Christmas Album Jackson 5

• 1Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas05:22
• 2Santa Claus Is Coming To Town02:28
• 3The Christmas Song02:56
• 4Up On The House Top03:20
• 5Frosty The Snowman02:42
• 6Little Drummer Boy03:19
• 7Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer02:37
• 8Christmas Won't Be The Same This Year02:34
• 9Give Love On Christmas Day03:08
• 10Someday At Christmas02:48
• 11I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus03:02
• Total Runtime34:16

Info for Christmas Album

Most of the Motown artists found time to record one, sometimes two or three albums for Christmas, and the young Jackson 5 were obviously candidates for being added to the list. The fact that the boys were Jehovah's Witnesses (and therefore didn't celebrate birthdays or Christmas), changed nothing.

The resulting album, usual mix of covers and original songs, became a classic Jackson 5's album. Energetic, enthusiastic, soulful, with vocals harmonizing all acute. The album begins with the ballad 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas', performed by Jermaine Jackson with his brothers in the chorus. The song ends with a beautiful 'We Wish You A Merry Christmas' by the whole group. Then follows the dynamic hit 'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town' by Michael, Christmas Song by Jermaine including a sample of 'Jingle Bells' in the end, Up To The Housetop, also inspired by 'Jingle Bells' and the bell sound of 'Big Ben'. The Corporation, composed 'Give Love On Christmas Day'.

Before 1973, Billboard excluded Christmas Albums from the main charts and, instead, suggested a Christmas special hit-parade during the holiday season. Christmas Album topped these charts, each year from 1970 to 1973 and again in 1983. He topped # 2 in 1971, accumulating 6 weeks in first place, and a total of 16 weeks ranked. The US single from the album was 'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town', the most popular song of Christmas . Again, the track topped the Billboard's Christmas Chart, in 1970 and 1971, and # 9 in 1973. In New Zealand, 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus' was released as a single. In England, an special EP was proposed with the title 'Merry Christmas From Michael Jackson With The Jackson 5' in 1987. There were also other kind of EP, released in Brazil, Holland ... all the more rare than the other (see video below).

In 1973, a compilation entitled 'A Motown Christmas' was released, including titles of Christmas sung by Motown artists. The unreleased track 'Little Christmas Tree' was proposed for the first time, then also on the CD reissue released in 2003, called 'Century Master Collection'.

„After three consecutive Top Five Pop albums in 1970 alone, it was somewhat of a no-brainer that Motown would want to include a holiday long-player to that list. The Jackson 5 Christmas Album (1970) combines classic favorites as well as a handful of compositions penned by the Corporation. This all-star team of Motown staffers and musicians boasted composer Bobby Taylor, Deke Richards (guitar), Freddie Perren (keyboard), Fonce Mizell (keyboards), and label co-founder Berry Gordy. As they had done for each of the Jackson 5's previous platters, they carefully crafted and significantly modernized familiar seasonal selections. Leading off the effort is an unusual (for a pop act, anyway) two-part interpretation of 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,' commencing with a fairly rote reading before kicking into gear during a fittingly R&B-inspired coda. They follow with an undeniably soulful update of 'Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town,' and the fun and funky 'Up on the Rooftop' that also adds instrumental elements of their hit 'The Love You Save' with a few bars of 'Here Comes Santa Claus' likewise worked into the mix. 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' is another standard that has been infused with a fresh spirit, once again yielding a well-chosen and adeptly executed revision. Although not as drastically overhauled, 'Frosty the Snowman' and 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus' are nonetheless thoroughly enjoyable.“ (Lindsay Planer, AMG)

Jackson 5

Produced by The Corporation

Digitally remastered

The Jackson 5
were one of the biggest phenomenons in pop music during the early '70s, and the last great group to come out of the Motown hitmaking machine before Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder shifted the label's focus to more individual visions. The Jackson 5's infectious brand of funky pop-soul was a definite departure from the typically smooth, elegant Motown sound, as befitting the group's youth and the dawn of a new decade. That youth, coupled with the merchandising juggernaut that sprang up behind them, inevitably got them tagged a bubblegum group. But they were far more talented musically than that label would suggest, especially lead singer Michael, and their material, while sunny and upbeat, didn't pander to its audience. Solo careers and overexposure gradually weakened the Jackson 5, but their best music still holds up surprisingly well as some of the most vibrant mainstream pop/R&B of its era.

Originally, the Jackson 5 were composed of brothers Jackie (born Sigmund Jackson, May 4, 1951), Tito (guitar, born Toriano Jackson, October 15, 1953), Jermaine (bass, lead vocals, born December 11, 1954), Marlon (born March 12, 1957), and Michael (lead vocals, born August 29, 1958). By all accounts, the Jackson family's upbringing in Gary, IN, was strict; their mother Katherine was a devout Jehovah's Witness, and their father Joe was a stern, temperamental disciplinarian. Allowed few outside interests, the boys gravitated to music, which was in their blood -- prior to his job as a crane operator for a steel company, Joe had played guitar in an R&B group called the Falcons (not the same group that launched Wilson Pickett's career). One night, Joe discovered that Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine had been playing his treasured old guitar without permission; though initially furious, he quickly discovered that his sons had genuine talent, and began to conceive of a family singing group that might eventually get them out of their tough working-class life in Gary. The eldest three sons began performing around the area together in 1962, teamed with two cousins (Johnny Jackson and Ronnie Rancifer), who were replaced by Marlon and five-year-old Michael. Supervised by Joe, who became their manager and began working only part-time, the group practiced and rehearsed often, and improved as dancers, singers, and instrumentalists at a rapid rate. In particular, Michael proved himself a dynamic performer, soon replacing Jermaine as the featured lead vocalist, and establishing himself as a nimble dancer able to mimic talents like James Brown. At first, the group was known as Ripples & Waves Plus Michael, then the Jackson Brothers, and finally the Jackson 5.

In 1966, the Jackson 5 won an important local talent competition with a Michael-led rendition of the Temptations' "My Girl." Their father, who had been chauffeuring them to out-of-state performances, also booked their first paid professional gigs that year. In 1967, the group won an amateur talent competition at Harlem's legendary Apollo Theater, where they earned an influential fan in Gladys Knight (probably the first person to recommend the group to Motown). At the end of the year, the Jackson 5 made their first studio recordings for the small Gary-based Steeltown label, and their single "Big Boy" became something of a local hit. Championed again to Motown by Bobby Taylor, a member of the Vancouvers who'd seen the group in Chicago, and Diana Ross, the Jackson 5 finally got a chance to audition for the label in the summer of 1968. Desperately needing new blood, an impressed Berry Gordy signed the group and flew them out to his new headquarters in Los Angeles, where he and his assistants groomed them to be the label's next breakout stars. Having lost his famed Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team, Gordy formed a new partnership with Freddie Perren, Fonce Mizell, and Deke Richards dubbed the Corporation, which set about crafting material for the group.

In August 1969, shortly before Michael turned 11, the Jackson 5 opened for Diana Ross at the L.A. Forum, and in December, they issued their debut album, Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5. On October 7, 1969, the Jackson 5 released their first single, "I Want You Back," a Corporation composition that had originally been intended for Gladys Knight. It was an instant smash, hitting number one on both the pop and R&B charts. So did their next two singles, "ABC" and "The Love You Save" (both from their second album, ABC), which solidified the group's so-called bubblegum-soul sound and certified them as pop sensations. Third Album was released before year's end, spawning the hit ballad "I'll Be There," which not only proved that the group (and lead singer Michael) were more mature and versatile than their bright, bouncy initial singles let on, but also made them the first group in pop history to have their first four singles hit number one. It also became the best-selling single in Motown history, spending a stellar five weeks at number one. And it had still been less than a year since the group's national debut.

This album contains no booklet.