The Jackson 5 – Reach In (released September 8, 1970)
This psychedelic soul explosion from the Jackson 5's stellar Third Album was written by unsung Motown songwriter Beatrice Verdi.
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On September 8, 1970, the Jackson 5 released the Third Album LP featuring their all-time best selling single “I'll Be There.”
It was their second album released in a span of four months, and when “I’ll Be There” went to #1 it was the group’s fourth consecutive single to top the charts. The LP eventually sold more than six million copies. See our earlier post on Michael Jackson for more on the history of the Jackson 5.
One of Third Album’s most amazing cuts was the psychedelic soul explosion “Reach In.” Michael and Jermaine were on lead vocals, and it was written by unsung Motown songwriter Beatrice Verdi. A former church organist and choir director, Verdi wrote for Dusty Springfield in the mid-sixties before joining Motown in 1967. She was a staff songwriter at the label for six and a half years.
“Reach In” was featured in a mindblowing dayglo sequence of Episode 7 of their animated series, which originally aired October 23, 1971.
The album was co-produced by Hal Davis and The Corporation, the songwriting and production team made up of Fonce Mizell, Freddie Perren, Deke Richards, and Berry Gordy. It was named anonymously by Gordy in order to keep its other three members from becoming stars in their own right.
Along with his brother Larry Mizell, Fonce would go on to write and/or produce some of the greatest jazz-funk albums of the 1970s, including masterpieces by Donald Byrd, Bobbi Humphrey, Gary Bartz, and Johnny Hammond. Perren would soon write and/or produce some of the biggest hits of the disco era, such as “Love Machine” by the Miracles, “Boogie Fever” by the Sylvers, “Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel” by Tavares, and arguably his most well-known song, Gloria Gaynor’s classic anthem “I Will Survive.”
Another of Third Album’s highlights was the Jackson 5’s superb cover of “Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide from Love)” by the Delfonics, co-written by Thom Bell and William Hart. The beautiful love song “Darling Dear” that closed the album was co-written by Berry Gordy’s younger brother Robert and featured a stellar bassline by Funk Brother James Jamerson.
#soul #funk #BeatriceVerdi #Jackson5 #MichaelJackson
One of my all-time favorite J5 tracks. 🎼👍🏾😊