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“Ben”

Date range assessed by Jackson5ABC forum user “jaorecords”’ analysis (archived), where he estimated to the best of his ability, based on how MJ's vocal sounds in relation to other songs, other tracks’ confirmed recording dates, and the producers working on the tracks at the time, the recording dates for tracks where a recording date has not yet been publicly released. Date will be updated if more official information comes to light.

Michael Jackson, 1972 article (see Image 001 of November 9, 1972 images)

“There’s a strange story attached to that”, he says. “You see, ‘Ben’ is the theme to the sequel to ‘Willard’, the film about rats, if you can work that out. Unfortunately, radio stations in the States, because ‘Ben’ itself was about a rat, decided not to play it, saying that it lacked taste or something. The fact is that people probably couldn’t care less, since hardly any of them knew what the song was about initially. The charts proved that.”

“Moonwalk” autobiography (1988)

“Ben” meant a lot to me. Nothing had ever excited me as much as going to the studio to put my voice on film. I had a great time. Later, when the movie came out, I’d go to the theater and wait until the end when the credits would flash on, and it would say, “ ‘Ben’ sung by Michael Jackson.” I was really impressed by that. I loved the song and loved the story. Actually, the story was a lot like E.T. It was about a boy who befriended a rat. People didn’t understand the boy’s love for this little creature. He was dying of some disease and his only true friend was Ben, the leader of the rats in the city where they lived. A lot of people thought the movie was a bit odd, but I was not one of them. The song went to number one and is still a favorite of mine. I have always loved animals and I enjoy reading about them and seeing movies in which they’re featured.

Walter Scharf, songwriter, “Musician” magazine (July 1984)

Walter Scharf, the Oscar-winning film composer who wrote the music for Michael’s hit “Ben”, recalls the thirteen-year-old as “meticulous about everything, almost to a fault. Very disciplined. I think it’s marvelous to be like that at that age--to have that kind of knowledge and feeling toward your work.”

Don Black, lyricist, Chris Cadman’s “Michael Jackson the Maestro”

Initially intended for Michael’s teen rival Donny Osmond, but he was unavailable. So lyricist Don Black suggested Michael, who he thought might make a better job of it.

Black said he wrote the song about an ill child, who discovers a rat he befriends. Michael got the meaning, said Black, and saw this when he was recording it.

“He got the song. He could dig so deep for one so young. He used to well up when singing.”