Michael Jackson (120 page)

Early Years

I obtained background information on the families of Joseph Jackson and Katherine Scruse from census records dating back to
the late eighteen hundreds. I also obtained the birth certificates of Joseph Jackson and Kattie E. Scruse (Katherine Jackson);
Martha Bridgets’s Affidavit to Amend a Record of Birth, filed on 4 May 1930; as well as Joseph and Katherine Jackson’s Certificate
of Marriage in Crown Point, Indiana. I compared this and other information to what Katherine Jackson wrote in her memoirs,
The Jacksons – My Family
(St Martin’s Press, 1990), and added a substantial amount of information to her account of her and Joseph Jackson’s backgrounds.

I also drew from the interview I had with the Jacksons in August 1978.

I interviewed relatives and friends of the Jacksons’ family, including Ina Brown (14 September 1989), Johnny Jackson (5 October
1990), Luis Cansesco (3 November 1990), and Terry Ireland (1 December 1990). I drew some information from articles in
Right On!, Soul
, and
Rolling Stone
(see bibliography).

My private investigator, Cathy Griffin, contacted Gordon Keith, former owner of Steeltown Records in Gary, Indiana, to obtain
an interview. He and Griffin had numerous conversations; background information was culled from a conversation on 16 September
1990. Mr Keith would not consent to an interview with me, however.

I also drew some information, particularly Ben Brown’s quotes, from a segment of
P.M. Magazine
about Michael Jackson, which aired in 1984.

Early Years and Motown

Some of the material in these sections is from my 1979 interview with Michael Jackson.

Joe Simon’s quote was culled from an interview I conducted with him in 1979. Etta James’s comments were extracted from an
interview I conducted with Miss James on 12 May 1978. Other quotes are from sources in Gary, Indiana, who requested anonymity.

For the material regarding Berry Gordy and Motown, I drew heavily from research conducted when I wrote the book
Motown – Hot Wax City Cool and Solid Gold
, published by Doubleday in 1986. I also drew from personal interviews with Melvin Franklin (1977), Smokey Robinson (1980),
Diana Ross (1981), Lamont Dozier (1985) and Maurice King (1985).

Richard Arons was contacted for an interview and did speak with Cathy Griffin at his Beverly Hills home for three hours on
12 November 1990. Some of Arons’s memories are used here for background purposes. However, he would not consent to an interview
with me. Miss Griffin also spoke to Bobby Taylor for two hours on the telephone in October 1990. Some of what Mr Taylor remembered
was used here for background purposes.

Motown Years

For much of this material, I drew heavily from a thirty-page Sworn Declaration of Berry Gordy, dated 4 March 1976. The declaration
was given under oath during the court battle between The Jackson 5 and Motown. In it, Gordy explained how the group was signed
to the label, what his involvement with the act was and how their first records were recorded. He also reconstructed telephone
conversations between himself and Joseph Jackson at the time of the group’s signing on 26 July 1968, and conversations between
himself and other Motown employees regarding his dismay over The Jackson 5’s appearances in Las Vegas.

I also drew from a thirty-page Sworn Declaration of Ralph Seltzer, Motown’s vice president of corporate affairs, dated 5 March
1976. Seltzer recreated the dialogue, to the best of his memory, between himself and Joseph Jackson on 25 and 26 July 1968,
the days of The Jackson 5’s audition and then signing to Motown. Seltzer spoke in depth about the Motown recording contract
and its terms, his impressions of Joseph Jackson and Jack Richardson, his opinion of the Motown recording contract he had
them sign, how Jackson signed the contract without benefit of outside counsel, how he had his sons do the same and how Seltzer
executed contracts by other artists at Motown. He also detailed Bobby Taylor’s involvement in discovering The Jackson 5 and
spoke of the Christmas party at which The Jackson 5 performed and Joseph Jackson’s impressions of Gordy Manor. (Regarding
that Christmas party, I also drew from my interview with the Jacksons in 1978 and an interview I conducted with Diana Ross
in June 1972.)

I also utilized my personal interview with Ralph Seltzer on 6 June 1989, in which he discussed Gordy’s aversion to allowing
an artist to take a Motown contract home for review purposes.

I culled a good deal of information from the twenty-five-page Sworn Deposition of Suzanne dePasse, Motown’s vice president,
creative division, dated 4 March 1976. DePasse remembered in vivid detail The Jackson 5’s audition for Motown, the recording
of certain of their hit records, the early tours, her impressions of Joseph and Katherine Jackson, and the original contract
negotiations for The Jackson 5.

I extracted information from the five-page Sworn Statement of Anthony D. Jones, executive assistant to the vice president,
creative division, dated 4 March 1976, in which he detailed Motown’s marketing campaign for The Jackson 5.

I also gathered facts from the fifteen-page Sworn Statement of Alan D. Croll, attorney for Motown Record Corporation. Interestingly,
Croll’s statement contradicted Seltzer’s claim that Joseph Jackson was not represented by outside counsel: Croll claimed that
Jack Richardson acted as counsel for the Jacksons (though Richardson was not an attorney).

I drew from lengthy Sworn Depositions given by Richard Arons, Joseph Jackson’s attorney, and Joseph Jackson on 18 November
1975. In his deposition, Joseph Jackson answered questions regarding his antagonistic relationship with Berry Gordy and Ewart
Abner.

Most interesting were the Sworn Depositions of each member of The Jackson 5, which were taken on 15 January 1976, including
Michael Jackson’s. Portions of Michael’s twenty-five-page deposition and the lengthy depositions of his brothers were integrated
into the information found in other parts of this work.

I acquired copies of the original seven-page Motown contracts, dated 26 July 1968, for each member of the group.

Some of Bobby Taylor’s comments to my private investigator, Cathy Griffin, were utilized. I, too, interviewed Bobby in 1995
and again in 1996.

I referred to my interview with Jermaine Jackson in 1980 for some of the details of the meeting at Diana Ross’s home in August
1969.

I viewed a videotape of The Jackson 5’s performance at the Daisy on 11 August 1969, and used as source material newspaper
accounts of the festivities that evening. I also interviewed Paula Dunn on 6 January 1990. Judy Spiegelman’s comments were
published in
Soul
.

I also obtained copies of the nine-page recording contracts with Motown, dated 11 March 1969, for each member of The Jackson
5.

I procured a copy of the Parent’s or Guardian’s Guaranty obligating Michael Jackson to perform certain duties as part of his
commitment to Motown, dated 11 March 1969.

I also obtained many correspondences between Berry Gordy and The Jackson 5 and Joseph Jackson regarding the Saturday morning
cartoon series, the wedding of Jermaine Jackson and Hazel Gordy, the Las Vegas opening and the deterioration of Motown’s relationship
with The Jackson 5. These were all in the public domain, used as evidence in Motown’s suit against The Jackson 5.

I was also able to obtain a complete list of the 469 songs recorded by The Jackson 5 at Motown – including all of those that
were not released – as well as the session costs for each tune. I also viewed the entire 16-millimetre black-and-white Motown
audition film, now transferred to VHS videotape, for some details.

Motown Hit Years

Much of this material was drawn from two lengthy interviews I conducted with Deke Richards on 22 September and 3 November
1990.

Michael Jackson’s comments about Richards were culled from a BBC interview he gave in June 1972. His comments about Diana
Ross and early Motown experiences are from my July 1979 interview with him.

As well as obtaining a list of every song recorded by The Jackson 5 at Motown, I also reviewed a computer readout of all of
Motown’s
exact
sales figures up until December 1990. This computer readout is over ten thousand pages long and includes the album, tape
and CD sales of virtually every Motown release from the time of the company’s inception. I refer to these figures quite often
in this book. I also used this catalogue when I researched
Call Her Miss Ross
.

Berry Gordy’s comments about Michael Jackson’s living with Diana Ross were culled from the Sworn Declaration of Berry Gordy,
dated 4 March 1976.

I reviewed Ralph Seltzer’s petition to Superior Court on 29 October 1968 and quoted from the court transcript of the hearing
before Judge Lester E. Olson on that day. Also referred to was the Order Approving Minors’ Contracts, filed 7 November 1969,
and Order Approving Petition for Approval of Amendments to Contracts of Minors, filed 10 September 1970, both in Los Angeles
Superior Court.

I interviewed Virginia Harris on 3 September 1990. Susie Jackson was interviewed on 21 September 1990. Two close friends of
Katherine Jackson’s, who requested anonymity, were also interviewed.

I viewed a videotape of the
Hollywood Palace
segment, 18 October 1969, and interviewed Jack Lewis on 3 March 1990.

I also gathered information from other sources, including interviews with Stan Sherman (19 March 1990), Phillip Meadows (4
April 1990), Gordon Carter (3 June 1990), Susan Williams (5 August 1990) and Eddie Carroll (15 September 1990). I interviewed
Willie Hutch in June 1978 in Marina del Ray and drew from that interview. I also have some sources who worked closely with
Berry Gordy and who requested anonymity.

I viewed a videotape of The Jackson 5’s performance on
The Ed Sullivan Show
on 14 December 1969.

I drew from Suzanne dePasse’s interview on
The Pat Sajak Show
on 19 May 1989.

I was fortunate enough to have attended The Jackson 5’s first appearance as a Motown attraction at the Philadelphia Convention
Center in April 1970. I was not, however, at the airport when they arrived. (That’s where even I, a die-hard Motown fan, drew
the line.) I utilized Motown’s press release accounts of that day in this chapter.

The information about Gordy and the Osmonds was culled from a conversation with Nancy Leiviska. I also drew from an interview
I conducted with Clifton Davis in 1978.

I utilized features on The Jackson 5 in
Right On!, Creem, Ingenue, Time
and
Sepia
magazines (see bibliography).

I viewed a videotape of the television specials
Diana
(18 April 1971) and
Goin’ Back to Indiana
(19 September 1971).

In the matter of the property at 4641 Hayvenhurst Avenue, Encino, currently owned by Michael Jackson and LaToya Jackson, I
relied on an extensive Property Profile supplied by Fidelity National Tide Insurance Company. This profile includes an in-depth
and legal description of the property. The profile also contains the original Grant Deed signed by Earle and Elouise Hagen,
filed in Los Angeles County, which released the property to Joseph and Katherine Jackson on 25 February 1971; the Deed of
Trust from Great Western Savings and Loan Associates, dated 27 April 1971, with details of how Mr and Mrs Jackson arranged
to purchase the property with Berry Gordy’s assistance; and the Quitclaim Deed signed by Katherine Jackson on 24 June 1987,
and filed in Los Angeles County, in which she released her share of equity in the property to her daughter LaToya Jackson.

I also used as source material a Property Profile supplied by World Tide Company in which property, sales and tax information
were examined.

I interviewed Lionel Richie for a
Soul
cover story on The Commodores in 1981 and drew from that interview.

I drew from the interview I conducted with Tito Jackson, Marlon Jackson and Jackie Jackson in 1978.

The incident between Rhonda Phillips and Jackie Jackson was recreated based on personal interviews with Ms Phillips on 8 March
1990 and 15 March 1990.

Among other sources I consulted were back issues of
Soul
magazine. I also drew from my interviews with Ken Kingsley (14 April 1990), Stewart Drew (3 May 1990), Mark Butler (12 June
1990), Gil Askey (5 March 1984) and Walter Jackson (5 December 1989).

I relied on press reports and eyewitness accounts regarding The Jackson 5’s various tours overseas.

I depended on press reports – including those found in
Soul
, the
Los Angeles Times
and
Ebony
– as well as eyewitness accounts to write about Jermaine Jackson’s wedding to Hazel Gordy. I also reviewed press releases from
Motown Records.

I drew from my interviews with Walter Burrell (6 March 1989), Steven Sprocket (24 June 1990), Harry Langdon (16 March 1984),
Joyce Jillson (20 February 1990), Hal Davis (5 March 1985) and Susie Jackson. I also drew from an interview I conducted with
Marvin Gaye in 1982. Steve Manning’s comment about Hazel Gordy was published in
Ebony
.

I obtained background information on The Jackson 5’s trip to Africa from press reports. Also, I drew from Cathy Griffin’s
conversations with Richard Arons. The comments by members of The Jackson 5 about Africa were published in
Soul
magazine.

I viewed a videotape of the
Cher
show on which The Jackson 5 appeared and interviewed one of Cher’s assistants for a biography of Cher (St Martin’s Press,
1987); the assistant requested anonymity at that time.

Katherine Jackson v. Joseph Jackson (I)

Details of the divorce action brought by Katherine Jackson against Joseph Jackson were culled from the following documents
filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Los Angeles County, all case number 42680:

Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, 9 March 1973.

Certificate of Assignment of Transfer, 10 March 1973.