| GOT TO BE THERE January 24 1972 | |
 | Got to Be There is the solo debut album by Michael Jackson, released by Motown Records on January 24, 1972. It includes the song of the same name, which was released in the October 7, 1971 as Jackson's debut solo single. It would go on to sell over 5.2 million copies worldwide. The album was later remastered and reissued in 2009 as part of the 3-disc compilation Hello World: The Motown Solo Collection. |
The album peaked at number fourteen on the US pop albums chart and number three on the US R&B album chart when it was released. Tracking List 1. Ain't No Sunshine 2. I Wanna Be Where You Are (Recorded November 1971) 3. Girl Don't Take Your Love from Me 4. In Our Small Way 5. Got to Be There 6. Rockin' Robin 7. Wings of My Love 8. Maria 9. Love Is Here and Now You're Gone 10.You've Got a Friend | |
| BEN August 4 1972 | |
 | Ben is the second studio album by American recording artist Michael Jackson. The album was released on August 4, 1972, while Jackson was still a member of The Jackson 5. Ben was more successful on music charts than Jackson's previous studio album, having charted within the top ten on the Billboard 200. Internationally, the album was less successful, peaking at number twelve in Canada, while charting within the top 200 positions in Australia and France. |
Worldwide, Ben has sold a reported five million units. The album released one single, the title track "Ben", which was a commercial success on music charts, peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Jackson his first number one single on the chart. "Ben" also charted within the top ten in other territories worldwide. "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" was planned to be released as the second single from the album, but canceled for unspecified reasons. Two of the album's songs were "stripped" in 2009 as part of the three-disc compilation Hello World: The Motown Solo Collection. It was produced by six people, and executively produced by Berry Gordy, Jr. Songwriters for the eleven tracks Ben has include , Mel Larson, Jerry Marcellino, Thom Bell, Linda Creed, The Corporation, Smokey Robinson, and Ronald White, among others. Ben has R&B, contemporary pop rock and soul musical styles. The album's title track, which was the theme song for the 1972 film of the same name (the sequel to the 1971 killer rat movie Willard), won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song. Track Listing: 1. Ben 2. Greatest Show on Earth 3. People Make the World Go 'Round 4. We've Got a Good Thing Going 5. Everybody's Somebody's Fool 6. My Girl 7. What Goes Around Comes Around 8. In Our Small Way 9. Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day 10.You Can Cry on My Shoulder | |
| MUSIC & ME 1973 | |
 | Music & Me was the third solo album by American singer Michael Jackson, released in 1973 on the Motown label, selling four million copies worldwide.[3] The album was reissued in 2009 as part of the 3-disc compilation Hello World: The Motown Solo Collection. The album was released during a difficult period for Jackson, who was 14 years old at the time, as he was experiencing vocal changes and facing a changing music landscape. Having been influenced by fellow Motown label mates Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, Jackson wanted to include his own compositions on the album, but Motown refused to allow this. |
Despite featuring a photo of Jackson strumming an acoustic guitar on the album cover, he does not actually play an instrument on the album. Jackson would later express his frustrations about this to his father, Joe Jackson, who would later work to terminate Michael and his brother's contract with Motown, and negotiate lucrative contracts for them with Epic Records. Since Jackson was on a world tour with his brothers as a member of The Jackson 5, promotion on this album was limited. The Stevie Wonder cover, "With a Child's Heart", was released as a single in the United States, where it reached #14 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and #50 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart. Two additional songs ("Music and Me" and "Morning Glow") were released as singles in the UK, but they failed to chart. Another track, "Too Young", was released as a single in Italy, while the track "Happy" was a single in Australia and "Doggin' Around" was a limited-release single in Holland. Ten years after this album's release, "Happy" was released as a single in the UK to promote Motown's 18 Greatest Hits compilation album.[4] For the compact disc issues of the album, the text on the album was changed and the shade of green was darker. After this release, Jackson took two years to work on a follow-up album that focused on his maturing voice which became, Forever, Michael. Track Listing: 1. With a Child's Heart 2. Up Again 3. All the Things You Are 4. Happy 5. Too Young 6. Doggin' Around 7. Johnny Raven 8. Euphoria 9. Morning Glow 10.Music and Me | |
| FOREVER MICHAEL 1975 | |
 |
Forever, Michael is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Michael Jackson. The album, which was released in 1975, was the fourth and last studio album by him to be released by Motown Records. Forever, Michael was generally well received by contemporary music critics. Unlike Jackson's previous studio albums released within the 1970s, the album was not commercially successful worldwide. Except for the peak position of number one-hundred-one on the Billboard 200 and number ten on a Billboard component chart in the United States, the album did not chart on any music charts. The album has reportedly sold over four million copies worldwide since its release. |
The album, with the length of over thirty minutes, is credited as having material with R&B, pop, soul and pop rock material. Edward Holland, Jr., Brian Holland, Hal Davis, Freddie Perren, Sam Brown III served as producers to Forever, Michael. As part of promotion for the album, three singles were released from Forever, Michael, all of which were moderate commercial successes on the Billboard Hot 100 and other music charts worldwide. Songs from the album were reissued in 2009 after Jackson's death in June of the same year as part of the 3-disc compilation album entitled, Hello World: The Motown Solo Collection. Most of the tracks were recorded in 1974, and the album was originally set to be released that year. However, because of demand from the Jackson 5's huge hit "Dancing Machine", production on Jackson's album was delayed until the hype from that song died down. In 1981, Motown released "One Day in Your Life" as a single, coupled with the One Day in Your Life compilation album release, to capitalize off Jackson's Off the Wall success on Epic. The single went to number one in the UK, becoming the 6th best-selling single of 1981 in the UK. This is the only Jackson studio album that doesn't share a name with one of the songs on the album. The compact disc version of the album removes the white border around the photograph of Jackson from the album cover, and instead makes the image larger so that the background can not be seen. Furthermore, the "FOREVER, MICHAEL" text is changed to more simple text which lists both "MICHAEL JACKSON" and "Forever, Michael" in a different font. Track Listing: 1. We're Almost There 2. Take Me Back 3. One Day in Your Life 4. Cinderella Stay Awhile 5. We've Got Forever 6. Just a Little Bit of You 7. You Are There 8. Dapper Dan 9. Dear Michael 10.I'll Come Home to You |
|
