If the Shoe Don't Fit

"If the Shoe Don't Fit" is the first full-length song on the new Jackson 5 cd, Come and Get It: The Rare Pearls. Like many of the songs on the album, it was written and produced by The Corporation, and, like most songs by this team, it's got a catchy tune and clever lyrics that were especially tailored to the Jackson 5's youthfulness. According the to the liner notes, it was recorded 1970-71. It features Michael on the up-tempo lead vocals that are reminiscent of "My Little Baby," another Corporation song that was recorded around the same time and was first released on the Maybe Tomorrow LP in April 1971.

"When at first I took you in

We had a nice association

Your love was sweet as honey then

Even bees will vouch for that.

But now you've found I'm not your type

In a different situation

The love you give is cold as ice

Even snowmen feel the draft."

After Michael sings the first line in the next bit, Jermaine comes in with the counter-lead, as we've come to expect in songs from this era. Unfortunately, it sounds like his vocals were recorded down the hall -- there's an odd echo to them.

Michael: Baby, why should we carry it on?

Jermaine: If you really think you must, girl,

I'm telling you that you're wrong.

And here's where it gets really interesting. Instead of going back to Michael, or to Jackie, Tito sings the second counter-lead in his bass voice.

  

Tito: If my love don't fit your heart

Then I don't belong.

It's a pleasant surprise to hear Tito sing lead vocals here -- and he has another line before the second chorus as well.

Speaking of the chorus, we return to Michael for the lead vocals in what is without a doubt the best part of the song -- and the part that will stick in your head for days:

"Oh, darling, don't do me no favors

Don't feel obligated

Don't you do it now, baby

If the shoe don't fit, baby, don't force it on yourself

Oh, if the shoe don't fit, honey, don't force it on yourself."

While there are some nice harmonies in the song, and the chorus is definitely memorable, the verses in this song feel a bit unfinished, and it's easy to see why the song wasn't completed and released when the J5 had recorded similar songs in late 1970 / early 1971 that were so much stronger, like the afore-mentioned "My Little Baby" and the brilliant "It's Great to Be Here."  Still, Corporation-produced J5 failures are more interesting today than most album fillers that got released by other groups forty years ago. The shoe might not have quite fit back then but it feels just fine now.

I Want You Back Live on American Bandstand

There are many things I like about the J5's first appearance on American Bandstand but I especially love the performance of "I Want You Back."  Their dance moves look well-practiced and close to perfect but the song was still relatively new, and they hadn't yet toured so they hadn't already performed it hundreds of times. A year later, they'd be rushing through the first verse and the chorus as part of a medley they would go on to perform in every concert -- and Michael would continue to perform the snippet in concert for the rest of his career. Complete live versions of "I Want You Back" are rare.

Here Michael sings the lead vocals live over his brothers' prerecorded vocals and instrumentation.  He can barely stand still enough in front of the microphone to get all the words out -- he so obviously wants to break into dancing (and those of us watching him would like him to, too).  He makes two rare mistakes. The first occurs at the :50 mark -- he sings "Those pretty faces always treat you" instead of  "Those pretty faces always made you."  No big deal, really, and a few seconds later he even appears to be laughing at himself.

The second mistake is more obvious and it occurs at the end of the song. It looks like Michael forgot that they had prerecorded an extended ending, and that he thought the song would end like it did when they first performed it a few months earlier on The Ed Sullivan Show. At 2:55, he looks momentarily startled that the music didn't end on his "I want you back!" but then he picks up and just keeps singing, giving us the most soulful conclusion ever to the song.

Song of the Week: Darling Dear

by Corey Sheppard

From the very first time I heard this record on the Jackson 5ive cartoon in the mid 1990s, I loved it. I could tell it was something special, and couldn’t wait to hear it again. Ahh I have so many fond memories of singing this song in the mirror or humming the song in my head in elementary school. “Darling Dear” is truly serious jelly!!

“Darling Dear” was originally recorded by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles for their 1969 for their album A Pocket Full of Miracles. If you have never heard their version before, I’d recommend that you check it out. It’s very good. It’s a lot different than the J5 version. The Miracles’ version has a bit jazzier, easy-listening vibe to it, while the J5 version is a bit more up-tempo utilizing the drums and the bass a bit more than the Miracles version. Ironically, the Miracles (like the Jackson 5) used "Darling Dear" as a b-side as well. It’s funny to me that neither group put this song as an a-side.

“Darling Dear” also has the fortune of being recorded in the original Hitsville studio on May 24, 1970 (wow, we even have the date it was recorded). It was on very few occasions that the boys would record in the Detroit studios, but according to several resources this record was indeed recorded in the Motor City. The track truly benefits from this. From the ever changing drums utilized through the entire recording, to the haunting string arrangement that builds the suspense in the recording. If you truly want to hear the strings in their total glory, listen to this remix that ended up on the Japanese release, Soul Source. The actual video doesn’t start till 0:07 but listen to the strings… breathtaking.


One thing I noticed about the record is at the very beginning at 0:01. You hear a sound in the record as if somebody just shot a ball on a pool table. It’s also heard again at 0:05. I always wondered what that sound is. Any of you guys ever notice that? For some reason, I love it and wouldn’t change a thing.

The bass playing on this track by legendary bassist James Jamerson Jr. is simply outstanding. From the beginning of the track to the very end, Jamerson lays out one complicated groove after another. Sometimes I can literally just listen to the bass playing in the track and totally be absorbed in it, isolating it from the complete recording. This track has reached thousands of music fans all over the world just by its classic bass playing. There are literally dozens of YouTube videos where bass players all around play their version of “Darling Dear.” I think that’s totally awesome. What a great way for Mr. Jamerson’s legacy to be continued because most view his playing on this track as one of the greatest bass sessions ever.

Michael (as always J) does an excellent job on his vocal performance but all of the Jackson brothers on background vocals sound excellent. Their harmony notes provided on the bridge of the song is outstanding. It gives the record a doo-wop flavor, while keeping it fresh for the new generation. One can clearly hear Jermaine providing ad-libs throughout the recording. Also Jackie has a brief solo on the song’s bridge that shows his vocal range as well.

The only slight criticisms I can give the record would be that number one, I wish the mix of the record was more bass heavy. The kick drum and bass on the record is really low, and one truly has to focus to hear some of the things these instruments are doing. I wish it were a bit louder; it would’ve created a more easy listening effect to it. And, of course, as with most J5 songs, I truly wish the song were longer -- 2:36 just doesn’t do it for me. It could have easily been over the 3:30 mark or beyond and not get dull. But I’ll take what I get.

Also there are a couple glitches in the record. At 0:51 it sounds as though the record is slightly distorted. Also at 2:02 and 2:07 it sounds as though they stuck two different takes together or something. I’m not sure, but every time I listen to the record in headphones I hear the mistake.

But other than those tiny, minor observations, it’s a flawless record. I really love it. What a great, unique way to close out the Third Album. This record truly gives you the ultimate example of what the Jackson 5 were trying to accomplish for that latter portion of 1970. I believe their goals were to continue creating catchy little ditties for the little ones and teenagers, while appealing to the adults and expert music critics of the time. And I say to that: job well done, Jackson 5!

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Corey Sheppard, 21, has been a Jackson 5 fan since 1993. His favorite hobbies are listening to music, playing racquetball at the YMCA, and hanging out with friends. Corey’s life passion is centered on music. His latest project is an all-new production company shared with Robert White Jr. entitled "Ask About It Productions."

TcB! More! More! More!

And there was more.

More.

And still more.

But that's all for now, J5 fans. Hope you had fun!

TcB!: Michael's Love Letter to YOU

Awwww....

TcB! J5 on Tour

In the fall of 1970, only a few fans had had the good fortune to have attended a Jackson 5 concert in person, so we hung on every word of this report from TcB!.



I remember being confused by the mention of songs that didn't yet appear on any of the Jackson 5's LPs, like "It's Your Thing" and "Walk On By." I had already learned to mistrust info in teen magazines by the time TcB! had come out, so I wondered if they had just gotten the song titles wrong. But once I had seen the J5 in concert a few months later, I could see that the description of the concert was fairly accurate -- minus the fantasy element of "you" being along with them.

But some things about this report remain puzzling to me to this day. Like the reference to Canadian Mounties hats. What the hell? I have never seen any of the J5 wearing anything close to a Mounties hat in the 1970s, not even Johnny with his vast store of head adornments. And who is Jesse? Supposedly it was the name of the person who handed them all clean shirts to change into after the concert. (I love the image of the five of them changing their clothes in the aisle of the airplane. I wonder if that part's accurate.)

But the biggest puzzle for me is which concert the writer is describing. The best clues would seem to be the opening acts and the accompanying photos. The Rare Earth and Jerry Butler were their opening acts in June of 1970, when the J5 played at the Cow Palace in San Francisco on June 19 and the Los Angeles Forum on June 20. But as you can see from the photos accompanying my earlier posts linked above, they were wearing different clothes on stage both times.

And you've probably noticed the photos in the TcB! article are not all from the same concert. In the first photo, Michael and Jackie are both wearing overalls, but in the other photos, they are not. I've already identified the first photo as being from their August 19, 1970, concert at the Cobo Arena in Detroit. I'm not sure where the photos on the second, third, and fourth pages come from. I would guess they are from one of their concert appearances in mid-October 1970. I have one additional photo from this set that was part of a TcB! archive I bought several years ago, but it doesn't identify a source.

The only other photo I have in my collection verified as taken at a 1970 concert is a press photo from their October 18 appearance at the Amphitheater in Chicago.

They're all wearing pretty much the same clothes, except for Michael, who's back to wearing his overalls. (They seemed to have about two costume changes apiece for their 1970 concerts.)

While the photos seem to be from one of their October gigs, the concert write-up is not. Their opening acts on October were Little Charles and the Sidewinders, Yvonne Fair, and Blinky Williams -- and so far as I know, Jerry Butler only served in this capacity in June 1970 to fill in for the originally scheduled act, Ike and Tina Turner. The TcB! article is most likely describing either their Cow Palace or their Forum concert. And given that it describes them getting in a plane on a Friday, flying up over the Pacific coastline, buying coats because they didn't know it would be so cold, and then flying home again that night, all evidence points to San Francisco.

But that still leave the mystery of Jesse and the Canadian Mounties hats.

TcB!: Jackie and Tito, Teen Idols

It's always been a mystery to me why Tito and Jackie weren't cast early on as the heart-throbs of the group, especially in the days before there was even a hint of Tito having a steady girlfriend, let alone a fiance. When he married his high school sweetheart, Dee Dee Martes, in June of 1972, the news came as a surprise to fans. (In fact, before we got the news, I was pretty sure Tito was engaged to my best friend, Janet.)

Too old, you say? Perhaps in comparison to Michael, Marlon, and Jermaine, but compared to the top teen idols of the day, Jackie was a year younger than David Cassidy and Bobby Sherman had a full decade on Tito. But both Cassidy and Sherman had the effeminate good looks that made them seem "safe" as the objects of pre-teen fantasies. Tito and Jackie both looked more like grown men.

Whatever the logic, in the fall of 1970, TcB! gave us a hint of what teen magazines might have looked like if Jackie and Tito had been given equal treatment.

The article is basically the usual teen magazine nonsense, designed to fuel teen fantasies. But the photos! They were both so gorgeous that when you see these pictures, you can only wonder why they weren't teen idols.

TcB!'s Super Giant Color Pinups!

One of the best features of any teen fan magazine was the color posters they included in each issue. The creators of TcB! must have known how important they were because they highlighted them on the front of the magazine:



There are four color posters inside the issue. Right inside the front cover was an adorable poster of Michael.


And inside the back cover was a beautiful poster of Jermaine.

This marked the first time that any individual Jackson brother was featured in a full-color full-page glossy poster. By the end of 1970, many fans like me felt we should have been getting posters like this in the mainstream fan magazines. But it wasn't until TcB! came out that the brothers got their due. Of course, I wanted to see full-page glossy color posters for each of the brothers, but Michael and Jermaine were at least a start. The others would come in time in Right On! (but never in one of the mainstream mags, which only ever gave Michael and Jermaine the full-page color poster treatment reserved for the big stars).

But for me, the best poster in TcB! was the centerfold.

It was the first full-color glossy centerfold poster I ever had to hang on my wall. Its publication in TcB! marked the first time I had ever seen this photo (or the one that's the same pose where they are holding their gold records, which I use as my avatar on this blog).

The back of the magazine was a fourth color poster with a great photo that was obviously taken at the same time as the centerfold. It shows the brothers in a an adorable pyramid-type pose -- I always felt sorry for Tito and Jackie, bearing all that weight! -- with Michael in the middle blowing a bubble. Although the bubblegum covers up most of Michael's mouth, you can still see the edges of a smile around it. It looks like he was pleased with the pose and quite proud of the bubble.

Takin' Care of Busines withTcB!

TcB! was the first fanzine exclusively devoted to the Jackson 5. Today one of the rarest Jackson collectibles in existence, TcB! began showing up on newsstands throughout the United States in the autumn of 1970, selling for 50 cents. Because it was produced by Motown Records, it was also advertised for sale on the inner sleeve of Jackson 5 albums beginning with the Maybe Tomorrow LP, so that young fans could send away directly to Motown to get a copy in case they had missed it when it was on sale in their neighborhood shops.

In 1970 the acronym "T.C.B." was a popular slang expression, like "far out" and "groovy." The letters stood for "Taking Care of Business" and implied that you were focusing on the things that truly mattered and were important. And that is exactly what the fanzine TcB! did when it devoted its entire first issue to the phenomenal Jackson 5.

Hard as it may be to imagine in today, forty years ago the Jackson 5 was virtually invisible in the mainstream popular print media. Although the group was tearing up the charts in 1970 with four number one singles in a row, were breaking attendance records wherever they appeared in concert, and were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Contemporary Vocal Group (up against The Beatles, The Carpenters, Chicago, and Simon & Garfunkel), teen magazines at the time rarely even mentioned these five incredible young brothers.

Good-looking, clean-cut and talented, The Jackson 5 would appear to be every marketing executive's dream except for one thing: they were Black. And back in 1970 American society did not seem to know what to do with Black teen idols. There had simply never been such a thing up until that time. But times were changing and, by the sheer force of their talent and enormous appeal, The Jackson 5 were destined to break the barriers and clear the path for the young Black performers who would follow them. It would, however, be nearly two years before they were regularly featured in teen fanzines such as 16, Spec, Tiger Beat, Fave, and Flip (and even then the editors of some of these 'zines had a perennial problem with telling Marlon and Michael apart).

While over in the mainstream, The Jackson 5 were being co-opted, white-washed and re-created as a comparatively bland family act known as The Osmonds (who were being plastered across the pages of the afore-mentioned teenie mags), Motown got busy and created its own fan magazine for their hottest young group. By the time TcB! hit the newsstands late in 1970, young J5 fans were hungry for facts, articles, photos and pin-ups of Michael, Marlon, Jermaine, Tito and Jackie. In fact, we were starving for details. We wanted the full story behind those fantastic voices we heard singing to us on the radio. We needed more pictures than the first three LPs offered us: we wanted pictures we could hang on the wall.

TcB! delivered. Against a glossy, vibrant red background, a full-color cover photo of The Jackson 5 stopped the hearts of many a young fan making a routine check of the magazines at the corner store in neighborhoods across America. Bright yellow letters spelled out the words we had dreamed to see in print:


We thought we had died and gone to heaven.

Inside, TcB! was filled with articles, photos and -- gasp! -- PIN-UPS! There was one full-page glossy color pin-up of Michael, one of Jermaine, one of The Jackson 5, and even a double-page color centerfold poster of the whole group. Full-page black-and-white pin-ups accompanied feature stories about each of the five brothers, which revealed such interesting tidbits as the fact that Jackie had a fondness for antique furniture and the color yellow, and that Marlon wanted to trade places with a bank president for 24 hours so he could sit in the vault and "just look at all that bread."


Throughout the magazine there were dozens and dozens of photos of the five Jackson brothers, most never seen before and many never seen since. The camera followed The Jackson 5 to a costume fitting one day, for example, and two pages of TcB! show the J5 trying on and modeling some of the fabulous threads they wore in concert in the early Motown days. On another day, the rigors of rehearsing for an upcoming concert were captured by a TcB! camera. We see Michael and Marlon clowning around during a break and Jermaine and Tito looking very serious about their music once rehearsal resumes, in addition to great shots of The Five practicing all their stunning dance routines in front of floor-to-ceiling mirrors.

One of the articles that seemed the least interesting in 1970 has turned out to be one of the most interesting 25 years later. "The Secrets in The Jackson Five's Handwriting!" called on graphologist Dr. Coleridge Taylor to analyze the J5's signatures. This is what he had to say about Michael:

Now here's a fellow who might have grown up to be very shy and quiet and the kind of kid who always hides in the back of the classroom for fear the teacher will call on him. But just in time, he caught himself and turned into a leader, a fellow who takes the first step and will rock out or break free or do just about what he feels like doing, providing it's okay. I've never talked to Michael but I bet he doesn't plan to get married till he's thirty -- if ever! He's generous too but can be very unpleasant if someone crosses him the wrong way... He wants to know exactly where he's at all the time. You may not realize it, but he's always watching every move someone makes.

All that insight and accurate forecasting from just 14 letters scrawled by an 11-year-old kid? Amazing!

While Issue #1 (dated Spring 1971) of TcB! was a one-of-a-kind publication, it did seem to inspire the creation of Right On! magazine, the first issue of which was published in October 1971. The latter was a monthly teen fanzine devoted exclusively to Black stars which is still being published today (and which still occasionally features a Jackson on its cover). In its early years, Right On! was filled with news and photos of the Jackson 5 and, before long, many young fans forgot the hunger they used to feel in 1970.

For those of us who were lucky enough to find TcB! back then, we'll never forget the feast it provided for our eyes and our souls. We consumed it -- quite literally -- clipping out all the photos to put on our walls or share with friends or paste into scrapbooks. That's what makes it such a rarity among collectors today. Most collectors, even of the long-time, die-hard variety, have never seen it themselves first-hand. It shows up only occasionally on eBay. One of my collector friends recalls having seen a copy of TcB! advertised for sale several years ago for $250.00 and today he regrets that he didn't buy it, because he has never seen it advertised for any price since then.

If you are one of the fortunate few to own a copy of TcB!, rest assured that you have one of the rarest Jackson collectibles in the world, not to mention a proud relic of Black American entertainment history. But if, like the vast majority of fans, you have never even seen it, we I will be sharing highlights from TcB! over the coming week.


________
First published in a slightly different version in Jackson Magazine in 1995. Special thanks to Chris Cadman for his encouragement and friendship.

Snapshots from the Holiday Tour

Based on evidence I've come across in my research on the Holiday Tour, I can now confirm that these snapshots were taken during the last week in December 1970 while the Jackson 5 were on tour through the South.

These photos were purchased as part of a collection that had belonged to a young fan named Millicent who lived in Nashville. (I believe Millicent is the girl kissing Michael in the second photo.) Although the date tag says May 1971, this refers to the date the picture was developed, not when it was taken.





A rare photo of Joe on tour:


In these photos all five brothers are wearing the same clothes they wore during the Jacksonville sound check from the ABC-News raw footage.


In the next photo, you can see in the mirror behind Tito the reflection of a girl holding the J5's first tour program. She's probably waiting in line for Jermaine's autograph.



One point these photos and the ABC News footage drive home is how much time the Jackson brothers sat around, bored out of their minds, waiting for the next thing to happen.

Caught on Tape in Jacksonville, Florida

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!

J5 in Music City in 1970

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.

Pat Adams, the website owner, was a young reporter who had just started writing for the publication. I wrote to Pat, hoping he had attended and could offer a first-person account or a review but, alas! Pat did not attend. He says he wish he had been there, though. He's still keeping the spirit of the J5 alive in Nashville with this nice web tribute, and gave me permission to link to it.

Greensboro Concert Notice

The first document I've found for the Holiday Tour is a concert notice tagged onto the end of the same-old Motown press story.

Not very exciting but there you have it.

Holiday Tour Schedule

I alluded to the Jackson 5's Holiday Tour Schedule in an earlier post that linked to a page from the December 31, 1970, issue of Jet magazine. Six dates and cities were listed there, compliments of the Soul Brothers Top Twenty.

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.

Song Fragments

I've played the Jackson 5 Christmas Album countless times over the years and it never struck me until this year just how many pieces of other songs are embedded int he songs they sing. I know fans always hope for Christmas Album outtakes, and hearing these little fragments of songs within songs makes me wonder if there were longer versions recorded of all of them.

Here are the ones I've noticed:

1. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas -- "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" in the fade out at the end
2. The Christmas Song -- "Jingle Bells" in the fade out at end
3. Up on the Housetop -- "Here Comes Santa Claus" is sung at the beginning, and at the middle. (Also, while it's not a song, a verse from "The Night Before Christmas" is rapped before Jermaine's verse)
4. Someday at Christmas -- "White Christmas" played at the beginning and again at the end
   

Have I missed any song fragments?

Song of the Week: Give Love on Christmas Day

by Corey Sheppard

“Give Love on Christmas Day” is such a beautiful, moving Christmas ballad. Released in 1970 on the only Jackson 5 Christmas album ever (and only Christmas album released by any Jackson, what a shame), the song shows the brothers taking on a serious ballad about caring and looking after another during the holiday season. This song has taken a life of its own for soul Christmas music fans and I take much pride in knowing that the song was written exclusively for the Jackson 5.

Written by the Corporation (Berry Gordy, Alphonzo Mizell, Freddie Perren, and Deke Richards) “Give Love on Christmas Day” has many memorable moments. First the intimate production provided by the session musicians helps set the mood for the record. The drums are fantastic on this record. The high hats on the record frequently changed from a four count to an eight count, as well as the drummer hitting the rim on the verse then the snare drum on the choruses.

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.

The only little thing I can say about this record is that I would have loved for the songwriters to have written a bridge to this beautiful song. I guess it’s just my selfish way of saying “I wish the record were longer.” Every time I listen to “Give Love on Christmas Day,” there’s always a bit of sadness on my part when it comes to an end. I truly feel this record could’ve been stretched a bit more. I would even turn up the volume at the very last seconds of the record. I could clearly hear MJ singing: “Every Tom, Dick, and Harry, and Susie, too…” In my mind I thought “why, oh why, would they not let the record play longer?” Boy did I get a big surprise last year.

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.

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Corey Sheppard, 21, has been a Jackson 5 fan since 1993. His favorite hobbies are listening to music, playing racquetball at the YMCA, and hanging out with friends. Corey’s life passion is centered on music. His latest project is an all-new production company shared with Robert White Jr. entitled "Ask About It Productions."