Everyday Creation

With "Get It Baby," Tito Jackson was the Last of the Jackson 5 to Have a Solo Hit

Kate Jones Season 2 Episode 106

The Jackson 5 started as a trio and became a quintet with the addition of Michael and Marlon. Older brother Tito was one of the group's original members. After his brothers pursued solo careers, he worked as a session musician and producer.

Tito became a blues performer in 2003 and had his first commercial hit "Get It Baby" in 2016. The song reached number 20 on Billboard's R&B chart. To watch the lyrics video, you can go here. The song, which features Big Daddy Kane, is available on "Tito Time," Tito's first solo album. The album's cover is pictured in this episode's thumbnail and chapters.

Also in the chapters, there's a publicity photo from The Jackson 5's 1972 TV special. Credited to CBS Television, the image is available for download on Wikimedia Commons. Here's the link.  

To learn more about Tito including why he delayed his solo career, you can go to this 2016 VladTV interview. It's quite good.

This tribute is one of 41 stories that Sheldon Zoldan, a longtime journalist, has written and recorded in honor of the music notables who passed away in 2024. He's written tributes for other years as well. You can listen to the ones from 2023 on Everyday Creation. We'll have the 2022 tributes available later this year.

Sheldon also is the creator of Song of the Day, a story that he sends by email to a list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email shzoldan@comcast.net with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.

Sheldon:
00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.500
Tito Jackson was an exceptional guitarist,

00:00:02.960 --> 00:00:04.800
but you wouldn't have known it during the

00:00:04.800 --> 00:00:06.900
early days of The Jackson 5.

00:00:07.760 --> 00:00:11.060
Motown only used studio musicians when the brothers

00:00:11.120 --> 00:00:11.620
recorded.

00:00:12.705 --> 00:00:15.765
It wasn't until The Jackson 5 left Motown

00:00:15.825 --> 00:00:18.565
for Epic Records that he played on records.

00:00:19.585 --> 00:00:22.645
Jackson died September 15 from a heart attack

00:00:22.705 --> 00:00:24.085
in Gallup, New Mexico.

00:00:24.705 --> 00:00:25.765
He was 70.

00:00:26.750 --> 00:00:28.590
The Song of the Day is paying tribute

00:00:28.590 --> 00:00:31.470
to the singers, songwriters and musicians who died

00:00:31.470 --> 00:00:32.850
in 2024.

00:00:33.710 --> 00:00:36.270
Tito Jackson was the second oldest son and

00:00:36.270 --> 00:00:37.730
the third of nine children.

00:00:38.270 --> 00:00:40.830
He said in a VladTV interview on

00:00:40.830 --> 00:00:41.330
YouTube

00:00:41.705 --> 00:00:44.265
that he and two brothers began singing at

00:00:44.265 --> 00:00:44.765
home

00:00:45.145 --> 00:00:46.925
because their television broke.

00:00:47.465 --> 00:00:50.125
They sounded good enough to win talent contests

00:00:50.265 --> 00:00:51.405
and sing at weddings.

00:00:52.185 --> 00:00:54.745
Jackson, in the same interview, said he learned

00:00:54.745 --> 00:00:57.065
to play the guitar by watching his dad

00:00:57.065 --> 00:00:57.565
play.

00:00:58.080 --> 00:01:00.320
He would play his dad's guitar when his

00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:01.540
dad was at work

00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:03.840
even though he was told not to touch

00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:04.340
it.

00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:07.140
One time, he broke a string

00:01:07.440 --> 00:01:10.400
and was severely punished when his dad found

00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:10.900
out.

00:01:11.415 --> 00:01:13.815
Afterward, his dad asked him to play the

00:01:13.815 --> 00:01:14.315
guitar.

00:01:14.855 --> 00:01:16.075
He was so impressed,

00:01:16.695 --> 00:01:18.315
he gave his son the guitar.

00:01:19.335 --> 00:01:22.135
The brothers went from trio to quintet when

00:01:22.135 --> 00:01:23.755
they added Michael and Marlon.

00:01:24.430 --> 00:01:27.550
They went from Jackson Brothers to Jackson 5

00:01:27.550 --> 00:01:29.330
at the suggestion of a friend.

00:01:29.710 --> 00:01:31.410
They went from a Gary, Indiana,

00:01:31.710 --> 00:01:32.770
act to superstars

00:01:33.070 --> 00:01:34.450
when they joined Motown.

00:01:35.630 --> 00:01:38.690
Tito worked as a session musician and producer

00:01:38.990 --> 00:01:40.050
after the brothers

00:01:40.375 --> 00:01:41.675
began solo acts.

00:01:42.135 --> 00:01:45.355
They recorded their final album in 1989.

00:01:46.375 --> 00:01:50.235
He became a blues performer in 2003.

00:01:50.855 --> 00:01:53.415
He had his first commercial hit, "Get It

00:01:53.415 --> 00:01:55.115
Baby," in 2016.

00:01:56.190 --> 00:01:58.850
The song reached number 20 on Billboard's

00:01:59.230 --> 00:02:00.450
R&B chart,

00:02:00.910 --> 00:02:03.890
making him the final of the nine Jackson

00:02:03.950 --> 00:02:06.370
children to have a song chart.

Kate:

00:02:10.525 --> 00:02:13.185
That was Song of the Day creator Sheldon

00:02:13.245 --> 00:02:13.745
Zoldan.

00:02:14.125 --> 00:02:16.865
And I'm Kate Jones, host of Everyday Creation.

00:02:17.707 --> 00:02:19.807
Thank you for joining us today.

People on this episode