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Jackson 5 : 1968-75

The Jackson 5 released two singles for Steeltown Records in 1968, and. shortly after signing with Motown Records, another single was released by the Dynamo label of Musicor who had purchased some Steeltown sides. The first of the Steeltown releases was Big Boy with the flip side You’ve Changed.

Steeltown Records

• (1968) – “Big Boy/You’ve Changed” – 10,000+ copies sold. Notes: The recording session which produced the first Jackson 5 release was in the summer or fall of 1967. A long, probing article on the subject at ChicagoReader.com, titled The Jackson Find, and other sources say the recording took place in Chicago in the fall (the Reader article says November). However, at the top of the same article a file card or sheet for a recording of Big Boy by the Jackson 5 is displayed which clearly reads 7-13-67. The discrepancy is explained late in the article, on pages 5-7, where it is revealed that that the song Big Boy had been recorded in July at the One-der-ful Records studio, also in Chicago, where the boys had been rehearsing for some months.
• The release date of Big Boy/You’ve Changed was 31 January 1968. Wikipedia is off by one year at their page on the song, giving the release date wrongly as 31 January 1967. According to the ChicagoReader article Steeltown cofounder estimates that Big Boy sold 60,000 copies.

• (1968) – We Don’t Have To Be Over 21 (to Fall in Love) / Jam Session

Please see my page Pre-Motown Jackson 5 recordings for other recordings by the Jackson 5 made prior to signing with Motown in late 1968.

The following summary of the Jackson 5’s history from mid-1968 to their first hit in January 1970 is an extract from wikipedia.

On July 23, 1968 the Jackson 5 had their Motown audition, for which they performed James Brown’s then current hit “I Got the Feelin’”. Berry Gordy was not in attendance, but the audition was videotaped and sent to him in Los Angeles. Gordy’s initial reluctance to sign the group disappeared when he finally saw the boys perform. Gordy decided to sign the Jackson 5 to Motown, and hosted a party at his Detroit mansion on November 25, 1968 to introduce them to the Motown staff and stars.

Motown began negotiations to buy out the Jackson 5’s Steeltown contract, completing the deal in March 1969. By the summer, Bobby Taylor began producing the group’s first recordings at Motown’s Hitsville U.S.A. recording studio in Detroit. The early Taylor-produced Jackson 5 records were all covers of both contemporary hits and Motown-standards, including Sly & the Family Stone’s “Stand!” and their famous rendition of The Miracles’ “Who’s Lovin’ You”, written by Smokey Robinson.

Gordy moved the Jackson 5 and Joseph to California, and he and Suzanne de Passe began the process of grooming them as the label’s next big act, while the rest of the family remained in Gary. While looking for a house in California, Joseph, Jermaine, Tito, and Jackie lived with Berry Gordy, Marlon and Michael lived with Diana Ross in her California home.

Diana Ross formally introduced The Jackson 5 to the public on August 11, 1969, at a Beverly Hills, California club called “The Daisy.” Towards the end of August, The Jackson 5 made their first television appearance, singing The Isley Brothers’ “It’s Your Thing” at the Miss Black America Pageant in Madison Square Garden, New York City.

The Jackson 5’s first single, “I Want You Back”, was written and produced by four Motown songwriters and producers — Berry Gordy, Alphonzo Mizell, Deke Richards, and Freddie Perren — who were collectively billed as “The Corporation”. “I Want You Back” was released as a single for The Jackson 5, as Motown decided to officially bill the group, on October 7. The group performed “I Want You Back”, Sly & the Family Stone’s “Sing a Simple Song”, The Delfonics’ “Can You Remember”, and James Brown’s “There Was a Time” as part of their appearance on The Hollywood Palace as special guests of Diana Ross & the Supremes. “I Want You Back” was the only single from The Jackson 5’s first album, Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5, which was released in December 1969. The song reached number one in January, 1970.

The group of videos which follow are a selection of the highest charting recordings by the Jackson 5 during their years with Motown, from 1969 to 1975.

1969

I Want You Back (The Corporation*)

a. Ed Sullivan Show – December 14, 1969

b. Medley I Want You Back / ABC / The Love You Save – Flip Wilson Show – 71

c. Soul Train 1972

1970

ABC (The Corporation)

a. single

b. Medley I Want You Back / ABC – live on the Ed Sullivan Show, 1970

c. The video below includes the medley I Want You Back / ABC and the song The Love You Save from the 1970 Ed Sullivan appearance. The picture is better than in the other clips I have posted above and below from this show; however, the full screen option is disabled.

The Love You Save (The Corporation)

a. single with slide show of the group

b. live, Ed Sullivan Show – 1970

I’ll Be There (Berry Gordy, Bob West, Hal Davis, and Willie Hutch) – The fourth single by the Jackson 5 and the fourth #1 hit.

a. the single, slide show

b. acapella recording with clips of various performances.

c. A performance on the Diana Ross television special Diana! – 18 April 1971

1971

Mama’s Pearl (The Corporation)

a. Medley with The Love You Save on Diana! – 18 April 1971

b. the single. Don’t throw the needle on there man!

Never Can Say Goodbye

a. live on the Flip Wilson Show – 1971

b. The Jacksons: season 1, episode 4 which aired 7 July 1976

Maybe Tomorrow (The Corporation)

a. the single which peaked at #3 R&B, #20 Billboard Hot 100 (pop)

b. Television show – 1971 (?). The camera finds them mid-song as part of a skit, then after a bit of dialogue they begin the song properly only to be cut short again.

Sugar Daddy (The Corporation)

a. The provider says the show was called Hellzapoppin – 1972. I’ve never heard of it; and haven’t found any information about it yet.

b. This is a later clip from the Jackson’s Variety Show (I think). They sing live, but it’s not one of their best performances.

1972

Doctor My Eyes (Jackson Browne)

1973

Get it Together

a. extended mix

b. on Soul Train, 1973(?)

Dancing Machine (Hal Davis, Don Fletcher, Dean Parks) – The single appeared on the band’s 1973 album G.I.T.: Get It Together before being released as a single in February 1974.

a. the single, high quality sound

b. Merv Griffin show appearance

c. Very odd sounds in the beginning of this Soul Train appearance. Sounds to me like a something with metallic legs (and shaky joints) walking very slowly…through an airport?? Don’t ask me? These sounds are on all versions I’ve seen of this performance, evidently an intentional coloration.

More importantly this was evidently Michael’s first performance on television of the Robot (0r mannequin) dancing technique. He doesn’t do the moonwalk yet.

1974

I Am Love

a. extended version

b. The Cher show

1975

Forever Came Today (Holland-Dozier-Holland)

a. Carol Burnett Show

b. This is a brief portion of the song on The Jacksons, their variety show which began in 1976.

In 1975, [father] Joseph negotiated a new recording contract with CBS Records, who offered a royalty rate of 20% per record, compared to Motown’s standard 2.8%; and would allow the Jackson brothers to write and produce their own records and play their own instruments. After unsuccessfully attempting to talk the group into staying on the label, Motown sued for breach of contract. Although Motown eventually let the group go, The Jackson 5 were forced to change their name to The Jacksons, because Motown retained the “Jackson 5″ trademark during the settlement of the lawsuit. The Jacksons also replaced Jermaine with the youngest Jackson brother, fourteen year old Randy, since Jermaine chose to stay with Motown and his father-in-law Berry Gordy (In 1973, Jermaine married Gordy’s daughter Hazel). Randy had been an unofficial member of The Jackson 5 since 1972, playing congas onstage as part of their live act.

After losing The Jacksons, Motown would not have another success of their caliber for the duration of Berry Gordy’s ownership of the label. Gordy often said of The Jackson 5 that they were, coming after the label’s most famous acts, “the last big stars to come rolling off the [Motown] assembly line.”^[7]

In summer 1976, CBS television signed the Jackson family (including Michael, Marlon, Tito, Jackie, Randy, Rebbie, LaToya, and Janet) to appear in their own variety show, The Jacksons, to compete with ABC’s Donny & Marie. The Jacksons debuted on June 16, 1976, and ran on CBS until its cancellation the following March.  – wikipedia

Standing L-R: Tito Jackson, Randy Jackson, Michael Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Jackie Jackson. Seated L-R: Joe Jackson, Leon Huff, Kenneth Gamble. Photo taken in 1976 in Mr. Gamble’s office at Philadelphia International Records.

The Jacksons recorded their first two albums after leaving Motown in Philadelphia with Gamble and Huff songs and the Philadelphia International production crew. When the Jacksons came to PIR, they were transitioning away from the brand name of the Jackson Five. In 1976 and 1977, Gamble and Huff produced and co-wrote songs for the albums The Jacksons and Goin’ Places, as part of a double imprint deal with CBS/Epic Records, the Jacksons’ new label. Several hit songs came out of that production effort, including “Enjoy Yourself” and “Let Me Show You the Way to Go.” – thedailyswarm.com
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*The Corporation was a collection of songwriters and record producers assembled in 1969 by Motown label head Berry Gordy to create hit records for the label’s new act, The Jackson 5.

The four members of The Corporation – Berry Gordy, Freddie Perren, Deke Richards, and Alphonzo Mizell – were responsible for the writing, production and arranging of the Jackson 5 number-one hit singles “I Want You Back” (1969), “ABC”, “The Love You Save” (both in 1970); as well as for other Jackson 5 singles such as “Mama’s Pearl” and “Maybe Tomorrow” (both in 1971).

Like a previous production team, “The Clan”, that was pulled together to create the singles “Love Child” and “I’m Livin’ in Shame” for Diana Ross & the Supremes; The Corporation was intended as a replacement of sorts for Holland-Dozier-Holland, who had left the label in late 1967 to start Invictus Records and Hot Wax Records.

Gordy created The Corporation because he did not want any more “back room superstars”, which the Holland-Dozier-Holland team had become. The group members were never billed individually on the original Jackson 5 releases they worked on; even the songwriters’ credit was listed as “The Corporation” – wikipedia