Gladys Knight may have brought the Jackson family name to Motown, but that didn't make any difference for their career. The Jackson 5 continued to tour and heard nothing back from their first booster. In 1968 at the Regal Theater in Chicago, they ended up opening for Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers, a diverse R&B group that had just released their debut album Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers on the Motown subsidiary Gordy Records. According to Taylor, Michael followed him around whenever either weren't on stage for the duration of their gig. Impressed by The Jackson 5's work ethic and Michael's James Brown-inspired performances, he told them that he could get them a meeting with Motown. He followed through and brought them to Motown himself.
Bobby Taylor performed throughout the tumultuous early history of rock and roll and set to wax doowop, garage rock and R&B. By the time he and his band were discovered and brought to Motown from... Vancouver, they were ready to deliver a solid record.
Most of the album consists of covers but for a couple originals that includes their debut single "Does Your Mama Know About Me," a song that would've played nicely during the opening credits of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. While the singles are helped along with flowery production, the repertoire covers that make up the rest of the album are a fruitful mix of genres from Taylor's past: simple but effective garage rock drums; punctuating doo-wop harmonies; funky, melodic bass lines; the occasional psychedelic guitar touch; and the anchoring, soulful voice of Bobby Taylor. Taylor makes it all work and he carries each song as best he can while the delicate sonic balance is staged all around him.
Here is the discography for Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers:
The Move Around (1958 single by 4 Pharaohs)
Give Me Your Love (1960 single by 4 Pharaohs)
Give Me Your Love (1960 single by Columbus Pharaohs)
Seven Steps to an Angel (1961 single by Bobby Taylor with Charlie and The Jives)
Too Much Monkey Business (1965 single by Little Daddie and The Bachelors)
Come On Home (1965 song by Little Daddie and The Bachelors)
Without Love (1967 single by Ronnie Taylor)
Does Your Mama Know About Me (1968 promo single)
Does Your Mama Know About Me (1968 single)
Malinda (1968 single)
Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers
I Am Your Man (1968 single)
In Bed (1969 single by Wes Henderson)
How Insensitive (1973 single by The Jury)
"It's Growing" by Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers
"I Am Your Man" by Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers
"Come On Home" by Little Daddie and The Bachelors
Pass the Headphones!!
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