“Someone Picked You From The Bunch/One Glance Was All It Took…”
Let’s go back to the beginning.
We critics always talk about artists as the sum of their parts, how well they created their own style out of their influences. When you see this clip of I Want You Back, you hear why Michael Jackson couldn’t become anything other than a megastar.
I listened to this about five times yesterday, and finally hit upon the reason. As a singer, Jackson took bits and pieces of pretty much every major Motown star in this one song. I couldn’t find Martha and The Vandellas or Mary Wells, but follow along…
0:21 The first note we ever hear out of him is a whine worthy of Smokey Robinson.
0:30 Singing right up against the beat in the first verse (listen to the phrasing on “had you to myself” and “picked you from the bunch.” Think Marvin Gaye in songs like I’ll Be Doggone or Ain’t That Peculiar.
0:51 Was the attempt to channel Levi Stubbs on the emphasized “Oh” on the first chorus just a fluke? Hell, no. Wait for it.
1:54 Gaye’s phrasing with another attempt at Stubbs’s grit on “Now that I’ve seen you in his arms,” followed by another Smokey whine, which segues effortlessly into…
2:00 …Wordless vocals straight out of Sly & The Family Stone (not a Motown act, of course, but it shows The Corporation was listening).
2:09 The first “All I want/All I need.” Sweet and innocent like Diana Ross. But it all builds up to…
2:17 ALL I NEEEEEED!!!!! The kid nails Stubbs’ greatest moment, the a cappella shout in Bernadette.
2:34 After more Stubbs on the “Baby”’s he uses his melisma to climb up on “let you go-oh-oh” instead of down. Where the fuck did that come from? Forty years on, that moment is still remarkable.
2:49 Those “Hahs” and “Ows” that close out the song let James Brown know that there’s a new sherriff in town.
Let’s not forget the backing vocals and choreography straight out of The Temptations, and you have the previous ten years of Motown encapsulated in less than three minutes.
Now remember this:
HE!
WAS!
TEN!
Ed gives us the last word.
“The little fella in front is incredible”
I love this post. That is all.