(One day, Berry Gordy and Bobby Taylor were talking about the boys, and Bobby was saying how thrilled he was to be in on the ground floor of something as exciting as The Jackson 5. ‘Taylor, let me tell you something,’ Gordy said, according to Bobby's memory. ‘As soon as they get rich, they're gonna forget who you are.’)
The next eight months would prove to be difficult. Berry did not feel The Jackson 5 were ready to have a single release yet; he wasn't satisfied with any of the songs they had thus far recorded. Everyone in the family was becoming impatient, especially since conditions in Gary were getting worse with street gangs terrorizing the neighbourhood. Joseph was mugged and, later, a punk pulled a knife on Tito. Every day, the family would wait for that call from someone – anyone – at Motown, telling them what the next step in their lives would be.
On 11 March 1969, the Motown contract was finally fully executed. The delay had been caused when Ralph Seltzer discovered The Jackson 5 were still committed to Steeltown Records, despite Richard Aron's previous efforts to extricate them from that deal. Motown had to make a settlement with Steeltown, much to Gordy's chagrin. By this time, according to Ralph Seltzer, Motown had spent in excess of thirty thousand dollars on The Jackson 5, and this sum did not include any settlement made to Steeltown. Gordy was anxious to begin recouping his investment.
In August 1969, more than a year since their audition, the call came from Motown: Gordy wanted Joseph, his five sons and Johnny Jackson and Ronny Rancifer to move to Los Angeles. They would attend school on the West Coast while recording at Motown's new Hollywood facilities. Though Gordy wasn't enthused by any of the Jacksons' songs, he was impressed with young Michael. ‘Michael was a born star,’ he would later say in an interview. ‘He was a classic example of understanding everything. I recognized that he had a depth that was so vast, it was just incredible. The first time I saw him, I saw this little kid as something real special.’
Joseph, Tito, Jack Richardson, drummer Johnny Jackson, and keyboardist Ronny Rancifer drove to Los Angeles in the family's new Dodge Maxivan. Motown paid for Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael to fly out a few days later. It was Joseph's decision not to move the entire family from Gary to Los Angeles until he was certain that their future there would be secure. It was possible, after all, that Berry could be wrong, that the group would be a failure, and that they would have to start all over again. So Janet, Randy and LaToya stayed behind with Katherine in Gary.
Berry registered the family at one of the seediest motels in Hollywood, the Tropicana, on Santa Monica Boulevard. Michael, Marlon and Jermaine shared one room while Tito and Jackie were in another. Joseph was down the hall. The family saw little of their rooms. Since it was still school vacation, they spent most of their waking hours at Motown's Hollywood studios rehearsing and recording.
Eventually, Gordy pulled the family out of the Tropicana and moved them to the Hollywood Motel, across the street from Hollywood High and closer to Motown headquarters. This was an even more dreadful residence for young boys; prostitutes and pimps used it as a place to conduct business. However, none of that mattered to the Jacksons. Why would it? They were living in California. Even if they didn't see movie stars on every corner as they had dreamed, Los Angeles was heaven compared to Gary.
To the Jacksons' young eyes, everything seemed new. Michael had never seen a real palm tree before he got to California. ‘And here were whole streets lined with them,’ he once recalled. There were expensive, luxury automobiles everywhere they looked, and everyone driving them seemed to wear sunglasses, even on those overcast mornings when the sun didn't emerge until noon. In fact, as the young Jacksons would soon learn, many people wore their sunglasses at night too. ‘Now that's Hollywood livin',’ Joseph said.
One afternoon, Berry called a meeting of the gang at Diana Ross's home. This was the first time the boys had seen her since the show they gave at Berry's home in Detroit the previous winter. Diana's house may not have been spectacular by Hollywood standards – she was a single woman, at the time, living in a three-bedroom temporary residence in Hollywood Hills while in the process of purchasing a new, more opulent home in Beverly Hills – but when the five Jackson boys and their father compared her digs to their garage-sized house in Gary, it was hard for them to act cool.
Michael has recalled that Gordy sat the boys down in Diana's living room and had a talk with them. ‘I'm gonna make you kids the biggest thing in the world,’ he told them. ‘You're gonna have three number-one hits in a row. They're gonna write about you kids in history books. So get ready, 'cause it's coming.’
That was exactly what the Jacksons wanted to hear. Joseph had wanted nothing more for his sons than to be successful, and it seemed a sure-thing, now. He told them that they were to do whatever ‘Mr Gordy’ asked of them, with no questions. Simply put, Joseph was in awe of Berry. However, he was also intimidated by him. ‘Here's a black man who has made millions of dollars in show business,’ Joseph had said. ‘If I can just learn a few things from this guy, then I'll have it made too.’
As the meeting was about to conclude, Diana swept into the room looking like… well, Diana Ross… in a black satin hot pants outfit, huge natural hairstyle and gold hoop earrings. ‘She always looked like a goddess,’ Jermaine recalled. ‘I remember that when she walked into the living room that day, all of our mouths dropped open.’ Although the boys had met her before, they were still awed. Joseph fell all over himself to make an impression.
‘I just want to tell you boys once again that I'm here for you,’ she said. ‘If there's anything I can do for you, I hope you'll let me know.’
She seemed sincere, Jermaine would remember. ‘It was hard to believe that she was saying those words to us,’ he said. ‘I mean, what did we do to deserve her assistance? Talk about luck.’
What Jermaine remembers most about the day is the telegram that Diana showed them. ‘This is from me to lots and lots of people,’ she explained. It read: ‘Please join me in welcoming a brilliant musical group, The Jackson 5, on Monday, 11 August 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Daisy, North Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills. The Jackson 5, featuring sensational eight-year-old Michael Jackson, will perform live at the party, [signed] Diana Ross.’
‘I think you made a mistake,’ Michael told her. ‘I'm not eight. I'm ten.’
‘Not any more you're not,’ Berry said with a grin.
Berry explained that the discrepancy was a matter of public relations. What ensued was a brief discussion with Michael about the art of PR; he was reminded that, as far as the media were concerned, Diana Ross was the one who had brought him and his brothers to Motown. He should always remember that because, as Diana explained to him, ‘It's all for your mage.’
‘Got it,’ Michael said. ‘I'm eight. And we were discovered by the great Miss Diana Ross.’
‘You got it, all right,’ Diana said with a grin. She hugged him tightly. ‘You are just so cute,’ she said, again.
Michael would later recall, ‘I figured out at an early age that if someone said something about me that wasn't true, it was a lie. But if someone said something about my image that wasn't true, then it was okay. Because then it wasn't a lie, it was public relations.’
On 11 August 1968, Diana Ross introduced her new protégés, The Jackson 5, with the kind of pomp and pageantry usually accorded major Hollywood debuts. Three hundred of Gordy's and Diana's ‘closest’ friends and business associates crammed into the chic Beverly Hills private club, the Daisy, all having been personally invited via Diana Ross's telegram. They stood and cheered as Michael Jackson and The Jackson 5 – as they were introduced by Diana – performed Motown songs such as Smokey Robinson's ‘Who's Loving You’ and even Disney classics like ‘Zip-a-dee-do-dah’. The boys wore identical lime green vest suits with gold shirts and matching green boots. Every move had been carefully choreographed for them, and rehearsed in the professional Motown tradition. They were a hit. Afterwards, a Motown press release was distributed to everyone in attendance, w
ith two years shaved off the age of each boy.
Beaming with pride at their reception, Berry announced that The Jackson 5 would next appear in concert with Diana Ross and The Supremes at the Forum five days later, and then later in October when Diana would play hostess on The Hollywood Palace television show.
Each Jackson boy met the press in a receiving line, with Diana Ross making the introductions: ‘This one's Michael. Isn't he cute? And that one's Jermaine. Isn't he adorable? And over there's Jackie. Look how tall he is,’ and so forth.
Soul reporter Judy Spiegelman recalled, ‘I remember being impressed with the courteous, outgoing attitude of the youngsters. After all, they were just kids but yet not at all affected by the attention.’
Pauline Dunn, a reporter from the Sentinel, a Los Angeles black newspaper, approached Michael.
‘How's it feel to be a star, Michael?’ she wanted to know.
‘Well, to tell you the truth, I had just about given up hope,’ Michael said with a grin. He was wearing a black bowler hat over his Afro-style hair. ‘I thought I was gonna be an old man before being discovered.’ Then, in a hushed, dramatic tone he concluded, ‘But then along came Miss Diana Ross to save my career. She discovered me.’
‘And just how old are you, Michael?’ she asked.
Michael looked up at Diana, who was standing proudly behind him, her hand on his shoulder. Berry Gordy stood nearby.
‘Eight,’ Michael said.
‘But I thought you were older. Going on eleven, maybe,’ the suspicious journalist pressed.
‘Well, I'm not,’ Michael insisted. ‘I'm eight.’
‘But I heard – ’
‘Look, the kid's eight, all right?’ Berry broke in. ‘Next question.’
‘Next question, please,’ Michael corrected him. He smiled and winked at Pauline Dunn as if to say, This is how we play the game.
Creating The Jackson 5's First Hit
The early 1970s were the most significant transitional years Motown Records had undergone since shoring itself up as a major musical force. By that time, although the company was still producing superb pop and rhythm-and-blues music, some of its biggest stars had begun grumbling about Motown's conveyor-belt method of creating hit records.
The seventies was a period of change, both socially and politically, and the production of pop music did not go unaffected. To keep pace with the times, many labels eventually dismantled their songwriting/production staffs and signed prolific singer-songwriters and self-contained bands who wrote and performed their own music. Berry Gordy was not thrilled about this trend. He had always discouraged his acts from writing and producing their own material because, it was said, he did not wish for them to share in the music's publishing, which was the inevitable next request. He preferred having his own stable of writers and producers, all of whom were signed to his own publishing company, Jobete. In the end, much of the money stayed in Motown's coffers.
However, some of Motown's acts craved more artistic freedom. For instance, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye both felt that they'd outgrown manufacturing music the Motown way – singing songs supplied to them by staff writers and producers. They must have finally realized that staff producers and writers like Smokey Robinson and Norman Whitfield were earning large sums from songwriting royalties without having to sweat through gruelling forty-city tours and public appearances. Wonder and Gaye were now asking Berry for the opportunity to express themselves musically through song-writing and, by extension, share in the publishing of their songs.
The fact is that music wasn't at the forefront of founder Berry Gordy's reasoning when he decided to relocate Motown from Detroit to Los Angeles. Berry picked up and moved two decades' worth of Michigan roots for the same reason optimistic high school graduates and pretty young runaways swarm to the City of Angels every day from all over the world: the Silver Screen. Berry wanted to get into films, and his protégée Diana Ross was to be his ticket. In masterminding the westward move, Gordy was his usual methodical self. He used the occasion to clean house: employees and artists considered deadweight would be left behind in the Motor City, while desired staffers could keep their jobs, but only if they were willing to relocate to Los Angeles.
When Berry Gordy saw the film of The Jackson Five's Detroit audition, he realized that these youngsters had arrived at a precipitous time. Not only would this group usher in a new musical era for Motown, but they would do so with a hit single supplied by Motown's own production staff. These kids didn't want to write and produce their own songs, they just wanted to be stars. For Berry, this must have been déjà vu. How he longed for a time not so long ago when Stevie and Marvin cared only about singing and not about publishing. Signing a group that would be exclusively reliant on Motown for its material would validate the tried-and-true Motown process for at least a few more years. (Even Gordy couldn't have predicted, though, how much Jobete would prosper as a result of his signing of The Jackson 5.)
In 1969, Motown's West Coast Division was operated under the direction of one of the company's top staff writer-producers. As an integral part of a writing-producing team at Motown called the Clan, Deke Richards was responsible for some terrific songs (such as The Supremes' ‘Love Child’). He and Berry enjoyed a close relationship; Deke even had a phone line exclusively for Berry's use, and Berry would call him at all hours of the early morning, brimming with ideas.
Integral to Deke's job as Creative Director of Talent for Motown's West Coast Division was an on-going search for promising new writers and artists to bolster the company's roster. That year, he was introduced to two talented young writers, Freddie Perren and Fonce Mizell. He thought both had amazing ability and couldn't wait to bring them into the Motown family.
For the next three months, Deke Richards, Freddie Perren and Fonce Mizell collaborated on a song entitled ‘I Want to Be Free’, which was intended for Gladys Knight and the Pips. The team went into the Motown studios with a talented corps of musicians to cut the instrumental track for ‘I Want to Be Free’, remembered fondly by Perren as ‘one of Motown's greatest instrumental performances’.
Meanwhile, Berry invited Deke to the show The Jackson 5 gave at the Daisy, presented by Diana Ross. Deke was impressed.
He had heard through the Motown grapevine that Bobby Taylor was presently recording material with the brothers in Detroit. Though Taylor was producing some good songs, everyone knew that there wasn't a hit record to be found in the bunch. When Deke played the track of ‘I Want to Be Free’ for Berry, he liked it so much he thought it might be ideal for the Jackson boys. ‘Give the song a Frankie Lymon treatment,’ he told Deke, ‘and we'll see what happens.’
Deke recalled, ‘Berry lived with the track for a while and had a couple of ideas which were good. He was starting to get excited. I wanted Berry to get involved. This was starting to become a very exciting proposition for all of us.’
Deke decided to call the team of Fonce Mizell, Freddie Perren, himself and Gordy the Corporation, which would reinforce the democratic premise that there would be no overblown egos involved in the work and that everyone would be treated fairly. He remembered, ‘After the basic instrumental track was finished, it was time to begin rehearsing the kids' vocals to record over it. The boys came over to Berry's house, and that's when we started talking about the song with them and developing a rapport. For the next few weeks, those kids worked a tremendous number of hours on this one song. It was hard work. Eventually, the song was retitled “I Want You Back”.’
‘The biggest problem with The Jackson 5 was not the willingness to work,’ said Deke. ‘The problem was that you not only had to be a producer, you had to be a phonetics and English teacher. It was draining, teaching them the pronunciation of words. We had to go over and over words one at a time, which was tough.
‘If Michael had any problems other than phonetics, they had to do with attacking and sustaining words and notes. Like any kid, he tended to throw away words, he would slur a note rather than hold on
to it. He'd be thinking about dancing or whatever and not concentrate on getting the lyrics out. I'd have to tell him, “I need those notes, Michael, every last one of them.”
‘As a singer, though, he was great. As far as tone and all, he was terrific. We put a lot of pressure on him, because whenever you find a little kid who can sing like that, the feeling is, “Yeah, he's so great I want him to be even greater.” I felt that if he could be that good in the raw, imagine how amazing he could be if you really polished him up.’
‘I remember that Deke Richards was one of my first teachers,’ Michael Jackson said. ‘God, we spent so much time on “I Want You Back”. He was really patient with me, all of us. I think I must have recorded that thing two dozen times. I had no idea that recording could be such work. I remember falling asleep at the mike. I wondered if it would ever be finished. Just when I thought we were through, we'd have to go back and do it again.’
The final recording session for ‘I Want You Back’ lasted until two in the morning. ‘This had to be the most expensive single in Motown history, up to that point,’ Deke Richards added. ‘It cost about ten thousand dollars. At that time the cost of a Motown single was about two thousand. We kept adding and subtracting music until the very end. In fact, the original song started off with just a guitar, but at the last minute I wanted a piano glissando at the top. I had Freddie and Fonce go in there and run their fingers down the piano to kick the song off.’
On 2 October 1969, after the final mixing of ‘I Want You Back’, Berry asked Deke how he thought the group's name should appear on the record's label. ‘Jackson Five’? ‘Jackson Five featuring Michael Jackson’? Deke said he thought the group should be called simply The Jackson 5, with the numeral 5. Berry agreed. Joseph Jackson wasn't even consulted. Imagine what kind of tension might have resulted in the family if Deke had suggested ‘Jackson Five featuring Michael Jackson’?
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