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Little Big Man & The Jackson Four

“Imgenuel” (January 1972) (archived)

“Little Big Man is what we call him!” Sixteen-year-old Jermaine Jackson is talking about his thirteen-year-old brother, Michael, lead singer of the Jackson Five, possibly the greatest rock phenomenon to hit the pop world since The Beatles. Michael just sits there and grins, his sparkling eyes sending out vibrations of excitement. Magnetism, star quality, charisma – call it what you will – Michael Jackson radiates it.

Jermaine, who gets even more fan mail than Michael because he’s just right age for the most romantically inclined fans, continues: “Little Big Man and I share rooms with The Hawk when we’re on the road.” The Hawk is papa Joe Jackson, a retired Gary, Indiana, crane operator. “He’s always on the watch – that’s why we gave him that nickname. He just don’t believe in no trouble. He makes sure we’re in bed and not running up and down the halls of the hotel looking pretty in our robes. Soon as we walk into the hotel room, Michael dives for the bed and starts throwing the pillows. So The Hawk has to watch out.”

Who’s the wildest of the Jackson Five, we ask? Suddenly it’s a game of Freeze as each of the five brothers points at another, frozen into position. They roar with laughter.

Who’s the loudest, we ask? Little Big Man, quickly renamed Little Big Mouth, wins hands down.

The interview is taking place in the plush offices of Motown Records in Hollywood, where both the record company and the Jackson family have only recently moved from their Detroit, Michigan, and Gary home bases. The boys are dressed in a variety of stylish sports clothes – the jeans look has never been part of their image.

Says twenty-year-old Jackie, the oldest: “Back in Gary, we decided to start a group in 1964, and won first place in the school talent show. We did a benefit for Mayor Richard Hatcher, and Diana Ross was his guest. She liked our act, took us to Motown and it all started. I believe if I hadn’t made it in music, I would have had a scholarship in either basketball or football. I’m starting business college because I want to take care of financial stuff.”

Says eighteen-year-old Tito: “I studied music at school, played saxophone, violin and bass fiddle. My father had a guitar at home and every day when he went to work, I used to sneak in his closet, pull out his guitar and play it, then have it back before he got home. One day he caught me and tore me up. Then, he decided to buy me one – a box guitar. I learned a couple of Ray Charles songs and Jackie and me sang together. Then, about six months later we added Michael and the rest of the group and there were five. I’m going to the Walton School in Panorama City (California) now and I want to go on to UCLA and major in music and mechanical engineering. I want to build recording studios. I’d like to see a Motown studio – a good one.”

Says sixteen-year-old Jermaine: “I’m in the Walton School, too. I plan to go to college and study English and music because those are my best subjects. I love to write songs – we all write songs. Right now we have lyrics of like thirty-five songs. We don’t have the music, but we’ll get around to it.”

Says fourteen-year-old Marlon: “The kids at Walton don’t treat me any different because I’m one of the Jackson Five. Just ordinary. Only time they really started talking was when they saw the TV special. I plan to go to college but I haven’t made up my mind where yet. Right now my best subjects are algebra and history.”

Says thirteen-year-old Michael: “I plan to take art when I go to college. I get lots of mail but Jermaine gets more. The ones that come to our house, I answer. But the ones that Motown gets, they have girls to answer. The first record we ever bought was Mickey Monkey by Smokey Robinson. I like a lot of people – Temptations, Diana Ross, The Supremes, Three Dog Night, Johnny Mathis, Creedence Clearwater, Marvin Gaye, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas – a lot of them.”

Each of the dapper Jackson Five wears his hair in Afro style. Does it mean something politically, we ask? Has it got something to do with Black Power? The Motown publicity representative, silent till now, breaks in. “Come on, now. These are children, not adults. Let’s not get into that!”

When we point out that Jackie is twenty and of voting age, the publicity man responds: “Well, certainly he has convictions. But, he’s a commercial product, too. He may very well be doing things behind the scenes that you’d never know about because he believes in them. But, he’s got to be making money, too. So, let’s stay away from controversial issues.”

We look over at Jackie who shrugs his shoulders almost imperceptibly.

Interview over, we start packing up the tape recorder. Michael wanders over to say goodbye. That sharp, knowing sparkle comes into his eyes as he holds out his hand, thumb first, for a soul-brother shake.