Michael Jackson

by J. Randy Taraborrelli

  I have always been so blessed to have a family as supportive as mine. My thanks and love go out to Roslyn and Bill Barnett and Jessica and Zachary, Rocco and Rosemaria Taraborrelli and Rocco and Vincent, and Arnold Taraborrelli and Yvette Jarecki.

  Special thanks to my father, Rocco, who has always been my inspiration and who continues to encourage me in ways too numerous to count. When I was a kid, it was my dad who always made sure I had the best seat in the house whenever any of the Motown stars came to perform near my hometown. If we couldn’t sit in the first row, we simply wouldn’t bother going! Always the best for his son – that was my dad’s philosophy. I thank him so much for that, and I continue to be inspired by him every day of my life.

  My mom, Rose Marie, was also very supportive of my interest in Motown as a youngster. I was a puzzlement, to be sure, always locked away with my Motown music, my journals about the artists’ lives and careers, my crazy scrapbooks about them...my endless telephone conversations with them. To this day I can’t imagine what my parents were thinking of their son! My mother was my biggest fan, though. I miss her every day.

  I must also acknowledge those readers of mine who have followed my career over the years. Specifically, I would like to thank Michael Jackson’s many fans. At times over the years I have made them happy with my reporting of their star. Other times...not so much. I think most of Michael’s followers who know my work realize that I have tried my best to be fair and accurate. Michael’s memory lives on in his devoted following – indeed, in all of us who cared about him. I am eternally grateful to anyone who takes the time to pick up one of my books and read it, but especially to Michael’s loyal following. I thank you so much.

  What can I say about the death of Michael Jackson, a guy I first met when he was just ten and a person I have interviewed and written about so many times over the years? It states the obvious to say that there was never any other person like Michael, and there’ll never be anyone to take his place. Yes, he had his demons. Like all of us, he had his flaws. The last fifteen years of his life, in particular, were so very challenging. However, I like to think he is at peace now. I’m not, though. Not now, anyway. And I know in my heart things will never quite be the same for me...not without Michael.

  J. Randy Taraborrelli

  July 2009

  Source Notes

  Much of the material in this book was drawn from personal interviews and conversations with Michael Jackson and the Jackson family over the years, from the 1970s through the 1990s. Among those interviews:

  Michael Jackson in May 1972 (New York), June 1973, August 1973, July 1974 (Madison Square Garden, New York), November 1974, October 1977 (New York, for The Wiz), August 1978 (Encino), 19 April 1979 (Valley Forge, Pennsylvania);

  Michael Jackson on 18 January 1980 (Los Angeles), 18 September 1980 (sound check at the Forum, Los Angeles), 26 September 1980 (backstage at the Forum), October 1980 (Encino, with Janet Jackson), June 1982, April 1983 (Universal Amphitheater, Los Angeles), January 1984 (Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles), June 1984 (Birmingham, Alabama, with Tito and Jackie), 29 June 1984 (Atlanta, with Jackie), November 1986 (Universal Amphitheater, Los Angeles), 2 March 1988 (rehearsal, Madison Square Garden), 16 January 1989 (sound check, Sports Arena, Los Angeles), 30 January 1989 (rehearsal for American Music Awards, Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles), 13 November 1989 (rehearsal, Sammy Davis, Jr., 60th Anniversary television special, Los Angeles), spring 1991 (Capitol Records ‘Record Collectors’ Swap Meet’);

  Michael Jackson on 3 February 1992 (press conference, Radio City Music Hall, New York), 26 August 1993 (from Bangkok), July 1994 (after my appearance on Good Morning America to announce his marriage to Lisa Marie Presley), August 1994, September 1995 and 7 February 1998 (with Lisa Marie Presley at the Ivy restaurant in Los Angeles).

  Moreover, I drew from interviews with:

  The Jacksons – Jackie, Tito, Marlon, Michael, Randy, and parents Joseph and Katherine in February 1975, (Radio City Music Hall, New York), June 1975, July 1975, January 1976, March 1977, April 1977, May 1977, August 1978 and September 1979 (all at Hayvenhurst in Encino), November 1983 (press conference, Tavern on the Green, New York);

  Tito, Marlon and Jackie Jackson in July 1974 (Pittsburg, Pennsylvania) and December 1978 (L’Ermitage Hotel in Los Angeles);

  Jermaine Jackson in April 1979 (at Motown Records in Los Angeles) and May 1980 (Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles);

  LaToya Jackson and Jack Gordon, December 1993 (Madrid, Spain).

  Also useful in my research were two lengthy court documents: Sworn Deposition by Michael Jackson, dated 15 January 1976 and Sworn Declaration of Michael J. Jackson, 20 February 1976. (These declarations became part of case number C139795: Michael Jackson et al. v. Motown Record Corporation of California et al., 30 March 1976.) Text and background from both documents were used throughout the book.

  For research purposes, I secured many hundreds of Motown interoffice memos regarding Michael Jackson and The Jackson 5. Because of the confidential nature of these communications, and to protect those former Motown employees who made them available to me, these memos are not enumerated here, though they were vital to my research.

  Voluminous Motown press department releases (and also releases from different public relations firms representing Michael Jackson, The Jackson 5, and The Jacksons, as well as individual members) were individually judged as to their validity and value and utilized where appropriate.

  As the editor-in-chief of Soul magazine (1980) and later its publisher (1981-82), I had access to the complete Soul files. Soul was one of the first black entertainment publications (Jet and Ebony were both general interest publications) and, as such, had a close association to Motown. Many of the Motown acts received their only national exposure through Soul. A great deal of the material in this book was culled from the extensive Soul files (1966-82), including previously confidential notes and memos.

  Practically all of the interview sources listed here contributed to more than one subject area of the book, but in most cases they are listed only once.

  Wherever practical, I have provided sources within the body of the text. For some of the published works consulted, see the bibliography. The following notes are by no means comprehensive but are intended to give the reader a general overview of my research. Also included are occasional comments of an extraneous but informative nature.

  Early Years

  I obtained background information on the families of Joseph Jackson and Katherine Scruse from census records dating back to the late eighteen hundreds. I also obtained the birth certificates of Joseph Jackson and Kattie E. Scruse (Katherine Jackson); Martha Bridgets’s Affidavit to Amend a Record of Birth, filed on 4 May 1930; as well as Joseph and Katherine Jackson’s Certificate of Marriage in Crown Point, Indiana. I compared this and other information to what Katherine Jackson wrote in her memoirs, The Jacksons – My Family (St Martin’s Press, 1990), and added a substantial amount of information to her account of her and Joseph Jackson’s backgrounds.

  I also drew from the interview I had with the Jacksons in August 1978.

  I interviewed relatives and friends of the Jacksons’ family, including Ina Brown (14 September 1989), Johnny Jackson (5 October 1990), Luis Cansesco (3 November 1990), and Terry Ireland (1 December 1990). I drew some information from articles in Right On!, Soul, and Rolling Stone (see bibliography).

  My private investigator, Cathy Griffin, contacted Gordon Keith, former owner of Steeltown Records in Gary, Indiana, to obtain an interview. He and Griffin had numerous conversations; background information was culled from a conversation on 16 September 1990. Mr Keith would not consent to an interview with me, however.

  I also drew some information, particularly Ben Brown’s quotes, from a segment of P.M. Magazine about Michael Jackson, which aired in 1984.

  Early Years and Motown

  Some of the material in these sections is from my 1979 interview with Michael Jackson.

  Joe Simon’s quo
te was culled from an interview I conducted with him in 1979. Etta James’s comments were extracted from an interview I conducted with Miss James on 12 May 1978. Other quotes are from sources in Gary, Indiana, who requested anonymity.

  For the material regarding Berry Gordy and Motown, I drew heavily from research conducted when I wrote the book Motown – Hot Wax City Cool and Solid Gold, published by Doubleday in 1986. I also drew from personal interviews with Melvin Franklin (1977), Smokey Robinson (1980), Diana Ross (1981), Lamont Dozier (1985) and Maurice King (1985).

  Richard Arons was contacted for an interview and did speak with Cathy Griffin at his Beverly Hills home for three hours on 12 November 1990. Some of Arons’s memories are used here for background purposes. However, he would not consent to an interview with me. Miss Griffin also spoke to Bobby Taylor for two hours on the telephone in October 1990. Some of what Mr Taylor remembered was used here for background purposes.

  Motown Years

  For much of this material, I drew heavily from a thirty-page Sworn Declaration of Berry Gordy, dated 4 March 1976. The declaration was given under oath during the court battle between The Jackson 5 and Motown. In it, Gordy explained how the group was signed to the label, what his involvement with the act was and how their first records were recorded. He also reconstructed telephone conversations between himself and Joseph Jackson at the time of the group’s signing on 26 July 1968, and conversations between himself and other Motown employees regarding his dismay over The Jackson 5’s appearances in Las Vegas.

  I also drew from a thirty-page Sworn Declaration of Ralph Seltzer, Motown’s vice president of corporate affairs, dated 5 March 1976. Seltzer recreated the dialogue, to the best of his memory, between himself and Joseph Jackson on 25 and 26 July 1968, the days of The Jackson 5’s audition and then signing to Motown. Seltzer spoke in depth about the Motown recording contract and its terms, his impressions of Joseph Jackson and Jack Richardson, his opinion of the Motown recording contract he had them sign, how Jackson signed the contract without benefit of outside counsel, how he had his sons do the same and how Seltzer executed contracts by other artists at Motown. He also detailed Bobby Taylor’s involvement in discovering The Jackson 5 and spoke of the Christmas party at which The Jackson 5 performed and Joseph Jackson’s impressions of Gordy Manor. (Regarding that Christmas party, I also drew from my interview with the Jacksons in 1978 and an interview I conducted with Diana Ross in June 1972.)

  I also utilized my personal interview with Ralph Seltzer on 6 June 1989, in which he discussed Gordy’s aversion to allowing an artist to take a Motown contract home for review purposes.

  I culled a good deal of information from the twenty-five-page Sworn Deposition of Suzanne dePasse, Motown’s vice president, creative division, dated 4 March 1976. DePasse remembered in vivid detail The Jackson 5’s audition for Motown, the recording of certain of their hit records, the early tours, her impressions of Joseph and Katherine Jackson, and the original contract negotiations for The Jackson 5.

  I extracted information from the five-page Sworn Statement of Anthony D. Jones, executive assistant to the vice president, creative division, dated 4 March 1976, in which he detailed Motown’s marketing campaign for The Jackson 5.

  I also gathered facts from the fifteen-page Sworn Statement of Alan D. Croll, attorney for Motown Record Corporation. Interestingly, Croll’s statement contradicted Seltzer’s claim that Joseph Jackson was not represented by outside counsel: Croll claimed that Jack Richardson acted as counsel for the Jacksons (though Richardson was not an attorney).

  I drew from lengthy Sworn Depositions given by Richard Arons, Joseph Jackson’s attorney, and Joseph Jackson on 18 November 1975. In his deposition, Joseph Jackson answered questions regarding his antagonistic relationship with Berry Gordy and Ewart Abner.

  Most interesting were the Sworn Depositions of each member of The Jackson 5, which were taken on 15 January 1976, including Michael Jackson’s. Portions of Michael’s twenty-five-page deposition and the lengthy depositions of his brothers were integrated into the information found in other parts of this work.

  I acquired copies of the original seven-page Motown contracts, dated 26 July 1968, for each member of the group.

  Some of Bobby Taylor’s comments to my private investigator, Cathy Griffin, were utilized. I, too, interviewed Bobby in 1995 and again in 1996.

  I referred to my interview with Jermaine Jackson in 1980 for some of the details of the meeting at Diana Ross’s home in August 1969.

  I viewed a videotape of The Jackson 5’s performance at the Daisy on 11 August 1969, and used as source material newspaper accounts of the festivities that evening. I also interviewed Paula Dunn on 6 January 1990. Judy Spiegelman’s comments were published in Soul.

  I also obtained copies of the nine-page recording contracts with Motown, dated 11 March 1969, for each member of The Jackson 5.

  I procured a copy of the Parent’s or Guardian’s Guaranty obligating Michael Jackson to perform certain duties as part of his commitment to Motown, dated 11 March 1969.

  I also obtained many correspondences between Berry Gordy and The Jackson 5 and Joseph Jackson regarding the Saturday morning cartoon series, the wedding of Jermaine Jackson and Hazel Gordy, the Las Vegas opening and the deterioration of Motown’s relationship with The Jackson 5. These were all in the public domain, used as evidence in Motown’s suit against The Jackson 5.

  I was also able to obtain a complete list of the 469 songs recorded by The Jackson 5 at Motown – including all of those that were not released – as well as the session costs for each tune. I also viewed the entire 16-millimetre black-and-white Motown audition film, now transferred to VHS videotape, for some details.

  Motown Hit Years

  Much of this material was drawn from two lengthy interviews I conducted with Deke Richards on 22 September and 3 November 1990.

  Michael Jackson’s comments about Richards were culled from a BBC interview he gave in June 1972. His comments about Diana Ross and early Motown experiences are from my July 1979 interview with him.

  As well as obtaining a list of every song recorded by The Jackson 5 at Motown, I also reviewed a computer readout of all of Motown’s exact sales figures up until December 1990. This computer readout is over ten thousand pages long and includes the album, tape and CD sales of virtually every Motown release from the time of the company’s inception. I refer to these figures quite often in this book. I also used this catalogue when I researched Call Her Miss Ross.

  Berry Gordy’s comments about Michael Jackson’s living with Diana Ross were culled from the Sworn Declaration of Berry Gordy, dated 4 March 1976.

  I reviewed Ralph Seltzer’s petition to Superior Court on 29 October 1968 and quoted from the court transcript of the hearing before Judge Lester E. Olson on that day. Also referred to was the Order Approving Minors’ Contracts, filed 7 November 1969, and Order Approving Petition for Approval of Amendments to Contracts of Minors, filed 10 September 1970, both in Los Angeles Superior Court.

  I interviewed Virginia Harris on 3 September 1990. Susie Jackson was interviewed on 21 September 1990. Two close friends of Katherine Jackson’s, who requested anonymity, were also interviewed.

  I viewed a videotape of the Hollywood Palace segment, 18 October 1969, and interviewed Jack Lewis on 3 March 1990.

  I also gathered information from other sources, including interviews with Stan Sherman (19 March 1990), Phillip Meadows (4 April 1990), Gordon Carter (3 June 1990), Susan Williams (5 August 1990) and Eddie Carroll (15 September 1990). I interviewed Willie Hutch in June 1978 in Marina del Ray and drew from that interview. I also have some sources who worked closely with Berry Gordy and who requested anonymity.

  I viewed a videotape of The Jackson 5’s performance on The Ed Sullivan Show on 14 December 1969.

  I drew from Suzanne dePasse’s interview on The Pat Sajak Show on 19 May 1989.

  I was fortunate enough to have attended The Jackson 5’s first appearance as a Motow
n attraction at the Philadelphia Convention Center in April 1970. I was not, however, at the airport when they arrived. (That’s where even I, a die-hard Motown fan, drew the line.) I utilized Motown’s press release accounts of that day in this chapter.

  The information about Gordy and the Osmonds was culled from a conversation with Nancy Leiviska. I also drew from an interview I conducted with Clifton Davis in 1978.

  I utilized features on The Jackson 5 in Right On!, Creem, Ingenue, Time and Sepia magazines (see bibliography).

  I viewed a videotape of the television specials Diana (18 April 1971) and Goin’ Back to Indiana (19 September 1971).

  In the matter of the property at 4641 Hayvenhurst Avenue, Encino, currently owned by Michael Jackson and LaToya Jackson, I relied on an extensive Property Profile supplied by Fidelity National Tide Insurance Company. This profile includes an in-depth and legal description of the property. The profile also contains the original Grant Deed signed by Earle and Elouise Hagen, filed in Los Angeles County, which released the property to Joseph and Katherine Jackson on 25 February 1971; the Deed of Trust from Great Western Savings and Loan Associates, dated 27 April 1971, with details of how Mr and Mrs Jackson arranged to purchase the property with Berry Gordy’s assistance; and the Quitclaim Deed signed by Katherine Jackson on 24 June 1987, and filed in Los Angeles County, in which she released her share of equity in the property to her daughter LaToya Jackson.

  I also used as source material a Property Profile supplied by World Tide Company in which property, sales and tax information were examined.

  I interviewed Lionel Richie for a Soul cover story on The Commodores in 1981 and drew from that interview.