thebanishedone said:

wilmer said:

It'd be obtuse to think someone like Michael Jackson can't play any instruments, at all. The dude could play piano and keyboards, and there's no reason to think he didn't pick up a guitar at some point in his life.

And "Morphine" is nothing but guitars.

MJ wasn't trying to present himself as anything other than a conduit for music.

MJ as primarly known as a singer/songwriter/performer. That was his main focus. I've read that he played some percussion on "Off The Wall" (shakers, tambourine, maracas). Randy was a multi guy too.

In the Rodney Jerkins Invincible example I suspect by then it was just standard practice that MJ would get production/song writing and instrumental credit regardless of whether he actually put his pen to the song, played an instrument or touched the mixing desk. Similar to how Beyonce always has a song writing/production credit on everything. I imagine Rodney Jerkins was more than happy to sign up to that as even a poorly selling MJ record was still gonna do good business and make him quite a bit of money.

TrivialPursuit said:

It'd be obtuse to think someone like Michael Jackson can't play any instruments, at all. The dude could play piano and keyboards, and there's no reason to think he didn't pick up a guitar at some point in his life.

And "Morphine" is nothing but guitars.

MJ wasn't trying to present himself as anything other than a conduit for music.

there is a video on utub where Michael is playing chords similar to Who Is It on modular synth ,but the video is 1983 or 1984 so my guess is he did know at least some basic chords on piano,by the way he was holding guitar when he got it as a gift(utub video exists) you can see that he never touched that instrument.

there is a home video of MJs house with his kids and somebody (Michael ? ) playing a very sloppy rendation of Herbie Hancock Cantaloup Island

[Edited 2/7/21 8:55am]

TrivialPursuit said:

It'd be obtuse to think someone like Michael Jackson can't play any instruments, at all. The dude could play piano and keyboards, and there's no reason to think he didn't pick up a guitar at some point in his life.

And "Morphine" is nothing but guitars.

MJ wasn't trying to present himself as anything other than a conduit for music.

I don't hear any guitars on Morphine?

MattyJam said:

TrivialPursuit said:

It'd be obtuse to think someone like Michael Jackson can't play any instruments, at all. The dude could play piano and keyboards, and there's no reason to think he didn't pick up a guitar at some point in his life.

And "Morphine" is nothing but guitars.

MJ wasn't trying to present himself as anything other than a conduit for music.

I don't hear any guitars on Morphine?

and it should b two guitars

thebanishedone said:

When you read Michael Jackson album credits on his last 2 albums you can see songs where all instruments are credited to Michael ,but the same song would feature Rodney Jerkins on all instruments as well or another example Morphin says Michael Jackson and Slash playing guitars.yet i don't hear any guitars in that song.So why Michael wanted to present himself as a multi instrumentalist? [Edited 2/7/21 8:57am]

these are just like those Beyonce credits as if she wrote more than 3 words on a song with 9 other writers.
MJ wrote some tunes and maybe hit a key or strum a string and it seems that is enough these days to warrant a full credit.

JorisE73 said:

thebanishedone said:

When you read Michael Jackson album credits on his last 2 albums you can see songs where all instruments are credited to Michael ,but the same song would feature Rodney Jerkins on all instruments as well or another example Morphin says Michael Jackson and Slash playing guitars.yet i don't hear any guitars in that song.So why Michael wanted to present himself as a multi instrumentalist? [Edited 2/7/21 8:57am]

these are just like those Beyonce credits as if she wrote more than 3 words on a song with 9 other writers.
MJ wrote some tunes and maybe hit a key or strum a string and it seems that is enough these days to warrant a full credit.

i guess you are right

TrivialPursuit said:

And "Morphine" is nothing but guitars.

MJ wasn't trying to present himself as anything other than a conduit for music.

Samplers are guitars these days?!
I still suspect MJ has some false credits on his material.

I don't want this tread 2 become negative.i just wonder why after almost no credits on the instruments Michael decided he is multi instrumentalist? I' am sure Michael was good enough to ply drums on his records but he didn't do it or did he?

He was a great beatboxer!

JorisE73 said:

thebanishedone said:

When you read Michael Jackson album credits on his last 2 albums you can see songs where all instruments are credited to Michael ,but the same song would feature Rodney Jerkins on all instruments as well or another example Morphin says Michael Jackson and Slash playing guitars.yet i don't hear any guitars in that song.So why Michael wanted to present himself as a multi instrumentalist? [Edited 2/7/21 8:57am]

these are just like those Beyonce credits as if she wrote more than 3 words on a song with 9 other writers.
MJ wrote some tunes and maybe hit a key or strum a string and it seems that is enough these days to warrant a full credit.

MJ and his team would sample instruments, put it in a sythesizer and MJ would use those pieces on his songs. Technically that would count

A book just came out about Blood on The Dance Floor and they discuss the five songs with the collaborators and various people involved with the project. I haven't read it but maybe that would discuss the process of what went into those tracks

https://www.amazon.com/Book-Dance-Floor-Lets-HIStory/dp/B08QBRJBWR/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=blood+on+the+dance+floor+book&qid=1612821019&sr=8-1

RODSERLING said:

RODSERLING said:

MJ began his carreer at 5 years, not as a singer, but as a drummer. He linked two Kellogg's cardboard with a pen, when Prince was still shitting in his pants. Then, he played bongos on the Steelstown records Johnathan Moffett said MJ was a very good drummer. According to Bruce Swedien, that s MJ playing keyboards on Don't Be Messin Around. I went to the Brad Sunberg/Buxer conferences. Buxer said MJ knew how to program sounds in a synthetiser, and he specifically talked about Money and TDCAU. He said MJ wasn't a real keyboard player, but of course he could play some shit, like anybody else who tries, but wasn't worth a session player. He also said that MJ played only the right side of the keyboard, when he tried to find a melody. Was MJ a guitarist/bassist? No. But anybody who has a hand is able to play keyboard and make a melody out of it.

Prince was already doodling around on piano by then.

He inspired me to take up a career in sessional finger clicking, that's all that matters

In Mj's defense........listen 2 some of his songs.

His biggest hit, Billie Jean is a 8 note bassline that a 6 year can play.

I'm not being critical, just being honest. A lot of his songs are super simple.

MJ still making people combatative on this board...

ThatWhiteDude said:

alphastreet said:

I play piano, took lessons but prefer to play by ear. Mjs songs are pretty easy to play/figure out so I’m sure he could do basics though with no formal training. If anything, maybe he used a midi program for invincible sessions, which isn’t hard to use, so maybe he got credited for instruments coming from that [Edited 2/9/21 13:54pm]

well not all of his songs are easy to play on piano. Can't Help It,Rock With You,Heartbreak Hotel ,She's Out OI My Life are not easy at all on piano

thebanishedone said:

thebanishedone said:

Well, not all of his songs are easy to play on piano. "I Can't Help It," "Rock With You," Heartbreak Hotel," and "She's Out Of My Life" are not easy at all on piano.

Maybe or maybe not, but I don't think anyone claiming he played on those songs. He's barely listed on some percussion for "Working Day and Night" and "Don't Stop 'Til you Get Enough." He's not listed on anything on Triumph, other than vocals.

"She's Out Of My Life" is a slow ballad. Not hard on the piano. As with anything, it takes a little practice. Depends on a player's proficiency.

Also, basic chord structure isn't hard to work out on a piano if a person has any music theory in their head. Michael certainly knew notes, melody, and chords. For that, he doesn't have to pound out the completed song on a piano to know how to play any of those songs on a piano. It's a demo.

[Edited 2/9/21 20:23pm]

thebanishedone said:

alphastreet said: