Hear the Jackson 5's Long-Lost First Recording 'Big Boy'

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Hear the Jackson 5's Long-Lost First Recording 'Big Boy'

(Michael was 8 years old)

Recorded in 1967 for One-derful! Records, the song has never been released and was almost completely forgotten


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By Nick Murray | September 30, 2014
Since 1968, the earliest commercially available Jackson 5 recording has been the "Big Boy" 45 that the band cut for Steel Town Records and released in January that year. The previous July, however, they had cut the same track for Chicago's One-derful! Records, playing all of their own instruments at the label's Tone Studios. Michael, then just eight years old, sang lead.

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This session had been all but forgotten until 2009, when guitarist Larry Blasingaine brought it to the attention of Jake Austen, a Chicago Reader writer who was researching a story about the Steeltown release. Austen then contacted Eric D. Leaner, one of the four siblings who inherited the One-derful! masters from their dad Ernie, and Leaner began to search for the lost tape.

"Until Jake Austen called me to explain that there was potentially a missing Jackson 5 demo tape, and if we had it it would be the holy grail of Jackson recordings, we had no idea we had it in our possession," says Leaner. "I asked my brother-in-law Herb Newkirk to see if he could find it with little hope since we had already been through the tapes. A couple of days later, he called me and said, 'Brother-in-law, I found it!'"

Now, a 45 of the original "Big Boy" is available for the first 500 people who order the One-derful! Collection subscription, a compendium (seven CDs or 12 discs of vinyl) of soul, funk and gospel that the label released between its founding in 1962 and 1971. The entire set contains 147 tracks &#8211; 57 of which have never been issued. It will be released on October 28th via Secret Stash Recordings and can be pre-ordered here -> http://shop.secretstashrecords.com/collections/frontpage/products/one-derful-collection-subscription <-
"Big Boy," as recorded by the Jackson 5 for One-derful! Records, can be streamed for the first time below.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/premieres/big-boy-jackson-5-original-onederful-20140930
 
Oh, wow, wow, wow. I clicked this on to listen, and for some strange reason, I just started crying my head off.
 
In the pre-order page there is a 90 seconds instrumental version
 
What on EARTH. This is an amazing find. That voice...

Ironically this arrangement sounds fresher than the Steeltown one. I hope they haven't meddled with it...Timbaland I'm looking at you :D

I need this on my iPod stat.
 
What on EARTH. This is an amazing find. That voice...

Ironically this arrangement sounds fresher than the Steeltown one. I hope they haven't meddled with it...Timbaland I'm looking at you :D

I need this on my iPod stat.

I sent Victor the link as soon as i saw it on the Rolling Stone facebook page, it was extremely refresing to see.. and it's such a beautiful recording by a very talented 8 year old Michael.. his voice is just so cute :)
 
You follow RS on Facebook? *facepalm*

Can we buy it somewhere? I don't need that 7" vinyl with 100 other vinyls I don't want cash-in, just the digital track will do.
 
You follow RS on Facebook? *facepalm*

Can we buy it somewhere? I don't need that 7" vinyl with 100 other vinyls I don't want cash-in, just the digital track will do.

Well currently, i only see that it's being released on the subscription Vinyl's & CD's.. i just wish they could release it separately on iTunes also..
 
It's so much cleaner than the Steeltown recording.
 
Thank you, Michael Jackson for always singing with the most wondrous sincerity. :give_heart:
 
Awesome find! Love it! Couldn't resist ordering it for that sweet 45 Vinyl! Now lets's hope some of the other stuff is worth it :)
 
Hey could someone please upgrade my acc or let me the password for 2000watts, Thanks so much also the Demo !!
 
Great find! Though I do prefer the Steeltown version. Did they record more than just this one song I wonder. I always thought "Big Boy" was written by the guy that owned Steeltown.
 
When I first saw the title of this thread I thought someone had bumped and ancient thread, then I saw the date and figured new fan. How happy I was to discover what it really was =) Listening to it now. His voice was already so good. Im 32 and I still can't sing that well lol
 
Back when I was a little kid (and Michael and his brothers were also little kids), I used to wonder what made Katherine and Joe decide to put him out front. Of course, by the time I saw him and they were signed to Berry, it was obvious, but back when they were first starting out.

I mean, you love all your kids the same, parents usually think all their kids are equally talented and gifted-but listening to this-3 years before we knew him, I guess there was no question in their minds whatsoever.
 
The power in his voice at such a young age! How he put so much meaning and soul into his early recordings always blows my mind.
 

A long read but so interesting. Embedded in the Rolling Stone piece posted below.
 


This is the Steeltown Records version not the early recording discussed in these two articles. But I love it and it doesn't get to see daylight often enough, imo.
 
There is something so beautiful about Michael’s vocals on Big Boy. He has so much power and emotion in his voice at such a young age. Big Boy is a beautiful song.
 
There is something so beautiful about Michael’s vocals on Big Boy.
Agreed. For me it's always about his phrasing more than anything else. This song and True Love Can Be Beautiful in particular are miraculous for the phrasing he comes out with. But, yes, his voice is astonishingly beautiful and soulful.

He has so much power and emotion in his voice at such a young age.
He does and it blows me away every time. He consistently delivers fabulous performances but this one is a stand-out.

Big Boy is a beautiful song.
And yet it has such a low profile. Unless I'm imagining it but I don't see it mentioned all that much compared to other J5 stuff. Seems weird.
 
And yet it has such a low profile. Unless I'm imagining it but I don't see it mentioned all that much compared to other J5 stuff. Seems weird.
I think it is because most people aren't even aware that Jackson 5 had a career before Motown. For many people, Jackson 5 and Michael's career began when they signed with Motown, with I Want You Back as their first ever song.
 
I love this song so much. I only really started listening to it in 2022, and I'm still obsessed. His voice is so amazing here. :giggle:
 
I think it is because most people aren't even aware that Jackson 5 had a career before Motown. For many people, Jackson 5 and Michael's career began when they signed with Motown, with I Want You Back as their first ever song.
Tbh, I wasn't aware of the Steeltown Records thing either. But when I did find out I was curious to know more. I don't see how, once you've discovered this song, you could just ignore it. Yes, there are many high points in his career for wonderful, awesome vocal performances. But this song is one of them, imo. It's definitely up there. With everything so easily findable on the web it seems odd for it to still be kind of hidden.
 
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