This is a compilation of Michael Jackson instrumental covers .
More inf at http://www.bennysutton.com/Music/Michael-Jackson.aspx

Download All

Michael Jackson

HEY! LIKE THIS? Then why not visit 
www.bennysutton.com 
to hear and download many more great sounds like this?

Here's my unplugged version of the classic Michael Jackson track from the Bad album. Written by Glen Ballard and Siedah Garrett

download

Man In The Mirror ----- Michael Jackson

Here's my smooth jazz guitar version of the 1982 classic hit from the Thriller album

download album

Billie Jean ---- Michael Jackson

HEY! LIKE THIS? Then why not visit 
www.bennysutton.com 
to hear and download many more great sounds like this?

Here's my smooth jazz guitar version of Human Nature off the Thriller album by Michael Jackson. It was written and composed by Steve Porcaro and John Bettis, and the MJ version was produced by Quincy Jones. Personally I love the Miles Davis version the best but then he is the Main Man! There's a little muted trumpet in there for Miles, see if you can spot it

Human Nature ---- Michael Jackson

HEY! LIKE THIS? Then why not visit 
https://www.bennysutton.com/
to hear and download many more great sounds like this?


This is a modern rework of that track. I've done my usual smooth jazz guitar thing on it but have rediscovered my dance roots. I think I've breathed new life into this beat - what do you think?

Don't Stop Till You Get Enough ---- Michael Jackson

HEY! LIKE THIS? Then why not visit 
www.bennysutton.com 
to hear and download many more great sounds like this?


Here's my smooth jazz guitar rework of the classic MJ track.

Bad is the seventh studio album by Michael Jackson. The album was released in 1987 by Epic Records, nearly five years after Jackson's previous studio album, Thriller, which went on to become the world's best-selling album. Bad itself has sold between 30 to 45 million copies worldwide, was certified 9 times Platinum in the United States alone, and has been cited as one of the 30 best-selling albums of all time. The album produced a record five Billboard Hot 100 number one singles

The lyrics are below if you want to sing along!

Your Butt Is Mine
Gonna Take You Right
Just Show Your Face
In Broad Daylight
I'm Telling You
On How I Feel
Gonna Hurt Your Mind
Don't Shoot To Kill
Come On, Come On,
Lay It On Me All Right...

I'm Giving You
On Count Of Three
To Show Your Stuff
Or Let It Be . . .
I'm Telling You
Just Watch Your Mouth
I Know Your Game
What You're About

Well They Say The Sky's
The Limit
And To Me That's Really True
But My Friend You Have
Seen Nothing
Just Wait 'Til I Get Through . . .

Because I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
Come On
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
You Know It
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
Come On, You Know
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
And The Whole World Has To
Answer Right Now
Just To Tell You Once Again,
Who's Bad . . .

The Word Is Out
You're Doin' Wrong
Gonna Lock You Up
Before Too Long,
Your Lyin' Eyes
Gonna Take You Right
So Listen Up
Don't Make A Fight,
Your Talk Is Cheap
You're Not A Man
You're Throwin' Stones
To Hide Your Hands

But They Say The Sky's
The Limit
And To Me That's Really True
And My Friends You Have
Seen Nothin'
Just Wait 'Til I Get Through . . .

Because I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
Come On
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
You Know It
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
You Know It, You Know
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
And The Whole World Has To
Answer Right Now
(And The Whole World Has To
Answer Right Now)
Just To Tell You Once Again,
(Just To Tell You Once Again)
Who's Bad . . .

We Can Change The World
Tomorrow
This Could Be A Better Place
If You Don't Like What I'm
Sayin'
Then Won't You Slap My
Face . . .

Because I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
Come On
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
You Know It
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
You Know It, You Know
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)

Woo! Woo! Woo!
(And The Whole World Has
To Answer Right Now
Just To Tell You Once
Again . . .)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
Come On
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
You Know It-You Know It
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know, You Know, You
Know, Come On
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
And The Whole World Has To
Answer Right Now
(And The Whole World Has To
Answer Right Now)
Just To Tell You
(Just To Tell You Once Again)

You Know I'm Smooth, I'm
Bad, You Know It
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad, I'm
Bad Baby
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know, You Know, You
Know It, Come On
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
And The Whole World Has To
Answer Right Now
(And The Whole World Has To
Answer Right Now)
Woo!
(Just To Tell You Once Again)

You Know I'm Bad, I'm Bad-
You Know It
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad-You
Know-Hoo!
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad-I'm Bad-
You Know It, You Know
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
And The Whole World Has To
Answer Right Now
(And The Whole World Has To
Answer Right Now)
Just To Tell You Once Again . . .
(Just To Tell You Once
Again . . .)

Bad ---- Michael Jackson

Thriller is an interesting rework. The melody line hasn't got a lot of notes to it - yet works instrumentally. Like many MJ tracks it relies on an insistent and repetitive muted guitar part to drive it along.
Thriller is the title track from the 1982 album of the same name. This album was the follow up to the 1979 Off the Wall album and firmly established MJ a a megastar.
The video accompanying this track also broke new ground by being shot with cinematic values - which also made it the most expensive video ever (at that time).
People forget its importance. MTV was in it's infancy and by getting heavy rotation 'broke' the crossover R&B/rock style to a wider audience.


Thriller ---- Michael Jackson

"Rock with You" is one of those MJ tracks with loads of happy memories for me.
It was written by a guy just up the road from me, British songwriter Rod Temperton, formerly of the group Heatwave. It was the second single from Michael Jackson's fifth album, Off the Wall.
Many of us consider the Off The Wall album as MJ's first proper album. It came out of nowhere to give him megastar status. It was perhaps the beginning of the end for MJ; he looked human when this was released but his appearance and behavior only declined from there onwards.
It reached number one on both the pop and R&B singles charts. According to Billboard, the song was the fourth biggest single of 1980.

Rock with You ---- Michael Jackson

OK, I'll stick my hands up! I went a bit OTT with the guitar on this one! Watch out Eddie Van Halen, the jazz guy's got overdrive too!
My version is not as rocky as Jacksons, it's peppered with jazz chords rather than rock riffs. See if you can spot the Earth, Wind and Fire horn section parts.
From a guitar players point of view the original had one of the top 5 guitar solos of all time. On this occasion I didn't bother to learn it note for note, just the spirit of it (so loads of fretboard tapping). I do a second solo later on, which is pure me!
It is the third single from Jacko's sixth solo album, Thriller (1982).


Beat It ----- Michael Jackson

This is a very accomplished piece of song writing by Michael Jackson, reminding us that he didn't just cherry pick material from others, he really was a true master. The chord progressions are unusual and complex, changing key subtly and confidently like a modal jazz composition. I approach it by keeping it clean for the intro, following Jackson's melody line. I then explore with piano and light acoustic guitars. The hook gets a typical jazz technique of playing octaves for the line. The solo is then restrained to keep the song's beauty. The middle eight gets a guitar solo with a tougher tone. It's a joy to play over by following the key changes.
Originally this track a 1987 ballad by Michael Jackson featuring a duet with Siedah Garrett, and was the first single released from his seventh album, Bad. The song was written by Jackson, and co-produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, R&B and adult contemporary charts.
The song became the first of five consecutive number-one Hot 100 singles from the Bad album. It was Jackson's second number-one song on the AC chart (his first, coincidentally, had also been a duet: 1982's "The Girl Is Mine" with Paul McCartney). It was released without an accompanying music video.
The presence of Garrett on the track was a last-minute decision by Jackson and Jones, after Jackson's first two choices for the duet, Barbra Streisand and Whitney Houston, both decided against participating. Garrett, a protégé of Jones's who co-wrote another song on Bad, "Man in the Mirror", did not know that she would be singing the song until the day of the recording session.


I Just Can't Stop Loving You ---- Michael Jackson

I was enticed to this track because it has such a haunting melody and general vibe. It has always reminded me of "I'm only Human" by the Human League. It has some very similar chord progressions. I use a nylon stringed classical and electric guitars, as well as bass to pick out the tune. 
"Come Back to Me" is by Janet Jackson, taken from her fourth studio album, Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989). It was written by Jackson, while James Harris III, and Terry Lewis co-wrote and produced the song.


Come Back To Me by Janet Jackson (downloadable)

MJ did such a great job of this track. Remember how his voice breaks down at the end? To do this justice you need that same emotional investment. I'm not sure I could take it as far as him but, for nylon strings, this is as expressive as I dared!
DYK It was not written by MJ but by American songwriter Tom Bahler. 
Jackson's version was released as the fourth single from his 1979 album Off the Wall. It peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking the first time any solo artist had ever achieved four Top 10 hits from one album.


She's Out of My Life ----- Michael Jackson

This was one of the MTV breakout tracks for MJ, one of the first to combine R&B with rock and pop. Previously conventional wisdom kept the two apart and made MTV a dull rock channel. MJ changed all that for good!

Smooth Criminal - by Michael Jackson

MJ had so many great power ballads and this is one of them. It was recorded by Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney, written by Jackson and produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones.  It was released as the first single off Jackson's sixth solo album, Thriller (1982).

The Girl Is Mine ---- Michael Jackson

Check out my Soundcloud channel for my latest music releases. 
Love Guitar? You're in the right place!
I'm different! I play melodies - even when improvising!  
I'm really not interested in impressing other musicians. I'm creating music for everyone.
I'M ALSO HERE...
http://www.bennysutton.com
MY VIDEOS http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5TJp0GyhYOnusiCGB8z4fG0T8G35gTTi
https://soundcloud.com/bennysutton_covers


ABOUT ME
I play the music I like to listen to. 
As a guitarist I like to think I have my own style.
Harmony, and the groove is what I'm chasing, hopefully with a tasteful, nuanced, and distinctive presentation. 
I don't have a genre as such. I could sort of call myself a smooth Jazz 'n' Blues guitar 'thang' but in reality every track crosses over multiple strands of R&B/Jazz/Funk/Pop. Don't be put off by my use of the "J" word. Jazz to me is anything unpredictable and I'm nothing if not contemporary. 
Rhythm playing is as much a part of my "game" as lead soloing. I love the Funk!
My main instrument is guitar. I play a 1973 Ovation Breadwinner, an Ibanez nylon stringed and a Yamaha keyboard loaded with Keyscape. Unless stated I play all the other instruments too (mostly Bass), and sequence MIDI and arrange/produce. 

MY JOURNEY
I was signed with Fresh Air records and EMI in the 1980's creating Jazz/funk dance tracks but things were just as challenging then as they are now for musicians so I got a 'proper job' for 20 years! During all that time my guitar was in the loft! I rediscovered music in 2010 and Soundcloud in 2014.


MY SOUNDCLOUD
I am grateful to Soundcloud listeners who take the time to press |>Play - and especially if you give me some feedback :-)
I hope what you hear will draw you in sufficiently to explore on my own website. Nearly all my original stuff (6 albums worth) are on www.BennySutton.com and all are downloadable.
Please don't follow me in hope of getting to get an automatic follow back. I don't do that because I only follow the smallest number of people I can keep track of. I'll have a look at your page but will only follow back if you are really of interest to me. See my follow list, you'll discover some very talented artistes, many of whom I have been lucky to Collab. Soundcloud really is the place to find the real innovators these days - not the music industry approved channels, especially MTV!
If you want to get my attention, send me a PM.

Michael Jackson

Benny Sutton