Live (Remaster) Jackson 5

• 1Can You Feel It06:08
• 2Things I Do for You03:39
• 3Off the Wall03:59
• 4Ben03:52
• 5This Place Hotel04:40
• 6She's Out of My Life04:48
• 7Movie and Rap, Including Excerpts Of:03:05
• 8Medley: I Want You Back / ABC/ The Love You Save02:59
• 9I'll Be There03:11
• 10Rock with You03:58
• 11Lovely One06:29
• 12Working Day and Night06:54
• 13Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough04:23
• 14Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)08:31
• Total Runtime01:06:36

Info for Live (Remaster)

The Jacksons Live! is a live album by The Jacksons released on November 11, 1981, by Epic Records. The album was recorded during their North American tour in fall 1981, known as the Triumph Tour. The live double album was culled from recordings made on the tour's stops in Buffalo, New York; Providence, Rhode Island; Atlanta and New York City. The live album would go on to sell over two million copies worldwide.

The 1981 live show featured songs from the group's album Triumph, two songs from Destiny, a medley of their Motown hits, and five songs from lead singer Michael's solo album Off the Wall.

It certainly sounds like the audience is having a spectacular time at this explosive evening. Mixing hits from Michael's OFF THE WALL (which get the biggest screams) with their then-current hits such as "Shake Your Body," "Lovely One," and "Heartbreak Hotel," the Jacksons provide sheer entertainment.

An introduction via video clip of the boys' early-'70s performance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" leads to the present day brothers breaking in and faux-begging Michael to perform that material--Michael's protestations that "the stuff is old" only adds to the fever which greets him as he performs "I Want You Back," "ABC," and "The Love You Save." The adult Jacksons here tweak their boyhood material, providing an opportunity to hear the group at its best.

The Jacksons
David Williams, guitar
Mike McKinney, bass
Bill Wolfer, keyboards
Jonathan "Sugarfoot" Moffett, drums
East Coast Horns

Recorded August 13, 1981 at Pittsburgh Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, United States
Recorded and mixed by Bill Schnee
Produced by The Jacksons

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.