Great artists don't develop in a vacuum, they stand on a foundation build by those who came before them, and Michael Jackson was no exception.
If you are a true fan of an artist, it is always worthwhile to discover some of the artists who influenced your hero. Interviews are a great way to discover an artist's influences, but you can also develop an eye and ear for it -- in Michael Jackson's case that is a very effective method.
Once you discover who influenced your favorite artists, a whole new world can open up for you.
Dancing
This was a great surprise as I was preparing this post. I thought I would need to dig deep into YouTube to find clips from several dancers to show the foundation upon which Michael Jackson created his magnificent artistry. It turned out some wonderful YouTuber had already done a fantastic job! I suspect some of you will be quite surprised.
Singing
Micheal Jackson was born in 1958, and as we know he had a house full of older brothers and a father who was determined to get them into the music business. Clearly they were studying what worked, and trying to master it -- as you can see in the above clip of Michael's audition tape dancing like James Brown.
In 1964 he would have been 5 or 6 when both of these hits by Little Anthony and the Imperials came out -- at a time when music and entertaining were coming alive for him. Listen to the voice, but also notice hand and arm gestures for dramatic impact.
Little Anthony
Jackie Wilson
Here we know the Jackson Five covered his songs & there's this from Michael himself
Micheal Jackson, like a true artist, internalized those influences and made them his own special amalgam.
I've interviewed three great session musicians who recorded with Michael Jackson, and I want to share something I think you Michael Jackson fans will appreciate. Here is a bit of my interview with the great guitarist Louie Shelton. How many people can say they recorded with Elvis, John Lennon, Micheal Jackson, and Marvin Gaye? We had just finished speaking about Elvis, the King of Rock and Roll, and I then asked him about...
Early Michael Jackson
Alan Bryson: Of course he was the king of rock & roll, but you also got to meet Michael Jackson, the king of pop, back when he was a little kid. What kind of impression did he make on you?
Louie Shelton: He blew me away. For the Motown sessions the artists generally weren't there, it was just the writers and the producers. So we'd put the tracks together without even hearing how the song went. But I was fortunate because they had called me down to do a guitar overdub and Michael was there doing the vocal on "I Want You Back." So, other than the producer, I was probably one of the only people who got to see him sing that live in the studio.
And I was absolutely blown away by what I was seeing. He was out there on the mic and I think he was 11 years old at the time, and he was singing so great, with such energy, conviction, feel, pitch—everything, and doing it with every ounce of his little body. I was already stoked to be able to play on the Motown sessions anyway, because I was such a big fan of all their other artists, we'd played their music in the clubs all those years. There was a certain groove and feel that always came out on the Motown stuff. It came from a deep place because I had such an appreciation for that Motown sound, and now I could come up with some licks and be part of the groove—it was a unique pleasure for me. Michael was an incredible talent right through all the records we made with the Jackson Five, and later on the stuff he did with Quincy, you put that stuff on now, man, and it will still get a crowd going in a second. Great stuff.
Alan Bryson: Quincy did an amazing job on Thriller and Bad.
Louie Shelton: Again, that was this new crop of musicians, like Greg Phillinganes. And then bringing Eddie Van Halen in to do a guitar solo on "Beat It," it was outrageous, one of the best I've ever heard on record.
Alan Bryson: And on "Bad," I think Quincy had Jimmy Smith come in.
Louie Shelton: Really? I didn't know about that!
