Chart the history of American music from roughly the mid-1950s onwards and you'll find a singular thread running through its course. Quincy Jones left an indelible mark on the legacy of the US music industry, particularly in quite literally giving black American artists a voice, carving out a reputation as one of the most influential musicians, composers and producers of all time.
Perhaps most associated with his work with Michael Jackson, Jones' talents transcended genre or artist. From Frank Sinatra to George Benson, his guiding hand has steered some of the most talented artists and pioneers of their respective ages to glittering heights. It's only right, then, that we honour that superb legacy following the great man's passing in late 2024.
Michael Jackson – Billie Jean (Thriller, 1983)
You wouldn't even need to hear the entire first second of Billie Jean in a 'music intro' quiz in order to quickly jot down the correct answer and prematurely award yourself a point. Its intro is one of the most iconic in music history. Jones didn't like how long the instrumental opener was, so they shortened it (it's still 29 seconds!) and with sound engineer Bruce Swedien – who tells a great Billie Jean story* here about his 91 (!) mixes for that song – created a true "Smelly Jelly" (what Michael called a groove he liked) that is that beat. It's lean and propulsive and, with the lurching keyboard chords, a great teller of a system's dynamic punch and rhythmic knack.
An excerpt: "Q said to me... 'Add a little garlic salt to the snare and the kick. Just a squirt!!!' So I went back into the control room and added a little garlic salt to the snare and the kick. Just a squirt!!! Now I was up to mix 20 on Billie Jean. Well, this went on for about a week. Soon I was up to mix 91!!!... when the single of Billie Jean came out it was MIX 2!!!"
Words by Becky Roberts
Listen to Billie Jean on Tidal
Various – Back On The Block (Back On The Block, 1989)
1989's studio album Back On The Block will surely go down as one of the most stacked records ever released, featuring so much varied heavyweight talent that we quite literally do not have the space in two meagre paragraphs to list every name roped in to assist Mr. Jones. Suffice it to say, with Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Ice-T, Big Daddy Kane, Dizzy Gillespie, George Benson and Barry White are just some of the names enlisted, you'll get some idea of the pull Quincy Jones exerted on the industry at large. Trust us, that isn't the end of the list.
The album's title track gives you the best example of all that talent coming together to fulfil one man's creative vision. A jazzy hip-hop number pulled straight from the late '80s, it's worth hearing, if nothing else, just for the roster of names performing together.
Words by Harry McKerrell
Listen to Back On The Block on Tidal
George Benson – Give Me The Night (Give Me The Night, 1980)
If Jones' collabs with Jackson demonstrated his ability to help craft or unlock perfect pop, his work on George Benson's Give Me The Night demonstrated his gift for soul and disco. Give Me The Night is iconic as soon as that irrepressible bass bounces into your ears, and things only get better as funky guitars and keenly placed vocal strands join the party. It's the sort of tune to get a tee-totalling librarian dancing on tables.
What the track also showcases, apart from Benson's obvious gifts, is Jones' talent for organisation and, perhaps more importantly, restraint. Everything you hear is deliberately placed down to the most incidental cymbal crash, but there's never a sense of clutter or business to the tune. Light, brisk and blissfully breezy, it is, like Goldilocks' coveted third bowl of porridge, just right.
Words by Harry McKerrell
Listen to Give Me The Night on Tidal
Quincy Jones – Ai No Corrida (The Dude, 1981)
Ai No Corrida, translating roughly from Japanese/Spanish to English as The Bullfight Of Love, was originally recorded by the English musician Chaz Jankel, but as is often the case, it gained a new lease of life when covered by Quincy Jones for his 1981 studio release The Dude.
Featuring the vocal talents of Dune and Patti Austin, it's a sparklingly clean record that once again demonstrates Jones' ability to put enough of himself into a recording without swamping it with his own predilections and preferences. Bright, soulful and breezy without feeling lightweight or undernourished, it's little wonder Jones' version nabbed a Grammy in 1982.
Words by Harry McKerrell
Listen to Ai No Corrida on Tidal
USA For Africa – We Are the World (We Are the World, 1985)
On the night of 28th January 1985, following the American Music Awards ceremony, some of the world's biggest music stars gathered at Hollywood's A&M Recording Studios to record We Are The World. The brainchild of singer and activist Harry Belafonte, who was inspired by the British Band Aid's charity Christmas hit (you know the one) that previous December, the single by the US supergroup raised tens of millions of dollars for African famine relief. Sheer star power led the charitable charge as Quincy was brought in to co-produce and Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie co-wrote, singing alongside the likes of Diano Ross, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan and Ray Charles. It's quite the sight (and sound) to behold on-screen; indeed, Netflix released its The Greatest Night In Pop documentary earlier this year that superbly places you in that star-studded room.
While most of the vocals were captured during that one historic night, no doubt benefitting from the ensemble's collective energy (and, in the case of Springsteen, his particularly raspy post-tour delivery), necessary for its sparkling production was that the instrumental arrangements were not quite so hurried, recorded in the days prior. It's hard to look beyond the cause and occasion, and from a musical point of view the contrasting, ever-surprising sequence of vocal solos – but only Quincy's orchestration could have produced it, marshalled by the message he wrote on the recording studio's entrance: “Check your egos at the door."
Words by Becky Roberts
Listen to We Are The World on Tidal
Donna Summer – State Of Independence (Donna Summer, 1982)
If Jones wasn't busy writing his own original work, he was making sure that old tunes enjoyed a new lease of life under his guiding hand. Donna Summer's version of State Of Independence from her self-titled album, the entirety of which Jones produced, is recognised as one of the finest iterations of the tune, making its way onto Summer's 'Best of' compilation.
It's one of the oddest Quincy-produced tracks you'll hear, with springy, blobby synths and off-kilter rhythms, but what's perhaps most notable is the array of talent recruited to perform backing vocals; Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Dionne Warwick, James Ingram and Kenny Loggins all lend their talents.
Clearly Quincy was able to call in quite a few favours.
Words by Harry McKerrell
Listen to State Of Independence on Tidal
Ray Charles – In The Heat Of The Night (In The Heat Of The Night OST, 1967)
If you haven't seen The Heat Of The Night, it's a movie that we'd highly recommend. Telling the charged tale of the great Sidney Poitier's Virgil Tibbs, a Philly detective investigating a murder in the back end of Mississippi, it's a film that digs deep into issues of class, racism and injustice in all of its many guises.
A movie of such calibre needed a soundtrack to match, and it was Quincy Jones who stepped in to take on the task. Jones composed the music for the entire soundtrack (with lyrical assistance from Alan and Marilyn Bergman), but the main title track, performed by Ray Charles, is the standout for obvious reasons. A beautifully melancholic soul stirrer that oozes all of that signature bluesy warmth so often associated with Southern music, it's a tune that disarms the listener with its tinkling piano, smooth bass lines and intermittent organ hits.
Words by Harry McKerrell
Listen to In the Heat Of The Night on Tidal
Frank Sinatra – Fly Me To The Moon (It Might As Well Be Swing, 1964)
Jazz standard Fly Me To The Moon had been around in some guise or another since the mid-’50s, but it's Frank Sinatra's 1964 version – performed to coincide with the burgeoning Apollo moon missions – that has stuck in the collective conscience more than any other. Already the colossal star of semi-mythology by that point, there were few singers in America with such admiration for Quincy Jones as the blue-eyed Chairman of the Board.
When brought together in tandem, Jones and Sinatra, along with the one-and-only Count Basie on piano, cultivated what many consider to be the definitive version of the track, if not the most famous. Altered from a 3/4 time to the more traditional 4/4, it's a peerless showcase for Frank's whiskey-smooth vocal talents that balances playful exuberance with an overpowering sense of cool.
If you want a good time, check out the live performance from '65 – they don't make 'em like that anymore.
Words by Harry McKerrell
Listen to Fly Me To The Moon on Tidal
Michael Jackson – Smooth Criminal (Bad, 1987)
Whatever your views on Jackson, it's a very brave man who stands in front of his peers and tries to argue that Smooth Criminal isn't a breathtakingly brilliant pop song. Unlike almost anything before or since, it's a triple espresso caffeine hit in musical form, an uncoiling spring of a song that, when listened to alongside the now-iconic accompanying video, is a perfect tribute to MJ's talents.
Written by Jackson and produced by Jones, Smooth Criminal was only ever going to go down as a classic. Yes, it has that spark and punchy dynamism that gives the music a pulsating, almost dangerous edge, but there's an underlying smoothness to the production that lends the track an altogether more mysterious quality. Darkly invigorating and endlessly re-listenable, you'd have to have feet made of stone to resist its charms.
Words by Harry McKerrell
Listen to Smooth Criminal on Tidal
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