Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5

Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5 is the debut studio album from Gary, Indiana-based soul family band the Jackson 5, released on the Motown label on December 12, 1969.[1] The Jackson 5's lead singer, a preteenage boy named Michael (who later became a universally-recognized pop star on his own and "The King of Pop"), and his older brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon, became pop successes within months of this album's release. Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5's only single, "I Want You Back", became a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 within weeks of the album's release and eventually sold five million copies worldwide.[4] The album reached number 5 on the Pop Albums chart, and spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the R&B/Black Albums chart.

Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5
Studio album by
the Jackson 5
ReleasedDecember 12, 1969[1]
RecordedMay – August 1969
Genre
Length37:51
LabelMotown
Producer
The Jackson 5 chronology
Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5
(1969)		 ABC
(1970)
Alternative Cover
2 Classic Albums/1 CD 2001 Re-release
Singles from Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5
  1. "I Want You Back" / "Who's Lovin' You"
    Released: October 7, 1969
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Rolling Stone[3]

The album title suggested that Motown star Diana Ross had discovered the group, as do the Ross-penned liner notes on the back cover. Ross' supposed discovery of the Jackson 5 was in fact part of Motown's marketing and promotions plan for the Jackson 5; it may actually have been Motown producer Bobby Taylor who discovered the Jacksons.[5] Joe Jackson, the father and manager of the Jackson 5, thanked the "lovely Gladys Knight, (who) extended a helping hand to our family, by calling Motown Executives and talking their ear off to take time out of their schedule and meet with us. She believed in us before others. Always grateful to her."[6] (Gladys Knight also said she brought the Jackson 5 to Motown's attention.[7]) But Ross embraced her assigned role and helped promote the group, especially grooming young Michael Jackson as a star.[8]

Recording the album

Working with Bobby Taylor

Motown CEO Berry Gordy brought the group to Motown's Hitsville U.S.A. studio in Detroit, Michigan, and assigned them to work with Bobby Taylor as their producer. Taylor, who had personally brought the Jacksons to Motown, began having Michael, Jermaine, and Jackie record cover versions of current and past soul compositions, including many in the Motown catalog. Over two dozen of these recordings were done, including covers of songs by the Temptations ("(I Know) I'm Losing You", "Born to Love You"), Marvin Gaye ("Chained"), Stevie Wonder ("My Cherie Amour"), the Miracles ("Who's Lovin' You"), and the Four Tops ("Standing in the Shadows of Love"). Among the non-Motown covers done were versions of Sly & the Family Stone's "Stand!", the Delfonics' "Can You Remember", and "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" from the Walt Disney film Song of the South. The Jackson 5 also re-recorded "You've Changed", a song they first recorded in 1967 which was released on the B side of their first local hit single Big Boy for the Steeltown label before joining the Motown roster.

All of the songs Taylor recorded with the Jackson 5 during these summer 1969 sessions held close to the group's traditional R&B/soul sound, a sound somewhat less pop-aware than Motown's signature "Motown Sound". Of these recordings, the most famous became the cover of "Who's Lovin' You", with Michael Jackson re-delivering Smokey Robinson's often-covered plea for the return of a long-gone lover. The Jackson 5's version of the song supplanted the Miracles' original as the definitive recording of the song, and many of the future covers of the song (for example, En Vogue's cover at the beginning of their 1990 single "Hold On"), are based upon this version.

The Jackson 5 recorded a number of songs with Bobby Taylor during these summer 1969 sessions that remained in the Motown vault for several years, including covers of Ray Charles' "A Fool for You", the Four Tops' "Reach Out, I'll Be There", the Isley Brothers' "It's Your Thing", and a version of Bobby Taylor's own "Oh, I've Been Blessed". These recordings would turn up on various Jackson 5 compilations, and virtually all of them were included on the boxed set Soulsation!.

The Corporation's involvement

In August 1969, Berry Gordy decided to take a more direct role in the Jackson 5's career. He had the Jacksons and their father, Joseph, move from Detroit to Los Angeles, California, where Gordy had a satellite studio (the Motown operation would move to Los Angeles by 1972). Taylor followed the group, and continued to work on the cover songs.

During this period, Gordy came across "I Want to Be Free", a composition written by West Coast-based Motown producers Freddie Perren, Alphonzo Mizell, and Deke Richards for Gladys Knight. At first, Gordy wanted the three producers to instead record the song with Diana Ross, but soon decided to give the song "the Frankie Lymon treatment"[9] and record it with the Jackson 5. Richards, Mizell, and Perren began re-working the song, and Gordy and Taylor also became involved in the revision process. The result was "I Want You Back", which became the Jackson 5's first Motown single, and the first of four Jackson 5 songs that went to number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1970.

"I Want You Back" became the blueprint for future Jackson 5 recordings: there was now less of an emphasis on traditional soul, and more prominent elements of doo-wop and bubblegum pop music. In fact, Motown's publicity department dubbed the Jackson 5's sound "bubblegum soul".

Gordy, Richards, Mizell, and Perren also contributed the album track "Nobody" to Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5; left out was Taylor, although he later performed uncredited production work on the second Jackson 5 album, ABC and its singles. All of the songs produced and written by Gordy, Richards, Mizell and Perren were billed under the name "the Corporation," a group that Gordy formed to handle future Jackson 5 recordings to avoid a repeat of the issues that arose when former Motown songwriters/producers Holland-Dozier-Holland were known by name and became as famous as the artists for whom they produced.

Track listing

All songs produced by Bobby Taylor except for "Nobody" and "I Want You Back", produced by the Corporation.

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)SingersLength
1."Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" (recorded May 1969)Ray Gilbert, Allie WrubelMichael Jackson, Tito Jackson3:18
2."Nobody" (recorded August 1969)The CorporationMichael Jackson, Jermaine Jackson2:54
3."I Want You Back" (recorded August 1969)The CorporationMichael Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, Jackie Jackson, Tito Jackson, Marlon Jackson3:04
4."Can You Remember" (recorded July 10 & 15, 1969)Thom Bell, William HartMichael Jackson, Jermaine Jackson3:10
5."Standing in the Shadows of Love" (recorded June 1969)Holland-Dozier-HollandMichael Jackson, Jermaine Jackson4:06
6."You've Changed" (recorded July 19 & 29, 1969)Jesse ReeseMichael Jackson3:16
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)SingersLength
1."My Cherie Amour" (recorded July 1969)Stevie Wonder, Sylvia Moy, Hank CosbyJermaine Jackson3:44
2."Who's Lovin' You" (recorded July 19, 24 & 29, 1969)Smokey RobinsonMichael Jackson4:06
3."Chained" (recorded August 1969)Frank WilsonMichael Jackson, Jermaine Jackson2:54
4."(I Know) I'm Losing You" (recorded July 1969)Cornelius Grant, Norman Whitfield, Eddie HollandJermaine Jackson2:16
5."Stand!" (recorded May 17, 1969)Sylvester StewartMichael Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Jermaine Jackson2:30
6."Born to Love You" (recorded June 1969)Ivy Jo Hunter, William "Mickey" StevensonMichael Jackson, Jermaine Jackson2:38
  • Although "Reach Out, I'll Be There" was originally considered for inclusion on the album and appears on the back of early pressings,[10] it was replaced by "Born to Love You." It was released in 1995 on the boxed set Soulsation!

Recording sessions

The songs on the album were recorded during May–August 1969.

Other tracks taken from its sessions include:

Re-release

In 2001, Motown Records remastered all Jackson 5 albums in a "Two Classic Albums/One CD" series, as they had previously done in the late 1980s. Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5 was paired up with ABC. One bonus track was included in a cover of Bobby Taylor's "Oh, I've Been Bless'd", a song also released on the rare 1979 outtakes album Boogie.

Personnel

Technical

  • David Blumberg, David Van DePitte, Paul Riser, The Corporation – arrangements
  • Curtis McNair – artwork direction
  • Ken Kim – artwork, design
  • Jim Hendin – cover photography

Charts
Chart (1969) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[11] 17
Canadian Albums (RPM)[12] 10
UK Albums (OCC)[13] 16
US Billboard 200[14] 5
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See also
  • List of number-one R&B albums of 1970 (U.S.)

References
  1. The Jacksons, Fred Bronson (2017-10-24). "The Jacksons: Legacy". Retrieved 2019-11-11.
  2. https://www.allmusic.com/album/r10005
  3. Winner, Langdon (7 March 1970). "Records". Rolling Stone. San Francisco: Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc. (53): 46. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  4. Chery, Carl: XXL: Michael Jackson Special Collectors Edition, page 99. American Press.
  5. Taraborrelli, J. Randy (May 1, 2007). Diana Ross: A Biography. Citadel. p. 209. ISBN 978-0-8065-2849-6.
  6. "Gladys Knight". Joseph Walter Jackson. 5 March 2018.
  7. OWN (29 April 2016). "Who Discovered the Jackson 5? - The Oprah Winfrey Show - Oprah Winfrey Network" – via YouTube.
  8. Ebert, John David (2010). Dead Celebrities, Living Icons: Tragedy and Fame in the Age of the Multimedia Superstar. Praeger – ABC-CLIO. p. 191. ISBN 9780313377648.
    • Olsen, Eric. "Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 At Motown: A Long Long Time Ago"
  10. "J5 Collector: You've Changed (Me)". J5collector.blogspot.com. 2010-06-30. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
  11. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (doc)|format= requires |url= (help). Australian Chart Book, St Ives, NSW. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  12. "RPM: The Jackson 5 (albums)". RPM Magazine. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  13. "The Jackson 5 Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  14. "The Jackson 5 US Chart History". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 13, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2017.

Bibliography


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