Song of the Week: Mama's Pearl

by Corey Sheppard

“Mama’s Pearl” was the fifth single released by the Jackson 5 and the first release by the boys for 1971. 1970 proved to be the year of success for the Jackson 5. With four back-to-back number one hits, three top pop albums, numerous TV appearances, and a successful tour, what more could the boys ask for? 1971 would bring a lot of change for the group and this record was the start of that.

By the time this record was recorded in mid-1970, there were signs that Michael’s voice was changing -- not so much in his range, but in his maturity as a vocalist. When he hits his high notes at the end of the second verse, he vacillates between shouting and soul singing and I appreciate his variety of style. Also on the chorus, he sings most of the lines without backup from his brothers, and he handles it well.


I’ve always had trouble finding out the true meaning of “Mama’s Pearl.” It’s always been slightly confusing to me, how the boys go from singing about a girl to pearls from a mother, I‘ll never understand. I’m sure it’s just me; it obviously makes sense to the millions of J5 fans around the world.

While “Mama’s Pearl” is a classic in my heart and in many Jackson 5 fanatics’ hearts, I do believe it fell a little short from their first three up-tempo Motown masterpieces. Don’t get me wrong -- while the song is a very excellent number by the boys, I feel something is missing from it to make it an A+ record for me. But despite this, I’m still bewildered by the fact that it was kept from being number one by the Osmonds “One Bad Apple.” That record can’t hold a candle to any of the Jacksons’ first releases. including the subject of this column.


I feel one thing that perhaps stopped this record from knocking out ”One Bad Apple” from the top spot is the fact that the boys weren’t on television much to promote it. The first television performance of the song wasn’t until the Diana! special in April 1971, four months after the record was released. For sure, another Ed Sullivan performance by the boys would have guaranteed a number one record for the brothers.

Also J5 Collector hit on a major epiphany that this single was released too long after Third Album was released. Unlike “The Love You Save,” the second single released off the ABC album that came out only a week after the album was released, “Mama’s Pearl” came out nearly four months after Third Album did. That’s a long time after the fact, especially for this period when the Jackson 5 were riding a high wave after “I’ll Be There.” It’s almost as if Motown released this single as an afterthought.


Another slight issue I have with “Mama’s Pearl” is the mix. It sounds as though not much attention was put into the actual mix of the record. First off, there is a lot of “air” in this track, more than most of the J5 tracks at the time, and it’s very evident from the intro of the song. Plus it seems as though a lot of the instruments used for the record are clouded in the mix.

I will say the alternative version of “Mama’s Pearl” found on the 2004 compilation The Jacksons Story is a far better mix, in my opinion. But I must say the energy and raw sound on the common version of “Mama’s Pearl” is something I don’t want to live without.

Wow, forty years since “Mama’s Pearl” was first released as a single! It’s amazing to me that it still packs a powerful blow for music listeners. After this release, the brothers’ singles were focused more on ballads. It wasn’t until the release of “Sugar Daddy” in late 1971 where the boys went back to their old ways. “Mama’s Pearl” gives you the opportunity to listen to the Jackson 5 at the height of their fame, and it was, is, and always will be an enjoyable audio experience.

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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."

Live Performances of Mama's Pearl

The Jackson 5 performed "Mama's Pearl" to open a medley that also included "Walk On" and "The Love You Save" Diana! special that aired in April of 1971. The special had been filmed the previous December, which explains why they sang "Mama's Pearl" instead of "Never Can Say Goodbye."

It's a spirited performance of the song, and I only wish we had the full version of it that appears on the Diana! soundtrack album.

We are also lucky to have video footage of a live performance of the full song that was recorded when the brothers were on their European tour in November 1972. This version was recorded in Paris nearly two years after the first, and here they sing it at the end of a medley that opens with "I Want You Back and "ABC." You can hear Michael's voice beginning to drop so that he really has to strain to hit the high notes. They also sing it much faster than the original, making it sound like they couldn't wait to get through it. (Not surprising given the number of times they ahd to sing their medley of hits.) "Mama's Pearl" begins at the 3:05 mark.

The best live version of "Mama's Pearl," however, appears on the J5 Live at the Forum as a bonus track that was recorded in Indianapolis in the spring of 1971. There's no video of it available, but the audio alone is pure gold.

Lend an Ear, Frosty the Snowman

Most single releases of "Mama's Pearl" had "Darling Dear" as the B-side. But a few of them opted for something different.

Spain and Argentina both used "Goin' Back to Indiana," a strong cut from the Third Album that was issued as an A-side in many other European and South American countries.



Japan offered an interesting alternative with "Oh, How Happy," another great LP cut from the Third Album. This is in keeping with most other Jackson 5 B-sides that featured Jermaine's lead vocals on a slower tempo song.


The most unusual choice came from Turkey:


When you don't understand the lyrics, I guess it doesn't much matter what the song's about.

Pearls from Afar

Mama's Pearl was widely distributed around the world. Here are some of the 45s I've collected over the years.

• The Unadorned Pearls

Neither of the two 45s I have from South America have picture sleeves, but you know how I love those Latin American pressings. Here's one from Argentina:


And a promo copy from Chile:


The Netherlands issued the single in their typical boring printed sleeve.


India also issued the single in a printed sleeve. Not terribly interesting as a visual, but releases from India are rare.


And, like the U.S., the U.K. only rarely issued J5 singles in picture sleeves. Unfortunately, "Mama's Pearl" was not one of them.

• Third Album Redux

Some releases used art from the Third Album photo shoot. Here are picture sleeves from Germany, Norway, Japan, and Portugal respectively.





Italy didn't use a photo from the Third Album session but they at least got the era right.

• Retro sleeves

France, Sweden, Turkey, and Spain reached way back into their photo archives to design their sleeves.



All my favorite picture sleeves come from Spain. This is one of them. I love they way they have placed the song titles on the outstretched hands of Marlon, Michael and Jermaine:

And look at the song title Michael and Jermaine are holding. More on that tomorrow.

Pearls and Bad Apples

By the time the the Jackson 5's fifth single was released, it had already been available to fans for four months as an album cut on the Third Album. There were a couple of things Motown did to call attention to it as a single. First, they gave it the red vinyl treatment to make it stand out to radio disc jockeys.


The second was to issue the regular stock 45 with a picture sleeve, the first and only time Motown gave a Jackson 5 group single this kind of treatment in the United States. This inspired kids like me to buy the 45, even though I had the song, and the lovely cover of "Darling Dear" from the B-side, on my well-played Third Album LP. At that time, I wasn't a sophisticated enough listener to appreciate the superior mono mix; I could only appreciate the full-color glossy photo of The Five in their high-fashion finery.


The song got quite a bit of air play on U.S. radio stations in the early weeks of 1971 and it entered the Billboard Top 100 pop chart the last week in January. Although industry insiders used terms like "new smash hit," "the week's fastest mover," and "sure to be a million seller" when describing the single, it became the first J5 single not to reach Number 1, peaking a month later at Number 2.



Ironically, they were blocked from Number 1 by a song that had been written for them but had been rejected by Berry Gordy. Instead, it was given to the Osmonds, a family group who were striving to remake their image as pop stars, mainly by imitating the Jackson 5's sound. This was the beginning of the rivalry between the two groups that flared for the next few years.

Coming to J5 Collector Next Week

Words, Chords, and Pictures

Back in the early 1970s, daily newspapers regularly printed the lyrics and guitar chords for Top 40 songs. These usually ran in the entertainment section of the Sunday newspaper. When I was a young J5 fan, I would rush to check the entertainment section each Sunday morning to see if they had a J5 song, for two reasons: (1) to read the lyrics that were often difficult to completely understand, even after playing a 45 over and over again, and (2) because the lyrics always included a group photo. The very first photo of the J5 I had on my bedroom wall, in fact, was cut out of the newspaper and it had accompanied the lyrics to "I Want You Back." I watched the newsprint slowly yellow for the next few months while I waited patiently for another photo.

So when I saw this set of newspaper printing plates for "Mama's Pearl" offered on eBay several years ago, I recognized what they were immediately and placed a bid. I was the only bidder. No one else seemed to want them, and I'm not even sure today why I thought I needed them. Maybe it was because my dad was a newspaperman, so I was being hit with two-fisted nostalgia. With changing technology, these sorts of things are going the way of the dinosaur. They will one day be as hard to find as J5 photos were in early 1970.


It's kind of hard to see from the scan above, but for the "Mama's Pearl" lyrics they were still using the same photo they had used for "I Want You Back"more than a year before. It was one of the earliest Motown press photos of the Jackson 5, and it's one of the first photos I ever saw of them. It's the one I used to study when I was learning their names and ages, and deciding that Jermaine was my favorite. I loved that photo.

And because my dad worked for the newspaper and I knew he had access to files of press photos, I used to beg him for a photo of the Jackson 5. Any photo. But a real photo, one that wouldn't turn yellow. He would always say no, he couldn't do that because they didn't belong to him, that would be stealing from the newspaper. But one day, he came home from work and handed me this 8 x 10 glossy:
The newspaper had gotten a duplicate and the librarian said he could have it. I was thrilled to see he had gotten me my favorite photo. It is still my favorite photo for sentimental reasons. And it became the very first item in my Jackson 5 collection.