Tales From The Cut-Out Bin: The Jackson 5 "Pre-History" (1968/1996)

The Jackson Five, in their early days, looking like they’re about to go up on a Battle of the Bands against Jr. and his Soulettes.

Welcome to another edition of my Tales From The Cut-Out Bin series, where I look at records that have languished in the racks and dive deep into their history. I’ve been a bit behind in posting new editions, so I’ve got plenty to catch up on (and for you to catch up on reading!)

This week I thought I’d delve into the fascinating yet confusing story behind the Jackson 5’s pre-Motown recordings. And believe me, it’s complicated, but hidden in there are some truly fantastic songs, some great records and some awful eighties productions. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Our story starts back in 1966, when local Gary, Indiana entrepreneur Gordon Keith, along with four friends, started the Steeltown label. Gary was a surprisingly fertile region for local soul and rhythm and blues talent, and Keith and his pals thought they’d take advantage of the available talent in search of a big break. According to Keith, each of the involved parties (him and his four friends) used their status at the label to separately hone, sign and record talent from the region, independently of one another.

At the same time, Gary resident Joe Jackson was looking for a label for his family group, which consisted of his grade school and pre-teen sons Jackie, Tito, Marlon, Jermaine and nine-year old vocalist Michael. The group has formed at some point around 1964-65, when amateur musician Joe found son Tito playing with his guitar after a string broke. Knowing what we know now of Joe’s temperamental nature, it seems downright surprising that he didn’t violently punish his son, but apparently bought him his own guitar instead (of course, this could all be just legend - none of us were there, so who knows. And if there’s one thing you’ll soon find out in the confusing story of the Jacksons, there’s more legend than facts.)