1963 to 1976
In 1963, when Michael was in first grade, he attended, for the first time, a public gathering in a program arranged by the school (Garrett Elementary School in Gary). He wore black pants and a white T-shirt, and sang the song “Climb Every Mountain” from the film Sound Of Music [Sobs and smiles]. The audience’s reaction was extremely intense.
Michael says: ”When I finished the song, the crowd’s reaction was so overwhelming that I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. The sound of people cheering was very loud, and they were smiling. Some of them were standing. My teachers were crying, and I truly couldn’t believe it. I had made all of them happy. It was an incredible feeling. I was a little confused too, because I didn’t think I had done anything special. I had just sung the way I sang every night at home. When you perform, you don’t realize what you look like or what special effect you leave on the audience. You just open your mouth and sing.“
Joseph would take the group to the cafés where he himself had performed with the Falcons. He prepared the group for competitions and paid close attention to their appearance. The boys, every day after returning from school, practiced under the harsh, watchful gaze of their strict father. They were instructed to return home immediately after finishing class, and thus they did not attend any of the school’s extracurricular activities. Because they had to focus all their energy on music. On weekends, they spent their time going to different clubs and performing there. Often, early on Monday morning, they would return home to get ready for that day’s classes. As a result of this discipline, the group members gradually became like professional showmen.
Michael says about it: ”We performed for him, and he would find fault with us. If you messed up, you’d get beaten. Sometimes with a belt, sometimes with a whip. My father really made it tough on us.“
At six years old, Michael and the Jackson Five won many awards for the various shows or programs they performed at night as amateurs, as a way to test themselves.
[Competitions]
Mr. Keith, the owner of Steel Tone, a local recording studio, gave the Jackson Five their first opportunity. The song “Big Boy” was released in 1968. The song was even played on the local Gary radio, and the Jackson Five became very famous in their neighborhood.
[The single “Big Boy”] In July 1968, after seeing the group perform in Chicago, Bobby Taylor called Seltzer, the head of Motown’s office, and told him how wonderful and talented the boys were. Seltzer instructed him to bring the boys with him to Detroit. Bobby Taylor brought them to Motown and put them in Susan De Passe’s hands so she could test them.
Bry Gentry, the owner of Motown, describes his first meeting with the Jackson Five in his autobiography titled “To Be Loved: The Music, The Magic, The Memories Of Motown” like this: ”When I look back at it today, I can still recall the power that all of us felt in the way we performed those five boys from Gary that July morning. We were standing there to test their performance. Michael, nine years old, Marlon, eleven, Jermaine, fourteen, Tito, fifteen, and Jackie, seventeen, had come to sign a contract with Motown. All of them danced, sang, and played music like conquerors. When the group leader (Michael) sang, I felt that he had been here before. He sang as if he understood the lyrics and grasped their meaning. It was as if he had lived with the song. It was truly amazing. I never said out loud that I was going to sign a contract with them because it was completely obvious. When one of the boys asked me: ”Well, Mr. Gentry, does that mean you’re signing a contract with us?“
Michael smiled, as if to say ”Of course he’s signing a contract with us.“ They performed “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” by The Temptations, and all of them danced like David Ruffins, but in their own unique way. They performed “I Wish It Would Rain” and “Tobacco Road” as if those songs had been written for them. In the end, little Michael performed “I Got The Feeling,” one of James Brown’s songs. Surely James Brown himself would have been proud of his dazzling footwork. This nine-year-old boy knew enough about James Brown that even caught my attention. He sang his song with such feeling, inspiration, and pain and suffering that it was as if he had experienced everything he was singing about. Between the songs, he kept staring at me the whole time, as if he were reading my thoughts. “ Two days later, in the winter of 1968, the Jackson brothers achieved something they had worked very hard for. Motown signed them to a contract. Berry Gentry promised them: ”Your first song will be number one. Your second and third songs will be the same. Three number-one songs lined up one after another. You’ll enter the best-seller charts. Just like Diana Ross and The Supremes did.“ When Berry Gentry moved from Detroit to California, all the big Motown stars followed him. The Jackson family did as well. Susan De Passe, who worked for Motown, had a huge influence on the life of the Jackson family. And it was Susan De Passe who, when the Jackson family moved to Los Angeles, gave the children religious instructions. She was also the executive manager of the Jackson Five.
[Susan — Michael — Berry] were the individuals who, along with Franky Preen, Bobby Taylor, and Dick Richards, together with Hal Davis and Fonce Mizell, were the team members who wrote and produced the Jackson Five’s first songs. This team was called The Corporation. When the song “I Want You Back” entered the market in November 1969, during six weeks, two million copies were sold and it became number one. Their next song, titled “ABC,” was released in March 1970 and sold two million copies in three weeks. When “The Love You Save,” the group’s third song, became number one in June 1970, the promise Berry Gentry had given the group came true. “HollyWood Palace” was the Jackson Five’s first major television show. The Saturday Night show was hosted by Diana Ross. They performed “I Want You Back” live. Although the Jackson Five’s first television appearance had happened in August 1969, on the Miss Black America Pageant program. On that show, they performed “It’s Yor Thing.” “I’ll Be There” was the song that cleared all obstacles in the way of the Jackson Five. Michael says: ”This song announced to everyone that the Jackson Five is here to stay and keep going.“ The song remained at the top of the charts for five weeks.