JACKSON 5: ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS COLLECTION
Motown

When the Jackson 5 Christmas Album was released in 1970, Michael was a year away from his first teenage birthday, and still very much a kid singer, however rich his gifts in that department, and the family band, though gaining critical acclaim as the rock press became more of a force in influencing youth tastes, was still appealing more to kids younger than its own members than to older teens or adults, as  evidenced by the proliferation of Jacksons merchandise along the lines of coloring books and stickers, as well as a Saturday morning, Rankin-Bass-produced cartoon show. This is important in understanding that the original Jackson 5 Christmas Album, though less introspective and absent any spiritual orientation evident in Yuletide long players by labelmates Smokey Robinson & the Miracles and Stevie Wonder, for example, is a classic Christmas album nonetheless simply for doing what the Jacksons were doing so well back then—speaking to their audience with considerable empathy and abundant, infectious energy, and not a trace of condescension. So it is that the original 11-song LP is remembered for its high spirits and hard charging performances. Even so, it dips its toe into balladry memorably, starting with Jermaine’s tender album opening crooning of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” which doesn’t go out quietly but instead breaks into a funky strut with the band singing a syncopated “We wish you a merry Christmas—the Jaaa-ckson 5 wish you a merry Christmas!” over a sizzling rhythm track, thus setting the stage for what’s to come: Michael blazing through a driving version of “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”; a festive, horn-driven—almost Stax-like, in fact—celebration of “Up On the House Top”; a grinding, wah-wah-injected “Frosty the Snowman”; a Temptations-style group harmony jaunt through “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer,” with a nice, blues-tinged vocal by Jermaine; a stone soul romp inspired by a bit about Jermaine breaking up with his girlfriend, “Christmas Won’t Be the Same This Year,” with the forlorn suitor doing his best heartbroken David Ruffin vocal homage in digging deep to add some gospel fervor to his pleadings; and Michael simply eating up the ironic possibilities available to him both singing and speaking in a rambunctiously rhythmic version of “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.” Yet the song that has jumped out from this effort to become a near-seasonal standard is a sentimental gem of a ballad tendered by Michael with endearing sincerity, “Give Love On Christmas Day,” a beauty marked by subtle strings and pronounced rhythm support, with a supple melody line (it was penned by the same five writers—known collectively as The Corporation—responsible for the J5's “I Want You Back” and a host of other hits for Motown stars) adaptable to all the shades of Michael’s voice, especially the clear, plaintive upper register he employs so effectively but frugally, only when it will make the most emotional impact. A version of “The Christmas Song,” with Jermaine singing lead, is fine, if unremarkable, but a version of “Someday At Christmas,” the moving title track from Stevie Wonder’s 1967 Christmas album, is DOA by virtue of an uptempo arrangement that undercuts the gravity of the idealistic lyrics, robbing the message of its poetry and passion alike.

This Ultimate version of the J5 Christmas album is fleshed out with spoken Season’s Greetings from four of the five brothers (including Michael), and six other musical tracks. One of these, “Little Christmas Tree,” is a rather stilted Michael solo cut from the 1973 various artists sampler, A Motown Christmas, remarkable mostly for MJ sounding off his game, out of sorts rhythmically and stylistically in an orchestral-based pop arrangement. Otherwise the remaining tracks (save for a patched-together—and pretty cool—“J5 Christmas Medley”) are what the liners call “Stripped” mixes of songs from the original album. However, an A/B test finds the differences almost negligible (discounting the exceptional a cappella version of “Give Love On Christmas Day”), certainly not enough to merit the mixes’ inclusion here for the sake of a couple of extra bucks at retail. The original album, remastered and reissued on CD in 1993, will do just fine for those on a budget or preferring an undiluted Jackson 5 holiday bonanza. — David McGee