Sheldon Taylor's Souls of Black Notes

  Michael Jackson has long dominated GOAT talk. Current opinions suggest otherwise, citing Beyoncé and Chris Brown's career durability as justification to supplant the King of Pop's long-standing reign.  It's a conversational coup that deserves to be toppled.  In a rare moment of self-celebration, Jackson encapsulated his career in a 2001Vibe Magazine piece: "Its a rarity. I had number one records in 1969 and '70. I entered the charts at number one in 2001. I don't think any other artist has had that kind of range." Seven years later, Jackson was dead at 50: eighteen  days shy of an ambitious 50-date farewell UK tour before walking off into the sunset (with his lucrative publishing catalog), having secured the bag, solidifying his triumphant destiny.  Jackson's legacy is unprecedented. His gravitational reach far.  Tap dance icons Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly---members of the Lost Generation and the Greatest Generation demographic born before the advent...

Forty-five years ago, Michael Jackson's "Off The Wall" was released to critical and commercial acclaim. Jackson's breakthrough album solidified the singer's transition from child star to adult entertainer.  Let the madness in the music get to you..... I remember the time so very well because it was when I emerged from off the wall: a ten-year-old moving from music spectator to consumer. Since there were  no younger acts back then, every kid my age was drawn to music made by adults ten, twenty, and nearly thirty years older.  It was heady time.  From around '74 to '79, my life played out to a soundtrack that was one long musical highlight reel.  I wasn't buying music yet but it didn't stop me from reading about it or watching documentaries or television shows devoted to musical subjects.  As a toddler I was transfixed by Jackson Five album covers laying around the house. I can't remember when I first learned they were from my hometown of Gary, I...

  They may have been two polar opposites of the musical coin but Michael Joseph Jackson and Prince Rogers Nelson were really kindred spirits whose lives and careers flowed in similar directions. Breaking free from the static industry grip on Black performers, their artistic liberation was fueled by a strong sense of self and fearless creative vision funded by the deep pockets of their record labels. Midwestern-born luminaries, they shared concurrent commercial breakthroughs and endured  industry dust-ups in the fight for artistic control. Belief in the Jehovah's Witness faith insulated Jackson from the vices that destroyed many entertainers. It offered Prince spiritual solace and the inspiration to distance himself from his racy younger years. Their dominance seemed destined to go on forever. In time, the pair went from leaders to followers struggling to keep pace with a youth-driven modern music industry they helped birth. Slight in stature and build, Jackson...