When MTV asked Mariah Carey to star in one of their "Unplugged" shows, she had little experience performing live. "She was very young and very shy," confirms producer Walter Afanasieff. "So we put together a very easy show because of the rules of 'MTV Unplugged.' You can't do anything electric."
Two days before the taping of the show, Carey added one remake of an old hit to her repertoire. "I've been listening to Michael [Jackson] since I was a baby," she told Edna Gunderson of USA Today. "When he was a little boy, his singing was so angelic. It was unbelievable that such a voice could come from a child. He was a big influence on me." Carey chose the biggest Jackson 5 hit, "I'll Be There," as the oldie she would perform on "Unplugged." She could have chosen almost anything, according to Afanasieff. "She actually knows every song ever written," he claims. "She's a walking encyclopedia of songs, from every Stevie Wonder song all the way to every Police record ever made. She carries around this 'hard disk' full of songs. And there's nothing she can't sing."
There were special advantages in selecting "I'll Be There," says Afanasieff. "Having the young Michael Jackson be in the same sort of key as a female singer made it easy. Also making it easy was the fact that the Jackson 5 had one of the older brothers singing the almost-duet. It fell into place because here's Trey Lorenz standing next to her." Lorenz, from Florence, South Carolina, was a close friend and backing singer for Carey, and got his big break by joining her on "I'll Be There." That collaboration led to his own solo album on Columbia, with Carey producing six tracks. Her work on "Unplugged" helped her become a better producer, Carey told Melinda Newman in Billboard. "'Unplugged' taught me a lot about myself because I tend to nitpick everything I do and make it a little too perfect because I'm a perfectionist. I also learned a lot from working with Trey because when you're working with another singer and the singer's going, 'Oh, I hate that, that sounds horrible,' and you're going, 'No, it's great,' that's what everyone always does to me. I'll always go over the real raw stuff and now I've gotten to the point where I understand that the raw stuff is usually better."
Carey's "I'll Be There," sounding very close to the original version by the Jackson 5, was issued as a single by Columbia. That surprised Afanasieff. "We were thinking studio albums were the way for Mariah. And all of a sudden [the label] said, 'We've decided to release "I'll Be There" as a single,' and everyone said, 'This is going to postpone a new studio album,' which we were already starting to write and produce. But it was a pleasant departure. Once in awhile it's really a joy to break away from the norm."
"I'll Be There" had been a milestone in the career of the Jackson 5. It was their fourth consecutive number one single, and made them the first act to reach the top of the Hot 100 with its first four releases. Ironically, Carey was the one to break that record when "Emotions" became her fifth consecutive number one. Out of her first 10 chart singles, only "Can't Let Go" and "Make It Happen" didn't reach the summit.
"I'll Be There" was the eigth song in the rock era to be number one by two different artists, following "Go Away Little Girl," "The Loco-Motion," "Please Mr. Postman," "Venus," "Lean On Me," "You Keep Me Hangin' On," and "When A Man Loves A Woman."
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