Smokey Robinson's 50th Showbiz Anniversary Celebration Begins Tonight in London - Page 2

Although the song reached No. 1 R&B, Gordy's royalty check was for $3.19. Gordy had written hits for Jackie Wilson, Marv Johnson and Barrett Strong, but had seen very little cash for his efforts. This last insult enabled Robinson to talk Gordy into forming Tamla Records, and their first release was the Miracles' "Way Over There" in 1959. It was Smokey's first solo production, and although it wasn't a national hit, it did sell out its run of 60,000 copies.

Tamla's next release was Gordy's production of the Miracles on Smokey's tune "Shop Around," and the bouncy Mama-knows tune shot to No. 2 pop. Motown and the Miracles were on their way.

Smokey has a special relationship with his own songs, and his high tenor soothes and soars through the classic Miracles repertoire. After the peppy adolescent pop of "Shop," "You Really Got a Hold On Me" in 1963 began a string of increasingly sophisticated songs that led Bob Dylan to call Smokey "the world's greatest living poet."

"Hold" was inspired by Sam Cooke and the churchy piano and call and response are gospel, where agony and ecstacy vie for the singer’s soul. Smokey has a zen-like gift (which complements his vaguely Asian looks) for balancing seeming contradictions: "I don't like you, but I love you," and "you do me wrong, my love is strong" in "Hold"; "I've got sunshine on a cloudy day," from (the Temptation's) "My Girl"; the titles and imagery of "Choosy Beggar," "My Smile Is Just a Frown (Turned Upside Down)", and "The Tears of a Clown."

Robinson’s next classic was "Ooo Baby Baby" with an atavistic, echoey doo wop feel. Smokey's gossamer vocal and shimmering strings suspend time at the moment just before emotion breaks, as he builds a case that repeatedly yields to an unarticulated call to reconciliation, "ooh baby baby."

"The Tracks of My Tears" treads similar thematic ground. A beautiful, regret-tinged guitar figure opens into a strong backbeat and the Miracles light "doo doo doos." The singer's character is more confident here than on "Ooo," as he states his case against the appearance of happiness.

"Going To a Go-Go" reminded the world that Robinson could rock as the Miracles accompany him down a swinging little street that leads to the happening. Percussion percolates and piano rollicks through a brassy arrangement that celebrates life and the beat.

"More Love" returned to smooth Smokey-land where his lilting falsetto can convey devotion as well as regret. A great James Jamerson bass burbles out of a field of lush strings as Smokey's wordless "hmm" conveys peace and sweet desire. "More," with its ever-expanding vista of love, is the mirror-image of "Hold," where desire is debilitating and confining. Having learned from experience, Robinson's "I Second That Emotion" cautiously threaded between his previous extremes of emotion and makes a case for love contingent upon doing it right, in which case he "seconds that emotion."

Article Author: Eric Olsen

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