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Kankakee, Illinois Performance at the Jones Skating Rink

Date range assessed by the fact that the performance took place “around the time the Jackson 5's contract with Motown Records was being finalized”, which occurred on March 11, 1969.

“Daily Journal” (July 3, 2009) (archived)

Around the time the Jackson 5's contract with Motown Records was being finalized, the Gary, Ind., group played in a building which now houses the Missionary Baptist Church Community Center on Harrison Avenue.

"Jones Skating Rink is what everybody called it," said Jeff Jones, who was there working the concession stand with his brother, Harold. Their father, Thomas, owned the building.

...Jeff Jones was on Easter break in his sophomore year from Morehouse College in Atlanta.

"I came home and helped Dad at the skating rink," he said. "Dad said, 'We're having a little dance. Do you want to run the concession stand?' It was an interesting time. It was just a gig for me and (the Jackson 5), too."

Jones recalled the rink being packed with a lot of young kids and teenagers from the black community.

"I thought they were amazing," said Murrell, who was a senior at Kankakee Westview High School. "I didn't know they would become this famous. It was a good show."

Jones recalled how Michael captivated the audience of 150 to 200.

"You could tell that Michael had a lot of talent," he said. "Even though he was the lead singer, he could do more than that. He could dance and sing, and he shined. He was head and shoulders above his brothers.

"They seemed to all get along well. They were polished. I was surprised they were so polished for their age. There was a song Michael sang that had the girls screaming. I don't know what it was, but they really liked it."

..."They were just a local group out of Gary," Jones said. "They had their dad and a DJ from a radio station in the South Suburbs with them. They had a lot of airplay. The kids out here really liked them."

..."I went back to school and when I came back that summer, they were on American Bandstand," Jones said.