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So Quincy Jones isn't just a Michael Jackson hater

PurpleThriller

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So,apparently,Quincy Jones has a history of talking sh#t about great musicians.
Even before he called Mike a thief and crap like that,he did this:
So,according to Quincy, Michael was a thief.
According to Quincy,Michael didn't have a skin disease.
But also according to Jones,Prince was an ,,averrage/ok,, piano player.
...
Quincy ain't sh#t. Is his job to hate on Michael or Prince or something?
Quincy should be proud that the masses heard his name 'cause of Mike's albums.I'm not saying Quincy isn't a great producer,but ,last time I checked,Quincy didn't like Billie Jean and Smooth Criminal.
And last time I checked,Michael wrote and composed ,,Who is it ,, /,,Stranger in Moscow/,,Morphine,, without him. So Michael could produce great songs,even without Jones...
I hate that Quincy has such a big ego. This might not be relevant,but in my country(an Eastern European one) ,Mike and Prince are legendary,while literally nobody knows who Quincy Jones is (unless they are talking about Michael's career,mostly on the news). I myself heard of Quincy while reading Mike's biography .
What do you think about Jones?Does he have the right to have such an ego?Is he overrated when it comes to his input on Mike's hits?Is he genius,but one who happens to have such a sh#tty personality?
 
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PurpleThriller said:
So,apparently,Quincy Jones has a history of talking sh#t about great musicians.
So,according to Quincy, Michael was a thief.
According to Quincy,Michael didn't have a skin disease.
But also according to Jones,Prince was an ,,averrage/ok,, piano player.
Quincy ain't sh#t. Is his job to hate on Michael or Prince or something?
Quincy should be proud that the masses heard his name 'cause of Mike's albums.
I hate that Quincy has such a big ego. This might not be relevant,but in my country(a South European one) ,Mike and Prince are legendary,while literally nobody knows who Quincy Jones is (unless they are talking about Michael's career,mostly on the news). I myself heard of Quincy while reading Mike's biography .
What do you think about Jones?Does he have the right to have such an ego?Is he overrated when it comes to his input on Mike's hits?Is he genius,but one who happens to have such a sh#tty personality?
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"Quincy ain't sh#t"

Have to disagree with you there. I agree that QJ is a bitter old fool and I don't understand why he pulls this crap. Q already had a stellar career before he worked with Michael. His reputation is solid. I don't know what he's playing at. But Q definitely IS the sh#t.

Just to be clear, I don't really care one way or another about Q. I'm not a fan. But you're being a bit harsh on the guy. By the time he was 15 he was, apparently, in the backing band that worked with Billie Holliday. I'm too tired to go and check that but I can easily believe it. He worked with Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn. He worked with Count Basie, fgs. He did all of Leslie Gore's big hits in the 1960's. He persuaded Miles Davis to come out of retirement. The live album they worked on was the last one before Miles Davis died. He composed loads of film scores. Just a few are:

In the Heat of the Night - Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger
The Italian Job = Michael Caine
Cactus Flower - Ingrid Bergman, Goldie Hawn
The Hot Rock - Robert Redford
The Color Purple

These were all massive hits. Huge. I'm sure he did loads more, these are just the ones I'm aware of.

Working with Michael gave him loads more exposure and he became famous in a way he never would have if he hadn't done those albums. But he was famous within showbiz. I knew about him because the black papers and black music magazines would write about him but also the mainstream music papers cos a couple of them would cover lots of different genres.

I don't know much about the music awards he's won but I do know that, for some of them, he was the first African American to get a particular award. Too tired to go and look for details but I remember reading this stuff back in the day.

I guess his comments about Prince have to be seen in the context of, as I say, he worked with Count Basie and Miles Davis. That gives him a different perspective. Jazz is not my thing but I have no problem with an assessment of Prince as an average piano player. I'm sure, compared to the people Q worked with, that's all he was. Prince was a good piano player but, on *that* instrument, he's not gonna go down in music history as one of the greats. Maybe for other things but not that.

The crap he pulls re Michael is unacceptable, imo. He needs to shut up. He's in his late 80's now but that's hardly an excuse. He's entitled to his views re someone's musical ability or relevance. But this Michael stuff seems way more personal. He really seems to resent Michael and it's ridiculous and embarrassing.

Does Q have the right to a big ego? Possibly. He has worked with the best of the best.

Is his input to Michael's albums overrated? I don't know enough about music and the tech side to be able to say. I think I'd want to turn it around and say, I think Michael's genius is often underrated on those albums and that does annoy the hell out of me. Plus I think Michael's post-Q albums are fabulous. The idea that Michael's creative peak was the work he did with Q and after that it was all downhill is nonsense. It's also insulting.

Is Q a genius? Well, he's gotta have something. The people he's worked with, he wouldn't get the job if he didn't have something amazing to bring to the table. But even if he is a genius that should not detract from the genius of the artists he's worked with. I bet people don't say that Ella Fitzgerald was made by Q and if it wasn't for him yadda yadda. But they will say it or imply it about Michael. That's just every kind of wrong.
 
filmandmusic said:
Quincy Jones’ Thriller is the best selling album of all time though.

Sorry I’m just riling you up :p
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Michael Jackson's Thriller.

Oh, all right, it did make me laugh. But even when it's just a joke I still have to go, 'no, it's Michael's album'. :D
 
zinniabooklover said:
Michael Jackson's Thriller.

Oh, all right, it did make me laugh. But even when it's just a joke I still have to go, 'no, it's Michael's album'. :D
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All I know is Quincy got a HUGE cv and he worked through different eras in different genres and he surely is one of the greats but he should cut Michael some slack, the bastard 😛
 
filmandmusic said:
All I know is Quincy got a HUGE cv and he worked through different eras in different genres and he surely is one of the greats but he should cut Michael some slack, the bastard 😛
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Exactly so. What is his problem, fgs? OK, when he dies the obituaries will all lead with the Michael Jackson part of his career and only then get onto the rest of it. But, like I said, his career, his reputation is solid. It's the bomb. So what's his beef? I wish he'd just pipe down. I guess it's like NiteLine said, he's a bitter old fool. 😐
 
Qj is abit like john landis. They became pis!@#$ off because their own successful work pre MJ became taken over by the work they did with mj. And they became more know for what they did with him than their own work.
 
During an interview with Donny Simpson on BET, Jones was asked about working with all of the Jazz greats and others. Donny asked him who was the best that he had worked with. Jones said without hesitation “Michael Jackson”. I have this interview recorded on VHS tape. I recorded EVERYTHING concerning Michael back in the day. There was no You Tube or Internet; Therefore, the only way to save something was to record it. This is the reason that I don’t give any credence to anything Quincy says now. He has become a jealous, vindictive, senile bastard. I always respected and liked Quincy in the past. I can’t stand Quincy now. He is a backstabbing coward who waited to say these things about a man who was his friend and who is no longer here to defend himself.

Btw, not only did Quincy talk bad about Michael, he said some not too good things about Prince( as someone pointed out) and the Beatles. He said he never thought the Beatles were that talented or a good band.
 
No one can ever underestimate Q's impact and his genius work. He was an incredible producer and he worked with som many of the biggest artist in the world and made wonderful music.

did he turn bitter and strange in his old days - sure... but that does not change he is a musical legend. Many 80 year-olds turn a little weird.

And I think it's correct Q is frustrated all his other work is totally overshadowed by the 3 albums he did with MJ.
 
Hess said:
No one can ever underestimate Q's impact and his genius work. He was an incredible producer and he worked with som many of the biggest artist in the world and made wonderful music.

did he turn bitter and strange in his old days - sure... but that does not change he is a musical legend. Many 80 year-olds turn a little weird.

And I think it's correct Q is frustrated all his other work is totally overshadowed by the 3 albums he did with MJ.
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Yes to all of this. I wish he would drop the snarky comments about Michael. At the very least it's undignified and beneath an artist of his standing. But, even though I think he's behaving like a bitter old fool, it has nothing to do with his stellar career.

I suppose I would just say that the comments he makes about Michael are hard to take because they do seem quite personal (as opposed to assessing Prince as merely an OK piano player which I have no problem with) and also they are part of an ongoing culture of criticism of Michael. Sometimes I just think, 'enough already!'
 
This is pretty upsetting....all Quincy is doing is destroying his own legacy and making himself look like an old, bitter, washed up hack.
 
I don't know what Q is doing. The last time I remember him being, shall we say, dignified, was during the promotion of the movie Ray, given how much he and Ray Charles were basically joined at the hip with a lot of experiences.

Then, somehow, he ended up the epitome of "Old Man Yells at Cloud" and seems to bitterly resent that he's not talked about in the modern zeitgeist anymore. For some reason, he just can't stand that, and it especially got worse after Michael's death.
 
An amusing story is said to have taken place in the very final stage of the making of the 'Dangerous' album.

Michael Jackson called Quincy Jones to the studio in order to listen to the finished version of his 'Dangerous' album.

The singer appeared to seek approval from his former producer before releasing it.

Quincy Jones came and listened to it from start to finish, and he liked it.

He then approached Michael Jackson, and he hugged the singer.

Quincy Jones praised 'Remember The Time' and 'Who Is It', in particular.

Then, Michael Jackson more confident than ever before gave the green light for that release.

Keyboardist Brad Buxer confirmed this story, as well.
PurpleThriller said:
What do you think about Jones?Is he overrated when it comes to his input on Mike's hits?
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Quincy Jones is not overrated at all when it comes to his input on Michael Jackson's hits.

He has rightfully been described as a producer whose role was extremely crucial to the quality control in Michael Jackson's 3 first solo adult albums.
Nite Line said:
Quincy is a bitter fool who couldn’t accept the fact that Michael dropped him after Bad.
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Actually, Quincy Jones signed a deal for 3 albums with Michael Jackson.

In other words, Quincy Jones knew from the very beginning that he was contractually meant to make only 3 albums with Michael Jackson.

So, it is not true that the producer could not accept the fact that Michael Jackson dropped him after the 'BAD' album.
 
zinniabooklover said:
"Quincy ain't sh#t"

Have to disagree with you there. I agree that QJ is a bitter old fool and I don't understand why he pulls this crap. Q already had a stellar career before he worked with Michael. His reputation is solid. I don't know what he's playing at. But Q definitely IS the sh#t.

Just to be clear, I don't really care one way or another about Q. I'm not a fan. But you're being a bit harsh on the guy. By the time he was 15 he was, apparently, in the backing band that worked with Billie Holliday. I'm too tired to go and check that but I can easily believe it. He worked with Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn. He worked with Count Basie, fgs. He did all of Leslie Gore's big hits in the 1960's. He persuaded Miles Davis to come out of retirement. The live album they worked on was the last one before Miles Davis died. He composed loads of film scores. Just a few are:

In the Heat of the Night - Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger
The Italian Job = Michael Caine
Cactus Flower - Ingrid Bergman, Goldie Hawn
The Hot Rock - Robert Redford
The Color Purple

These were all massive hits. Huge. I'm sure he did loads more, these are just the ones I'm aware of.

Working with Michael gave him loads more exposure and he became famous in a way he never would have if he hadn't done those albums. But he was famous within showbiz. I knew about him because the black papers and black music magazines would write about him but also the mainstream music papers cos a couple of them would cover lots of different genres.

I don't know much about the music awards he's won but I do know that, for some of them, he was the first African American to get a particular award. Too tired to go and look for details but I remember reading this stuff back in the day.

I guess his comments about Prince have to be seen in the context of, as I say, he worked with Count Basie and Miles Davis. That gives him a different perspective. Jazz is not my thing but I have no problem with an assessment of Prince as an average piano player. I'm sure, compared to the people Q worked with, that's all he was. Prince was a good piano player but, on *that* instrument, he's not gonna go down in music history as one of the greats. Maybe for other things but not that.

The crap he pulls re Michael is unacceptable, imo. He needs to shut up. He's in his late 80's now but that's hardly an excuse. He's entitled to his views re someone's musical ability or relevance. But this Michael stuff seems way more personal. He really seems to resent Michael and it's ridiculous and embarrassing.

Does Q have the right to a big ego? Possibly. He has worked with the best of the best.

Is his input to Michael's albums overrated? I don't know enough about music and the tech side to be able to say. I think I'd want to turn it around and say, I think Michael's genius is often underrated on those albums and that does annoy the hell out of me. Plus I think Michael's post-Q albums are fabulous. The idea that Michael's creative peak was the work he did with Q and after that it was all downhill is nonsense. It's also insulting.

Is Q a genius? Well, he's gotta have something. The people he's worked with, he wouldn't get the job if he didn't have something amazing to bring to the table. But even if he is a genius that should not detract from the genius of the artists he's worked with. I bet people don't say that Ella Fitzgerald was made by Q and if it wasn't for him yadda yadda. But they will say it or imply it about Michael. That's just every kind of wrong.
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I can't believe the comments here. Quincy Jones is BAD!!! I do think he wanted to keep producing for Michael and may have been a tiny bit disappointed. But don't forget the music he made before Michael, like Frank Sinatra's biggest hits, the Brothers Johnson's biggest hits, His own Body Heat, The Dude; he played with Count Bassie, Ray Charles, etc . Quincy Jones is a legend and should not be disrespected in this forum. He has a documentary on Netflix called simply Quincy. It is the best bio documentary that I've ever seen. People don't know a lot of the jams they're listening to from the 70s, 80s is Quincy, including Sanford and Son and The Fresh Prince. But MJ, I mean he is the greatest entertainer of all time, with the greatest selling album of all time. His music, style, dance, fashion, and philanthropy stand on their own -- way up at the top!
 
annebfaith said:
I can't believe the comments here. Quincy Jones is BAD!!!
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He really is. I can understand someone not liking the particular music he's done in the past. He worked with a lot of jazz greats and if jazz isn't your thing ... fair enough. If the music scores he wrote don't rock your world - also fair. But to ignore the significance or the quality of his work, that seems weird to me. The whole reason, I would imagine, that Michael was working with Q was bc of his CV and how awesome it was. Michael would have known about every single thing Q had worked on. Quincy's knowledge of film music, for example, how could Michael not be interested in and impressed by that? I'm sure he was.

annebfaith said:
I do think he wanted to keep producing for Michael and may have been a tiny bit disappointed.
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He probably was but I'm sure he was used to it. His career was already so long by then, he would have had so many ups and downs. And Thriller was already secure as the biggest selling album. Some producers do get snarky when the artist goes on to work with other people but that's just the way it works in the music world.

annebfaith said:
But don't forget the music he made before Michael, like Frank Sinatra's biggest hits, the Brothers Johnson's biggest hits, His own Body Heat, The Dude; he played with Count Bassie, Ray Charles, etc . Quincy Jones is a legend and should not be disrespected in this forum.
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He is a legend. The list of people he's worked with is insane! Michael was really lucky to work with him and he would have learned so much from Q. Again, I can understand people being a bit lukewarm about some of the artists Q worked with. I'm not keen on Frank Sinatra, for example. Great voice - and, actually, I love him in films - but his songs are too MOR for me and his voice is fine but doesn't hold my attention. But I'm impressed that Q worked with him. You don't get to work with someone of Frank's importance if you're just average.

annebfaith said:
He has a documentary on Netflix called simply Quincy. It is the best bio documentary that I've ever seen. People don't know a lot of the jams they're listening to from the 70s, 80s is Quincy, including Sanford and Son and The Fresh Prince.
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I guess this is what happens when a person starts really young and has a really long career. People just won't be aware of the whole scope of what you've achieved.
 
I don't think anyone wants to deny Quincy Jones good work and part in Michael's success. And Michael always upheld the collaboration and publicly expressed his appreciation for Jones, all those years up until his death. And I really appreciated that Jones did the same until Michael's death. Jones' interviews right after Michael's death continued to express this, how much he appreciated Michael's work, how pleasant it was to work with him, how professional Michael was, always prepared (something that Swedien also confirms) and how devasted he is about his death. But it's really depressing how Jones then started (I don't know the exact time anymore, maybe 1 to 2 years after his death) to rewrite history, to label Michael as a puppet who did everything the genius Jones told him to do. And then you really get to the point of saying. That's enough. While Jones was a successful producer prior to working with Michael, but it was this collaboration that brought him the fame and notoriety he has now and nothing he did before and nothing he did since has ever been as successful as the 3 albums that he produced with Michael and that was because it was Michael Jackson he was working with. Michael brought him the finished demos for Billie Jean, Beat it, Don-t stop, Working day and night and Jones' input and change after that was minimal. I really liked how Weizmann played him the demos in court and you can tell from the reports how angry Jones was at being shown how poor his workload was on those songs for example. They were nearly perfect without any doing from Quincy. Did Michael ever come and said something in this regard. No. You can cite many more, e.g. that Quincy didn't want Billie Jean or Smooth Criminal on the albums and these songs are now signature songs. And Michael has made them what they are, with his visions, his performance of the songs, dance and video. So you can really say Quincy can be lucky to have worked with MJ and despite working with other famous artists it was the highlight of Jones career. So it is annoying to come after Michaels death and trying to damage Michael as an artist as much it was annoying to hire from all this lawyers you can get in the world, a lawyer who has also represented Robson in the past. So his behaviour is unforgatable and there is no excuse because he is a old man now. All actions and interviews are well considered. Now I am done with this.
 
I know people in this age group like this. They do get carried away with themselves sometimes, over sharing and saying things, not realizing they need to filter themselves. Q genuinely might have cognitive decline, no shame. Especially knowing the story about his mother and where she ended up.

I can't imagine all of that in addition to having salacious tabloids always trying to have something to run away with. And then you add all the genuine clowns MJ did allow into his camp, repeatedly, that he seemed to prefer over people who helped him get where he was. A reminder for us all maybe, look at who's in our life that's unnecessary, do we really favor them over, maybe a family member or an older friend who didn't do that much worse in caring for us? It just bears reflection.
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
I know people in this age group like this. They do get carried away with themselves sometimes, over sharing and saying things, not realizing they need to filter themselves. Q genuinely might have cognitive decline, no shame.
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Agree with all of this. I have expressed my irritation with Q for things he's said about Michael but I wasn't properly allowing for all of this as a possibility. My bad. Older people, even without the cognitive decline, often become uninhibited in what they say.

Mister_Jay_Tee said:
I can't imagine all of that in addition to having salacious tabloids always trying to have something to run away with.
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The media thirst for a controversial soundbite certainly doesn't help. Plus, they'll be loving the fact that Q has sometimes strongly dissed Michael. I doubt they care too much about Q's cognitive state or what might be driving his comments.

It's all very difficult and none of this is easy to think about. 🙁
 
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