Michael Jackson - You Were There
Written by Michael and Alan 'Buz' Kohan, at the Shrine Auditorium - venue for Sammy Davis, Jr.'s 60th Anniversary Show, on November 13th 1989. Performed by Michael - for the one and only time - at the show, after which he was heard saying he would never sing the song again, as it was 'Sammy's song.' Registered with the United States Copyright office in Dec. 1989.
Nisha Kataria: an US settled Indian singer
Nisha Kataria is in news as she had the chance to live in Neverland with the legendary late Michael Jackson. She was discovered by Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson was so impressed by Nisha’s voice that he decided to record with her, something he had never done in the past with anyone. She also got a chance to perform on Michael Jackson's 45th birthday.
During the interview with Jim Moret who was filling in for Larry King in the Larry King, Kataria was asked about her time spent at Neverland. She lived there a little over two months, and when asked about recording with Michael Jackson she revealed that they recorded a song together at Neverland. Michael Jackson wrote the mystery song, but it has never been released. Kataria's manager hopes to put the song on her new album in tribute to Michael Jackson.
About her experience with Michael Jackson, Nisha said,
“I mean, I - he - I saw him in the ranch. He lived there when I lived there. And I actually - the first time I actually really got to meet him was when - the second time I sang for Michael. I sang, "Because You Loved Me" with my C.D. and Michael and his nephew Eli and Omar and Prince. They all came in and sat down. And Michael was telling them, OK, listen. You have to hear her sing.
This was before I moved in. So I remember they were looking at each other and smiling as I was singing. And he was always smiling. A friendly boy.”
When Moret asked Kataria if she ever witnessed Michael Jackson interacting with his children, Paris, Prince, and Blanket Jackson she replied,
“I did. You would think that these kids, you know, they - they could have anything they ever wanted because Michael Jackson was their father. And there was one time when me and my mom and Michael and Prince were all in the movie theater. And there's a concession stand with all the candy and popcorn and ice cream you could ever ask for.
And one day we were all in the theater and my mom offered Prince a candy bar. And Michael told her politely, he said, oh, can't have anymore today. He already had some.
So you could tell that they were disciplined kids and they were really close to their father - really polite, friendly kids.”
Neverland
Neverland Valley Ranch, Los Olivos, CA
Oak ceiling and walls distinguished the library (above), which featured a hidden movie screen that lowered from the ceiling. On the Heriz rug stood an 18th-century drop-leaf table flanked by a circa-1840 English comb-back Windsor chair on the right and a leather-upholstered English Gainsborough chair on the left. Above the fireplace, two paintings of English coaching scenes hung on the wall between a pair of French bronze horses signed by Moignier.
Grassy lawns and the Santa Ynez Mountains could be viewed from the library. A circa 1820 French tilt-top table rested on an antique Hamadan rug.
A pair of 17th-century French monastery mirrors with embroidered frames hung above a wood sculpture once in the Louvre’s collection. In front of the antique French worktable was a Chinese porcelain tobacco jar.
Butcher block and Portuguese tile adorned the islands in the kitchen, which also featured two walk-in pantries, leaded-glass skylights and a Wolf range and ovens.
Wood tones dominated the gentleman’s bath, which was accented with brass candlesticks and fixtures, a marble countertop, a camel-hair Heriz rug, a mid-19th-century linen press and an antique stool.
Bouquet Canyon stone and rough-sawn Douglas fir characterized the barbeque area, which had a gas grill, a dishwasher, an icemaker, a trash compactor and two cooktops.
Photographer Harry Benson's visit to Neverland
I first met Michael on a hillside in Colorado in 1984. He was on the famous Victory Tour with his brothers.
The momentum of the Victory Tour kept building, so I joined Michael in Philadelphia for more photos. The same thing happened again. This time it was a gray Harris tweed jacket. I saw him looking closely at the colors in the tweed. They seemed to fascinate him, so again I gave him my jacket. Sometime later I was amused to see a news clip of Michael actually wearing the jacket, running into a limo, mobbed by fans.
In 1985 I photographed Michael at the “We Are the World” all-night recording session in Los Angeles, conceived to raise money for the starving children of Africa. Quincy Jones posted a sign that said, “Leave your egos at the door,” and the 45 stars who participated did just that. The artist known as Prince kept telephoning to say he was thinking of coming. Quincy told him to hurry, as they had begun working. I overheard Michael say, “Prince will never come while I am here.” When Prince called again, Quincy told him not to bother; it was all over.
On first encounter, Michael seemed shy. He spoke in the very soft, high-pitched voice recognizable to the world, but, oddly enough, after about 10 minutes his tone deepened, although he still spoke very softly. I find that many powerful people, heads of state and such, speak very softly. They don’t have to shout to get your attention. Try to hear what they say the first time—they don’t like to repeat. Michael was like that. An hour later, when we met again, it was like starting over—again, the high-pitched, quiet voice, which morphed into something deeper after about 10 minutes.
When I saw Michael in 1995, again my tweed jacket was coveted, so again I gave it to him. He put it on for the photographs with new bride Lisa Marie Presley.
In 1997 I visited Neverland to photograph Michael with his firstborn, Prince Michael. While he was feeding Prince, the baby’s face became covered with food. Michael joked, “Oh, it’s Linda Blair time,” referring to the actress in the film The Exorcist. The baby was happy and laughing. Later, we took Prince upstairs to his room, where Michael gave him a bottle and held him until he went to sleep, singing little songs to him, something about Daddy’s baby. Michael told me Prince had inspired him to write more music than he had written at any other time in his life.
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