Smokey Robinson - Smokey

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1973
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:57
Size: 94,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:37)  1. Holly
(3:53)  2. Medley: Never My Love / Never Can Say Goodbye
(4:36)  3. A Silent Partner In A Three-Way Love Affair
(5:21)  4. Just My Soul Responding
(4:37)  5. Sweet Harmony
(4:40)  6. Will You Love Me Tomorrow?
(3:51)  7. Wanna Know My Mind
(4:21)  8. The Family Song
(4:57)  9. Baby Come Close

Smokey is a tentative step forward, carrying clear remnants of Smokey Robinson's latter-day music with the Miracles, which shouldn’t come as a great surprise considering that it’s anchored by “Sweet Harmony,” a tune he wrote about and for the Miracles but was persuaded by Motown A&R’s Suzanne de Passe to keep for himself. From there, Robinson built a full LP, using Willie Hutch as his co-producer and writing a clutch of songs with Marvin Tarplin, his co-author on several Miracles hits. Certainly, the rich, gorgeous harmonies of “Sweet Harmony” consciously evoke the Miracles but the group is heard elsewhere too, in the bright bounce of “Wanna Know My Mind” and in its covers of “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” and a medley of “Never My Love/Never Can Say Goodbye,” both bringing to mind Motown’s habit of recycling contemporary hits. These echoes of the past are comforting, particularly because they’re surrounded by modernity, thanks in part to Hutch’s lush, layered production but also Smokey’s willingness to embrace the shifting times, naturally favoring smooth soul to gritty funk, letting it escalate to an almost cinematic scale and, more importantly, not shying away from subjects he’d never tackle during the ‘60s whether it’s his family or the saga of a teenage runaway. It’s not a bold break into maturity on the level of What’s Going On or Music of My Mind but rather a transitional album, and a fascinating one at that, suggesting the path he would take going forward. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine https://www.allmusic.com/album/smokey-mw0000320366

Smokey

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Smokey Robinson - Timeless Love

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:34
Size: 127.2 MB
Styles: R&B, Vocal
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[4:30] 1. You Go To My Head
[5:05] 2. I'm In The Mood For Love
[5:28] 3. Our Love Is Here To Stay
[3:18] 4. Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words)
[5:50] 5. Night And Day
[3:39] 6. I'm Glad There Is You
[3:15] 7. More Than You Know
[4:08] 8. Speak Low
[5:08] 9. Time After Time
[2:46] 10. I Can't Get You Anything But Love (Baby)
[2:53] 11. I Love Your Face
[4:25] 12. I've Got You Under My Skin
[5:03] 13. Tea For Two

Smokey Robinson hasn't had much use for making records since his records stopped selling in significant numbers, which happened as of the early '90s; after that, his only regular album has been 1999's Intimate. But Universal Music's New Door imprint exists for the purpose of making new recordings with veteran artists for whom the major label is the repository for the bulk of their catalogs (think Joe Cocker, Nanci Griffith), and Robinson fits that criterion perfectly, since Universal controls the Motown library. But instead of making an album of new, original songs, Robinson has opted for the hoary concept of "aging rock-era pop star sings pre-rock standards," an idea that was never good to begin with and that should have been buried with the final entry in Rod Stewart's series of atrocities. Happily, Robinson's version turns out to be not half bad. One reason for this is that, unlike Stewart et al., his model is not Frank Sinatra and the rest of the Rat Pack, but rather some of the jazz singers who also essayed the work of Cole Porter and other pre-1950 songwriters. Robinson seems to have first heard these songs as sung by Ella Fitzgerald (his primary influence), Sarah Vaughan, and Billie Holiday, among others. When he sings "I'm in the Mood for Love," he throws in some of the King Pleasure vocalese on James Moody's jazz interpretation of the song, "Moody's Mood for Love." Robinson is no stranger to the material; he first recorded Kurt Weill's "Speak Low" and Porter's "I've Got You Under My Skin" with the Miracles in 1962, and now as a 66-year-old he isn't afraid to take these songs where he wants to take them, i.e., in the direction of his '80s "quiet storm" hits. They are all the better for it. As of 2006, Robinson was spending his time playing the concert halls in the many hotel/casinos around the country; his versions of these standards would be as likely to drawn appreciation in such venues as his old hits. ~William Ruhlmann

Timeless Love

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Various Artists - Motown 1960s Vols 1 & 2

Album: Motown 1960s Volume 1
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 32:53
Size: 75.3 MB
Styles: Soul, AM pop
Year: 2001
Art: Front

[2:36] 1. Martha & The Vandellas - Dancing In The Street
[2:34] 2. The Supremes - Baby Love
[2:47] 3. The Miracles - Shop Around
[2:42] 4. The Temptations - My Girl
[2:50] 5. Mary Wells - My Guy
[2:57] 6. Marvin Gaye - How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)
[2:43] 7. The Four Tops - I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)
[3:02] 8. Junior Walker & The All-Stars - Shotgun
[2:26] 9. The Marvelettes - Please Mr. Postman
[2:35] 10. Barrett Strong - Money (That's What I Want)
[2:51] 11. The Contours - Do You Love Me
[2:46] 12. Gladys Knight & The Pips - I Heard It Through The Grapevine

Motown 1960s Volume 1

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Album: Motown 1960s Volume 2
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 33:42
Size: 77.2 MB
Styles: Soul, AM pop
Year: 2001
Art: Front

[2:30] 1. The Temptations - Ain't Too Proud To Beg
[2:42] 2. Martha & The Vandellas - (Love Is Like A) Heat Wave
[2:44] 3. The Four Tops - Baby I Need Your Loving
[2:50] 4. Diana Ross - Stop! In The Name Of Love
[3:13] 5. Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine
[2:45] 6. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - I Second That Emotion
[2:47] 7. Shorty Long - Function At The Junction
[3:17] 8. Edwin Starr - Twenty-Five Miles
[2:51] 9. The Isley Brothers - This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)
[2:25] 10. Junior Walker & The All-Stars - What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)
[2:45] 11. The Miracles - Ooo Baby Baby
[2:47] 12. Tammi Terrell - You're All I Need To Get By

Motown 1960s Volume 2

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Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - The Definitive Collection

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:52
Size: 118.8 MB
Styles: Motown Soul, R&B
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[2:48] 1. Shop Around
[2:38] 2. I'll Try Something New
[3:10] 3. You've Really Got A Hold On Me
[3:11] 4. Mickey's Monkey
[3:02] 5. I Like It Like That
[2:46] 6. Ooo Baby Baby
[2:54] 7. Tracks Of My Tears
[3:05] 8. My Girl Has Gone
[2:44] 9. Going To A Go-Go
[2:28] 10. (Come 'round Here) I'm The One You Need
[2:45] 11. More Love
[2:57] 12. The Love I Saw In You Was Just A Mirage
[2:45] 13. I Second That Emotion
[2:16] 14. Yester Love
[2:20] 15. Special Occasion
[4:00] 16. Baby, Baby Don't Cry
[2:56] 17. Doggone Right
[2:59] 18. Tears Of A Clown

Released by Motown/Universal in 2008, The Definitive Collection is an update of 1998's The Ultimate Collection, albeit one with seven fewer cuts and less information in the liner notes (release dates, chart placements, musician credits). There is no indication that the mastering of the material between the two releases is any different. For the casual Smokey Robinson & the Miracles fan, the truncated tracklisting is not a big deal. The songs not on this disc that were included on The Ultimate Collection were not major; in fact, not one of them cracked the Top 30 of the Black Singles chart. All the basic essentials are here, from 1962's "I'll Try Something New" through 1970's "The Tears of a Clown." ~Andy Kellman

The Definitive Collection

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