“I’ve always wanted to be able to tell stories, you know, stories that came from my soul. I’d like to sit by a fire and tell people stories – make them see pictures, make them cry and laugh, take them anywhere emotionally with something as deceptively simple as words. I’d like to tell tales to move their souls and transform them. I’ve always wanted to be able to do that. Imagine how the great writers must feel, knowing they have that power. I sometimes feel I could do it. It’s something I’d like to develop. In a way, songwriting uses the same skills, creates the emotional highs and lows, but the story is a sketch. It’s quicksilver. There are very few books written on the art of storytelling, how to grip listeners, how to get a group of people together and amuse them. No costumes, no makeup, no nothing, just you and your voice, and your powerful ability to take them anywhere, to transform their lives, if only for minutes.” – Michael Jackson, from Moon Walk - The official Michael Jackson Biography.
The legend in his own words
Perhaps this paragraph reveals the secret of Michael Jackson’s motivation in life: to tell a story, and if he did not do it just with words, but also with movement, music, images, and fantasy, still do it he did. And here, told in words, is another story, the story of Jackson himself, from the early days when he and his brothers played in amateur shows and Chicago clubs until discovered by Motown’s starmakers to become the Jackson Five. In Moon Walk, Jackson’s famous reticence is set aside and the personal barriers come down. Here are stories of Jackson’s friendships with Quincy Jones, Paul McCartney, Diana Ross, Fred Astaire and others. He shares his feelings about fame and the walls it puts between a person and the world. Of course Michael Jackson is the stuff of legends, but no one can tell his story like he can himself. If you are a Jackson fan and want to know more about him, this is the book to buy and read.
2 comments
Chris Brown – The Biography | Music Books Reviews says:
Sep 20, 2011
[...] still in his teens, he had eight singles in the top 20, dance routines that have been compared to Michael Jackson (who also achieved great success in his teens), and, to put it mildly, a very promising career. In [...]
Carol says:
Sep 21, 2011
Much appreciated for the information and share!