Smokey Robinson
Induction Year: 1987
Induction Category: Performer
Smokey Robinson (vocals; born February 19, 1940)
Save for founder Berry Gordy, no single figure has been more closely allied with the Detroit-based recording empire known as Motown than William “Smokey” Robinson. In addition to leading the Miracles, Robinson served as a Motown producer, songwriter, talent scout and Gordy’s most trusted confidant and right-hand man.
”He reminded me of me - so excited and passionate about his music,” Gordy wrote in his autobiography, To Be Loved. Robinson’s Miracles were the second act signed to Gordy’s management and production company. Everything at Motown was a family affair in those days. The Supremes (first known as the Primettes) wound up auditioning at Motown because Diana Ross was a neighbor of Robinson’s, and Primettes guitarist Marv Tarplin became an accompanist, arranger and co-writer in the Miracles.
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles scored twenty-seven pop-soul hits at Motown between 1960 and 1971, including the classics “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” “Mickey’s Monkey,” “Going to a Go-Go” and “I Second That Emotion.” They also explored the sweeter side of soul with a string of exquisite ballads sung by Robinson in a satiny falsetto. The Miracles’ brightest moments on record - “Ooh Baby Baby,” “The Tracks of My Tears” and “The Tears of a Clown” foremost among them - still kindle memories for those who came of age in the Sixties.
The Miracles began as the Matadors, a five-member harmony group who sang original songs by the prolific, teenaged Robinson. Their lineup included Robinson, Ronnie White, Warren Moore, and siblings Bobby and Claudette Rogers. The Matadors charmed Gordy at an impromptu audition, and the renamed group’s first single ("Got a Job” b/w “My Mama Done Told Me") was released on Robinson’s eighteenth birthday in 1958. The Miracles’ first hit, “Shop Around,” established Gordy’s Tamla label on the national scene and paved the way for Motown’s family of labels and artists. “Shop Around,” which had a rawer, bluesier feel than much of the Miracles’ later work, sold a million copies in early 1961.
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles were founded upon devotion and constancy. The Miracles recorded on Tamla through 1976, and Robinson remained allied with Motown’s original imprint as a solo artist through the mid-Eighties. Robinson married Claudette Rogers in 1959, and their union lasted twenty-seven years. She withdrew from the Miracles’ touring lineup in 1965, leaving them a quartet, but continued to sing on every Miracles record until Robinson’s departure from the group in 1972.
Robinson’s words mingled sincerity and eloquence, often describing love with unique metaphors. Bob Dylan once pronounced him America’s “greatest living poet.” As a singer, Robinson could evoke joy, sadness and their bittersweet combination with his velvety high tenor. Legend has it that audience members would break into tears when Robinson and the Miracles sang “The Tracks of My Tears.” Even the notoriously hard-to-please Berry Gordy proclaimed the song a masterpiece. It also presaged another tear-streaked classic, “The Tears of a Clown,” which in 1970 became the Miracles’ first Number One pop hit. The period 1963 to 1966 found the group operating at a creative and commercial peak, including the release of their best album, the hit-filled Going to a Go-Go.
Excluding compilations, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles released fifteen albums for Motown,. On his own Robinson recorded sixteen albums for Tamla and Motown. He also wrote and produced for numerous other Motown artists, including Marvin Gaye ("Ain’t That Peculiar,” “I’ll Be Doggone"), the Temptations ("Get Ready,” “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” “My Girl"), Mary Wells ("My Guy,” “You Beat Me to the Punch") and the Marvelettes ("Don’t Mess With Bill,” “The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game").
In July 1972, Robinson parted ways with the Miracles, and both entities enjoyed continued success. Robinson’s biggest solo hits - “Cruisin’” (#4) and “Being With You” (#2) - came in the late Seventies and early Eighties. A fixture at Motown, he served as vice-president until the company’s sale to MCA in 1988. He remained with the label as an artist for two more years after that. In the late Eighties he beat an addiction to cocaine, documented in his autobiography In My Life. After Motown, Robinson continued to record, re-emerging on Motown in 1999 with Intimate. The born-again singer released his first gospel album, Food for the Spirit, in 2004.
TIMELINE
February 19, 1940: William “Smokey” Robinson is born in Detroit, Michigan.
1955: Smokey Robinson forms a group - first named the Matadors, then the Miracles - at Detroit’s Northern High School.
February 19, 1958: “Got a Job,” the first single by the Miracles, is released on the End label. Its release coincides with leader Smokey Robinson’s eighteenth birthday.
November 7, 1959: Smokey Robinson marries fellow Miracle Claudette Robinson. The marriage will last twenty-seven years and yield two children, Berry and Tamla.
October 15, 1960: “Shop Around,” credited to “The Miracles (featuring Bill “Smokey” Robinson),” is released. The first national hit for Berry Gordy’s Tamla label, it tops the R&B chart for eight weeks.
June 16, 1961: Hi We’re the Miracles, the first album by the Smokey Robinson-led group, is released.
November 2, 1962: The first live “Motortown Revue,” featuring such Motown artists as the Miracles, opens in Boston.
December 29, 1962: “You’ve Really Got a Hold On Me,” by the Miracles, enters R&B chart, where it will become the group’s second Number One R&B hit.
March 6, 1965: “My Girl,” written by Smokey Robinson and Ronnie White of the Miracles, becomes a #1 hit for the Temptations.
November 1, 1965: Going to a Go-Go, by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, is released. It reaches #8 and yields four hits: “Ooo Baby Baby” (#4 R&B, #16 pop), “The Tracks of My Tears” (#2 R&B, #16 pop), “My Girl Has Gone” (#3 R&B, #14 pop) and “Going to a Go-Go” (#2 R&B, #11 pop).
January 27, 1967: The release of “The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage” marks a change in artist credit from “The Miracles” to “Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.” The song will peak at #20.
April 1968: Greatest Hits, Vol.2, by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, reaches #7. It will be the highest-peaking album of the group’s career.
December 12, 1970: “The Tears of a Clown,” by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, reaches Number One for the first of two weeks.
July 14-16, 1972: Smokey Robinson and the Miracles’ concert performances in Washington D.C. are recorded for the album 1957-1972, which ends Robinson’s quarter century with the band he founded. Robinson graduates to a solo career, and the Miracles replace him with Billy Griffin.
November 15, 1972: Smokey Robinson’s final single with the Miracles, “I Can’t Stand to See You Cry,” is released.
1974: The Miracles’ “Love Machine,” the group’s biggest hit of the post-Smokey Robinson era, reaches Number One.
April 19, 1975: A Quiet Storm, the third solo album by Smokey Robinson, is released. The title would be adapted as both the name of a radio format and a romantic subgenre of soul, as defined by Robinson.
March 21, 1981: The biggest hit of Smokey Robinson’s solo career, “Being With You” (#1 R&B, #2 pop), is released.
January 21, 1987: Smokey Robinson is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the second annual induction dinner. Daryl Hall and John Oates are his presenters.
February 1994: Motown issues The 35th Anniversary Compilation, a four-CD overview of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles’ remarkable career.
February 27, 1997: Smokey Robinson reunites with the Miracles to be honored at the eight annual Rhythm and Blues Foundation’s Pioneer Awards in New York.
February 24, 1999: Smokey Robinson receives a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 41st annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.
April 2004: Smokey Robinson releases Food for the Spirit, his first gospel album and first album of any kind in five years.
Essential Songs
The Tracks of My Tears
Tears of a Clown
Ooh Baby Baby
Going to a Go-Go
I Second That Emotion
The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage
You Really Got a Hold on Me
Shop Around
Being With You
Cruisin’
Tracks of My Tears
by Smokey Robinson
People say I'm the life of the party
Cause I tell a joke or two
Although I might be laughing loud and hearty
Deep inside I'm blue
So take a good look at my face
You'll see my smile looks out of place
Just look closer, it's easy to trace
The tracks of my tears
I need you, need you
Since you left me if you see me with another girl
Seeming like I'm having fun
Although she may be cute she's just a substitute
'Cause you're the permanent one
Outside, I'm masquerading
Inside, my hope is fading
Just a clown, oh yeah since you put me down
My smile is my make-up I wear since my break-up with you
So take a good look at my face
You'll see my smile looks out of place
Just look closer, it's easy to trace
The tracks of my tears
I need you, need you
Tears of a Clown
by Smokey Robinson
Now if there's a smile on my face
It's only there trying to fool the public
But when it comes down to fooling you
Now honey that's quite a different subject
But don't let my glad expression
Give you the wrong impression
Really I'm sad
I'm sadder than sad
You're gone and I'm hurtin' so bad
Like a clown I pretend to be glad
Now there's some sad things known to man
But ain't too much sadder than
The tears of a clown
when there's no one around
Now if I appear to be carefree
It's only to camouflage my sadness
In order to keep my pride I try
To cover this hurt with a show of gladness
But don't let my show convince you
That I've been happy since you
Decided to go
Oh I need you so
I'm hurt and I want you to know
Now there's some sad things known to man
But ain't too much sadder than
The tears of a clown
when there's no one around
Just like Pagliacci did
I try to keep my surface hid
And I'm smiling in the public eye
But in my lonely room I cry
The tears of a clown
When there's no one around
Now if there's a smile on my face
Don't let my glad expression
Give you the wrong impression
But don't let this smile I wear
Make you think that I don't care
Really I'm sad, hurt me so bad
I Second That Emotion
by Smokey Robinson
Maybe you'd like to give me kisses sweet
Only for one night with no repeat
Maybe you'd go away and never call
And a taste of honey is worse than none at all
Oh little girl
In that case I don't want no part
I do believe that
that would only break my heart
Oh, but if you feel like loving me
If you got the notion
I second that emotion
So, if you feel like giving me
a lifetime of devotion
I second that emotion
Maybe you'll think that love will tie you down
And you ain't got the time to hang around
Maybe you think that love will make us fools
And so it makes you wise to break the rules
Oh little girl
In that case I don't want no part
I do believe that
that would only break my heart
Oh, but if you feel like loving me
If you got the notion
I second that emotion
So, if you feel like giving me
a lifetime of devotion
I second that emotion
The Way You Do the Things You Do
by Smokey Robinson
You've got a smile so bright,
you know you could have been a candle.
I'm holding you so tight,
you know you could have been a handle.
The way you swept me off my feet,
you know you could have been a broom.
The way you smelled so sweet,
you know you could have been some perfume.
Well, you could have been anything that you wanted to,
and I can tell the way you do the things you do.
As pretty as you are,
you know you could have been a flower.
If good looks was a minute,
you know that you could be an hour.
The way you stole my heart,
you know you could have been a cool crook.
And, baby, you're so smart,
you know you could have been a schoolbook.
Well, you could have been anything that you wanted to,
and I can tell the way you do the things you do.
You made my life so rich,
you know you could have been some money.
And, baby, you're so sweet,
you know you could have been some honey.
Well, you could have been anything that you wanted to,
and I can tell the way you do the things you do.
You really swept me off my feet
You made my life complete
You made my life so bright
You make me feel all right
My Girl
by Smokey Robinson
I've got sunshine on a cloudy day.
When it's cold outside I've got the month of May.
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl
Talkin' bout my girl
I've got so much honey the bees envy me.
I've got a sweeter song than the birds in the trees.
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl
Talkin' bout my girl
I don't need no money, fortune, or fame.
I've got all the riches baby one man can claim.
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl
Talkin' 'bout my girl
I've got sunshine on a cloudy day
with my girl.
I've even got the month of May
with my girl
Consummation
by Nina Simone
And now we are one
Let my soul rest in peace
At last it is done
My soul has been released
For thousands of years
My soul has roamed the earth
In search for you
So that someday I could give birth
To know joy, joy, joy, joy
Joy and peace is mine
Peace divine
And now we give thanks
Give thanks for each other
At peace forever
For it is done
At peace forever
For we are one
Four Women
by Nina Simone
My skin is black
My arms are long
My hair is wooly
My back is strong
Strong enough to take the pain
It's been inflicted again and again
What do they call me
My name is Aunt Sarah
My name is Aunt Sarah
My skin is yellow
My hair is long
Between two worlds
I do belong
My father was rich and white
He forced my mother late one night
What do they call me
My name is Siffronia
My name is Siffronia
My skin is tan
My hair's alright, it's fine
My hips invite you
And my lips are like wine
Whose little girl am I?
Well yours if you have some money to buy
What do they call me
My name is Sweet Thing
My name is Sweet Thing
My skin is brown
And my manner is tough
I'll kill the first mother I see
Cos my life has been too rough
I'm awfully bitter these days
because my parents were slaves
What do they call me
My name is Peaches
Mississippi Goddam
by Nina Simone
The name of this tune is Mississippi Goddam
And I mean every word of it
Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
Can't you see it
Can't you feel it
It's all in the air
I can't stand the pressure much longer
Somebody say a prayer
Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
This is a show tune
But the show hasn't been written for it, yet
Hound dogs on my trail
School children sitting in jail
Black cat cross my path
I think everyday's gonna be my last
Lord have mercy on this land of mine
We all gonna get it in due time
I don't belong here
I don't belong there
I've even stopped believing in prayer
Don't tell me
I tell you
Me and my people just about due
I've been there so I know
They keep on saying "Go slow!"
But that's just the trouble
"do it slow"
Washing the windows
"do it slow"
Picking the cotton
"do it slow"
You're just plain rotten
"do it slow"
You're too damn lazy
"do it slow"
The thinking's crazy
"do it slow"
Where am I going
What am I doing
I don't know
I don't know
Just try to do your very best
Stand up be counted with all the rest
For everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
I made you thought I was kiddin' didn't we
Picket lines
School boycotts
They try to say it's a communist plot
All I want is equality
for my sister my brother my people and me
Yes you lied to me all these years
You told me to wash and clean my ears
And talk real fine just like a lady
And you'd stop calling me Sister Sadie
Oh but this whole country is full of lies
You're all gonna die and die like flies
I don't trust you any more
You keep on saying "Go slow!"
"Go slow!"
But that's just the trouble
"do it slow"
Desegregation
"do it slow"
Mass participation
"do it slow"
Reunification
"do it slow"
Do things gradually
"do it slow"
But bring more tragedy
"do it slow"
Why don't you see it
Why don't you feel it
I don't know
I don't know
You don't have to live next to me
Just give me my equality
Everybody knows about Mississippi
Everybody knows about Alabama
Everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
That's it!