would just stand there. We were singing the song, and all the time we were showing it to him, I was thinking, 'Can he reach those notes?' Finally we took a try at it — and he just reached it the first time with no effort at all."
Even so, a vocal track that met Gordy's standards required much more work. At one point, Perren, Mizell and Richards presented what they thought was a perfect take, only to have Gordy say, as Perren tells it, "Oh, man, you guys are getting ready to blow a hit. Get the fellas back and go do some more rehearsing."
Gordy was eventually satisfied, although he had one other matter on his mind: how the creators of "I Want You Back" would be credited on the record. It turned out to be as the Corporation, just as Gordy, Richards and three other writers were tagged the Clan on "Love Child," a 1968 Supremes hit. "I think that was because Holland-Dozier-Holland were in litigation with Motown," Perren says. In Perren's view, Gordy didn't want to encourage any more back-room superstars.
Not so the stage-front-and-center variety. "Please join me in welcoming a brilliant musical group, the Jackson 5, on Monday, August 11th, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at The Daisy, 326 North Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills," read a gushing 1969 Western Union telegram signed by Diana Ross. "The Jackson 5 featuring sensational eight-year-old lead singer Michael Jackson will perform live at the party. Please come and listen to this fabulous new Motown group."
Two months later, "I Want You Back" was released. By January, the Jackson 5 were at the top of the charts with the first of four consecutive Number One hits and seven Top Ten hits, all within two years. As it had done so many times in the past, Berry Gordy's drive for recorded perfection paid dividends in full.
"I'll never forget his persistence," Michael Jackson writes about Gordy in his book Moonwalk. "That was his genius. Then and later, I observed every moment of the sessions where Berry was present and never forgot what I learned."