Who Discovered the Jackson Five?

As the saying goes, success has many parents while failure is often an orphan. Arguably one of the biggest musical groups of the early 1970’s, the Jackson Five had many people claiming to be the one who discovered the group. But who really did discover the talented band of brothers from Gary, Indiana?

The official Motown story was that Diana Ross discovered the band. This version of events was further cemented by the title of their first album- Diana Ross presents The Jackson Five. At the time, Diana Ross was the mistress of Motown CEO Berry Gordy and he was grooming her to become a solo star. Her first release after leaving The Supremes was not commercially successful, so creating the legend whereby it was she who discovered the next big thing would burnish her career as much as it would help The Jackson Five. However, of everyone involved with the group in its early days at Motown, Diana Ross was the one who should have claimed the least credit. Other than allowing them to tour with her, she hadn’t had any contact with or knowledge of them prior to their signing with Motown.

The next group claiming to have discovered the boys are Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers. They actually have a very good claim. After witnessing the boys performing in New York City, Bobby Taylor used his connections at Motown to get the boys an audition in Detroit. The performance was recorded and shown to Berry Gordy who was lukewarm on the idea of signing them. He initially rejected the band, though he eventually reconsidered that decision. After signing the band, Berry Gordy had Bobby Taylor produce some of their earliest cuts, though his work was not credited. However, while Bobby Taylor did have a hand in the band’s success, he wasn’t the first person who brought the band to Motown’s attention.

So who was the first person who recognized the Jackson Five’s talent? That honor goes to Gladys Knight. After seeing the boys perform on the road, she contacted Motown to let them know of the amazing new talent she had seen. Despite Gladys’ enthusiasm, Motown rejected the band for the first time. Time would eventually prove that Gladys was right.

The World of Soul Music Loses Its Queen

The world of soul music has lost its undisputed queen. From the moment she stepped up on the altar of her father’s church and began singing, everyone knew they were in the presence of a future legend. Despite her young age, Aretha could sing and she would attract churchgoers from all around to hear her. That she was so young was amazing, but certainly her audiences must have realized that bigger things lay ahead for her. Little Aretha taught herself how to play the piano and amazed everyone around her, including motherly figure Mahalia Jackson, who was a gospel star herself. Her father began to see that his daughter could do more with her voice than just attract people to hear about the Lord- she could use her god given gift to sing to the world. Her father avoided the obvious record company- Motown- as he felt his daughter would get lost among all the other African-American acts signed there. Certainly Columbia Records could advance his daughter’s career; she’d be one of their few “r

Holiday Music Week: A Motown Christmas

Possibly the greatest Christmas album ever released, A Motown Christmas was a package album originally released in 1973 as a 2 LP set. At the time, the record company sought to take advantage of its deep catalog by reissuing existing recordings and creating greatest hit albums. Just about every Motown act had recorded Christmas singles and albums, so the staff working on this compilation had numerous versions of each song to choose from and they chose wisely. We hear Stevie Wonder’s soulful, yet reverent version of Ave Maria, the Jackson 5ive’s youthful Frosty the Snowman and the amazing version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by the Temptations. There were also surprising finds like One Little Christmas Tree, stripped of elaborate orchestration and sung by Stevie Wonder. The arrangements used on these versions would become THE soul arrangements used when these standards were performed, even to this day. It might not be as famous as Phil Spector’s A Christmas Gift For You, but it wa

“Race Music”

In the early twentieth century, Music was just as segregated as everything else. Instead of embracing all music regardless of who performed it, the major record labels separated out their acts between “regular” music and so-called “Race” music. “Race” music was the catchall term used for music recorded by non-whites, though it was mostly affixed to music performed by black performers. Strict separation of the races was enforced by the record companies who never cross-marketed their content. While black performers weren’t completely unknown to white audiences, the black performers who were allowed to “cross over” were only permitted to perform as stereotypes or were thrust into the background as second fiddles behind white performers. At no time were they permitted to perform their so-called “Race” music, which was often depicted as being “tribal” or “lowly”. This ridiculous and racist separation of music styles was no doubt intended to ensure that nightclubs and concerts remained segre

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