Who's Lovin' You

In 1969, Motown assembled a curious compilation: twelve tracks, five of them different versions of the same song. The title track, Smokey Robinson's "Who's Lovin' You," had already become a quiet standard at the label. The Miracles first recorded it in 1960, a stark piano-and-voice ballad that Robinson wrote as a teenager. The Temptations followed with a grittier take, the Supremes polished it with their signature harmonies, and Brenda & the Tabulations turned it into a modest R&B hit, peaking at number 20 on the Billboard chart that same year. But the version that would outlast them all came from the Jackson 5, recorded just months after they signed with Motown. Eleven-year-old Michael Jackson, barely into adolescence, delivered a vocal performance so emotionally raw that it left hardened session musicians stunned.

The album itself was a budget release, sold for $1.99 in record stores and aimed at the R&B market. It never charted on the Billboard 200, and Motown did not promote it as a major release. Yet the compilation has survived as a peculiar time capsule. Its second side rounds out with hits like "The Tracks of My Tears," "My Girl," "Baby Love," and "I Want You Back", songs that defined the label's 1960s run. The Jackson 5's "Who's Lovin' You" earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group in 1970. Decades later, at Michael Jackson's 2009 memorial service, eleven-year-old Shaheen Jafargholi sang the same song to millions watching worldwide, a full-circle moment the original compilers could never have predicted.[edit]