Quincy Jones: 15 Essential Songs

As a musician, producer, composer and manager, Quincy Jones created hits. But in a career that spanned three-quarters of a century, what was perhaps more important about this giant of American music — who died Sunday at age 91 — is that he created this Conditions for hits. Jones was a crucial facilitator of talent and repertoire; he had an instinctive sense of where artists should go to achieve success; He built a multimedia empire with the goal of empowering people for whom show business didn't always make room. His major work was Michael Jackson's Thriller, widely considered the best-selling album of all time. But even this blockbuster only scratches the surface of its cultural impact. Here are 15 of his most important recordings, in order of release:

“Soul Bossa Nova” (1962)

If Mike Myers hadn't created Austin Powers – whose film series uses this instrumental ditty as its theme – someone would have had to come up with a similar character just to exploit the song's limitless swag.

Lesley Gore,'It's my party' (1963)
At the age of 16, Gore landed at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 on his first try: her debut single, which Jones put together as part of his day job as a producer at Mercury Records, is a rollicking expression of youthful frustration, with drums and horns making It Feels feels about two clicks harsher than you'd expect, no matter how many times you listen to the song.

Frank Sinatra,'Fly me to the moon' (1964)
Johnny Mathis, Nancy Wilson and Peggy Lee had already recorded Bart Howard's romantic request when Jones arranged a version for Sinatra on his It Might As Well Be Swing LP with Count Basie. But no one made the song breakout like Jones did – one of the reasons Ol' Blue Eyes worked with him for the next two decades (including on Sinatra's final solo studio album, 1984's wonderfully schmaltzy “LA Is My Lady”).

'The street thug' (1972)
Television has never known a funkier theme song than the one Jones composed for Sanford & Son.

Aretha Franklin, “Somewhere” (1973)

Franklin made only a single studio LP with Jones: “Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky),” which she released following Franklin's two landmark 1972 albums, “Young, Gifted and Black,” and the live Gospel album “Amazing” recorded grace.” Her slow take on Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's “West Side Story” ballad — “my absolute favorite,” Jones told The Times in 2018 — consists of six minutes of lush Orchestral jazz in which Franklin sounds as unattached as ever.

'Body heat' (1974)
Premium '70s soul funk that was later sampled by Tupac Shakur for his chart-topping “How Do U Want It.”

The Johnson Brothers,'Strawberry letter 23' (1977)
Written and recorded by psychedelic-soul eccentric Shuggie Otis in the early '70s, “Strawberry Letter 23” became pop when Jones recorded a version with the Brothers Johnson half a decade later. The song resurfaced in the early '90s when Color Me Badd interpolated it for “I Wanna Sex You Up,” and then again in the early 2000s when Outkast for “Ms. Jackson.”

Diana Ross and Michael Jackson,'Ease on the road' (1978)
Jones and Jackson met while working on the big screen adaptation of director Sidney Lumet's Broadway musical The Wiz. Her driving rendition of the show's “Ease on Down the Road” – with Ross as Dorothy and Jackson as the Scarecrow in a proudly African-American retelling of “The Wizard of Oz” – provided a tantalizing hint of what was to come, as the singer and Der producer set about planning Jackson's next career move.

Michael Jackson, “Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough” (1979)

What resulted, of course, was this: a glittering disco-soul fantasy that still ranks as one of the greatest album openers in pop history. “You know, I was wondering if you could carry on,” Jackson murmurs over a strutting bass line in his breathy spoken introduction, “cause the power, it's got a lot of power and it makes me feel…” Then the 20-year-old thrusts the high-pitched squeal that lets everyone know that this former child star has become a man.

George Benson,'Give me the night' (1980)
Jones had hired Heatwave's Rod Temperton to write for Jackson's Off the Wall LP, and tapped Temperton's talents again for this brash disco-soul jam from the jazz guitarist turned adult contemporary hitmaker.

'Only once' (1981)
This calm, stormy ballad (written by the venerable husband and wife team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil) is one of three tracks sung by the great James Ingram on Jones' album The Dude, and is one of Jones' slickest R&B productions.

Michael Jackson,'I want to start something'' (1982)
“Thriller” spawned bigger hits (“Billie Jean”) and more iconic cultural moments (“Beat It”). But as a demonstration of the musical intelligence that Jones and Jackson displayed together in the studio is the album's astonishing opener – again with the opener! – is simply unparalleled. You could spend days untangling the dense web of riffs, licks, rhythms and languages ​​in this song under your headphones.

USA for Africa, “We Are the World” (1985)

The charity single to end all charity singles will rightly be remembered as a logistical masterpiece (and in a time without smartphones, no less). But if you haven't in a while, listen to the distinct vocal performances that Jones elicits from just some of the song's many stars in the section where Dionne Warwick (cool and regal) plays Willie Nelson (trippy yet down-to-earth ) throws over ), who throws to Al Jarreau (softly declamatory), who throws to Bruce Springsteen (as parched as anyone in Los Angeles has ever been).

'The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite),' with Barry White, Al B. Sure!, James Ingram and El DeBarge (1989)
With his star-studded album Back on the Block, Jones proved he was an R&B auteur in an era dominated by some of his heirs, including Teddy Riley and the duos Babyface and LA Reid, as well as Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, still played a role. Thanks in part to this heated boudoir conference, the LP won the Grammy Award for Best Album of the Year at the 1991 Grammys (along with five others out of 28).

The Weeknd,'A Tale of Quincy' (2022)
Speaking of heirs, the last high-profile performance of Jones' career came in the form of a monologue about his complicated childhood that serves as an interlude to the Weeknd's very “Off the Wall”-esque “Dawn FM.” Consider the track a final testament to Jones' belief in music as a place to explore his emotional vulnerabilities – and another example of him understanding the value of proximity to the heat.