Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Love at the Forum

Jackson 5 at the Forum, how I love thee! Seriously, I have been playing this cd nonstop since I got it. It is truly a wonder, and I would be hard-pressed to say what my favorite track is. So I have decided to make a list of my top ten favorite things about it.

Top Ten Things I Love about The Jackson 5 Live at the Forum

10) The harmonies are amazing and you can hear all the voices -- even Marlon in the 1970 concert

9) The humor! The clever repartee between songs is actually, you know, clever repartee.

8) Michael's amazingly mature vocal performances from 1970.

7) Tito's guitar playing

6) Jermaine fixing to do his thing.

5) Marlon taking "requests"

4) The crystal clear sound quality (we couldn't really hear them live live)

3) The girls who are screaming when Michael sings "soon you'll hear me knocking at your door" in You've Got a Friend. We can only imagine the stage business

2) The cowbells at the beginning of It's Your Thing

1) Two versions of I Found That Girl!

For those of you who've heard it, what would be on your Top Ten list? And for those of you who haven't, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

6 comments:

  1. Please dont forget Jermaines incredible bass playing!!!

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  2. I didn't forget Jermaine's bass, but trying to spread out the love. I should also mention Johnny and Ronnie's great work, too. I love that they were a self-contained band who performed their own music.

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  3. Agree...The entire band sounds great!

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  4. 10) Jermaine sings "Bridge Over Troubled Water".

    9) MJ asking about the amplifier issue in the '70 show.

    8) "There Was A Time" was a crowd pleaser. I can only imagine MJ giving his best James Brown "camel walk" dance.

    7) The extended version of "Feeling Alright" along with the drumming during the song.

    6) Mixing "Brand New Thing" and "Going Back To Indiana" in the '72 show.

    5) The live version of Mama's Pearl...I actually like better than the lp version.

    4) Jermaine singing "I'm So Happy".

    3) Two versions of "Walk On"...get down Tito and Jermaine!

    2) The transition from "Got To Be There" to "You've Got A Friend".

    1) "Ain't No Sunshine"...100% pure soul!

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  5. Yeah, "Ain't No Sunshine" is an amazing performance. I love the backing vocals in that. It sounds so old school soul.

    And the complete version of "The Was a Time" is amazing. I would love to have seen all those different dances Michael is citing in each verse.

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  6. Have you seen this?

    There Was A Time - American Bandstand
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THNIGy5rImA

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