I have been working with Michael Jackson since 1977....
“The WIZ, the Movie”
The year is 1977. Bea and I were living in the Chicago area at the time. Quincy called me one night and asked, "Want to go to New York, and do a musical movie?". I said "Absolutely!". Any musical project with my old pal ‘Q’ is guaranteed to be alot of fun. So off we went to the “Big Apple” to do "The Wiz", the movie. While we were there, working on the “Wiz”, we met this young, 18 year-old kid by the name of Michael Jackson.(Michael played the 'scarecrow' in the 'Wiz', the movie) Tom Bahler was there with us doing vocal backgrounds and arrangements for the film. We were at A&R studios, on 52d Street. Bea (my wife) had come to New York to visit me.
One day Quincy and I were in the control room working on something, and I noticed out of the corner of my eye, that Tom Bahler was at the piano in the studio, playing and singing a song for Bea. She was obviously very interested in it. The song Tom was playing and singing for Bea was‚ “She's Out of My Life”.
The following year, when we were working on Michael’s Solo Album “Off The Wall”, we recorded it with Michael. How Michael could do such a sincere interpretation of the lyric has always puzzled me, because I know it was an experience he had never even thought about. It's a very mature emotion, and Michael was only 19 years old at the time.
When we were recording Michael´s vocal, he broke down and cried at the end of every take. We recorded about six or seven takes. At the end of each take Michael was sobbing, actually crying. I know he was sincere, because when we finished the last take, Michael was too embarassed to come in the control room. He just tippy-toed out the back door of the studio, got in his car, and left the studio building. Quincy said to me, "Hey... that's supposed to be, leave it on there, leave it there.”
We didn’t see Michael again until a day or two later! I don't know how Michael was relating to the subject, “She's Out of My Life”. He´d never had that kind of grown-up relationship with anybody, I don´t think so, anyway...
Bruce Swedien
--------------------------
Moonwalk
“The WIZ, the Movie”
The year is 1977. Bea and I were living in the Chicago area at the time. Quincy called me one night and asked, "Want to go to New York, and do a musical movie?". I said "Absolutely!". Any musical project with my old pal ‘Q’ is guaranteed to be alot of fun. So off we went to the “Big Apple” to do "The Wiz", the movie. While we were there, working on the “Wiz”, we met this young, 18 year-old kid by the name of Michael Jackson.(Michael played the 'scarecrow' in the 'Wiz', the movie) Tom Bahler was there with us doing vocal backgrounds and arrangements for the film. We were at A&R studios, on 52d Street. Bea (my wife) had come to New York to visit me.
One day Quincy and I were in the control room working on something, and I noticed out of the corner of my eye, that Tom Bahler was at the piano in the studio, playing and singing a song for Bea. She was obviously very interested in it. The song Tom was playing and singing for Bea was‚ “She's Out of My Life”.
The following year, when we were working on Michael’s Solo Album “Off The Wall”, we recorded it with Michael. How Michael could do such a sincere interpretation of the lyric has always puzzled me, because I know it was an experience he had never even thought about. It's a very mature emotion, and Michael was only 19 years old at the time.
When we were recording Michael´s vocal, he broke down and cried at the end of every take. We recorded about six or seven takes. At the end of each take Michael was sobbing, actually crying. I know he was sincere, because when we finished the last take, Michael was too embarassed to come in the control room. He just tippy-toed out the back door of the studio, got in his car, and left the studio building. Quincy said to me, "Hey... that's supposed to be, leave it on there, leave it there.”
We didn’t see Michael again until a day or two later! I don't know how Michael was relating to the subject, “She's Out of My Life”. He´d never had that kind of grown-up relationship with anybody, I don´t think so, anyway...
Bruce Swedien
--------------------------
Moonwalk
And then there was "She's Out of My Life." Maybe that was too personal for a party.
It was for me. Sometimes it's hard for me to look my dates in the eye even if I know them well. My dating and relationships with girls have not had the happy ending I've been looking for. Something always seems to get in the way. The things I share with millions of people aren't the sort of things you share with one. Many girls want to know what makes me tick - why I live the way I live or do the things I do - trying to get inside my head. They want to rescue me from loneliness, but they do it in such a way that they
give me the impression they want to share my loneliness, which I wouldn't wish on anybody, because I believe I'm one of the loneliest people in the world.
"She's Out of My Life" is about knowing that the barriers that have
separated me from others are temptingly low and seemingly easy to jump over and yet they remain standing while what I really desire disappears from my sight. Tom Bahler composed a beautiful bridge, which seemed right out of an old Broadway musical. In reality, such problems are not so easily resolved and the song presents this fact, that the problem is not overcome. We couldn't put this cut at the beginning or the end of the record, because it would have been such a downer. That's why when Stevie's song comes on afterward, so gently and tentatively, as if it was opening a door that had been bolted shut, I still go, "Whew." By the time Rod's "Burn This Disco Out" closes the record, the trance is broken.
But I got too wrapped up in "She's Out of My Life." In this case, the story's true - I cried at the end of a take, because the words suddenly had such a strong effect on me. I had been letting so much build up inside me. I was twenty-one years old, and I was so rich in some experiences while being poor in moments of true joy. Sometimes I imagine that my life experience is like an image in one of those trick mirrors in the circus, fat in one part and thin to the point of disappearing in another. I was worried that would show up on "She's Out of My Life," but if it touched people's heartstrings, knowing that would make me feel less lonely.
When I got emotional after that take, the only people with me were Q and Bruce Swedien. I remember burying my face in my hands and hearing only the hum of the machinery as my sobs echoed in the room. Later I apologised, but they said there was no need.
It was for me. Sometimes it's hard for me to look my dates in the eye even if I know them well. My dating and relationships with girls have not had the happy ending I've been looking for. Something always seems to get in the way. The things I share with millions of people aren't the sort of things you share with one. Many girls want to know what makes me tick - why I live the way I live or do the things I do - trying to get inside my head. They want to rescue me from loneliness, but they do it in such a way that they
give me the impression they want to share my loneliness, which I wouldn't wish on anybody, because I believe I'm one of the loneliest people in the world.
"She's Out of My Life" is about knowing that the barriers that have
separated me from others are temptingly low and seemingly easy to jump over and yet they remain standing while what I really desire disappears from my sight. Tom Bahler composed a beautiful bridge, which seemed right out of an old Broadway musical. In reality, such problems are not so easily resolved and the song presents this fact, that the problem is not overcome. We couldn't put this cut at the beginning or the end of the record, because it would have been such a downer. That's why when Stevie's song comes on afterward, so gently and tentatively, as if it was opening a door that had been bolted shut, I still go, "Whew." By the time Rod's "Burn This Disco Out" closes the record, the trance is broken.
But I got too wrapped up in "She's Out of My Life." In this case, the story's true - I cried at the end of a take, because the words suddenly had such a strong effect on me. I had been letting so much build up inside me. I was twenty-one years old, and I was so rich in some experiences while being poor in moments of true joy. Sometimes I imagine that my life experience is like an image in one of those trick mirrors in the circus, fat in one part and thin to the point of disappearing in another. I was worried that would show up on "She's Out of My Life," but if it touched people's heartstrings, knowing that would make me feel less lonely.
When I got emotional after that take, the only people with me were Q and Bruce Swedien. I remember burying my face in my hands and hearing only the hum of the machinery as my sobs echoed in the room. Later I apologised, but they said there was no need.
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