The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972.
The Corporation was a group of songwriters and record producers assembled in 1969 by Motown label head Berry Gordy to create hit records for the label's new act, The Jackson 5.
"Hum Along and Dance" is a soul song written for the Motown label by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. Originally recorded by the Temptations, the song was later covered by Motown acts Rare Earth and the Jackson 5. The song is essentially an instrumental piece and a vehicle for scatting and improvisational vocals, since, as the chorus states, "ain't no words to this song/you just dance and hum along". The versions by the Temptations and by Rare Earth were produced by Whitfield.
"Pride and Joy" is a 1963 single by Marvin Gaye, released on the Tamla label. The single, co-written by William "Mickey" Stevenson, Gaye and Norman Whitfield, and produced by Stevenson, was considered to be a tribute to Gaye's then-girlfriend, Anna Gordy. The album version of the single featured on Gaye's second album, That Stubborn Kinda Fellow is different in parts to the single version presenting a more jazz effect than the gospel-emulated version that became a single. The song was also Gaye's first top ten pop single peaking at number ten on the chart and just missed the top spot of the R&B singles chart peaking at number two. The song also helped continue Gaye's successful hit streak as the singer would score another Top 40 pop hit at the end of that year with "Can I Get a Witness".
Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5 is the debut studio album from by the American soul family band The Jackson 5. It was released on December 12, 1969 by Motown. The Jackson 5's lead singer, a preadolescent Michael Jackson and his four older brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon, became pop successes within months of this album's release. Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5's only single, "I Want You Back", became a number-one hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 within weeks of the album's release. The album reached number 5 on the US Pop Albums chart, and spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the US R&B/Black Albums charts. To date, the Jackson 5's debut album has sold estimated 5 million copies worldwide.
Ben is the second studio album by the American singer Michael Jackson, released by Motown Records on August 4, 1972, while Jackson was still a member of the Jackson 5. It received mixed reviews from contemporary music critics. Ben, however, was more successful on the music charts than Jackson's previous studio album, peaking within the top 10 on the Billboard 200 in the United States. Internationally, the album was less successful, peaking at number 12 in Canada, while charting within the top 200 positions in Australia and France.
Skywriter is the seventh studio album by The Jackson 5, released by Motown on March 29, 1973. Skywriter has sold a estimated 2.8 million copies worldwide since its release.
G.I.T.: Get It Together is the eighth studio album by the Jackson 5, released on September 12, 1973 for the Motown label. The album featured the minor hit "Get It Together" and the original version of the subsequent major hit "Dancing Machine", which was later re-released in edited form on a tie-in album of the same name. Get It Together has sold an estimated two million copies worldwide since its release.
Dancing Machine is the ninth studio album released by the Motown quintet the Jackson 5, on September 5, 1974. The album's title track was a No. 2 pop hit and a No. 1 R&B hit in the United States. The group released two additional singles from the album: the funky "Whatever You Got, I Want" and the group's last US Top 20 hit for Motown, "I Am Love". To date, the Album "Dancing Machine" has sold approximately 2.6 million copies worldwide.
Moving Violation is the tenth studio album by the Jackson 5 and has sold 1.6 million copies worldwide, it was their final studio album on Motown Records, released on May 15, 1975. Aiming at the developing disco market, the group's funk-based version of Diana Ross & the Supremes' 1968 single "Forever Came Today" was a club hit, while the single's B-side, the R&B ballad "All I Do Is Think of You", became a popular and frequently covered song in its own right.
Soulsation! is a 4-CD box set of music recorded by the Jackson 5 during their tenure at Motown Records from 1969 to 1975, before leaving Motown for CBS Records. The box set was released in 1995 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Jackson 5 becoming the first group to have its first four singles go straight to number 1 on the US Billboard charts. Soulsation! included an introduction from the group's sister Janet, liner notes from David Ritz, and an essay from the brothers' first producer, Bobby Taylor. The fourth disc features 17 previously unreleased songs, most recorded from mid-1969 to early 1972. The set also includes solo numbers from brothers Michael, Jermaine, and Jackie.
David T. Walker is an American soul/R&B, and jazz guitarist. In addition to numerous session musician duties since the early 1970s, Walker has issued fifteen albums in his own name.
"20 Golden Greats" is a compilation album by Diana Ross, released on the Motown label in Europe in 1979. Although Ross had scored 22 single hits in the UK since leaving The Supremes in 1970, the album only contained the 18 solo tracks that had charted for Ross in the UK, together with the two tracks that had charted in partnership with Marvin Gaye. Both the hit singles "Ease on Down the Road" and "Pops, We Love You" were excluded in favour of solo hits. By the time the album was released, Ross had already scored her 23rd post-Supremes hit single with It's My House, which was thus not included. The album was released just two years after the 20 Golden Greats compilation featuring 18 of her 21 UK hits with The Supremes. The album was certified Platinum in the U.K for sales in excess of 300,000 copies. By February 1980, the album had sold 990,000 units in the UK alone.
Looking Back to Yesterday is a compilation album released on February 11, 1986, featuring tracks from American singer Michael Jackson during his tenure at Motown in the late 1960s and early 1970s, both by himself and with The Jackson 5. As part of Motown's Never-Before-Released series, all songs were previously unreleased except for "Love's Gone Bad" and "I Was Made to Love Her"; alternate, longer versions had already been released in 1979 on the Jackson 5 compilation Boogie.
Renaissance is a 1973 album by R&B group The Miracles on Motown Records' Tamla label. It was the first album by the group not to feature original lead singer Smokey Robinson on lead vocals, instead featuring him as executive producer. Robinson was replaced by lead singer Billy Griffin.
Motown Chartbusters is a series of compilation albums first released by EMI under licence on the Tamla Motown label in Britain. In total, 12 editions were released in the UK between 1967 and 1982. Volumes 1 and 2 were originally called British Motown Chartbusters; after this the title Motown Chartbusters was used.
Jackie Jackson is the self-titled debut album from Jackie Jackson, the eldest member of the Jackson 5, released on Motown Records in October 1973, a month after G.I.T.: Get It Together. It was arranged by Eddy Manson, Gene Page and the Corporation.
Boogie is a compilation album of both previously released and unreleased tracks by American band the Jackson 5. It was released by the Motown label on January 16, 1979, after the release of the Jacksons studio album Destiny (1978) a month earlier. Boogie is considered the rarest of all Jackson 5/Jacksons releases, as not many albums were pressed and fewer were sold at the time.
The Michael Jackson Mix is a compilation album by American singer and recording artist Michael Jackson, released in 1987. Available as a double LP, double cassette and double CD, the album contains 40 songs from Jackson's Motown career – solo and with The Jackson 5 – edited together in four separate megamixes: "Love Mix 1" and "Love Mix 2" on the first LP, cassette and CD, and "Dance Mix 1" and "Dance Mix 2" on the second LP, cassette and CD.
Art Stewart is an American record producer, audio engineer, and composer who has worked on many Motown recordings. He worked on the Blue album by Diana Ross, and recordings by Teena Marie, including her Wild and Peaceful album, released in 1979. With Marvin Gaye, he has worked on the Let's Get It On album and Gaye's single "Got to Give It Up". He has also worked with Rick James on his Motown debut album Come Get It!, and his second Motown album, Bustin' Out of L Seven.
