Quincy Jones worked with Michael Jackson on three of his biggest albums. The pair worked incredibly well together, and Jones recalled having fun in the studio with Jackson. Still, there were some elements of working with the singer that Jones did not like. He felt very uncomfortable with the animals Jackson brought into the studio with him.
Quincy Jones said he felt a little uncomfortable in the studio with Michael Jackson
Jones said that when he got in the studio with Jackson, the atmosphere was always light and fun.
“It was as loose as you can get! We’d be joking and having fun,” he told The Guardian. “Are you kidding? You gotta know how to party [laughs]. If you get uptight, the music’s going to sound like nothin’. I used to say, ‘Always leave a little room for God to walk in the room.’”
Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones | Chris Walter/WireImage
Though they were having a good time, Jones did not like the fact that Jackson brought his pet snake, Muscles, into the studio with him. Jackson’s pet got a little too close for comfort.
“Yes, I was [scared], man. He wrapped himself around my leg,” Jones said, adding, “He used to crawl across the console … I wasn’t very comfortable with that.”
Jackson’s chimpanzee, Bubbles, also bit Jones’ daughter Rashida on the finger.
Quincy Jones shared how it felt to work with Michael Jackson
Jones believed that his work with Jackson lifted the performer to legend status.
“Michael, the music, and MTV all went to the mountaintop. It was the perfect convergence of forces,” Jones wrote for the LA Times after Jackson’s death, adding,“ In the music business, every decade you have a phenomenon. In the ‘40s you had Sinatra, in the ‘50s Elvis, in the ‘60s the Beatles, in the ‘70s the innovation of Dolby, despite the best efforts of Stevie Wonder and Elton John. In the ‘80s you had Michael Jackson.”
He felt their collaboration left them permanently connected.
“He was the biggest entertainer on the planet. Followed [Thriller] up with Bad and the collective on ‘We Are the World,’ we all made history together,” he wrote. “We owned the ‘80s and our souls would be connected forever.”
He shared how their working relationship began
Jones first met Jackson when he was 12. Years later, they met again on the set of The Wiz. Jones corrected Jackson’s line reading during a shoot. Jackson’s reaction made Jones want to work with him in the studio.
“Prior to filming, Michael and I were working at my home and he asked if I could help find him a producer to work with him on his first solo album from Epic,” Jones wrote. “At rehearsals, during the part where the scarecrow is pulling proverbs from his stuffing, Michael kept saying ‘So-Crates’ instead of ‘Socrates.’ After about the third time, I pulled him aside and told him the correct pronunciation. He …read more
Source:: Showbiz Cheat Sheet
