natwantstoknow’s Reviews > Truly: An Inspirational Journey Through the Life of a Musical Legend > Status Update

Every morning when he shaved, instead of singing, "Oh, Danny Boy," from then on for the rest of his life, he would sing, in his deepest, loudest, most resonant voice, "Just to Be Close to You." 💖

The more I thought about it, the more I started to question why we were waiting for a superhero to deliver us our hit formula

Why couldn't we deliver it for ourselves?

"Now either God is talking to you or he's not." Marvin started tapping on the table.

"Now, if you hear me just tapping on the table, you're not a songwriter"

But if you hear a song from the beat from just tapping on the table, you're a songwriter

Teams of writers producers competed tor who "could get a hit on whom. as the saying went. There were dance instructors, experts in hair and wardrobe, teachers of etiquette, not to mention sales, marketing and promotion teams. along w tour and booking reps. Hitsville became a mecca not just for singers and musicians but also for others hoping to get their start behind the scenes.

"We assumed we'd be the main entertainment in Saint- Tropez-the fishing village that was a hub for celebrities from the literary and art worlds--only to find out that Mick and Bianca Jagger were getting married there."

Joe Jackson: "Hey, I heard your equipment is late. Man Sorry to hear about that" -> Richie thought this was sus 🤨 but they still put on a great show without their equipment at hollywood bowl!

"Lion-nel, can you believe that? We sold out Madison Square Garden!" "Nah. we didn't sell out nuth'n, you sold it out. I meant him and his brothers.

"We did." He meant all of us. I assumed
He used "we" whenever he looked into the future, always with plans to keep topping himself and promising, "We are gonna be bigger than big, Lion-nel."

100% my fave chapter thus far 💗

J-5 rehearsals ran like clockwork. Their punctuality and discipline were ironclad
We soon learned that "Thou shalt be on time" was a real commandment at Motown

We were like their college cousins, not so much older, and hilariously, we could be just as silly as them. The J5 excelled in practical jokes. They were relentless. If we left our shoes out to be shined, they'd put ice cubes in them.

The Jacksons were unusually aware of their responsibility to deliver.
Whenever Motown executives attended rehearsals, I'd hover. soaking up every tidbit I could learn about record re leases, radio play, and concert promotion. Mainly, I was eager to understand the Business: What's involved in radio promotion? Wait, are you telling me you have one executive to promote records to Black radio vs white radio?

I believe that Michael, who had his own form of shyness when he was offstage, said, "Nice to meet you Lion-nel Richie." From that day forward, for the next thirty-nine years, Michael pro- nounced my name like he too was born and bred in Tuskegee.

We were fortunate to have a front-row seat to the coaching of the J-5 on how to kill with every performance, even how to handle the press and television appearances.

Mavbe it was better that nobody told us we'd be playing for an arena full of children screaming for the J-5 so loud we couldn't hear ourselves. Rochester had the Jackson 5 fever and all we could do was have fun, do our thing, and capture their interest for forty fleeting minutes.