"We're Almost There" is a 1975 song released as a single by American singer

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

, the first release from his final Motown album, '' Forever, Michael''.

Background

As Jackson's voice changed a bit, Motown found it difficult to find material to suit the 16-year-old Jackson, who had sung in a higher voice for most of the duration of his Motown tenure. With the return of the Holland brothers Brian and

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sax ...

, Motown had the duo write a collection of songs to fit Jackson's age.

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an onli ...

'' said that "sweet strings soar high above a polished production as Michael Jackson's sugary vocal slides sexily along." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record W ...

'' said that "it's the youthful Jackson's first single in almost two years, but well worth the wait."

Charts

The duo composed this song and the modest hit, " Just a Little Bit of You", which became a top forty hit after this single was released. Performing more modestly, the song eventually peaked at number 54 on the pop chart while hitting number 7 on the R&B chart. These two singles would end up being the last Jackson released as an active Motown artist though the label continued to release Jackson singles until 1984.

Credits

*Lead and backing vocals by

*Produced by

Brian Holland Brian Holland (born February 15, 1941) is an American songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of Holland–Dozier–Holland, the songwriting and production team that was responsible for much of the Motown sound, and numerous h ...

Samples and covers

*The song was covered by

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

and featured on the bonus disc of the 'Empire Edition' of her 2009 album, The Element of Freedom. *The song was later sampled on the 2010 hip-hop release " Our Dreams" on the

Wu-Massacre ''Wu-Massacre'' is a collaboration studio album by American rappers and Wu-Tang Clan members Method Man, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon, released March 30, 2010 on Def Jam Recordings. Production for the album was handled by several hip hop produc ...

album and on the 2009 hip-hop release "Almost There" on the Poindexter mixtape by

Donald Glover Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American entertainer, writer, director, and producer. After working in Derrick Comedy while studying at New York University, Glov ...

References

1975 singles 1981 singles Michael Jackson songs Songs written by Eddie Holland Songs written by Brian Holland Motown singles Song recordings produced by Brian Holland Song recordings produced by Edward Holland Jr. 1975 songs {{1970s-single-stub