Music & Me was the third solo album by American singer Michael Jackson, released in 1973 on the Motown label, selling two million copies worldwide.[3] The album was reissued in 2009 as part of the 3-disc compilation Hello World: The Motown Solo Collection.
Contents[]
Album information[edit][]
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's and his brothers' 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 the Netherlands. 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[edit][]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "With a Child's Heart" (recorded March 1972) | Sylvia Moy, Henry Cosby, Vicki Basemore | 3:32 | |
| 2. | "Up Again" (recorded March–December 1972) | Freddie Perren, Christine Yarian | 2:50 | |
| 3. | "All the Things You Are" (recorded December 1972–January 1973) | Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern | 2:59 | |
| 4. | "Happy" (Love Theme from Lady Sings the Blues) (recorded August 1972) | Michel Legrand, Smokey Robinson | 3:25 | |
| 5. | "Too Young" (recorded August–November 1972) | Sidney Lippman, Sylvia Dee | 3:38 | |
| 6. | "Doggin' Around" (recorded August–November 1972) | Lena Agree | 2:52 | |
| 7. | "Euphoria" (recorded August–December 1972) | Leon Ware, Jacqueline Hilliard | 2:50 | |
| 8. | "Morning Glow" (recorded December 1972–March 1973) | Stephen Schwartz | 3:37 | |
| 9. | "Johnny Raven" (recorded January–March 1973) | Billy Page | 3:33 | |
| 10. | "Music and Me" (recorded March 1972) | Jerry Marcellino, Mel Larson, Don Fenceton, Mike Cannon | 2:38 |
- The track order of 7-9 were changed in later releases. Johnny Raven was moved to track 7, Euphoria was moved to track 8 and Morning Glow was moved to track 9.
Compilation album[edit][]
Music & Me is sometimes confused with a Michael Jackson compilation album of the same name that Motown Records released in 1982 in the UK. The compilation contained all the songs from the 1973 album (with the exception of "Doggin' Around"), with a few more from Jackson's other albums. It was not released in the US, but it is available as an import.
Track listing[edit][]
- "Rockin' Robin" (from Got to Be There)
- "Johnny Raven"
- "Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day" (from Ben)
- "Happy"
- "Too Young"
- "Up Again"
- "With a Child's Heart"
- "Ain't No Sunshine" (from Got to Be There)
- "Euphoria"
- "Morning Glow"
- "Music and Me"
- "All the Things You Are" (Listed as "All the Things You Are, Are Mine")
- "Cinderella Stay Awhile" (from Forever, Michael)
- "We've Got Forever" (from Forever, Michael)