Rolling Stone November 26, 1970

JACKSON FIVE : THE BIGGEST THING SINCE THE STONES
Vince Aletti


New York - A a certain moment, during the concert of Jackson 5 in Madison Public garden Garden, last on October 9, a young girl of 9 or 10 years, upright on its armchair opposite us turned to one of his/her young friends and, seizing the hand of the other girl, very excited, “Direction my heart tells him!”. And it is all of which it was question: palpitations. I had never heard such enthusiastic and impassioned cries, to be able moreover it, since Rolling Stones, on scene in Academy of Music of New York in 1965. The police force kept the scene, people were ammassaient on the sides, the girls climbed, unrestrained, by pushing cries boring, over the seats, to approach. It is still one of these great Phenomena, see you, and a letter of fan is more suitable than a criticism.

Jackson 5 had not returned to New York since more than one year, during which they passed (passed… by a succession the individual ones sold to million specimens and three albums since the beginning of the year) from a position of 3 minutes substitute at the time of the ceremony of Miss Black America (it also in Madison Square Garden) to a musical act which can fill this immense room in less than one week with sale of tickets. With the promotional countryside entrusted to the largest black radio of New York, WWRL (whose organizers pass in mass, the whole of the songs in the concert), and one or two publicities in the press, the show, without efforts, given to guiché was closed, with an audience almost exclusively black. The average age of Jackson 5 is approximately 15 years (Michael, the leader is 10 years old, Marlon, 13 years, Jermaine, 15 years, Tito, 17 years and Jackie 19 years). The average age of the public of Madison Square Garden seemed to be the same one, giving place to an identification so large that the half of the audience seemed astounded to see its astonishing beauty in mirroir it for the first time. And it was astonishing. First of all, visually: the five brothers are beautiful, or perhaps only nice, but they have a total control. There are nothing embarrassement usual children stars, it acts there rather of an astonishing insurance of young men. When Michael punctuated her resumption of “Who' S Lovin' You” with a series of gestural thanks (a standard gesture in the R&B, and which plait with the public) one is struck less by her precocity than by her perfection, its professionalism; and the girls melted with their cries of happiness. Throughout the concert, Jackie was in the center, flanked of Marlon and Michael for dances of routine uninterrupted, the three dancers flanked to them-even of one Tito to the guitar and one Jermaine to low (with a beater behind and an organist behind on the line, both cousins of J5). (An additional remark - and the black performers were always strongly due to the importance of their image, the gesture, the routine: clothing of Jackson 5 is the finest hippy objects that I boards never seen, while remaining faithful to the colors and textures of the black mode. For example, very coloured combinations made up of Indian fabrics embroidered on chartreuse ranges by Marlon, or the pink cap flashy of Tito fringué of an overall. At the same time characteristic of a white influence on the black musical style, and the persistence of its completely black gasoline.) Hardly they had struck the audience with this immediate visual blow which they started “Stand” of Sly Stone. From this moment, there was nothing to throw. Taking again the usual formula, “I Want You Back” was the second song, “ABC” the third, the whole of the public singing in the acute ones with Michael. Two of best individual ever realized sounded choked even better cries - Michael pavanant itself, girdling the song with its microphone in hand. The surprises in the concert, which lasted approximately 50 minutes, were a beautiful resumption of “Feeling Alright” with the very harmonious and dynamic choruses of the “tweedle of” to repetition; the solo of “Who' S Lovin' You”: “Nobody has the blues as much as me”, Michael sale, then entonnant the song of Smokey Robinson, with more insurance than on the disc; Jermaine as a leader on “I Found That Girl” (the response to “Shop Around”) and his vocal support provides a counterweight to the moanings of Michael; and fine the dynamics which borrows the intro of Isaac Hayes on “Walk One By”, then a cut with sudden “a Stop! ”, which begins their clean hit, “The Love You Save”. On the last note, the scene was emptied, the lights of the room ignited and the stars in three limousines (which color?) before even as somebody of apperçoive. There was an alarming rush towards the slides - all this energy was to be well some share - to finish in a large hubbub. Jackson 5 were already close ensuring two shows moreover - identical, in Detroit and Chicago (their performances are supposed to be preserved a minimum of time, and none is envisaged in an immediate future), before going back on their premises to Los Angeles and to the school. Yes, even the great Phenomena go to the school.