Return to Hayvenhurst

David Gest, ex-husband of Liza Minelli, grew up next door to the Jackson 5. In this odd YouTube video, he returns to walk down Memory Lane. Unfortunately, no one is home and the front gate is locked -- that is, until Tito shows up and reminds him how they used to scale the fence to sneak in.

¡Hagámoslo Junto!

Elsewhere I have talked about my passion for Latin American pressings of Jackson 5 singles, and my goal of acquiring at least one single from every country in Central and South America, and Mexico.

Even though they don't have picture sleeves, I love the labels showing interesting subsidiaries such as Ebrau and Tapecar (Brazil), Banglad (Chile), and Odeon (Peru), and song titles in Spanish, such as “Quiero que Regreses” (“I Want You Back” from Chile) and “Estaré Allí” ("I’ll Be There" from Peru). I even like it when I get a 45 that some kid in South America had written their name on (Vandu from Brazil, I've got your copy of "Ben.")

I also like to collect singles for songs that were only issued as as foreign pressings in the 7" format, and Latin American countries had their fair share of these. My favorites are "El Tamborilero (Little Drummer Boy)" which was released as a single backed with "Rudolph, el Reno de Nariz Roja" from Venezuela in 1970, and a 1977 pressing from Argentina of "Música del Alegre Tragamonedas (Joyful Jukebox Music)," which was backed with "We're Going to Change Our Style."

The most common Latin American pressings come from Venezuela, Brazil, Chile, and Argentina. I have yet to see one from Uruguay or Paraguay, Guatemala or Honduras. So I got a special thrill last week when I got a copy of "Get it Together (Hagámoslo Junto)" in the mail from El Salvador. It is the first Jackson 5 single I have collected from anywhere in Central America, although I do have a few early Jacksons 45s from Costa Rica -- but that's not quite the same.


The condition, as you can see, is terrible. You can barely read the label, it's so banged up, and there are multiple scratches on both sides. But I don't care. I am just so thrilled to have a Jackson 5 single from Central America that condition doesn't matter that much to me. In fact, I kind of like knowing that some kid in El Salvador was playing the hell out of both "Get It Together" and "Touch" at the same time I was playing these songs, over and over, in the United States.

I still have a long way to go toward my goal of acquiring one 45 from each county, but at least I can now cross El Salvador off my list.

Argentina
Belize
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Ecuador
El Salvador
French Guiana
Guatemala
Guyana
Honduras
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Suriname
Uruguay
Venezuela

"To Yvonne..."

I never met the Jackson 5 in person, so all the autographed items I have added to my collection over the years have been signed for people who will be forever anonymous to me -- with one exception. The autographed 8 x 10 glossy you see here was signed by Jermaine for Yvonne Fair (you have to click on the photo to get an enlarged version in order to see "To Yvonne" written in Jermaine's afro). Fair was a singer who signed with Motown shortly after the Jackson 5 did, and who worked as their opening act in 1971, sandwiched between the Commodores and the Jackson 5.

By the time she signed with Motown, she had already had a long career as a professional, starting in the 1950s as a replacement singer for the Chantels, and then as a featured singer with James Brown from 1962 to 1965. After that she joined the Chuck Jackson Revue for a few years before she signed with Motown. She even had a small role as a raunchy club singer in the 1972 movie Lady Sings the Blues, where she shocked young Billie Holiday (Diana Ross) with her performance of "The Low-Down Shuffle Blues."

We can only imagine how difficult it must have been for her to have paid her dues for so many years, only to be put on the bill with a headlining group whose lead singer had not yet been born when she started in the business. In addition, she had to perform her mature set, night after night, in front of a group of over-excited pre-teens and teens who had already sat through an over-long act by the Commodores, and just wanted her to get off the stage so they could see their idols.

The May 1971 Rolling Stone cover story actually gave quite a bit of ink to Yvonne Fair's opening act in their description of the Jackson 5's January 30 concert in Columbus, Ohio. They recounted this hilarious conversation between Fair and a teenage J5 fan in the audience:

Yvonne: "This song is for like young ladies with men who have a habit of taking everything — we mean from clothes to money to... whatever." She goes into "Piece of My Heart." Then a break. She moves back and points to her stage-prop man, the Commodores' lean young bass player. This is her property, she tells her audience. "He's mine."

Teenage girl: You can have it!

Yvonne: He ain't much, but he's mine. [To bass man, heatedly:] You don't got to go show off!

Girl: He ain't got much to show!

Yvonne: Pose more, honey, pose more.

Girl: He's gonna have to pose a whole lot!

Yvonne: What you see is what you get!

Girl (and friends): Right on!

At Motown she worked with producer Norman Whitfield and she released a few singles, including a great version of "Funky Music Sho' 'Nuff Turns Me On," with backing vocals by Marvin Gaye. But she released just one LP with Motown, The Bitch Is Black, from 1975. Happily, it has recently been reissued on cd. Yvonne Fair was a great singer and deserves to be remembered.

She died in 1994 and took with her the secret of how this autographed photo of Jermaine came into her possession. Sure, she would have been seeing him on a regular basis in 1971, but this photo is a bit later than that. Did Jermaine just assume that, since she was female, she would want an autographed picture of him? Or did she ask him for it? She did, after all, seem to have a thing for "lean young bass players."

Motown Museum

I'll be posting an interview soon with Lina Stephens, the curator of the Motown Museum, but in the meantime, you can take a video tour of the Museum and the J5 exhibit. Check out that front display window! Thanks to xbilliexjeanx1982 for the video link.

Look What the Postman Brought Me!

Ain't Nothin' Like the Real Thing...


...but this will do for now!

Brand New Thing: Jackson 5's Private Photo Album

Ah, the J5 product sleeve, chock full of beautiful things you could order through the mail in the early 1970s. This version of the product sleeve made its first appearance with the Maybe Tomorrow LP, and was included in every subsequent Jackson 5 release, as well as the solo albums made by Michael, Jermaine, and Jackie.

Let's take a look at one of the items included on the back of the product sleeve, the Jackson 5's Private Photo Album. For those of us kids who were hungry for photos of The Five, what could be more enticing?

What You Ordered



What You Got


Okay, the first thing you'd have noticed when you got this in the mail was that it was smaller than expected -- not much bigger than a Jet magazine, and there were just 22 pages total. All of the pictures were printed in black and white on cheap paper stock. Your first reaction would likely have been disappointment. But then you opened it up, and found those 22 pages contained nearly 60 rare photographs that you had never seen before. And most of them were so rare that the J5's Private Photo Album was the only place you'd ever seen them. Here are some sample pages to give you an idea of what it's like.





And what's a family photo album without the embarrassing photo you wouldn't want your friends to see?


All in all, it's one of the top three collectibles from the product sleeve.

Overall Fan Satisfaction:
(Jackson 5)

More Fun on Queens Rd.

Trumble Island has finally posted the rest of the rambling interview with Phil, who lived in the house at 1601 Queens Rd right before the Jackson family did. He talks, among other things, about going to the movies with Suzanne DePasse, breaking a mirror on Mary Wilson's bathroom door, and giving Michael a ride on his motorcycle.

At Home with the Jacksons

Shortly after the family was settled in their second California home in May 1970, they posed for a series of photos that included band members, Johnny Jackson and Ronnie Rancifer as part of the family. I bought these photos several years ago from the Right On! magazine archives. In the first photo you can see that both Randy and Michael are unhappy with Janet, and Mrs. Jackson is completely distracted by something happening off camera to her right in the first two photos. By the third photo, Johnny, Ronnie, and Tito seem to be having their own private party.

Most Wanted: Jackie's Motown Single

Yes, you read that right. You knew that Jackie had a solo album on the Motown label that was released in 1973, but there weren't any singles pulled for it. I have a DJ copy of the album that shows what singles might have been considered for release, as they suggest three album tracks for radio airplay: "Love Don't Want to Leave," "Do I Owe," and "You're the Only One." But in spite of the suggestions, the songs didn't get much, if any, airplay, and Jackie didn't have any Motown solo single releases.



So imagine my surprise when I got a photocopy of a label from a collector in Spain for a single that was issued in Brazil. It was released on the Motown Tapecar label, catalogue number CS-872. The A-side is "Thanks to You" and the B-side is "You're the Only One." I've been looking for this single for more than 20 years now, with not even a hint that there is a second copy in existence somewhere. At least I have the photocopied evidence that it exists!

And, you know, whenever I listen to Jacki's LP, I think the Brazilians may have had it right. "Thanks to You" is one of the strongest songs on the album, and it was a good choice for Jackie's naturally high-pitched voice, unlike his ghastly cover of the Delfonics hit, "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time?)," which pales in comparison to the original. The best song on the album, however, is "Do I Owe," which has such strong backing vocals by the brothers that it could have easily been included on a Jackson 5 LP. And it might have helped Jackie launch his solo career if fans had had a chance to hear an occasional lead from him on the group albums. But I suppose when you're competing against Michael and Jermaine for lead vocals it would be hard to get any air time.

1601 Queens Road

Before they moved into Hayvenhurst, the Jackson family lived briefly in a house at 1601 Queens Road. The photo on the left shows the group posing around the street signs marking the intersection of Queens Road and Hollywood Boulevard. Their house was on that corner.

This morning the Trumble Island blog, for a reason I can't quite figure out, started posting excerpts from an email message one of them received from the man who had rented the same house just before the Jackson 5 lived there. It'll be interesting to see what he remembers from that time. Stay tuned.

Eyes That Say "Welcome"

In the Jackson 5's early years at Motown Tony Jones, cousin of Suzanne DePasse, was put in charge of print publicity for the group, and part of his responsibilities included creating a public image for each boy. The following fact sheet was sent out to teen magazines to help jump-start their introductory articles on the group. I got it as part of a 16 magazine production lot I bought several years ago.


The sizing charts were most likely intended to help with wardrobe for photo shoots, although 16 and Spec both used to regularly print clothing sizes, as if they expected fans to go out and buy clothes for the stars.

Here's how the info Tony Jones sent out translated into teen mag speak:

Spec (Oct 1970)

16 (Nov 1970)

The most interesting detail -- the fact that Tito had "an exceptionally beautiful complexion" -- was never included in the teen magazine reports.

Here's a photo of Tony Jones comparing notes with Jermaine and Jackie:

"Now who would you say is the most serious?"

Michael Monday: P.S. Do You Think 14 Is Too Young to Get Married?

Young Michael Jackson got plenty of fan mail throughout his Motown career. An early press photo shows Michael in his bedroom, next to bag of mail that's almost as big as he was. While it would have been impossible for any of the Jackson 5 to respond personally to even a portion of their weekly boatload of mail, fans who wrote them always had hope that their letter would miraculously slip through, be read, and that we'd get a response. [For the record, Jermaine never responded to any of my letters, but Edmund Sylvers did -- I caught him just as his star was rising.] This, of course, would lead to friendship, love, and a marriage proposal.

These aspirations on the part of the young fans who wrote to Michael were perfectly captured in "Dear Michael," a 1974 song especially written for Michael by Hal Davis and Elliott Willensky. The song was issued on his last Motown solo LP, Forever, Michael, and even inspired the album title, using the closing salutation for the letter he wrote in response. "Dear Michael" was used as the B-side on Michael's last single while at Motown, "Just a Little Bit of You" (M1349F), released on April 29, 1975.

In 1984 when Michael was at the height of his Thriller fame, Kim Fields, the young star of The Facts of Life, recorded a cover version of the song that was released that year on the Critique label. The B-side featured an instrumental version of the song, and the single was released with a picture sleeve showing Kim smiling through her braces.


Her record didn't exactly set the world on fire or launch a long career in music for her, but it did at least get her a guest appearance on Soul Train. Today it is one of the kitchy-est J5 collectibles.

Jackson 5 at the 1973 Grammys

The Jackson 5 put in an appearance on the 1973 Grammy Awards, presenting the award for Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance By a Duo or Group. They actually sang a small selection of each of the nominated songs, which gives us a tantalizing taste of what a cover version of each song would have been like.



It was not a perfect performance -- poor Randy dropped the microphone at the dramatic moment when the winner was to have been revealed, and for some reason Jermaine wasn't with them. But it's fun to watch in any case.

Concert Posters: Real or Fake?

I bought this concert poster a number of years ago from a 1968 performance by the Jackson Five (and a long-forgotten group named Gadget), and I'm pretty sure it's genuine for a number of reasons. First is the battered condition. I'm always suspicious of concert posters in pristine condition. This one shows normal wear and tear, as well as evidence it had been taped up in a store window at some point, as each corner has marks where the paper has been pulled away when it was removed from display.


Second, the description of the Jackson 5 as a group is strong evidence of authenticity. They are cited as "Motown Recording Stars" as they often were in ads from 1968, even though they had not yet started recording for Motown. Most intriguing is the caption "with five musicians and three singers and dancers." The "three singers and dancers" were probably Michael, Marlon, and Jackie, and three of the musicians would have been Jermaine, Tito and Johnny. But who were the other two? I don't think Ronnie had joined the group yet., but even if he had, that still leaves one mystery musician.

Just for comparison, here's an example of a fake concert poster:


There is all kinds of evidence this is fake, the strongest being that Diana Ross had long since left the Supremes to pursue a solo career, not to mention the unlikelihood that she would have taken second billing to her protegees. And the fact that there are, like, a million of these posters for sale on eBay any given week also shows that it is being mass produced for sales to unsuspecting fans. Give me the stained, battered, unillustrated but authentic poster any day.

Stand! on Jackson 5 Live at the Forum

Be sure not to miss today's entry on the fabulous Jackson 5 Live site. They give us a clip -- and the back story -- from "Stand!" the performance left off the 1970 concert disc because they were having sound problems. It's great to hear this rare clip -- and this may be your only chance.

Dad, Are You Sure We Can't Pick Up Hitchhikers?

The Jackson 5's early years at Motown saw some unusually creative photo-shoots, particularly ones shot outdoors. This is one of my favorites.

Lost in Translation

That's Admiral Michael Jackson to you!

J5 Fashion Friday: Wardrobe Malfunction

My all-time favorite television performance by the Jackson 5 was the one they did for a musical variety special called Hellzapoppin', which aired on March 1, 1972. They performed three songs. First up was a rousing version of "Sugar Daddy." Check out the jumps in the dancing at the end of the number:



Their second number was a medley that began with a full version of Michael's first solo single "Got to Be There." Michael's voice is wonderful here, and the backing vocals by his brothers are superb. It's great to hear it without the annoying double-tracking that was used on the vinyl release, which made Michael sound like he was singing in an echo chamber. Mid-way through the performance, they raise the tempo, kick up the dancing, and sing an original song, "Brand New Thing," something they performed in concert to introduce little brother, Randy. He was just ten at the time, and it was his first appearance on television. You would never know it from the polished performance he turns in, owning the stage from the moment he struts in, gives Jermaine some skin, and then dances over to his conga drums for a percussive solo. Seeing this, it's not so hard to imagine that just six years later he would co-write the Jacksons' hit "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" with his big brother, Michael.



And Randy is cute as can be, in his little orange sailor suit. Which brings us to our Fashion Friday. (You knew I'd get there, right?) Randy's sailor suit was actually part of a matched set of costumes, designed for the brothers to wear on the show. A photo spread in the April 1972 issue of Star! showed the brothers performing in these matching outfits, and included color pin ups of Michael and Jermaine wearing the orange suits.






But when the show aired, only Randy's orange costume remained. We can only guess that the photos used in Star! were taken at a dress rehearsal, and that, for some reason, they were switched out before final filming. If you look at the set behind them in these photos or on the Youtube clips, it's pretty clear that the costumes were designed to go with the set. And perhaps that was the issue -- they went with the set too well, so well, in fact, that the brothers were indistinguishable from it. Talk about blending in with the scenery!

16 magazine also featured a photo spread from Hellzapoppin', but their reporter apparently stayed past the run-through. Like Star!, they discussed the brothers' "dandy duds" with the usual purple prose, but they were, at least, describing the costumes the rest of us saw.