Midway through the Jackson 5's Holiday Tour, an ABC News crew caught up with them to get some footage for a news feature on the rising popularity of the Jackson 5. I've never seen the final report that was made in late December of 1970, but the raw footage has been circulating among fans for years.
It's kind of maddening to watch because it jumps from scene to scene, in no particular order. But, if you're patient, you can see some great live footage of the Jackson 5 in concert in Jacksonville on December 30, 1970.
Part 1 shows them in rehearsals with Suzanne Depasse, and then moves into their live performance of "It's Your Thing." After that there are a lot of quick cuts to scenes that will become familiar as the tape progresses (More of the sound check/rehearsal and their arrival at the Jacksonville airport) before getting back to some more live concert footage of them singing "Stand" and more extensive footage of "It's Your Thing." Then it cuts back to "Stand" again, followed by a lot of quick cuts. Are you getting the idea?
Part 2 opens with Jermaine singing his lead part from "I'll Be There." Then it moves into a group interview that seems to bore everyone but Tito to tears. (Michael interrupts at one point to ask how much longer they have to stay, and when the interviewer asks if there's anything they want to do, Jermaine replies "Split.") Next it cuts to them entering their rooms in a surprisingly seedy roadside motel, and staging a pillow fight for the camera crew. Then we get back to more "It's Your Thing/Stand" concert footage, with a really nice guitar solo by Tito. That's followed by the opening of "I Want to Take You Higher," which is considerably less polished than the version they would do five months later in Indianapolis for the
Goin' Back to Indiana special.
The first 30 seconds of Part 3 show live concert footage of "Feelin' Alright," followed by nearly nine full minutes of sound-check and rehearsal, during which Marlon valiantly tries to balance a drum stick on its pointed end. It's nice to hear the instruments behind the under-miked vocals in this clip.
Part 4 shows the group arriving at the airport and being loaded into two cars, as their luggage is loaded into a truck. At the three-minute mark an interview with Joe Jackson begins. At the seven-minute mark, the film returns to the group interview, with their tutor, Rose Fine, demonstrating her teaching technique by asking the boys questions about their visit the day before to the
Hermitage while they were in Nashville. Michael was impressed with the size of Andrew Jackson's tomb and asked if his whole family was buried with him. And Tito was obviously paying attention during the tour, as he tells his teacher that Jackson's wife "...was bad --she played." (True -- she was already married to another man when she married Andrew Jackson.) Mrs Fine obviously doesn't like the direction the lesson is going in so she tells them they've had enough for the day. near the end of this part, the interview turns to Michael, who clearly has no idea what the interviewer is trying to ask him. (Frankly, neither do I.)
More inane questions from the clueless interviewer open Part 5, e.g. "Where does your music come from?" At the 7:53 mark, Marlon tries the drum-stick balancing act with a lemon on a drinking straw, and then we watch nearly two full minutes of the Jackson 5 sitting around, flipping through magazines. Riveting.
Part 6 opens with more prompting from Mrs. Fine to demonstrate the the depth of the education she is providing them. At the 2:06 mark, we finally get a glimpse of the ABC news correspondent, who identifies himself as Scott Osbourne. He repeats his sign-off several times before he decides it's okay. (Granted, it's not easy to put "lo these many years ago" and 'soul brother" in the same sentence with conviction.) In the meantime, we are treated to "Walk On" int he background, followed by the a complete version of "The Love You Save," but with really terrible sound. We even get to see their stage exit at the end of the song. And then there's a delicious snippet of the ending of "Who's Lovin' You" that leaves us wanting more, as does a short clip from "Darling Dear."
The seventh, and final part, continues with live footage of "Darling Dear." At the :25 mark, we are treated to a bit of footage of the legendary dance competition between Tito and Ronnie Rancifer, the group's keyboard player. First up is Tito with some oddly spastic moves. Jackie plays the group's Sandman, moving him off the stage so Ronnie can take over with his clearly superior moves. it's nice to see both Tito and Ronnie catching a bit of the spotlight and having some fun.
Thanks,
Zero93330, for making all these videos available so we can get a sense of what the Holiday Tour was like!
You think that with a city the size of Nashville, there'd be more of a trail of the Jackson 5's first concert there on December 29, 1970. All I could find was a grainy image from a publication called The Kaleidoscope, announcing the Jackson 5's upcoming concert. 
If, like me, you missed The Jackson 5 on Biography during the busy holiday season, you can watch a few clips from it on their website. I'll keep an eye out for the rerun of it. My friend Jeff says there is some great rare footage and an interview with Tito, so it'll be worth checking out. Most of the features that run on Biography are eventually offered for sale as dvds so we'll have to keep an eye out for that, too.
Not very exciting but there you have it.
I've never found much at all about this brief winter tour through the South, but this week, I'll be searching for any and all details, and posting what I find here. Don't get your hopes up -- it may not be much. I'd love to find a review from at least one of the concerts, though, because I'm curious as to what the J5's shows were like at the tail-end of their most glorious year. I'll keep looking.
There was a first-person report (as well as a third photo from the event) in the May 1972 issue of 16 magazine. I love the reference here to Michael's Santa belly. I had never before noticed that he was the only one who added the appropriate amount of stuffing.
by Corey Sheppard
Twelve-year-old Michael Jackson lays down a beautiful vocal for this record. He truly had a gift of opening himself to any emotion a song could have. Most adults don’t have this gift, let alone a twelve year old in his first year of professionally recording, His vocals swift from first being very soft and adorable, to being urgent and pleading. Not many singers can do that, let alone a child. He never fails too impress the hardest critic! The background vocals are excellent too. You can clearly hear Jermaine and Jackie singing the harmony notes with Michael on the chorus. They sound excellent, and completely in tune.
I, myself was already head-over-heels in love with “Give Love on Christmas Day” by the time the Ultimate Christmas Collection was released in late 2009. This beautiful set compiled by Motown contained several perks. One major perk for serious J5 fans was the color picture of the Jackson 5 around the Christmas tree in 1970. But the major, major highlight for myself and many J5 fans (including the owner of this page!) is the a capella version of “Give Love on Christmas Day” found near the end of the re-issue. All the vocals are here and, boy, does it sound good. The first time I heard it, I swear I got chills. Such beautiful vocals provided by the brothers, plus we received nearly an extra minute of vocal harmonies and extra lyrics provided by the boys. For J5 fans, this feels like a lifetime. What a nice little addition to this album, showing how much care Motown put into this package just for us.
his holiday wouldn’t be the same without the Jackson 5. The eleven tracks they made in summer 1970 have been a part of my life since the very beginning of my childhood. Recently, Jackie Jackson stated that the Christmas Album was one of his favorite J5 albums, and it is still to this day a big seller. That means the world to me and several others, proving that good tunes never die.
The photos were never used and, so far as I know, the only time one of them appeared in print prior to 2008 was in the December 31, 1970, issue of Jet magazine to accompany the Jackson 5's Holiday Tour schedule.
I've always loved the original album cover for the Jackson 5 Christmas Album. Each of the individual shots of the brothers are superb -- it doesn't hurt that they were taken on a day when all five were at a cuteness peak.
When you're a collector, you have to be willing to take a risk with eBay items. Every once in a while, an item comes up that you've never heard of and you're perhaps even 95% sure is a fake, but you have to take a leap of faith for that 5% possibility. 
I knew the U.S. Post Office was operating under a massive deficit but... a holiday compilation cd? At least they included a J5 song. "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" is the last cut on the cd. And it usually ships in one business day. That's because they don't have to take it to the post office to mail it.
Many of my earliest J5 memories involve being awakened by my clock radio on a school day to the sounds of a brand new release from the Jackson 5. In the days before internet, we never really had any idea when a new song was scheduled to be released, so most singles we heard for the first time on the radio came as a complete surprise.
... and to the J5 Collector blog as well. Watch for special Christmas-related posts from now till December 25.
It was announced today that "I'll Be There" is one of the the 30 songs that will be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2011. It joins "I Want You Back," which was inducted back in 1999, making it the second J5 song to make it into the Hall of Fame.
This eBay auction makes an interesting claim about the gold vinyl ABC promo with the original printed sleeve:
