Smokey Robinson & The Miracles – 4 Albums

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles – 4 Albums

SoulMusic Records/The Second Disc

2CD/DL

Out now

Double CD set that compiles four early 1970s Tamla Motown albums by Soul legends Smokey Robinson & The Miracles plus two bonus items. Ian Canty writes…

While The Miracles had formed as a R&B vocal group back in the mid-1950s as The Five Chimes (later The Matadors), it was only when Claudette Rogers joined future husband William “Smokey” Robinson, Pete Moore, Ronnie White and Bobby Rogers that the classic line up was almost in place. This process was completed when guitarist Marv Tarplin, perhaps The Miracles’ counterpart to Ian Stewart of The Rolling Stones, was recruited in 1958.

Quickly they achieved success with the Got A Job single in 1959, the first of many hits over the next few years. As a result, they became a powerhouse on the newly formed Tamla Motown label, with both their 45s and 33s making their way high up the US listings. In 1967 their lead singer/songwriter Smokey Robinson started to receive separate billing in an acknowledgement of his importance as a key element in the group flourishing. More US and UK chart smashes followed, topped off by the classic single Tears Of A Clown reaching the summit on both sides of the Atlantic during the Summer of 1970.

The aforementioned single was released in the wake of What Love Has Joined Together, the six tracks of which starts off the first disc of this set. Clocking in at under 30 minutes, this record was a sign of the new times of the 1970s by being a concept LP without any singles pulled from it. In addition, apart from the stately, relaxed title track, all of these tunes were covers. A laidback version of My Cherie Amour, a hit for fellow Motown mainstay Stevie Wonder, shines brightly and Marvin Gaye’s If This World Were Mine is sensitively handled in similar fashion.

A joyful You’ve Made Me So Very Happy was first recorded by The Miracles’ labelmate Brenda Holloway and Bacharach and David’s This Guy’s In Love With You is given a silky smooth treatment. Finishing off What Love Has Joined Together is a short take of the Lennon/McCartney song And I Love Her, originally released by The Beatles on their LP A Hard Day’s Night. The lyric allows Smokey to draw out ample drama and conviction in his vocal performance. What Love Has Joined Together eschews the frantic pace of 60s Soul in favour of the kind of slow, layered grooves that would increasingly become a bigger part of R&B as the 1970s went on. In that way Smokey And The Miracles were ahead of the crowd, but the LP was a commercial flop despite its strengths.

Between this album and its follow up A Pocket Full Of Miracles were have a couple of bonus tracks. There’s an immediate contrast to what has gone before with the fine and near-Psychedelic Funk of You’ve Got Me (Looking Through The Eyes Of Love) and this is followed by a jaunty Paper People.

A Pocket Full Of Miracles emerged less six months later in September and as if stung by the reception for their previous long player, this one had double the number of offerings. Again outside writers were called upon for material, but Pete Moore and Marv Tarplin teamed up with Smokey for one of the most impressive entries, the excellent opening item Flower Girl. The Ashford and Simpson song Who’s Gonna Take The Blame was written from the viewpoint of someone who reluctantly becomes sex professional, which was certainly different subject matter for The Miracles to tackle.

I suppose the trouble with this LP is that while very listenable, it is perhaps a little short on truly memorable moments. Smokey Robinson produced The Temptations’ version of Get Ready that he also wrote. Four years after that was a hit, his own band tackle it here and as the source material was always strong, The Miracles couldn’t really go wrong with it. But the version of Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Of Troubled Water doesn’t add much other than a cool talk-over intro. I quite liked the Bluesy/Gospel feel to the George Harrison/Chris Kenner mash-up Something/Something You Got though.

Point It Out performed fairly well as a 45, reaching the US Top 40. The composition of this song predated What Love Has Joined Together and it is a nicely accomplished sound, with Backfire successfully upping the tempo with rhythmic bounce just right for early 1970s dancefloors. Marv Johnson’s Wishful Thinking is capably versioned to end an album that is respectable rather than essential for the most part.

At this point between these albums Smokey Robinson And The Miracles issued the throwaway Yuletide cash-in The Season For Miracles, which is not included here. 1971’s One Dozen Roses, the LP that starts out the second disc here, comes over as a return to form. A good sign was that two thirds of the songs came from the group’s own auspices. Tears Of A Clown, the 1967 song that was pressed into service as a 45 due to lack of material, had conquered the charts in 1970 and is featured as a remix here.

When Sundown Comes was mooted for single release and begins things on the album with a piano-led, shimmering cool and I Don’t Blame You At All, an easy-going Soul dance number, rode in the slipstream of Tears Of A Clown’s success as a single all the way into the UK and US Top 20s. Satisfaction and Crazy About The La La La didn’t perform quite as well on 45, but the steady lope of the former and the latter’s frills enchant. There’s The Miracles take on Paul Simon’s much-covered Cecilia and the moody Faces comes with finger-snapping charm. A very satisfying collection resolves itself with natty reworking of The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game, a Smokey-penned hit for The Marvelettes back in 1966.

Flying High Together was Smokey Robinson & The Miracles final studio LP together and perhaps a sense of general dissatisfaction can be perceived in the fact that none of the songs featured were composed by the band. A low point for me is the rum decision to cover Theme From Love Story. Better is a slick I Can’t Stand To See You Cry and Flying High Together itself comes with a serving of feelgood vibes. The Stevie Wonder/Syreeta Wright tune It Will Be Alright sways along lightly aided by a lush string section, but the sunny atmosphere dwindles a bit in the face of a few undistinguished efforts. A decent crack at The Stylistics’ Betcha By Golly Wow brings down the curtain on Flying High Together and 4 Albums.

After leaving Smokey The Miracles achieved more hits after recruiting Billy Griffin for the lead singer vacancy, particularly with the Disco smash Love Machine in 1975. For his part Robinson was jaded after over a decade on the Pop Music conveyor belt of live appearances, promotion and recording and decided to rest up. After a year or so he resumed his musical career as a solo artist, scoring notable successes in 1981 with the Being With You single and LP.

While maybe not including the band’s biggest selling collections, the four albums presented here do contain a lot to divert the listener. The accomplished One Dozen Roses is the star of this show for me, but What Love Has Joined Together’s interesting experimental form is also well worth hearing. The other two long players have their moments too, making for a very listenable compilation of Smokey & The Miracles’ final studio platters.

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