Music & Me

About

"Music & Me" is the third studio album by American singer Michael Jackson. It was released on April 13, 1973, by Motown. The album was arranged by Dave Blumberg, Freddie Perren, Gene Page, and James Anthony Carmichael, and is among Jackson's lowest-selling albums. In 2009, it was reissued as part of the three-disc compilation "Hello World: The Motown Solo Collection". The album was released during a transitional period in Jackson's career when he was 14 years old and experiencing vocal changes, alongside shifts in the popular music landscape. Influenced by Motown labelmates Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, Jackson expressed interest in contributing original compositions and playing instruments on the album, but Motown did not permit this. He later communicated his dissatisfaction to his father, Joe Jackson, who subsequently played a role in ending Michael Jackson's and his brothers' contract with Motown and negotiating new contracts with Epic Records. Promotion of the album was limited due to Jackson's commitments to a world tour with his brothers as part of The Jackson 5, which ran from March 1973 to December 1975. The Stevie Wonder cover "With a Child's Heart" was released as a single in the United States, reaching number 14 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and number 50 on the Billboard Hot 100. Two additional tracks, "Music and Me" and "Morning Glow", were released as singles in the United Kingdom but did not chart. The track "Too Young" was released as a single in Italy, "Happy" was released in Australia, and "Doggin' Around" had a limited single release in the Netherlands. Ten years after the album's release, "Happy" was issued as a single in the United Kingdom to promote Motown's compilation album "18 Greatest Hits". In the 1990s, Motown Records reissued "Music & Me" on compact disc outside the United States, with some changes to the presentation. A separate compilation under the same title included all tracks from the original 1973 release except "Doggin' Around", along with additional tracks from Jackson's other recordings. The original CD edition also featured different packaging text and a darker shade of green artwork. Critical reception was mixed. AllMusic awarded the album three stars, with a review noting that the songs were considered undistinguished and that Jackson's vocal performance was described as tentative. Entertainment Weekly gave the album a grade of B, describing it as part of a period in which Jackson was transitioning toward more mature material, including the title track and a cover of Stevie Wonder's "With a Child's Heart". The Village Voice gave the album a B−, with commentary noting Jackson's rhythmic sense and interpretive ability while also questioning aspects of the album's interpretive depth.

via Last.fm

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