№ 27 · SONG
P.Y.T. Was James Ingram's
Thriller, recorded May 1982
MICHAEL JACKSON
The King of Pop
★ RARE
№ 27 SONG
P.Y.T. Was James Ingram's
Pretty Young Thing was not written by Michael — it was written by Quincy Jones and a then-unknown demo singer named James Ingram, originally intended for Quincy's own solo album. Michael heard the demo, fell in love with it, and asked Quincy for it. Quincy gave it up on the condition that Ingram receive the writing credit publicly.
▶ THE MOMENT
Michael Jackson — P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) (Audio, 1983)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0pwL3KIpgs
MICHAEL JACKSON · B·SIDE · VOL.I
HOVER TO FLIP
THE FACT
Pretty Young Thing was not written by Michael — it was written by Quincy Jones and a then-unknown demo singer named James Ingram, originally intended for Quincy's own solo album. Michael heard the demo, fell in love with it, and asked Quincy for it. Quincy gave it up on the condition that Ingram receive the writing credit publicly.
WHAT MOST DON'T KNOW
James Ingram was a 30-year-old session keyboardist and demo singer from Akron, Ohio, working out of Quincy Jones's home studio when he and Quincy co-wrote P.Y.T. The original demo, with Ingram singing lead, was the version Michael heard — and according to Quincy, Michael memorised the entire melody on a single playback. The Thriller version preserved much of Ingram's original arrangement, including the background vocal answers ('Pretty young thing!') which were sung on the final record by Michael's sisters Janet and La Toya. Quincy used the moment to launch Ingram's own career, producing his debut album It's Your Night the following year, which contained the Michael-co-written ballad Yah Mo B There — a Grammy-winning hit. Ingram died in 2019 of brain cancer; at his memorial Quincy Jones called him 'the greatest singer most people never knew'.
▶
THE MOMENT
Michael Jackson — P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) (Audio, 1983) — Written by James Ingram. Backing vocals by Janet and La Toya Jackson.