Maps of Music

Ben (1972)

Where the lyrics of Ben take you, and where it was really made.

Its title track, the theme song of a sequel about killer rats, became Michael Jackson's first Billboard Hot 100 number one while he was still a member of the Jackson 5.

Place unknown

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Album story

Overview

• Ben is the second studio album by Michael Jackson
• Released by Motown on August 4, 1972
• Released while Jackson was still a member of the Jackson 5
• The title track "Ben" was the lead and only single
• The single topped the US Billboard Hot 100
• The album reached the top 10 of the US Billboard 200

Background

• Jackson's first studio album, Got to Be There, came out in January 1972 on Motown
• Got to Be There peaked at number 14 on the Billboard 200
• Ben came out seven months after Got to Be There
• The title track was the theme song for the 1972 film Ben, itself a sequel to the 1971 killer rat film Willard

Recording

• Recording sessions ran from November 1971 to February 1972
• Six people produced the album, with Berry Gordy as executive producer
• Songwriters for the ten tracks included Mel Larson, Jerry Marcellino, Thom Bell, Linda Creed, The Corporation, Smokey Robinson and Ronald White
• Jackson recorded covers of The Temptations' "My Girl" and Stevie Wonder's "Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day"
• Other covers included Lionel Hampton's "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" and Brenda Holloway's "You Can Cry on My Shoulder"
• Track tempos ranged from 69 beats per minute on "Ben" to 130 on "Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day"

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Born August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana; eighth of ten children in the Jackson family.
• Debuted at age six as lead singer of the Jackson 5; the group signed with Motown in 1968 and had early number-one hits such as "I Want You Back".
• Moved to Epic Records in 1975 as the Jacksons, and began a solo career with Off the Wall (1979).
• Thriller (1982) became the best-selling album of all time, with an estimated 70 million copies sold.
• Bad (1987) was the first album to produce five US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles.
• Known as the "King of Pop"; credited with transforming music videos and popularizing the moonwalk.
• Died June 25, 2009 from a propofol overdose; a posthumous catalog continued to sell strongly.

Philanthropy

• Founded the Heal the World Foundation in 1992.
• Estimated to have donated over $500 million to charities over his life.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Lindsay Planer of AllMusic gave the album four out of five stars
• Planer cited "What Goes Around Comes Around" as one of the better deep cuts
• Planer noted the lack of participation from The Corporation, the Motown hitmaking team
• Vince Aletti of Rolling Stone gave the album two out of five stars
• Aletti said the album was a much stronger album than the first, but had nothing as luscious as "Got to Be There"
• Aletti said Jackson showed a surprising amount of feeling in the title track
• Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly graded the album a B
• Greenblatt called the title track a testament to Jackson's talent

Reappraisal

• After Jackson's death in June 2009, his music surged in popularity
• The album charted on the French music charts on July 25, 2009, at its peak position of number 162

Records

• US Billboard 200: peaked at number 5, Jackson's first of six studio albums to reach the top 10 of that chart
• US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums: peaked at number 4
• Canada: peaked at number 12
• Australia and France: charted within the top 200
• UK Albums Chart: debuted at its peak of number 17 on January 13, 1973
• UK: remained in the top 50 for seven consecutive weeks
• UK BPI: certified Silver on January 1, 1974, for 60,000 units shipped
• Title track: number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Jackson's first of 13 solo-career songs to top that chart
• Worldwide sales: over 2 million copies

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The title track won a Golden Globe and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song, losing to "The Morning After" from The Poseidon Adventure.
• "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" was planned as the second single but was cancelled for unspecified reasons.
• Two of the album's songs were stripped in 2009 for the three-disc compilation Hello World: The Motown Solo Collection.
• The Jackson 5 had won a talent show at Gary's Theodore Roosevelt High School in 1966 with a performance of "My Girl".
• "What Goes Around Comes Around" has similarities to Jackson's older brother Jackie's single "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)".

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

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