It was Gladys Knight who first made a call to legendary Motown founder Berry Gordy to tell him about an exciting new act she had overheard from her dressing room on the second floor of the Regal Theater, Chicago. Gordy never returned that call but a short time late Motown was approached again, this time by Bobby Taylor of Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers who told A&R Vice President Ralph Seltzer about this sensational act that had opened for them at the High Chaparral club. So it came to pass that the Jackson Five – for it was they – went to Detroit to audition for Motown, and Gordy signed them up right away.
In October 1969, the Jackson Five’s first national single, I Want You Back, was released, and became their first number one hit on 30ᵗʰ January 1970. It was performed on the band’s first television appearances on Diana Ross’s The Hollywood Palace and on their milestone performance of 14ᵗʰ December 1969, on The Ed Sullivan Show.
The song was written and produced by the production team known as The Corporation, comprising Motown chief Berry Gordy himself, Freddie Perren, Alphonso Mizell, and Deke Richards. Originally considered for Gladys Knight & the Pips and later for Diana Ross, the song was re-worked to suit its main lead vocal being performed by a tween, the then-11-year-old Michael Jackson. Here’s Jackie Jackson’s memory of the event:
“I remember going into the Motown studio and hearing the track coming through the big studio monitors right in our face,” says Jackie Jackson. “It was slamming. The intro was so strong. Berry always taught us to have a strong intro to get people’s attention right away. And I remember the Corporation teaching us the song. Michael picked it up so fast; it was easy to learn for all of us. They kept changing it here and there for the better. We told them it was great, but the next day Freddie and Fonce added more things to it. They wanted to make it perfect. Michael did these ad-libs at the end of the song. They didn’t teach him that; he just made up his own stuff.”
And “slamming”, it certainly was: an exuberant pop masterpiece that remains one of my favourite all-time songs. It’s joyful – even if it is about a lover who is ruing his hastiness in dropping his girl! Enjoy the whole package here: the glorious costumes, the boys’ voluminous Afros, the well-rehearsed dance moves, and of course the genius of Michael Jackson manifested at a precociously young age. Recorded in the Goin’ Back To Indiana TV special in 1971.
