Mildred "Millie" Jackson
(born July 15, 1944) is an American R&B/Soul music singer/songwriter. Her vocal performances are distinguished by long, humorous, and explicit spoken sections in her music; She has also recorded many disco songs, some dance music songs, and a few country styled songs. Three of her Albums have been Certificated Gold by the RIAA for over 500,000 copies. She is the mother of R&B singer Keisha Jackson.
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MILLIE JACKSON TICKETS
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Early life
Millie Jackson was born in
Thomson, Georgia, on
15 July,
1944; she was the daughter of a
sharecropper. Her mother died while Jackson was still a child, and subsequently she and her father moved to
Newark, New Jersey. By the time she was in her mid-teens, she moved to
Brooklyn,
New York, and lived with an aunt. She occasionally worked as a model for magazines like
Jive and
Sepia.
Career
Her career is said to have begun on a dare to enter a 1964
Harlem nightclub talent contest, which she won. Her voice is frequently compared to that of her inspiration,
Gladys Knight.
Though she first recorded for
MGM records, she soon left and began her long association with
Spring Records. Her first single to chart was 1971's deceptively titled "A Child of God (It's Hard to Believe)," which reached number 22 on the R&B charts. In 1972, Jackson had her first R&B Top Ten single with "Ask Me What You Want", which also reached the pop charts, which was followed up by "My Man, A Sweet Man" which reached #7 R&B. The following year she had her third Top Ten single and biggest hit with "Hurts So Good," which made # 3 on the R&B charts and #24 on the
Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. The single was featured in the
blaxploitation film
Cleopatra Jones
.
In 1974 she released the
album Caught Up
, which introduced her unique and innovative rap style of racy, raunchy language. The featured release was "
(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right", for which she received two
Grammy nominations. On that album, the follow-up
Still Caught Up,
and others, she was backed by the renowned
Muscle Shoals rhythm section.
Over the next ten years, Jackson had a string of successful albums and numerous R&B Top 100 singles on the
Top Black Singles chart for Spring Records, the biggest being her 1977 version of
Merle Haggard’s country hit "If You’re Not Back In Love By Monday". That hit single was followed by many more, including her version of the
Boney M song, the
Disco single, "Never Change Lovers In The Middle of The Night." This single peaked at #33 on the
Top Black Singles chart in 1979. In 1986, she signed with Jive Records and had further Top Ten hits on the
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks chart with "Hot! Wild! Unrestricted! Crazy Love" and "Love Is a Dangerous Game." Jackson also formed and produced the group
Facts of Life, who had one hit in 1977.
In 1991, she wrote, produced and starred in the successful touring play
Young Man, Older Woman
, based on her album of the same title.
In 2000 her voice featured in "Am I Wrong" by
Etienne de Crécy, sampled from her performance in "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right".
Jackson may be most famous in the internet age for her album covers, which frequently appear on "worst ever" lists.
E.S.P. (Extra Sexual Persuasion)
features Jackson peering into a crystal ball that accentuates her cleavage;
Back to the Shit
depicts Jackson on a toilet, straining to (presumably) defecate.
[1] [2]
Jackson now runs her own record label,
Weird Wreckuds. After a lengthy hiatus from recording, she released her fifteenth album,
Not For Church Folk
in 2002, which marked a return to her "tell it like it is" lyrical style and
Urban contemporary sound. The album features the hit singles "Butt-A-Cize" (a dance song) and "Leave Me Alone" (a ballad). The album also features a collaboration with rapper
Da Brat on the edgy song "In My Life." In 1988 she entered the R&B Charts for the last time, with Something You Can Feel (US R&B #45).
For the past several years Jackson has had her own
radio show in
Dallas,
Texas. Broadcasting via remote from her home in
Atlanta, Jackson can be found working in afternoon drive time from 3-6 pm on
KKDA 730 AM.
In 2007, 1977 album
Feelin' Bitchy
was reissued with positive reviews.
Personal life
She has two children, R&B singer
Keisha Jackson, the product of her short-lived marriage in the very late 60's, and son Jerroll from the late 70's.
Discography
Albums
- Millie Jackson
(1972) (US: #166)
- Hurts So Good
(1973) (US: #175), (US R&B: #13)
- I Got To Try It One Time
(1974)
- Caught Up
(1974) (US: #21) (US R&B: #4) (RIAA: Gold)
- Still Caught Up
(1975) (US: #112) (US R&B: #27)
- Free And In Love
(1976) (US R&B #17)
- Feelin' Bitchy
(1977) (US: #34), (US R&B: #4) (RIAA: Gold)
- Lovingly Yours
(1977) (US: #175) (US R&B: #44)
- Get It Out'cha System
(1978) (US: #55), (US R&B: #14) (RIAA: Gold)
- A Moment's Pleasure
(1979) (US: #144), (US R&B: #47)
- Royal Rappin's
(1979, with Isaac Hayes
) (US: #80), (US R&B: #17)
- Live & Uncensored
(1979) (US: #94), (US R&B: #22)
- For Men Only
(1980) (US: #100), (US R&B: #23)
- I Had To Say It
(1980) (US: #137), (US R&B: #25)
- Live
(1980)
- Just a Li'l Bit Country
(1981) (US R&B: #43)
- Hard Times
(1982) (US R&B: #29)
- Millie Jackson "Live And Outrageous" (Rated XXX)
(1982) (US: #113), (US R&B #11)
- E.S.P. (Extra Sexual Persuasion)
(1983) (US R&B: #40)
- An Imitation of Love
(1986) US: #119), (US R&B: #16)
- The Tide Is Turning
(1988)
- Back to the S t!
(1989) (US R&B #79)
- Young Man, Older Woman
(1991)
- Young Man, Older Woman: Cast Album
(1993)
- Rock N' Soul
(1994)
- It's Over
(1995)
- The Sequel, It Ain't Over
(1997)
- Not for Church Folk!
(2001)
Singles
- "A Child of God (It's Hard to Believe)"
- "Ask Me What You Want" (US: #27)
- "My Man, A Sweet Man" (US: #42), (US R&B: #7) (UK: #50)
- "Breakaway"
- "Hurts So Good" (US: #24), (US R&B: #3)
- "I Miss You Baby
- "How Do You Feel In The Morning" (US: #77)
- "I'm Through Trying To Prove My Love To You"
- "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right" (US: #42)
- "Leftovers" (US: #87)
- "Loving Arms"
- "The Rap"
- "Bad Risk"
- "Feel Like Making Love"
- "There You Are"
- "I Can't Say Goodbye"
- "If You're Not Back My Monday" (US: #43)
- "A Love of Your Own"
- "All The Way Lover"
- "Sweet Music Man" (US R&B #33)
- "Keep The Home Fire Burnin'" (US R&B #83)
- "Never Change Loves In The Middle of The Night" (US R&B: #33)
- "We Got To Hit It Off" (US R&B #56)
- "A Moment's Pleasure" (US R&B #70)
- "Despair"
- "Do You Wanna Make Love" feat. Isaac Hayes (US R&B #30)
- "This Is It (Part I) (US R&B #88)
- "You Never Cross My Mind"
- "I Can't Stop Loving You" (US R&B #62)
- "Special Occasion" (US R&B #51)
- "I Feel Like Walkin' In The Rain" (UK: #55)
- "Hot! Wild! Unrestricted! Crazy Love" (US R&B #9)
- "Act of War" feat. Elton John (UK: #32)
- "It's A Thang" (US R&B #79)
- "Love Is A Dangerous Game" (US R&B #6)
- "An Imitation of Love" (US R&B #58)
- "Something You Can Feel" (US R&B #45)
- "Young Man, Older Woman"
- "Living With A Stranger"
- "Taking My Life Back"
- "Love Quake"
- "Check in the Mail"
- "Chocolate Brown Eyes"
- "Breaking Up Somebody's Home"
- "The Lies That We Live"
- "Did You Think I Wouldn't Cry"
- "Butt-A-Cize"
- "Leave Me Alone"
[3]
References
- 100 Worst Album Covers EVER
- Worst Album Covers Ever
- British Hit Singles & Albums