Artist:The Jackson 5
Song:I'll Be There
Album:The Ultimate Collection
There was a brief time in the early 70s that The Jackson 5 were the hottest act in music. They scored four #1 hits in a row including the 1970 single I'll Be There. They faded after that and reinvented themselves as The Jacksons. Of course Motown owner Berry Gordy's greatest fear was The Jackson 5 growing up and losing their appeal. But they changed with the times very well and had renewed success as The Jacksons. Of course we all know that The Jackson 5 are from Gary, IN and they were taught music by their father Joe Jackson. They won local talent contests in the mid 60s. Then dad signed them to local record label Steeltown Records owned by record producer Gordon Keith with Atlantic distribution. They had modest success with the 1967 single Big Boy. But Keith found out that Joe Jackson was trying to contact Motown. So he was running out of time. In July 1968, The Jackson 5 were opening for Motown act Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers. After watching them perform, Taylor got them an audition at Motown in Detroit. At first, Gordy was against signing any "kid acts", but he signed them. And once he got them out of their Steeltown contract, The Jackson Five signed a seven year deal. Motown's official story was that Diana Ross discovered The Jackson 5. But Bobby Taylor actually discovered them. He just wasn't a big Motown star. Motown even called The Jackson 5's 1970 debut album Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5. That's when Jacksomania was born. Of course most of the attention went to 11 year old lead singer Michael Jackson. Motown claimed he was eight years old. Marlon, Jackie, Jermaine and Tito Jackson probably didn't care as long as they were successful. The first three Jackson 5 albums were very successful. They scored four straight number one hits. I'll Be There was the fourth of those hits and it was from the 1970 album Third Album. Gordy had put together The Corporation to write and produce Jackson 5 records. He did this to keep control after Holland-Dozier-Holland left Motown to start their own label. Of course it didn't last because Gordy can drive people crazy. So by the time Third Album was recorded, longtime Motown songwriter producer Hal Davis was in charge and The Corporation was just an alias for Gordy. I'll Be There topped the charts. Michael and Jermaine sang lead. I'll Be There was written by Gordy, Bob West, Davis and Willie Hutch. Hutch started out as a songwriter and producer for The 5th Dimension. Davis brought him to Motown and he recorded a few albums until leaving in 1977. Bob West was a session bassist and member of the Los Angeles session musician collective The Wrecking Crew. He not only co-wrote I'll Be There but he wrote the arrangement. Other musicians were Joe Sample of The Crusaders on keyboards, David T. Walker, Louis Shelton and Arthur Wright on guitar and Gene Pello on drums. This comp covers the entire Jackson 5 run. The Jackson 5 faded after this. They had to change. So they left Motown for Epic Records in 1976 and started recording as The Jacksons. I'll look at that in a future post. Here's The Jackson 5 performing I'll Be There on a 1970 episode of The Jim Nabors Hour.
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