Smokey

Though its title track ignited a nationwide fad for go-go music, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' Going to a Go-Go LP certainly wasn't just a cash-in effort. It's one of the best records the group put out, and the first six songs make for the best side of any original Motown LP of the '60s (granted, all but one are also available on dozens of Miracles compilations). The four biggest hits were among the best in a set of Miracles archetypes: the throwback to the aching '50s doo wop ballad ("Ooo Baby, Baby"), the flashy up-tempo dance song ("Going to a Go-Go"), the dancing-with-tears-in-my-eyes jerker ("The Tracks of My Tears"), and the mid-tempo orchestral epic ("My Girl Has Gone"). "Choosey Beggar" is one of the sweetest of all Robinson's lead vocals, with stunning background work by the rest of the Miracles.

Back in the late '70s, Smokey Robinson made a great comeback with his 1979 hit "Cruisin'." With his broadened lyrical style and more knowing in his voice, the aesthetic powered such album classics as Where There's Smoke and Warm Thoughts. 1981's Being With You, in effect, ended the ride, but the hits more than continued. The single "Being With You" is a deft update of Robinson's '60s naïveté and is certainly a great pop record. The same can't be said for most of the tracks here. Handing over the production reigns to George Tobin, some of Robinson's quirks and musical trademarks are lost to polished and radio-friendly production. The songs aren't great here, either. The didactic and reggae-tinged "Food for Thought" just comes off silly.

Smokey Smothers - Sings The Backporch Blues (1962) {Ace Records CDCHD858, Reissued & Expanded rel 2002)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 239 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 153 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 22 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1962, 2002 King / Federal / Ace Records | CDCHD 858
Blues / Electric Chicago Blues / Regional Blues

Otis "Smokey" Smothers's 1962 LP Sings the Backporch Blues is a rare and coveted blues album. This CD puts it into wide circulation and then some, not only presenting all 12 of the songs from the original album (as the first dozen tunes on the disc), but adding nine alternate takes and four tracks from 1962-1963 singles. The album is perhaps overestimated due to its rarity, but it's solid Chicago blues, owing much to the sort of mid-tempo shuffle that Jimmy Reed had made so much in vogue by the early '60s.

Smokey Robinson - My World: The Definitive Collection (2005)
R&B/Soul | 1CD | Flac tracks+CUE+LOG+Scans | 502 mb
Label: Motown

Smokey Robinson's career has spanned over four decades now, from the Miracles to his Seventies solo renaissance to his arguable invention of the "quiet storm" genre of smooth R&B in the Eighties.

Gathering the first two long-players credited to Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, this two-fer compiles the 1965 and 1967 releases Going to a Go-Go and Away We a Go-Go. Admittedly, these are early entries into the voluminous Smokey catalog; artistically, however, both albums reflect the infinite talents of Robinson and company. Additionally, they are a testament to the cohesive, timeless, and fully developed sounds emanating from the inhabitants of Hitsville USA and the originators of the self-proclaimed Sound of Young America. Both LPs included copious hits, including "My Girl Has Gone," "Ooo Baby Baby," "Going to a Go-Go," "(Come 'Round Here) I'm the One You Need," and "Tracks of My Tears."