| Got to Be There | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | January 24, 1972 | |||
| Recorded | June–December 1971[1] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 35:45 | |||
| Label | Motown | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Michael Jackson chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Got to Be There | ||||
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Got to Be There is the debut solostudio album by the American singerMichael Jackson, released byMotown on January 24, 1972,[4] four weeks afterthe Jackson 5'sGreatest Hits (1971). It includes thesong of the same name, which was released on October 7, 1971, as Jackson's debut solosingle.
On August 2, 2013, the album was certifiedGold by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over 500,000 copies. The album was later remastered and reissued in 2009 as part of the 3-disc compilationHello World: The Motown Solo Collection.
The album was arranged byThe Corporation, Eddy Manson,James Anthony Carmichael,Gene Page, and Dave Blumberg.Berry Gordy served asGot to Be There'sexecutive producer, while Jim Britt was credited for photography. The album included remakes ofBill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine",Carole King's "You've Got a Friend" andThe Supremes' "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone". The album's songs have a tempo ranging from 74 beats per minute on "Ain't No Sunshine", to 170 on "Rockin' Robin."[5]
Thetitle track and "Rockin' Robin," aBobby Day cover, were released asGot to Be There's first two singles and became back-to-back hits on the USBillboard Hot 100 at number four and number two, respectively. Third single "I Wanna Be Where You Are" peaked at number 29 on the same chart on June 24, 1972. In the United Kingdom, Jackson's version of Withers's "Ain't No Sunshine" was issued as the album's third single. It reached number 8 on theUK Singles Chart.[6]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [7] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+[8] |
Rolling Stone (12/7/1972, p. 68) - "...slick, artful and every bit as good as the regularJackson 5 product...a sweetly touching voice...innocence and utter professionalism...fascinating and finally irresistible..." In a retrospective review, Rob Theakston fromAllMusic rated the album two and a half out of five stars. He found that "as a cohesive album,Got to Be There is wildly erratic, and his covers of "You've Got a Friend" and "Ain't No Sunshine" show Jackson's versatility as a singer."[7] Leah Greenblatt fromEntertainment Weekly gave the album a B+ rating. She found that "highlights include a jaunty cover of "Rockin' Robin," the wistful title track, and the soaring '"I Wanna Be Where You Are"."[8]
Got to Be There peaked at number 14 on the USBillboard 200 and number three on theTop R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart when it was released.[9][10] On August 2, 2013, over forty years after its original release, it was certifiedGold by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over 500,000 copies. In 2009, The album was later remastered and reissued as part of the 3-disc compilationHello World: The Motown Solo Collection.[11]Got to Be There sold over 750,000 copies within the first 3 weeks of release, and 1 million copies in the US by the end of 1972.[12][13]Got to Be There sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide.[14]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ain't No Sunshine" | Bill Withers | 4:09 |
| 2. | "I Wanna Be Where You Are" | 3:00 | |
| 3. | "Girl Don't Take Your Love from Me" | Willie Hutch | 3:46 |
| 4. | "In Our Small Way" |
| 3:34 |
| 5. | "Got to Be There" | Elliot Willensky | 3:23 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Rockin' Robin" | Jimmie Thomas | 2:30 |
| 2. | "Wings of My Love" | The Corporation | 3:32 |
| 3. | "Maria (You Were the Only One)" |
| 3:41 |
| 4. | "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone" | Holland-Dozier-Holland | 2:51 |
| 5. | "You've Got a Friend" | Carole King | 4:45 |
Tracks 1, 2, 3, 7, 10 recorded November 1971. Tracks 4, 9 recorded December 1971. Track 5 recorded June – July 1971. Track 6 recorded October 1971. Track 8 recorded July – September 1971.
| Chart (1972) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| French Albums (SNEP)[15] | 121 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[16] | 37 |
| USBillboard 200[9] | 14 |
| USTop R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[10] | 3 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[17] | Gold | 750,000[12] |
Motown chief Berry Gordy pushed Jackson's first solo album firmly into the mould of his label's sound: lush, harmonious, optimistic, innocent pop
MICHAEL JACKSON'S follow-up to his "Got To Be There" hit will be released by Tamla Motown on May 5 — it is "Rockin' Robin" which has already reached the No. 1 spot in the American charts. This gives him his second U.S. chart-topper in a row, and both his first two solo singles have now sold in excess of two million copies in the States. His solo album "Got To Be There" — issued in this country tomorrow (Friday) — has sold almost a million copies in the States, and has already won a Gold Disc for young Michael
"Got to Be There" was the first release integrated into this strategy, Michael's official solo debut that sold well in excess of a million and a half copies and immediately made it clear that the Top 5 was within reach of a child.
