I have been working with Michael Jackson since 1977....

[Bruce Swedien]

I have been working with Michael Jackson since 1977....

“The WIZ, the Movie”

The year is 1977. Bea and I were living in the Chicago area at the time. Quincy called me one night and asked, "Want to go to New York, and do a musical movie?". I said "Absolutely!". Any musical project with my old pal ‘Q’ is guaranteed to be alot of fun. So off we went to the “Big Apple” to do "The Wiz", the movie. While we were there, working on the “Wiz”, we met this young, 18 year-old kid by the name of Michael Jackson.(Michael played the 'scarecrow' in the 'Wiz', the movie) Tom Bahler was there with us doing vocal backgrounds and arrangements for the film. We were at A&R studios, on 52d Street. Bea (my wife) had come to New York to visit me.

One day Quincy and I were in the control room working on something, and I noticed out of the corner of my eye, that Tom Bahler was at the piano in the studio, playing and singing a song for Bea. She was obviously very interested in it. The song Tom was playing and singing for Bea was‚ “She's Out of My Life”.

The following year, when we were working on Michael’s Solo Album “Off The Wall”, we recorded it with Michael. How Michael could do such a sincere interpretation of the lyric has always puzzled me, because I know it was an experience he had never even thought about. It's a very mature emotion, and Michael was only 19 years old at the time.

When we were recording Michael´s vocal, he broke down and cried at the end of every take. We recorded about six or seven takes. At the end of each take Michael was sobbing, actually crying. I know he was sincere, because when we finished the last take, Michael was too embarassed to come in the control room. He just tippy-toed out the back door of the studio, got in his car, and left the studio building. Quincy said to me, "Hey... that's supposed to be, leave it on there, leave it there.”

We didn’t see Michael again until a day or two later! I don't know how Michael was relating to the subject, “She's Out of My Life”. He´d never had that kind of grown-up relationship with anybody, I don´t think so, anyway...

Bruce Swedien

[themaidsroom]

what great work !

i have recently aquired pristine vinyl copies
of "off the wall" and
"thriller" and 12's of "billie jean" & "man in the mirror"

louis johnson's bass playing is fantastic - he makes billie jean
really swing.....
michael's back up vocals on "human nature" are truly amazing.....

my uncompressed ipod aiff file versions of these recordings are very
different to my ears.........as are the cd's they came from....

any stories about any of these songs ?

any hope that michael, the man who, underneath it all, is a huge talent, could
make another great record ?


thanks,


be well


- jack

[Resonater]

Originally Posted by themaidsroom

any hope that michael, the man who, underneath it all, is a huge talent, could
make another great record ?

Jack, I think the question should be: "Any hope that Michael, Quincy and Bruce will make another record?"