Michael Jackson: Music & Me - 1973

 

More problems occurred for Jackson here, as his voice changed even more and half the songs tried to perpetuate the old high-voiced pre-teen thing and the others saw him attempting to adapt to his deeper, adult one. 

It was a short, thirty-two minute offering that doesn't exude any joie de vivre or real enthusiasm. Michael, seeing what Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder were doing, wanted to to include some of his own songs on the album but Motown said no, so he was stuck with cover versions of old standards like All The Things You Are and Too Young, Happy (from Lady Sings The Blues) and recycled Motown material like Johnny Raven, which The Supremes had recorded a few years earlier (admittedly, Jackson's version is a good one, though). No wonder many have said that he sounded a bit detached and disinterested on what came across as a treading water album. 

Either way, it was the last of his "kid" albums. 

The best tracks are probably the minor hit single, Morning Glow, Up Again, With A Child's Heart, the enjoyable funky soul of Euphoria and the lightly funky Jackie Wilson cover, Doggin' Around. The title track, Music And Me, is nice too, but a bit short. Incidentally, although Michael is show strumming an acoustic guitar on the cover, he doesn't play any instruments on the album.

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