Michael Jackson by J. Randy Taraborrelli Read Free Book Online Page B

drums and was badly bruised. ‘That'll teach you to be late,’ Joseph said.

Rebbie Marries
    At about this time, 1968, when Michael was almost ten, the Jacksons faced a family crisis. Eighteen-year-old Maureen had fallen
     in love with Nathaniel Brown, a devout Jehovah's Witness. She announced that she wanted to marry him and move to Kentucky.
     Katherine, happy for her daughter, encouraged her. In Katherine's view, there was no more important role for any of her daughters
     to play than that of being a wife and mother.
    However, Joseph was against the marriage. ‘It was all cooked up by Maureen and her mother,’ he would later explain. ‘I wasn't
     happy about it at all.’
    Because Maureen – Rebbie, as she was known in the family – had a powerful singing voice, her father had hoped she would consider
     a career in show business. He felt that if she married and raised a family, she would never be able to devote her attention
     to the entertainment field. However, though Maureen had taken dance and piano lessons as a child, she was not interested in
     a musical career. She preferred the comfort and security of a happy home life to the instability of show business.
    Also, of course, Rebbie wanted to get out of that house. There was always so much drama occurring within the walls of that
     small home on Jackson Street; from the exuberant high when the boys would win a talent show, to the crashing low when they
     were chased and bullied by Joseph. Rebbie wanted out. Who could blame her? As it would happen, her defection from the ranks
     would be just the first of such crises in the family, as several of the children chose to marry at an early age against their
     father's wishes in order to get away from him.
    The arguments went on for weeks until, finally, Joseph relented. Fine, Rebbie could get married. However, he would have the
     final word: he would not give her away.

The First Record Deal
    After winning another talent contest, this one at Beckman Junior High in Gary, the boys were brought to the attention of a
     man named Gordon Keith, who owned a small local label called Steeltown Records. Keith immediately signed the brothers to a
     limited record deal.
    On a Saturday morning filled with great promise, Joseph took his brood to Steeltown's recording studio. The boys were led
     into a small glass booth. Michael was given a large set of metal headphones which came halfway down his neck. His brothers
     plugged their instruments into amplifiers. There were backup singers and a horn section. This was the record business – at last!
     The Jackson youngsters were thrilled, as anyone could see by looking at their young, bright faces. Of course, this was a big
     day for Joseph, too. It took a few hours to record that first song. After that, they would return every Saturday for the next
     few weeks for more recordings. One song was an instrumental; Michael sang lead vocals on the other six. It was obvious that
     he was to be the centrepiece of the group, he was so obviously unique with such a true ‘sound’ and amazing self-assurance
     at an early age.
    Two singles were eventually released on Steeltown in 1968: ‘Big Boy’, backed with ‘You've Changed’, and ‘We Don't Have to
     Be Over 21 (to Fall in Love)’, backed with ‘Jam Session’. Both were mediocre numbers that don't really hint at Michael Jackson's
     potential as a vocalist, but the boys were thrilled with them just the same. After all, these were their first records. From
     here, it seemed, anything might be possible. What a memorable moment it must have been for them, then, when the family gathered
     around the radio to hear the broadcast of that first recording. Michael recalled that as it played, they sat in the living
     room, stunned. ‘Then, when it was over, we all laughed and hugged one another. We felt we had arrived. This was an amazing
     time for us as a family. I can still feel the excitement when I think back on it.’
    Ben Brown, then a