Music & Me is the third studio album by American singer Michael Jackson. It was released on April 13, 1973, by Motown. It was arranged by Dave Blumberg, Freddie Perren, Gene Page, and James Anthony Carmichael, and remains Jackson's lowest-selling album. In 2009, the album was reissued as part of the three-disc compilation Hello World: The Motown Solo Collection.
Background
The album was released during a difficult period for Jackson, who was 14 years old at the time, as he had been experiencing vocal changes and facing a changing music landscape. Having been influenced by fellow Motown label mates Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, Jackson wanted to include his own compositions and play instruments on the album, but Motown refused to allow this. Jackson would later express his frustrations about this to his father, Joe Jackson, who would later work to terminate Michael's and his brothers' contract with Motown, and negotiate lucrative contracts for them with Epic Records.
Promotion
Since Jackson was on a world tour with his brothers as a member of The Jackson 5 (which ran from March 1973 to December 1975), promotion on this album was limited. The Stevie Wonder cover, "With a Child's Heart", was released as a single in the United States, where it reached number 14 on Billboards Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and number 50 on the Billboard Hot 100. Two additional songs, "Music and Me" and "Morning Glow," were released as singles in the United Kingdom, but failed to chart. Another track, "Too Young", was released as a single in Italy, while the track "Happy" was issued as a single in Australia and "Doggin' Around" received a limited-release single in the Netherlands. Ten years after this album's release, "Happy" was released as a single in the UK to promote Motown's 18 Greatest Hits compilation album.
CD rerelease
Music & Me received some changes when Motown Records released it on compact disc in the 1990s, which occurred only outside of the U.S.
A separate compilation with the same title rerelease contained all tracks from the 1973 version (with the exception of "Doggin' Around"), with several more tracks from Jackson's other albums. The original CD also features different text and a darker shade of green.
Critical reception
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The album received favorable reviews from music critics. However, Ron Wiynn of AllMusic wrote that the album's songs "were undistinguished" and that "Jackson sounded tentative and uninterested vocally". He also wrote that "the production and arrangements were routine at best, sometimes inferior."
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