The Jackson 5 land fourth consecutive #1 with "I'll Be There"

I’ll Be There The Jackson 5

Writer(s): Berry Gordy, Hal Davis, Willie Hutch, Bob West (see lyrics here) Released: August 28, 1970 First Charted: September 19, 1970 Peak: 15 US, 12 CB, 12 GR, 14 HR, 24 AC, 16 RB, 4 UK, 2 CN, 31 AU, 2 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 4.2 US, 0.2 UK, 6.1 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 76.49 video, 141.35 streaming

I’ll Be There (live) Mariah Carey

Released: May 26, 1992 First Charted: May 15, 1992 Peak: 12 US, 13 CB, 14 GR, 16 RR, 12 AC, 11 RB, 2 UK, 15 CN, 9 AU, 8 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, 0.35 UK, 0.92 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 86.95 video, 75.12 streaming

Awards (Jackson 5): Click on award for more details.

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Awards (Mariah Carey): Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Michael Jackson was only 11 years old when The Jackson 5 hit #1 with “I Want You Back”, their chart debut. Less than a year later, “I’ll Be There” became the group’s fourth consecutive chart topper, making them the first black male group to achieve such a feat. WK It was the group’s biggest hit and the most successful Motown single from their 1959-72 Detroit era, WK but it would be the last time the Jackson brothers would collectively peak in the pole position. Michael would go on to hit the top slot thirteen times as a solo act. Motown chief Berry Gordy decided for a change of pace after three upbeat singles from The Jackson 5. Instead of relying on the stable of Motown songwriters known as “The Corporation,” he turned to Hal Davis and Willie Hutch to tweak a song written by Bob West. SS In the song, a man declares eternal dedication to a former lover, saying that she can always come back to him. Michael and older brother Jermaine share the lead vocal, but this is really Michael’s showcase. “Rarely, if ever, had one so young sung with so much authority and grace,” AMG bringing “perfect aplomb…to material that ought to be both more romantic and more dramatic than he could possibly comprehend.” DM Michael said it was the song that solidified the Jackson 5’s career. RC Michael also demonstrates how well he was learning from his mentors at Motown. His mastery of phrasing and “the way he oohs his way out of the choruses” DM are taken from Diana Ross and Smokey Robinson. DM “The harmonies rival those of the Temptations” AMG and he even ad-libs a line (“Just look over your shoulder, honey!”) in tribute to The Four Tops’ “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)”. More than twenty years later, Mariah Carey scored her own #1 version of the song on the pop charts. It was a last minute addition to her 1992 MTV Unplugged appearance, performed as a duet with R&B singer Trey Lorenz. WK Her version was even more successful than The Jackson 5’s original on the adult contemporary and UK charts where it went to #1 and #2 respectively. Resources: AMG All Music Guide RC Rod Couch (2015). The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era: 1955-2015. Pages 218-9. DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 94. DM Dave Marsh (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. New American Library: New York, NY. Pages 215-6. SF Songfacts.com SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Page 863. WK Wikipedia.org Related Links: First posted 10/17/2011; last updated 4/29/2024.

Led Zeppelin released Led Zeppelin III

Led Zeppelin III Led Zeppelin

Released: October 5, 1970 Peak: 14 US, 14 UK, 14 CN, 14 AU Sales (in millions): 6.0 US, 0.3 UK, 12.2 world (includes US and UK) Genre: classic rock/metal

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Immigrant Song (Page/Plant) [2:25] (11/21/70, 16 US, 1 CL, 4 CN, 16 AU) Friends (Page/Plant) [3:54] (16 CL) Celebration Day (Jones/Page/Plant) [3:29] (21 CL) Since I’ve Been Loving You (Jones/Page/Plant) [7:23] (9 CL) Out on the Tiles (Bonham/Page/Plant) [4:06] (21 CL) Gallows Pole (traditional) [4:56] (10/22/94, 8 CL, 2 AR, 35 UK, 46 AU) Tangerine (Page) [3:10] (12 CL) That’s the Way (Page/Plant) [5:37] (11 CL) Bron-Y-Aur Stomp (Jones/Page/Plant) [4:16] (13 CL) Hats off to (Roy) Harper (traditional) [3:42] (26 CL) Total Running Time: 42:42 The Players: Robert Plant (vocals) Jimmy Page (guitar) John Paul Jones (bass, keyboards) John Bonham (drums)

Rating: 4.180 out of 5.00 (average of 26 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “On their first two albums, Led Zeppelin unleashed a relentless barrage of heavy blues and rockabilly riffs, but Led Zeppelin III provided the band with the necessary room to grow musically” AMG making a “progression from straightforward rock towards folk and acoustic music.” WK The band even adds a string section, arranged by Jones, on Friends “which Page had wanted to achieve an Indian style of sound.” WK “There are still a handful of metallic rockers” AMG but they “aren’t as straightforward as before.” AMG “The galloping Immigrant Song is powered by Robert Plant's banshee wail.” AMG It was written about the Viking invasions of England after Led Zeppelin did a tour of Iceland in June 1970. WK “Celebration Day turns blues-rock inside out with a warped slide guitar riff, and Out on the Tiles lumbers along with a tricky, multi-part riff.” AMG Much of the album “is built on a folky, acoustic foundation that gives the music extra depth” AMG and shows the band as “capable of playing different styles successfully.” WK Gallows Pole offers “a menacing flair” AMG on the traditional folk song “The Maid Freed from the Gallows” as inspired by a version recorded by Fred Gerlach. WK Page wrote Tangerine in 1968 while still with the Yardbirds. WK That’s the Way, originally called “The Boy Next Door,” was written “about the problems two people faced in a relationship and the clashes with their families.” WK Page “thought highly of Plant’s lyrics and considered it a breakthrough in their development as a songwriting team.” WK Rolling Stone critic Lester Bangs called it “beautiful and genuinely moving.” WK Bron-Y-Aur Stomp was originally known as “Jennings Farm Blues,” WK It was originally recorded in 1969 as an electric arrangement, but reworked as “an infectious acoustic romp.” AMG Those two songs and “That’s the Way” “are shimmering songs with graceful country flourishes.” AMG “The band hasn’t left the blues behind.” AMG One of the first songs recorded for the album was “the epic Since I've Been Loving You.” AMG They also offer “the twisted bottleneck blues of Hats off to (Roy) Harper,” AMG a reworking of the Bukka White song “Shake ‘Em on Down.” WK Notes: A 2014 reissue added a second disc with alternate versions of songs from the album as well as a recording of “Key to the Highway” / “Trouble in Mind.”

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Led Zeppelin AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/21/2008; last updated 8/17/2021.