The producer, who died this week, was at the height of his powers during a legendary three-album run with Jackson
By
Neil Shah Nov. 5, 2024 Edition of the Wall Street Journal
Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones at the 1984 Grammy Awards. Jackson had a preternatural ability to sing, dance and write, while Jones had an alchemical ability to turn it all into pop gold. PHOTO: DOUG PIZAC/AP
Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson didn’t always see eye to eye over the years, but when they came close, they made “Thriller.”
The 1982 track, with its ghoulish sound and cinematic music video, was more than just a hit song and the title of the best-selling album of all time. For many, it was the beginning of pop music as we know it—on the album that inspired generations of artists from Justin Timberlake to The Weeknd. The collaboration marked the high point of two of music’s most visionary minds—Jackson with his preternatural ability to sing, dance and write, Jones with his alchemical ability to turn it all into pop gold.
Jones, who died Sunday at the age of 91 and won 28 Grammys over his career, was a musical Renaissance man who shaped American culture from the 1950s on as an instrumentalist, band leader, arranger, composer and mastermind of pop albums, film scores and TV themes. With Jones, Jackson wasn’t just working with a producer, he was tapping into an American cultural repository.
Jones “knew when it had to be fast, he knew when it had to be slow, when it had to be soft and romantic and when it had to be more disco-y,” said Steve Knopper, author of “MJ: The Genius of Michael Jackson” and an editor-at-large at Billboard magazine. “Quincy had those instincts built in through his decades of experience.”
Many consider Quincy Jones’s and Michael Jackson’s 1982 track ‘Thriller’ to be the beginning of pop music as we know it. PHOTO: OPTIMUM PRODUCTIONS/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
Jackson was a beneficiary of Jones’s ability to have music’s best talents on call. When the two musicians worked on the “Thriller” album, they used a two-team system: The “A” team, led by Jones, included some of the finest musicians, engineers and songwriters around—people like keyboardist Greg Phillinganes, recording engineer Bruce Swedien and Rod Temperton, who wrote the album’s ubiquitous title track. The “B” team worked closely with Jackson, translating his scatting of melodies and songs like “Beat It” into workable demos.
Once Jackson’s “Thriller” demos were brought to Jones’s A-team, the producer and the pop star worked together to bring the songs to life. It would be the apex of a legendary three-album run—“Off the Wall” (1979), “Thriller” (1982) and “Bad” (1987). Today, for music fans and executives alike, Jackson’s spectacular 1980s run is proof that the music industry can actually get it right: A wildly-talented performer, singer and songwriter, coached by an eclectic musical mastermind who was at the peak of his powers and expertise.
Jones and Jackson were “one of the great pairings in pop-music history,” Knopper said.
While Jones’s massive rolodex helped him staff Jackson’s albums with top-notch session musicians, his casting skills transcended both genre and media format. On “Beat It,” from “Thriller,” Jackson’s R&B-pop makes way for a Eddie Van Halen hard-rock guitar solo. For the title track, Jones enlisted actor Vincent Price to provide a memorable spooky voice over.
Quincy Jones, who died Sunday at the age of 91, at a 1987 press conference. The musical Renaissance man won 28 Grammys over his career. PHOTO: DAVE HOGAN/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES
“With ‘Thriller,’ Quincy coaxed out a new sound that didn’t fit neatly into any genre—it was just distinctly Michael Jackson,” said Zack O’Malley Greenburg, author of “Michael Jackson, Inc.” “They were obviously both brilliant musicians, but the combination of Michael and Quincy in the studio was a case of one plus one equals five.”
Perhaps more than anything, the depth of Jones’s knowledge meant he could engineer a supremely catchy song. When Jones’s A-team worked initially on “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing),” for “Thriller,” it was slower and ballad-like. Jones upped the tempo, making it snappier. “He just knew how to make a hit,” Knopper said.
With “Off the Wall,” Jones helped Jackson define himself as a solo artist apart from his family group, the Jackson 5. “Though it was more of a disco record than any of Jackson’s subsequent albums … it established Michael Jackson’s own voice,” Greenburg said.
