Early July 1974:
“That was great, guys!” exclaimed the man behind the tinted glass of Motown’s recording studio. “You really blew me away; I think we have enough, so just chill in the lobby for now.”
Smiles from the whole group immediately were plastered on their faces as they rushed out of the recording studio for the first time that day. With the new album nearing the end, the Jackson Five have been nonstop in the recording studio, in hopes that they could finish early. But with a manager like Joseph Jackson, nothing they sang or played was good enough, making their album take longer than expected.
Michael sighed and collapsed on one of the many chairs in the causal lobby. He couldn’t help but feel that the weight of the world was now off his shoulders, since the album was nearly finished. It has been ten years now of fame for the brothers, and they knew that sadly it wasn’t finishing any time soon.
“Dude, if we have to record one more song… I might kill someone.” Stated Marlon as he took a seat next to Michael.
“Your not the only one,” replied Tito sadly. “I haven’t seen Dee Dee or Toriano in weeks.”
Michael glanced up at his older brother sadly, feeling his pain. He couldn’t imagine having to be separated from his wife and newly born son, miles away from one-another. It pained him that he had to do that, but there was sadly nothing he could do about it.
“Suck it up man,” Jackie said to his younger brother, slapping his back as he did so. “You should be happy that you have a job like this to provide for your family.”
Tito sighed and looked at his hands in defeat. “I guess your right,” he said in a monotone. “But I still miss them dearly.”
“Hey,” replied Jermaine with a smirk. “We all miss them… And little Toriano misses his favorite uncle… Uncle Jermaine!”
Smiles appeared back on everyone’s faces, as they all individually claimed that they were Toriano’s favorite uncle. Soon a playful fight broke out between the six brothers as they threw pillows and their own bodies at one another, all of them fighting for the victorious title of being Toriano’s favorite uncle.
“That’s not fair,” exclaimed Randy, who was currently wedged under Tito and Michael. As he gasped for breath under Tito’s weight, he muttered, “I’m the youngest and the tiniest! I should get someone to fight that is my own size!”
Tito chuckled. “Sure thing, Randy!” he replied with a smirk, as he whacked Marlon with a pillow. “Let me go find Janet for you to fight.”
Laughs filled the air, besides Randy, who struggled to get out of Tito’s grip. “T-That’s n-not f-f-funny!” he gaped as he finally pushed himself off of Tito, but knocked himself into a nearby table.
The table swayed back and forth, finally dropping the fancy vase that was on top of it. The once perfectly sculpted blue and green vase from the middle ages, now lay in a heap of millions of pieces on the wooden floor of the lobby.
All the boys immediately stopped fighting, turning around with big eyes to observe what they had done. Spotting the broken vases, all the boys slowly moved away from it, hoping that they could make it out of there before anyone saw who had done it. But suddenly a voiced boomed out from behind them, making all of them instantly run towards the vase, covering what they had done with their bodies.
“Boys, Mr. Gordy would like to speak with you guys immediately,” stated one of the many workers of their record label founder. “He says it is rather urgent and would need you guys in the conference room instead of his office.”
The brothers, who were all facing the worker but were surrounding the entire vase, nodded their heads before sprinting off towards the stairs, which lead to the conference room. They heard a gasp from the worker once they were at the top of the stairs, making smiles light up on each of their faces.
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“Thank you all for being here on such a short notice,” said Berry Gordy, as he watched his top clients relax and eat some of the offered foods in the chairs around the large oval conference table.
Seeing that they had their mouths busy, he decided to go with what he had brought them here to talk about. “Your album is taking quite some time; we estimated that it would be finished by late May. By what I have heard of the album, I like it but I don’t know what you guys need to keep spending so much time on…”
Joseph Jackson, the Jackson Five’s manager and father, quickly interrupted Berry Gordy.
“We appreciate your worry, Mr. Gordy, but you have nothing to worry about.” Stated the man with absolute confidence. “We are not wasting, nor taking advantage, of your money. We are using it to make my clients sound the best they can.”
All of the brothers felt a twinge of guilt in their father’s words. Although Joseph isn’t meaning to waste Berry Gordy’s money, they find that it is pointless to how much time and money they were currently spent on the album.
Michael also felt sadden by his father’s words; for both that they were wasting a lot of his money and that he referred to his sons as ‘clients’. This has always hurt Michael, but he never spoke about it to anyone… Besides Jasmine.
Michael shook his head violently, desperately trying to get his mind off the girl that stole his thoughts. Although they only met for a few hours, he felt like she was his best friend for years.
Berry Gordy shook his hand trying to silence Joseph. “I am not worried, nor do I mistrust that you will use my money in vain; but I am just nervous about when you will release it.”
“And why is that?” asked Joseph as he leaned in closer to the man.
Berry Gordy sighed and got out of his chair, going straight for the window that was behind him. He looked out at the busy state of New York, which had all the normal commotion right before his eyes. He slowly turned around to face the Jacksons, scared at how they may take the next news.
“Have you ever heard of Solar Records?” asked Berry.
Unfamiliar with the company, all of the Jackson’s nodded their heads no.
A sigh escaped Berry’s lips. “Well it’s an up-and-coming recording label, just recently founded by Dick Griffey, one of my best friend.” He quickly added on, “Well ex-best friend.”
“I-I’m afraid I’m not understanding you point, Mr. Gordy.” Replied Joseph in a rather harsh tone.
“Let me get right down to the story then,” snapped Berry. “Dick and I grew up together, both having the same dream of changing black music forever. We both knew the only way to do this was by buying a recording label, so we both made plans together.” Berry said, looking out at the streets of New York as he spoke. “But, long story short, he cheated me out of my money I had been saving and went off to make his own recording company with Don Cornelius.” He spat his name as if it had an infection. “So I had to work my way back to where I am today, but I refuse to have anything to do with Dick Griffey.”
“And how does this affect our album taking so long?” asked Joseph.
Berry looked up from the streets of New York and stared at Joseph. “It affects us because he has a new group out, as well. One that I am afraid will draw some of the attention away from the Jackson Five. From what I have heard, they are making an album and planning on traveling the nation to promote it… If we don’t get ours out soon, we will be foreshadowed by… them.” He spat out as his eyes returned to the streets of New York.
All the brothers went silent, trying there hardest to understand what they had just been told. They couldn’t believe what they had been told, mainly because they never really had much competition when it came to entertainers around their ages. So, this news was very shocking.
“Now how could some group of young and unprofessional kids overpower our Jackson Five?” Joseph roared, slamming his fist on the conference table. “They are young and new, unlike us!”
“You just made the point exactly, Joseph.” Explained Berry. “The world has seen the Jackson Five for ten years now… They want something new, something that can compete against the glorious Jacksons!”
Joseph nodded his head in anger, trying to find words to say. “Who is the group?” he finally managed to ask.
“The Carter Family.”
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“Carter Family, how lovely to see you all!” exclaimed Dick Griffey as he shook everyone’s hands before inviting them to sit down around the large table. “Its so great to see you guys!”
Save it for someone who wants to hear it, Dick-face. Thought Jasmine as she pulled her hand away from Dick Griffey’s bearded face.
“Please, please sit down!” he exclaimed in his typical, and annoying, raspy voice. “I’m glad you guys came down to talk to me, I have so much to tell you all.”
“Are we getting to go to Disneyland?” asked Jasmine’s younger brother, Joshua, in his typical high squeaky voice.
Jasmine’s father glared at his son, showing him a look that meant to knock it off and to be prepared for the punishment when they get home. Jasmine shot her father a look back, showing him that she wasn’t scared, even though she truly was deep down.
Jasmine was a nurturer of all of her siblings; whether it was her two younger brothers, Joshua and Matthew, or her older brothers, Brian and Daniel. She cared for all of them for most of her life, especially when their mother died of cancer.
Their father was way different from their mother, something that made all the children wonder why they married. They knew their father meant well in their ‘careers’, but it never stopped them from hating him at times. He never really was a father to them, but more like a manager who cares about fame and glory, which he never received in his ‘band days’.
“Sorry, bud.” Said Dick as he patted Josh’s head in a friendly manor. “No Disneyland, but you are going on vacation!”
Jasmine glared at Dick, despite her mind telling her not too. To make things worse, she spoke out, something that she got from her mother. “Vacation? You call traveling the world, from city to city, performing and interviewing everyday a relaxing vacation?” spat Jasmine as she crossed her arms across her chest.
Her father’s eyes grew in size at his out-spoken daughter’s words. He never had seen so much of his wife in his daughter until now. Yes, she was just as beautiful as her mother was and had the same voice of his angel, but she had confidence, something his wife never once showed in her life.
Dick chuckled at her typical outburst. “Jazzy, dear--”
Jasmine felt herself tense up at the nickname ‘Jazzy’. No one besides her mother had called her that… And Michael…
“—you have my word that this will be a lot more relaxing then the last trip. It was just a lot of bad scheduling last trip, but I had someone space the days out. In fact, I have a party welcoming you guys to the business in New York.”
Smiles lit up on everyone’s faces besides Jasmine, at the news they had learned. Yes, she was happy that they were getting to relax, but she never really trusted many people after her mother died. It was just the protective wall that she put up, and refused to come down… Besides for Michael…
“And with the album coming out soon, the stress of the world is off your shoulders.” Stated Dick.
“So we don’t have to do any more performances or interviews?” asked Brian, who had a smile on his face from the news.
“Of course you still have those, but just not as many.” Replied Dick as he settled into his chair. “I will always make sure that you guys come first, because I have a feeling that you will be the next big thing.”
“Wow, you flatter us to much.” Muttered Jasmine sarcastically. “So nice to hear that you care about us for us, not our income we are putting in your pocket.”
“Jazz!” exclaimed Daniel, who was trying to be serious and hide the smirk that was threatening to spread across his face.
“Hey, I’m just saying--”
“That will be enough Jasmine Noelle Carter! I don’t want to hear another word from you for the rest of the conference, do I make myself clear?” boomed out her father, who unraveled all his built up anger.
Jasmine glared at the table, not wanting to say anything else to her father.
Suddenly a pain rippled through her right arm, as her father gripped it as tight as he could. “I SAID DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!” screamed her father, whose knuckles were turning white from clasping her right arm so tight.
“Yes,” hissed Jasmine as she pulled her arm out of his.
The rest of the conference was conversations between Dick, some music directors, and all of the Carters, besides Jasmine. Jasmine stared at the same spot for the whole two-hour conference, refusing to even look at her brothers, who were nervously looking at her.
“Jazz,” mumbled Brian under his breath. “You okay?”
Jasmine merely shrugged, keeping her eyes down at the table. Her eyes always clearly gave away how she was feeling so she decided to keep her emotions to herself for now.
Dick’s raspy voice brought the two out of their thoughts as he raised his glass in the air, making a little toast.
“I just wanted to say that I am very happy I found you guys, and hope that you guys do just as successful as I see and plan in you guys. So let’s cheers off to… To New York! Where the beginning of successful careers will start!”
Everyone raised their glass, whether it was alcohol or water, and cheered off to that, for everyone was ready for the start of a new beginning, but little did they know that it isn’t the only thing that will be the beginning of!