LP Review: Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5
Next LP: ABC (B)
Released: 1969
LP Charts: #1 R&B (9 weeks), #5 pop
Let’s begin with the title of this album.
Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5.
Total marketing bullshit.
Motown was always looking to make a buck and what better way to introduce their new star act by insinuating that Diana Ross had discovered them. Truth is that Michael, Jermaine, Jackie, Tito, and Marlon had been performing for years by 1968 when Motown artist Bobby Taylor (of Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers) insisted the label sign them after he saw the brothers perform in Chicago.
So with that bit of truth given to Mr. Taylor’s legacy, let’s continue assailing Motown.
Even by late 1960s and early 1970s Motown standards this album is strikingly unoriginal. There are covers EVERYWHERE on this album showing that Motown Records, once the vanguard of American pop music, was now a follower. Just two of this album’s 12 songs were new. New as in written specifically for the Jackson 5 to record on this album. The other 10 were retreads of varying quality.
We’ll get to those in a minute, but first the new stuff…
A BRAND NEW BAG
Mercifully one of those two new songs is a timeless classic: “I Want You Back”.
The song effortlessly blends the grunts and drum breaks of James Brown, the youthful energy of Sly & the Family Stone, and the vocal dynamics of the Temptations into a pop-funk classic claimed the #1 spot on the R&B and pop charts at the end of January 1970.
There’s so much to love about this song, but for me the best part is when Michael and Jermaine go into a James Brown and Bobby Byrd inspired call-and-response (think of “Sex Machine”) at the song’s end: baby, baby, baby, baby, BABY, BABY, I WANT YOU BACK!
And these boys were already seasoned showmen. Michael Jackson was like 10 years old and had the flyest outfit of the year.
The only other original track was “Nobody”, which was patterned after the instrumentation of “I Want You Back”. It’s a fine song, but definitely not even close to the big hit. No shame in not measuring up to “I Want You Back”. Few songs do.
“Nobody” and “I Want You Back” were composed and produced by the Corporation—the on-the-nose name for the team of Berry Gordy, Fonce Mizell, Freddie Perren, and Deke Richards assembled to make the Jackson 5 stars. They didn’t get around to recording those tracks till August 1969 making them along with the cover song “Chained” the last tracks recorded for this LP.
All the other songs were recorded earlier in the summer when it seemed Motown didn’t quite know what to do with the Jackson 5 just yet. Fortunate for the Coroporation and the Jackson 5 they struck gold with the “I Want You Back” formula. It was too late to save this album, but it would pay big dividends on the next LP.
Now to all the covers… so so many covers…
OUTSIDE COVERS
Before the Corporation figured out how to get the best out of the Jackson 5 by properly harness the influences of James Brown and Sly Stone, Motown had the Jackson boys recording pretty nondescript, generic R&B of the late ‘60s. And if the arrangements were basic, Motown was definitely low on lyrical ideas and turned to a whole lot of covers to pad out the album.
Since they were no longer at the vanguard of R&B, Motown looked to Philadelphia. Once in the shadows of Detroit, Philly Soul was a rising force and would dominate ‘70s R&B. Their style of music of course had indigenous flare, but was also heavily influenced by classic Motown. Nonetheless, by 1969, Philly was close to, if not already past, Detroit in new ideas. Hence the Jackson 5 covering “Can You Remember” originally by the Delfonics. At least that was a decent remake setting up a trend where the Jackson 5 would include one Delfonics cover per album in the ensuing years.
A much more disturbing development was Motown having J5 record the antiquated Disney song “Zip A Dee Doo Dah”. The track would be completely embarrassing instead of regular embarrassing, if not for the ability of the house band to lay down a funky drum beat. It’s a funky drum beat that’s wasted, though.
Their cover of “Stand!” by Sly & the Family Stone is atrocious. Shows you that maturity does matter when trying to sing about social change. The Family Stone was definitely youthful, but they were in their early 20s, not adolescents. The Jackson 5 were wee little children and naturally exhibited no sense of what the hell they’re singing about when it comes to asserting yourself against social and political pressure.
I have no idea whether or not the brassy “You’ve Changed” is a cover or not. I’ve never heard of the songwriter (Jesse Reese) and can find you information on them anywhere. The song itself is decent.
MOTOWN CANNIBALS
Okay, the filler and lack of creativity gets out of control now as we get SIX songs previously recorded by other Motown artists. This practice had a long history at Motown, but previously (early and mid 1960s) it was more of a feature than a bug. Multiple artists would record a track and then Motown honchos would decide which version was best. The better version was released as a single while the others were relegated to albums. Hell, sometimes both versions were put out as singles if they were that good.
See, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” by Gladys Knight & the Pips (#1 R&B, #2 pop) and Marvin Gaye (#1 R&B, #1 pop).
By the late 1960s, however, Motown was using cannibal covers as a crutch, not a byproduct of the creative process as they dug deep into their vaults recycling old songs to fill up their new albums. The problem was getting so bad they were even digging into the vaults make new singles.
To be fair, this practice did have some artistic and commercial success. Of the top 10 songs of 1970 according to Billboard four were from Motown. Three of them were Motown artists covering old Motown songs. Diana Ross covering “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”; Rare Earth covering “Get Ready”; and Edwin Starr covering “War”.
However, those three covers did significantly re-imagine the originals. Not saying they’re better, but they did something different and worthwhile
The Jackson 5 don’t do anything that much different and usually not that worthwhile with their cannibal covers. Of the ensuing five songs, only “Standing in the Shadows of Love” manages to get its head above water. But the original was perfect, so why go for the slightly-above-average cover?
“My Cherie Amour” — released by Stevie Wonder in Jan. 1969
“Standing In The Shadows of Love” — released by the Four Tops in Nov. 1966
“Chained” — released by Marvin Gaye in Aug. 1968
“(I Know) I'm Losing You” — released by the Temptations in Nov. 1966
“Born To Love You” — released by the Temptations in Nov. 1965
That leaves us with “Who’s Lovin’ You”, originally by the Miracles in 1961, as the only Motown cover that actually sounds inspired. And I gotta say, the inspiration is all from Michael Jackson’s vocals. The arrangement is still pretty slight and basic, but his lead singing is amazing dragging this song’s corpse along for the ride.
ALBUM GRADE: C
This was a hard album to grade because it only has one genuinely good song and that song is epochal! Thereafter there are only two songs I’d say are good and another three that are passable. The rest are absolute filler or outright bad.
Fortunately, the two best songs— “I Want You Back” and “Who’s Lovin’ You”—are routinely included on greatest hits packages, so you needn’t bother yourself with this album unless you are hardcore into Jacksonmania.
And boy was there Jacksonmania. This poor album somehow sat atop the R&B charts for nine weeks. Totally undeserved, but this boy band was too charismatic to resist.
Song Scores
Zip A Dee Doo Dah: 4/10
Nobody: 6.5/10
I Want You Back: 10/10
Can You Remember: 6/10
Standing In The Shadows of Love: 6/10
You’ve Changed: 6/10
My Cherie Amour: 3/10
Who’s Lovin’ You: 7/10
Chained: 5/10
(I Know) I'm Losing You: 5/10
Stand!: 4/10
Born To Love You: 5/10
Next LP: ABC (B)