The Washington Post
Unearthing a Jackson 5 gem from Chicago label One-derful!
By Aaron Cohen November 14 at 10:20 AM
One day in July 1967 on Chicago’s Near South Side, a group of unknown brothers from Gary, Ind., stepped into a professional recording studio for the first time and taped a song called “Big Boy.” Their father, Joe Jackson, would have been familiar with this Michigan Avenue record company, One-derful!, established by brothers George and Ernie Leaner. Within two years of that summer, the world would know that musical family as the Jackson 5.
“Michael Jackson, even then, was inquisitive,” says R&B singer Otis Clay, who also recorded at One-derful! “He’d follow you around all day asking you questions.”
The Leaners didn’t end up releasing “Big Boy,” and, for decades, few could even attest to the recording’s existence. And, of course, the Jacksons’ subsequent success overshadowed that of their first producers. But, as a new compilation proves, the Leaners weren’t just a footnote to musical history.
The first volume of “The One-derful! Collection,” released late last month by Secret Stash Records, includes several of the old label’s releases, and its liner notes document its history, including the rediscovery of “Big Boy” (the Jacksons’ 45 is available with one of the installments in Secret Stash’s full subscription series).
The Leaners entered the record business almost by happenstance. In the 1940s, they both worked at their brother-in-law’s Chicago record store. A few years later, George and Ernie moved into record distribution, forming United Record Distributors and releasing jazz, gospel and soul singles and albums across the Midwest. It wasn’t until 1962, however, that they launched One-derful! to produce R&B.
Source: The Washington Post / MJ-UPBEAT.COM
Recent Comments