The Michael Jackson Reel
Ross Pallone
Christina Chaffin
Sept. 30, 2017
Sept. 30, 2017
The Jacksons on stage during their Destiny World Tour. (Left-to-right: Marlon, Jackie, Michael, Randy. Tito is in the back).
The Jacksons recorded their fourth studio album Triumph while on the Destiny World Tour.
(Copyright unkown).
The Jacksons recorded their fourth studio album Triumph while on the Destiny World Tour.
(Copyright unkown).
Describe your history in music and how you got started.
I was budding recording engineer and was in the business working at Hollywood Town Recorders, starting in 1976. I had been there for about three years and started off as a Runner in engineering. I then graduated into becoming second engineer as an assistant engineer. In time, whenever the opportunity would come my way, I would get to be the first engineer on different projects.
Back then, I had been working on a lot of different projects with another engineer by the name of Tom Perry, and if you look at the Triumph album, you'll see that Tom was first engineer and I was second. So back then, around that time, whenever engineers were needed for record engineering, they would get assigned to a project, and I was kind of like Tom's guy. Whenever Tom got called for a project, I would be on that project as well.
What did you do to prepare for working on the album and what initially stands out when you reflect back?
Well, we knew The Jacksons were coming in, so we blocked out the studio for the project. We had two studios where we worked - A and B - and we worked in Studio B. The Jacksons came in to meet with us and they were really into having meetings. So, they told us what the project was about, and at the time, Michael had just had this huge hit with Off the Wall . For Triumph, they were all supposed to bring in material, and they were all going to contribute as writers and lead singers. From my memory, Michael was the main writer on almost every record and this guy was a genius, let me tell you. I mean, he was a musical genius.
What are some specific instances that took place in the studio that define his work ethic and made him a genius while recording this album?
Well Michael was what you would call a workaholic. All he ever thought about or did was music and that was evident during the making of Triumph. If he wasn't out in the studio recording or helping to produce, he would be over in the corner dancing, and I say that as I think back to it. He was just music nonstop during the making of that album. He was very quiet and to himself, but was a genius.
What impressed me the most about the whole album process was Michael's talent. Here's a guy who only sings and dances. He could not play any instruments. But, he would be so influential with how a song went together. You know, I've worked with different accomplished musicians and they would be able to tell a guy, 'Play an F Minor here and do 'this' there,' and just other ideas in musical terms. But with Michael, he would sing the sound he wanted and at what pitched he wanted the music to be played at. I remember watching him sit in front of guitar player Paul Jackson Jr., who played on that album, and they were both sitting, facing each other. Well, while we were recording overdubs for one of the songs, Michael sat on a chair directly in front of Paul and sang the rifts to him, that he wanted Paul to play.
Another producer may write a chart, but Michael sang the rifts he wanted Paul to play on different songs. Michael would sit there and sing the rifts.
Michael also did a lot of synth work that you hear on Triumph. He would sing what he wanted the synthesizer to sound like and the melody he wanted it to make on different songs, and helped create those synthesizer sounds. He would be in the control room and would sing the way he wanted the synthesizer to go. I mean, it was amazing.
I was budding recording engineer and was in the business working at Hollywood Town Recorders, starting in 1976. I had been there for about three years and started off as a Runner in engineering. I then graduated into becoming second engineer as an assistant engineer. In time, whenever the opportunity would come my way, I would get to be the first engineer on different projects.
Back then, I had been working on a lot of different projects with another engineer by the name of Tom Perry, and if you look at the Triumph album, you'll see that Tom was first engineer and I was second. So back then, around that time, whenever engineers were needed for record engineering, they would get assigned to a project, and I was kind of like Tom's guy. Whenever Tom got called for a project, I would be on that project as well.
What did you do to prepare for working on the album and what initially stands out when you reflect back?
Well, we knew The Jacksons were coming in, so we blocked out the studio for the project. We had two studios where we worked - A and B - and we worked in Studio B. The Jacksons came in to meet with us and they were really into having meetings. So, they told us what the project was about, and at the time, Michael had just had this huge hit with Off the Wall . For Triumph, they were all supposed to bring in material, and they were all going to contribute as writers and lead singers. From my memory, Michael was the main writer on almost every record and this guy was a genius, let me tell you. I mean, he was a musical genius.
What are some specific instances that took place in the studio that define his work ethic and made him a genius while recording this album?
Well Michael was what you would call a workaholic. All he ever thought about or did was music and that was evident during the making of Triumph. If he wasn't out in the studio recording or helping to produce, he would be over in the corner dancing, and I say that as I think back to it. He was just music nonstop during the making of that album. He was very quiet and to himself, but was a genius.
What impressed me the most about the whole album process was Michael's talent. Here's a guy who only sings and dances. He could not play any instruments. But, he would be so influential with how a song went together. You know, I've worked with different accomplished musicians and they would be able to tell a guy, 'Play an F Minor here and do 'this' there,' and just other ideas in musical terms. But with Michael, he would sing the sound he wanted and at what pitched he wanted the music to be played at. I remember watching him sit in front of guitar player Paul Jackson Jr., who played on that album, and they were both sitting, facing each other. Well, while we were recording overdubs for one of the songs, Michael sat on a chair directly in front of Paul and sang the rifts to him, that he wanted Paul to play.
Another producer may write a chart, but Michael sang the rifts he wanted Paul to play on different songs. Michael would sit there and sing the rifts.
Michael also did a lot of synth work that you hear on Triumph. He would sing what he wanted the synthesizer to sound like and the melody he wanted it to make on different songs, and helped create those synthesizer sounds. He would be in the control room and would sing the way he wanted the synthesizer to go. I mean, it was amazing.
Do any specific songs stand out to you during the recording process?
Yes. With the song "Walk Right Now", The Jacksons wanted to create this big stomping sound that echoed a lot of feet slamming the ground loudly. All of the brothers went out to the vocal booth and were stomping on floor, but it didn't work. With the studio floor, half of it was carpeted and the other half was like stone. We tried so hard to get the exact stomping sound they wanted, but just couldn't get it right. So, we had this handyman that did work around the studio build us a big 4 x 8 piece, 3 quarter inch plywood box with a frame around it that would be like a wooden box. All of the brothers went into the recording area, stood on the box and did the stomping feet sound. They did it all at the same time, and we put microphones down near their feet and recorded the stomping feet sound. We then over-dubbed that sound a few times to make it bigger and that's what you hear on the record.
That was definitely unique. It wasn't a masterful craftsman piece or anything. It was just something put together to help with getting that sound. But, it's one of those things many people don't know about and that's an example of how they literally wrote the album in the studio - the sounds and all - in the studio.
What's something unique that stands out to you about the recording of Triumph?
One day - the control room we worked in were small and had low ceilings, and it would be dark in there, which is the way we liked to work. And one day we were sitting there and they said "Oh, we've got some friends coming in to hangout with us today." Well in walked about 6 or 8 players for the Los Angeles Lakers. They came into the control room and all had to duck down because of how small and short the control room was. It was amazing. You know we are all just average sized people and then in walk these tall basketball players who could barely fit from how tall they were. They stayed maybe an hour and then it was just getting too cramped in there. They came to hangout and watch them record.
By the time The Jacksons began working on Triumph, Michael was already a skilled vocalist, and his voice had grown a lot. What do you remember about his self-discipline throughout the recording process?
His singing was flawless. I mean the guy's vocals were amazing. Michael was pretty much his own producer on everything from that album.
When he would go out into the studio to sing, he made judgment calls on his vocals. Nobody needed to tell Michael how to sing something. He would just tell us, 'Okay, I didn't like that. Let's do another one,' and he would do a take over. Then he'd hear vocals during playback that he liked and would then say 'Okay, now I'm gonna do a harmony part.' You know, he would just do it all himself and he was just so good at it. That's why I say his talent impressed me because it wasn't like he was running the show. He was just that talented and his ideas were great.
While thinking back, what are some final memories that come to mind?
One is non-music related.
During the making of the album, Michael had a silver Rolls Royce and he would drive different times to the studio. His brothers used to always joke with him because the car was in the shop more than it was workable. His brothers used to rib him about it, saying, 'Hey, why'd you buy that thing? It's a dog! It's always in the shop.' *Laughs*... That was a funny joke that went on a lot.
Another memory that is music-related is about work Tom and I did with just Michael, in between the recording of Triumph. Michael was starting to work on demos for his next album, Thriller. Tom and I engineered different demos that ultimately became songs he used later on.
His singing was flawless. I mean the guy's vocals were amazing. Michael was pretty much his own producer on everything from that album.
When he would go out into the studio to sing, he made judgment calls on his vocals. Nobody needed to tell Michael how to sing something. He would just tell us, 'Okay, I didn't like that. Let's do another one,' and he would do a take over. Then he'd hear vocals during playback that he liked and would then say 'Okay, now I'm gonna do a harmony part.' You know, he would just do it all himself and he was just so good at it. That's why I say his talent impressed me because it wasn't like he was running the show. He was just that talented and his ideas were great.
While thinking back, what are some final memories that come to mind?
One is non-music related.
During the making of the album, Michael had a silver Rolls Royce and he would drive different times to the studio. His brothers used to always joke with him because the car was in the shop more than it was workable. His brothers used to rib him about it, saying, 'Hey, why'd you buy that thing? It's a dog! It's always in the shop.' *Laughs*... That was a funny joke that went on a lot.
Another memory that is music-related is about work Tom and I did with just Michael, in between the recording of Triumph. Michael was starting to work on demos for his next album, Thriller. Tom and I engineered different demos that ultimately became songs he used later on.