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When Were Songs Recorded?

dethorro said:
Also, I have found the multitrack sheets of some of the songs from the Bad album on which Bruce Swedien has written dates of when particular instruments (including vocals and Background vocals) have been recorded.(Sorry for posting two posts in a row).


Liberian Girl:

Lead vocal: September 26th 1986
Background vocals: October 3rd 1986
Bass:May 8th 1987

Dirty Diana:
Lead vocals:June 27th 1987
Steve Stevens guitar solos: June 12th 1987
Strings:June 27th 1987

I Just Can't Stop Loving You:
Lead Vocals(MJ&Siedah):May 20th 1987
Background vocals: December 27th 1986
Rap Intro:June 8th 1987
Piano: December 26th 1986

Smooth Criminal:
Lead vocals:April 1st 1987
Background vocals:September 14th 1986
Bass:September 8th 1986
Emergency siren:June 1st 1987

Leave Me Alone:
Lead vocals:June 14th 1987
Guitar: June 3rd 1987
Synth: June 3rd 1987

Just Good Friends:

Lead vocals (MJ&Stevie): June (or May) 18th 1987
Background vocals:June (or May) 18th 1987
Piano:May 28th 1987
Horns:May 18th 1987
Synths:May 27th 1987


The Bad sessions at Westlake Studios started on August 4th 1986 (Source:Rolling Stone).
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Thank you for sharing. I've always been interested to know when songs were recorded. I'm so jealous of Beatles fans who can tell you the date, the exact time and how many sugars Ringo had in his tea. Yet we're here like, I think Mike recorded it between 1983 and 87
 
I actually spoke to Brad Sundberg about multitrack sheets a month or two back, and it turns out that the dates can be wildly misleading. Sometimes they're days when vocals were recorded, sometimes they're days when comps (edits of a certain track) were made, sometimes they're days when extra vocals were added to pre-existing vocals, etc.

On top of that, some of the listed dates don't add up. The "Smooth Criminal" short film was filmed in February 1987, meaning the April 1 date wouldn't line up. (Perhaps that was the day they chose to cut the second verse in half?) Also, Joe Vogel has the "Just Good Friends" session pinned on 23 September 1986 (though of course it's worth noting that he isn't the most credible source).

I also thought that the multitrack sheets were the pot at the end of the rainbow, but Michael's recording process seemed to be incredibly complicated. It's hard to pin down exactly when certain songs were recorded. The hunt continues!
 
AlwaysThere said:
The "Smooth Criminal" short film was filmed in February 1987, meaning the April 1 date wouldn't line up. (Perhaps that was the day they chose to cut the second verse in half?) Also, Joe Vogel has the "Just Good Friends" session pinned on 23 September 1986 (though of course it's worth noting that he isn't the most credible source).
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I agree with you on the 'Smooth Criminal' argument, however, I don't think 'Just Good Friends' was recorded that early on in the sessions.Michael's hair is much longer in the video where he is recording it with Stevie than it was in September 1986. Also, Mike Smallcombe stated that Quincy first started to contact other songwriters around February 1987 and that 'Man In The Mirror' and 'Just Good Friends' were two of many songs submitted.
I feel like Joe Vogel took the September 23rd date from the 'Bad 25' documentary (although the date incorrectly says 'September 23rd 1988').Obviously the session couldn't have happened in September 1987 or 1988, so he just assumed that the year was 1986.
 
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I find it ironic that leave me alone was finish before the release of the album. I wonder why its not on the original vinyl or replaced jgf. This is the most interesting topic in the past months.
On a side note...does anyone have any information on come together?
 
dethorro said:
AlwaysThere said:
I agree with you on the 'Smooth Criminal' argument, however, I don't think 'Just Good Michael's hair is much longer in the video where he is recording it with Stevie than it was in September 1986. .
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You do know that the sessions we saw were for a documentary mj planned to release but got shelved. Those arent the actual sessions. They were more for show. Look at the sleeve cover of the single ijcsly vs the session we see on bad 25
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wonderouzmj;4274737 said:
dethorro;4274689 said:
I agree with you on the 'Smooth Criminal' argument, however, I don't think 'Just Good Friends' was recorded that early on in the sessions.Michael's hair is much longer in the video where he is recording it with Stevie than it was in September 1986. Also, Mike Smallcombe stated that Quincy first started to contact other songwriters around February 1987 and that 'Man In The Mirror' and 'Just Good Friends' were two of many songs submitted.
I feel like Joe Vogel took the September 23rd date from the 'Bad 25' documentary (although the date incorrectly says 'September 23rd 1988').Obviously the session couldn't have happened in September 1987 or 1988, so he just assumed that the year was 1986.
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You do know that the sessions we saw were for a documentary mj planned to release but got shelved. Those arent the actual sessions. They were more for show. Look at the sleeve cover of the single ijcsly vs the session we see on bad 25
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Are you sure? I mean, I’ve heard of the supposed documentary that Michael was planning to release during the Bad era and I always thought that the ‘I Just Can’t Stop Loving You’ part of the Spike Lee documentary was ‘only for show’ but I never imagined that Michael would have brought Stevie Wonder, who was immensely popular and had concerts all around the world in 1986/87 to the studio to pretend they were recording a song together (even though they were close friends).

Also, Michael and Stevie are actually singing in the 'Just Good Friends' footage so I don't know about that.

Regarding ‘Come Together’:

‘’He had written sixty-two songs, and during 1985 he recorded dozens of forty-eight-track demos at his home studio, including a cover of “Come Together,” one of his favorite Beatles tunes.’’ - Rolling Stone, September 24th 1987

This is what Bill Botrell had to say about ‘Come Together’

Bill:’’ During the Bad sessions, Michael asked me to drive him home to Westwood one night. During the drive, we played lots of Beatles songs he had compiled on a tape, he was pretty interested in my opinion, and I told him we should pick Come Together.

Within a couple days I had thrown a track together playing guitars and using some crude midi stuff. (This was 1985) I never intended that track to be released that way

They put it out without informing me, and I still don’t know what the credits say.’’

So it seems like that one was recorded in 1985 at Michael's house.
 
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Bad era tracks:

•”Abortion Papers“ — during the Victory sessions (late 1983 - early 1984)
•”Tomboy” — fall of 1985
•”Price of Fame” — January 1986
•”Turning Me Off” — early 1986
•”Free” — March 1986
•”Fly Away” — April 1986
•”Do You Know Where Your Children Are“ — May 1986
•”Streetwalker” (early demo) — July 1986
•”Crack Kills” — November 1986

Source: Man In The Music by Joe Vogel (2019 edition)
 
Does anybody know what the last song recorded for thriller was
 
The lost children was recorded in a dark forest at night. Michael send 2 little kids out to record their voices, word is they’re still lost but they found the recordings near a river 2 months later so luckily the song could be completed.
 
filmandmusic said:
The lost children was recorded in a dark forest at night. Michael send 2 little kids out to record their voices, word is they’re still lost but they found the recordings near a river 2 months later so luckily the song could be completed.
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Those two kids were probably Wade & James, right?🤔
 
Alaslam said:
Does anybody know what the last song recorded for thriller was
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Human Nature was the last song to be selected but I think Beat It might’ve been the last song recorded. Can’t remember if it was Quincy or Bruce but they said while they were finalizing the album, Quincy suggested something hard hitting and that’s when Michael presented Beat It
 
It amazes me how Mike sounds more youthful on Another Part Of Me (1985-86) than he does on Chicago 1945 (1982-83)

It shows you how tough it is to pin his vocals down to an era, let alone a year
 
SmoothCriminal1995 said:
It amazes me how Mike sounds more youthful on Another Part Of Me (1985-86) than he does on Chicago 1945 (1982-83)

It shows you how tough it is to pin his vocals down to an era, let alone a year
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Perhaps the vocals on the leak are not from the early 80s? In the mid 90s Porcaro said MJ recorded C45 twice.
 
Currently working on a recording session calendar for this server/any MJ fan willing to look it up. Right now I'm up to the HIStory sessions. Tell me what you think!

docs.google.com

MJ Session Calendar Project

Sheet1 Album,Song title,When was it recorded?,Producer,Additional notes Got to Be There,Got to Be There,June-July 1971,Hal Davis Got to Be There,Maria (You Were the Only One),July-September 1971,Hal Davis Got to Be There outtake,I've Gotta Be Me,October 1971,Hal Davis Got to Be There,Rockin' Rob...
docs.google.com docs.google.com
 
SeriousFX said:
Currently working on a recording session calendar for this server/any MJ fan willing to look it up. Right now I'm up to the HIStory sessions. Tell me what you think!

docs.google.com

MJ Session Calendar Project

Sheet1 Album,Song title,When was it recorded?,Producer,Additional notes Got to Be There,Got to Be There,June-July 1971,Hal Davis Got to Be There,Maria (You Were the Only One),July-September 1971,Hal Davis Got to Be There outtake,I've Gotta Be Me,October 1971,Hal Davis Got to Be There,Rockin' Rob...
docs.google.com docs.google.com
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Earth Song demo was recorded on September 20, 1988.
 
SeriousFX said:
Currently working on a recording session calendar for this server/any MJ fan willing to look it up. Right now I'm up to the HIStory sessions. Tell me what you think!

docs.google.com

MJ Session Calendar Project

Sheet1 Album,Song title,When was it recorded?,Producer,Additional notes Got to Be There,Got to Be There,June-July 1971,Hal Davis Got to Be There,Maria (You Were the Only One),July-September 1971,Hal Davis Got to Be There outtake,I've Gotta Be Me,October 1971,Hal Davis Got to Be There,Rockin' Rob...
docs.google.com docs.google.com
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Thanks for your hard work mate.

Recording dates fascinate me, it adds another layer to the album to know when something was recorded, how the album was being molded and sculptured during the process.

I'd love to have details on the Bad album most, because his voice change during the mid 80's is amazing. Knowing now that Mike was recording some of his roughest vocals in 1983 changes everything
 
Had to put in a ton of guesswork for the later sessions, but the calendar is now complete!
 
Just joined to add a little something about the session dates: Bill Bottrell once said on Gearspace forums that “Who Is It” was a late bloomer during the Dangerous sessions, like “Give In To Me”… so probably 1990 rather than 1989.
 
State of Shock seems to be missing from the list. That started as a duet between MJ and Freddie Mercury recorded around May/June 1983 (from Queen fan club newsletters iirc) at Hayvenhurst. Then it was overdubbed with The Jacksons and Mick Jagger for Victory.

Beat It guitar solo was recorded on 4 October 1982 as per union documents owned by Anthony Marinelli… where did the November 2 date come from??
 
Eventidescape1 said:
State of Shock seems to be missing from the list. That started as a duet between MJ and Freddie Mercury recorded around May/June 1983 (from Queen fan club newsletters iirc) at Hayvenhurst.
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Freddie was living in Germany back then; is it known when FM returned back to Munich? This would help to narrow down the possible time frame of recording.




This is what Peter Freestone said:

“The first that I heard about it was when Michael came to a Queen show at the Forum in Los Angeles. I remember him talking in the corner with Freddie and John. Afterwards Freddie said 'Huh! Michael says we should be doing something together because he loves what he’s heard!' Because he’d been listening to Another One Bites the Dust and loved that and the whole feel of it. So Freddie said 'He wants to meet up to record. Ah, but it’ll never happen, it’s just talk!'. Months later that was followed up with a phone call from Michael, because he had heard Freddie was in L.A. and he invited him over.”

Queen performed at The Forum on 09/14/1982 & 09/15/1982.

Freddie was recording at The Record Plant, L.A. on 04/21/1983 & 04/22/1983.

So, they've worked at Michael's Encino house early May maybe??
 
Fuzball said:
Freddie was living in Germany back then; is it known when FM returned back to Munich? This would help to narrow down the possible time frame of recording.




This is what Peter Freestone said:

“The first that I heard about it was when Michael came to a Queen show at the Forum in Los Angeles. I remember him talking in the corner with Freddie and John. Afterwards Freddie said 'Huh! Michael says we should be doing something together because he loves what he’s heard!' Because he’d been listening to Another One Bites the Dust and loved that and the whole feel of it. So Freddie said 'He wants to meet up to record. Ah, but it’ll never happen, it’s just talk!'. Months later that was followed up with a phone call from Michael, because he had heard Freddie was in L.A. and he invited him over.”

Queen performed at The Forum on 09/14/1982 & 09/15/1982.

Freddie was recording at The Record Plant, L.A. on 04/21/1983 & 04/22/1983.

So, they've worked at Michael's Encino house early May maybe??
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A slight correction: I'm certain those April 1983 dates you mentioned are the dates for the 'Star Fleet Project' with Brian May, Eddie Van Halen etc. at the Record Plant. Freddie wasn't involved in those sessions.

Still, it could be either May or June 1983. Bill Bottrell remembers doing a mix of the track, which was probably during the Victory sessions...
 
Eventidescape1 said:
A slight correction: I'm certain those April 1983 dates you mentioned are the dates for the 'Star Fleet Project' with Brian May, Eddie Van Halen etc. at the Record Plant. Freddie wasn't involved in those sessions.

Still, it could be either May or June 1983. Bill Bottrell remembers doing a mix of the track, which was probably during the Victory sessions...
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My notes say, he's working on solo songs (which appeared later on Mr Bad Guy) on these dates.🤔

Perhaps a mistake; or FM & others were just working in different rooms independently?
 
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