Throwin in a monkey wrench Featured artist Smokey Robinson

Featured Artist Smokey Robinson

William "Smokey" Robinson, 19th February 1940, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A
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Smokey Robinson was the founding member of the Miracles at Northern High School, Detroit.
In 1955, Robinson became one of the major figures in the local music scene by the end of the Fifties.
That year he met Berry Gordy, who was writing songs for R & B star Jackie Wilson, and looking for local acts to produce.
Berry Gordy took the teenager under his wing.
He produced a series of Miracles singles in 1958 and 1959, all of which featured Robinson as composer and lead singer, and leased them to prominent R & B labels.

In 1960, he signed the Miracles to his Motown Records and began to promote Robinson as a substantial colleague.

In Motown's early days, Smokey was involved in every part of the company's operations, writing, producing and making his own records, helping in the business of promotion and auditioning many of the young hopefuls who were attracted by Berry Gordy's growing reputation as an businessman.


Going to a GO GO

Smokey had begun his career as a producer by overseeing the recording of the Miracles'
'Way Over There', and soon afterwards he was involved with developing the talents of Mary Wells and The Supremes.


Here I go again

As the decade progressed, Bob Dylan referred to Robinson as "America's greatest living poet"; as if to justify this assertion, Robinson's lyric-writing scaled new heights on complex ballads such as "The Love I Saw In You Was Just A Mirage" and "I Second That Emotion'. From 1967 onwards, Robinson was given individual credit on the Miracles" releases.


For the next two years, their commercial fortunes went into a slide, which was righted when their 1965 recording of "The Tracks Of My Tears" became a major hit in Britain in 1969, and the four-year-old "The Tears Of A Clown" achieved similar success on both sides of the Atlantic in 1970.

Robinson's exceptional song writing ability combined with his extraordinarily expressive falsetto voice, made each Miracles' release an occasion. During the next ten years some 36 singles hit the charts - among them such classics as You've Really Got A Hold On Me, What's So Good About Goodbye?, The Tracks Of My Tears, I Second That Emotion and the chart-topping Tears Of A Clown.

So prolific was Smokey during the sixties that he was able to provide colleagues with equally powerful songs:

Marvin Gaye both benefited from his writing, as did Mary Wells, whose trio of Robinson epics (The One Who Really Loves You, You Beat Me To The Punch and Two Lovers)

all went Top 10 during 1962. Robinson also penned My Guy - a Number One hit for Wells, but also her Motown swan song.
Many people were upset when Robinson split from the Miracles in 1972, but his solo career was not without interest.
Smokey Roinsons classic soulful voice will never go out of style, Smokey is timeless, thats why we LOVE Smokey Robinson go on Smokey, get yours !

side note: Paul McCartney's own Bran Ray co-wrote One Heartbeat with Smokey, yeah Bri!



Smokey Robinson snippets DVD

enjoy the video's
please watch
harleyblues

July 10
harleyblues note:
after each video the are lil tiny piccies below vid where you can see other vids from Smokey Robinson & The Miracles "Way over there" Tracks of my tears" "Really got a hold on me" "Just a mirage"
to name a few, enjoy
HB