The Jackson 5 - Get It Together (Album)

1. Get It Together (2:48)
2. Don't Say Goodbye Again (3:27)
3. Reflections (2:58)
4. Hum Along and Dance (8:37)
5. Mama I Gotta Brand New Thing (Don't Say No) (7:11)
6. It's Too Late to Change the Time (3:57)
7. You Need Love Like I Do (Don't You?) (3:45)
8. Dancing Machine (3:27)Released: September 1973
Production : Hal Davis

Get It Together, was a 1973 album released by The Jackson 5 for the Motown label.

During the group's last years with Motown, the label struggled to come up with material for the group.
As a result, the Jackson 5 fell into a period from 1973 to 1974 where they scored no Top 10 singles. By this point, most of the Jackson 5's members, and their manager Joseph Jackson, were vocally complaining about the group's direction, with Michael Jackson becoming the most vocal.
The only member not to complain about Motown's handling of the act was Jermaine Jackson, who would marry Motown head Berry Gordy's daughter Hazel three months after the release of this album.

"Get It Together" was the first album to feature Michael Jackson's noticeable growth spurt. Now fifteem, his voice began to deepen, taking on a more soulful sound. With Michael's voice having changed, the overall sound of the group changed as well.
The young boys who first came on the scene with "I Want You Back" just four years earlier were becoming men, and those high notes that only Michael could hit were retired.

The album was a breakaway from the group's bubblegum soul sound as they came up with a more funk-oriented album similar to The Temptations' Norman Whitfield-produced albums.
Whitfield in fact provides covers of two of his Temptations songs here, "You Need Love Like I Do (Don't You)", and "Hum Along and Dance". The Jackson 5's cover of the latter song, an eight-minute album-closer, is today regarded as the most notable version of the song. Get It Together was also one of the earliest disco albums, released at a time before the genre was mainstream.

The album's title track was a modest pop hit for the group reaching number twenty-eight, while the album-closing "Dancing Machine" became a smash pop hit, reaching number two on the pop chart and briefly restoring the Jackson 5 back to their former success.

On "Hum Along and Dance" and several of the other album tracks, all five Jackson brothers had a chance to share lead vocals, including Marlon and Tito. Michael was now a full-fledged tenor, and no longer the child star that had become a pop star during the early-1970s.

"Get it Together" was the first album not to feature production or songwriting from any of the members of The Corporation. Motown head Berry Gordy, a member of the Corporation, was busy expanding his Motown empire into movie ventures, mostly starring Diana Ross.

Although they were still getting hits, there were some problems creeping into The Jackson 5's Motown albums. The main one was that the company was no longer in the forefront of black music production, and their '60s-style efforts were sounding dated.

Only Michael Jackson's individual brilliance and the group's polished performances salvaged much of this material, and they soon openly expressed their disapproval.

Singles :
Get it together / Touch
Dancing Machine / It’s too late to change the time