Smokey Robinson

William Smokey Robinson, Jr. (born February 2 Career

19, 1940) is an American R&B/pop singer-songwriter,
record producer, and former record executive. Robinson
was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group 2.1 The Miracles and Motown
the Miracles, for which he also served as the groups chief
songwriter and producer. Robinson led the group from its Main article: The Miracles
1955 origins as the Five Chimes until 1972 when he announced a retirement from the stage to focus on his role
In August 1957, Robinson and the Miracles met songas Motowns vice president.
writer Berry Gordy after a failed audition for Brunswick
However, Robinson returned to the music industry as a Records. Gordy was impressed with Robinsons vosolo artist the following year, later scoring Top 10 solo cals and even more impressed with Robinsons ambitious
hits such as "Cruisin'" (1979), "Being With You" (1981) songwriting. With his help, the Miracles released their
and "Just to See Her" (1987). Following the sale of Mo- rst single, Got a Job, an answer song to the Silhoutown Records in 1988, Robinson left the company in ettes hit single Get a Job[4] on End Records. During
1990. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of this time, Robinson attended college and started classes in
Fame in 1987.
January 1959, studying electrical engineering.[5] Robinson dropped out after only two months following the Miracles release of their rst record.[5]

Gordy formed Tamla Records which was later reincorporated as Motown. The Miracles became one of the rst
acts signed to the label. In point of fact, they had actually been with Gordy since before the formation of Motown Records.[6] In late 1960, the group recorded their
rst hit single, "Shop Around", which became Motowns
rst million-selling hit record.[4] Between 1960 and 1970,
Robinson would produce 26 top forty hits with the Miracles as lead singer, chief songwriter and producer, including several top ten hits such as "You've Really Got
a Hold on Me",[4] "Mickeys Monkey", "I Second That
Emotion", "Baby Baby Don't Cry" and the groups only
number-one hit during their Robinson years, "Tears of a
Clown". Other notable hits such as "Ooo Baby Baby",
"Going to a Go-Go", "The Tracks of My Tears", "(Come
Round Here) I'm The One You Need", "The Love I Saw
in You Was Just a Mirage" and "More Love" peaked in
the top twenty. In 1965, the Miracles were the rst Motown group to adapt a name change when they were listed
as Smokey Robinson & the Miracles on the cover of their
1965 album Going to a Go-Go. Their name change would
be conrmed on singles after 1966.

Early life and early career

Smokey Robinson was born into a poor family in the

North End area of Detroit. He was raised by his elder sister and her husband, after his mother died of a
brain hemorrhage.[1] His uncle Claude gave him the nickname Smokey Joe when he was a child.[2] He attended
Northern High School, where he was above average academically and a keen athlete, though his main interest was
music and he formed a doo-wop group named the Five
Chimes.[1] At one point, he and Diana Ross lived several
houses from each other on Belmont; he once said he has
known Ross since she was about eight.[3]
Robinson said his interest in music started after hearing the groups Nolan Strong & the Diablos and Billy
Ward and his Dominoes on the radio as a child. Robinson later listed Barrett Strong, a Detroit native, as a
strong vocal inuence during an interview with Goldmine as he and Strong shared similar vocals. In 1955, he
formed the rst lineup of the Five Chimes with childhood
friend Ronald White and classmate Pete Moore. Two
years later, in 1957, they were renamed the Matadors
and included Bobby Rogers. Another member, Emerson Rogers, was replaced by Bobbys cousin Claudette
Rogers. The groups guitarist, Marv Tarplin, joined them
sometime in 1958. The Matadors began touring Detroit
venues around this time. They later changed their name
to the Miracles, taking inspiration from the name, Miracletones.

Between 1962 and 1966, Robinson was also one of the

in-demand songwriters and producers for Motown, penning several hit singles such as "Two Lovers",[4] "The One
Who Really Loves You", "You Beat Me to the Punch"
and "My Guy" for Mary Wells, "The Way You Do The
Things You Do", "My Girl",[4] "Since I Lost My Baby"
and "Get Ready" for the Temptations, "When I'm Gone"
and "Operator" for Brenda Holloway, "Don't Mess With
Bill", "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" and "My
1

Baby Must Be a Magician" for the Marvelettes and "I'll

Be Doggone" and "Ain't That Peculiar" for Marvin Gaye.
His top rank as songwriter and producer dropped after
the arrivals of HollandDozierHolland and the team of
Norman Whiteld and Barrett Strong, and other Motown
artists such as Gaye and Stevie Wonder. He later contributed lyrics and musical composition for the works of
the Contours' "First I Look at the Purse", the Four Tops'
"Still Water" and The Supremes' "Floy Joy".
By 1969, Robinson had voiced his opinion on wanting
to retire from the road to concentrate on raising his two
children with his wife Claudette, and also focus on his
duties as Motowns vice president. He earned the job
by the mid-1960s after Esther Gordy Edwards had left
the position and began mentoring Motown acts on Motowns Motortown Revues. However, the late success of
the groups track, Tears of a Clown, caused Robinson
to stay with the group until 1972. Robinsons last performance with the group was in July 1972 in Washington,
D.C.

2.2

Solo career

After a year of retirement, Robinson announced his

comeback with the release of the eponymous Smokey album, in 1973. The album included the Miracles tribute song, Sweet Harmony and the hit ballad Baby
Come Close. On his 1976 album Thirty Three & 1/3,
former Beatle George Harrison featured the track Pure
Smokey as a tribute to his idol. (Harrisons fellow Beatles John Lennon and Paul McCartney were also fans of
Robinsons songwriting and the group has covered You
Really Gotta Hold on Me on their second UK album
With the Beatles.) In 1974, Robinsons second album,
Pure Smokey was released but failed to produce hits.
Robinson struggled to compete with his former collaborators Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and former Temptations member Eddie Kendricks as all three had multiple
hit singles during this period.
Robinson answered his critics the following year with A
Quiet Storm, released in 1975. The album launched three
singles the number-one R&B hit "Baby Thats Backatcha", The Agony & The Ecstasy and Quiet Storm.
However, Robinsons solo career continued to struggle
as Robinson mainly focused as Motowns vice president,
rather than work on his own career. As a result, several albums including Smokeys Family Robinson, Deep
in My Soul, Love Breeze and Smokin, suered from dismal promotion and even more dismal reviews from critics. Robinson had by then relied on other writers and
producers to help with his albums.
Following these albums, Robinson got out of a writers
block after his close collaborator Marv Tarplin, who
joined him on the road in 1973 after Robinson left the
Miracles, presented him a musical composition he had
composed on his guitar. Robinson later wrote the lyrics

CAREER

that became his rst top ten Pop single, "Cruisin'". The
song hit number one in Cash Box and peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. It also became his
rst solo number one in New Zealand. Robinson would
follow a similar approach with his next album, Warm
Thoughts, which produced another top 40 hit, Let Me
Be the Clock, though it didn't repeat the success of
Cruisin'".
In 1981, Robinson topped the charts again with another
sensual ballad, "Being with You", which was another
number one hit in Cash Box and peaked at number two
on the Billboard Hot 100. It also hit number one in the
United Kingdom, becoming his most successful single to
date. The Gold-plus parent album sparked a partnership
with George Tobin and with Tobin, Robinson released
his next several Motown albums, Yes Its You Lady, which
produced the hits, Tell Me Tomorrow, Touch the Sky
and Essar. In 1983, Robinson teamed up with fellow
Motown label mate Rick James recording the R&B ballad, "Ebony Eyes".
In 1987, following a period of personal and professional
issues, Robinson made a comeback with the album, One
Heartbeat and the singles, "Just to See Her" and "One
Heartbeat", which were Top 10 hits on Billboard 's Pop,
Soul, and Adult Contemporary charts. They were aided
by hugely popular music videos. Just to See Her won
Robinson his rst Grammy Award in 1988. The album became one of his most successful ever, selling
over 900,000 copies in the United States alone. In the
same year Robinson released One Heartbeat, he was inducted as a solo artist to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
later igniting controversy as the committee had inducted
only Robinson and not members of his group, the Miracles, which Robinson was personally oended by.[7][8]
In 2012, however, the committee rectied the mistake
announcing that the group would be inducted on their
own merit. Though Robinson was not listed as an inductee, he was due to induct his former group at the ceremony in April 2012. The same year he was inducted, the
UK group ABC released a tribute song, "When Smokey
Sings".
After Motown was sold o to MCA in 1988, Robinson
relinquished his position as vice president. Following the
release of the album, Love Smokey, in 1990, Robinson
left Motown for a deal with SBK Records in 1991. However, the album, Double Good Everything failed to chart.
Robinson remained virtually quiet during the nineties
making a brief comeback in 1999 when he re-signed with
Motown and issued the album, Intimate, which included
the song Easy to Love. In 2003, he once again split
ties with Motown, releasing the gospel album, Food for
the Soul on Liquid 8 Records in 2004. Two years later,
Robinson released the standards album, Timeless Love,
in 2006 on Universal Records. In 2009, he issued the
album, Time Flies When You're Having Fun on his own
label, Robso Records. It reached number 59 on the Billboard album chart, his highest showing since One Heart-

3
beat. He subsequently released Now And Then in 2010,
which peaked at number 131.

5 Discography

Smokey & Friends was released in mid-August 2014. It Main articles: The Miracles discography and Smokey
was an album of duets, including ones with Elton John, Robinson discography (solo career)
Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor. It reached number 12
on the Billboard album chart.

Personal life

6 Awards and accolades

Smokey is currently married to Frances Robinson; whose

maiden name is Gladney. They were married in May
2002. Robinson married his fellow Miracles member
Claudette Rogers in 1959. The couple had two children,
son Berry Robinson (b. 1968), named after Motowns
rst label founder Berry Gordy, and daughter Tamla
Robinson (b. 1969). Robinson has another son, Trey
(b. 1984), with another woman, during his marriage to
Claudette. After Robinson admitted this, he led for legal
separation and, later, divorce, which was granted in 1986.
The Robinsons had separated once before, in 1974, and
Robinson conducted an extramarital aair that became
the concept of the song, The Agony & The Ecstasy, Conductor Zubin Mehta laughs with singers Dolly Parton and
Robinson during a reception for the Kennedy Center honorees in
later featured on A Quiet Storm.[9]
Robinson has not eaten red meat since 1972.[10] He practices Transcendental Meditation.[10][11]

Smokey nickname

the East Room of the White House on Sunday, December 3, 2006.

In 1987, Robinson was inducted to the Rock & Roll

Hall of Fame.That same year, he was awarded an individual star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[15] Two
years later, in 1989, he was inducted to the Songwriters
Hall of Fame. In 1993, Robinson was awarded a medal
at the National Medal of Arts. Two years before, he
won the Heritage Award at the Soul Train Music Awards.
At its 138th Commencement Convocation in May 2006,
Howard University conferred on Robinson the degree of
Doctor of Music, honoris causa. In December 2006
Robinson was one of ve Kennedy Center honorees,
along with Dolly Parton, Zubin Mehta, Steven Spielberg
and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

In a 2000 Entertainment Weekly article, Tom Sinclair

wrote[12] that Robinson told reporters that the nickname
Smokey Joe was given to him by his uncle. Robinson, as a fan of Western lms,[12] assumed that this was a
cowboy name for me, until he was later told that smokey
was a pejorative term for dark-skinned Blacks. Robinson, who is mainly of African-American and French descent (his maternal great-grandmother is French[13] ), remembers his uncle saying to him: I'm doing this so you On March 20, 2009, the Miracles were nally honwon't ever forget that you're black. In 2012, Robinson ored as a group with a star on the Hollywood Walk
disavowed the story:
of Fame. Smokey was present with original Miracles
members Bobby Rogers, Pete Moore, (Bobbys cousin)
My uncle Claude was my favorite uncle he
Claudette Rogers, and Gloria White, accepting for her
was also my godfather. He and I were really,
husband, the late Ronnie White, whose daughter Pamela
and granddaughter Maya were there representing him as
really close. He used to take me to see cowwell. Smokeys replacement, 1970s Miracles lead singer
boy movies all the time when I was a little boy
Billy Grin, was also honored. Controversially, origibecause I loved cowboy movies. He got a cownal Miracle Marv Tarplin was not honored, against the
boy name for me, which was Smokey Joe. So
wishes of his fellow Miracles, and the groups fans, who
from the time I was three years old if people
felt that he should have also been there to share the honor.
asked me what my name was I didn't tell them
However, later, Tarplin did receive his star. He was also
my name was William, I told them my name
nally inducted with the rest of the original Miracles,
was Smokey Joe. Thats what everyone called
Bobby Rogers, Pete Moore, Ronnie White, and Claudette
me until I was about 12 and then I dropped the
Robinson, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012,
Joe part. I've heard that story about him giving
25 years after Robinsons controversial solo induction in
it to me because I'm a light skinned Black man
1987. He was also awarded Society of Singers Lifetime
but thats not true.[14]

8 Further reading

Achievement Award in 2011.[16]

In 2009 Smokey Robinson received an honorary doctorate degree - along with Linda Ronstadt - and gave a commencement speech at Berklee College of Music's commencement ceremony. In 2015 he was given a BET Lifetime Achievement Award .

Christgau, Robert (June 1972). Smokey Robinson. Newsday.

9 External links
Smokey Robinson interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues
& Soul' December 1992

References

[1] Tom Sinclair (26 May 2000). Smokey Robinson |

EW.com. ew.com. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
[2] Stephen Hubbard and Scott Ross, Smokey Robinson and
the Miracle of Salvation, CBN Music. Retrieved 11 October 2014
[3] Hubbard, Steven and Ross, Scott. Interview with
Smokey Robinson. The 700 Club. Retrieved April 12,
2007.
[4] Gilliland, John (1969). Show 25 - The Soul Reformation: Phase two, the Motown story. [Part 4]" (audio). Pop
Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu.
[5] Interview. (2009) An Evening with Smokey Robinson, PBS
[6] The Miracles: In the '60s, we loved and lost to this Motown legends smooth songs (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Class of 2012)". cleveland.com. Retrieved 2014-08-18.
[7] Smokey Robinson.
2009-10-20.

EXTERNAL LINKS

www.rockhall.com.

Retrieved

[8] Rock & Roll Hall of Fame still missing 3 Motown stalwarts | Goldmine Magazine. goldminemag.com. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
[9] Smokey Robinson, Smokey Robinson Reveals How Indelity And Drugs Destroyed His Marriage, Ebony, May
1989, pp.148-154
[10] McLean, Craig. Smokey Robinson interview: 'God
saved me from cocaine'". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14
September 2014.
[11] Gluck, Bob. You'll Know When You Get There: Herbie
Hancock and the Mwandishi Band. Google Books. p. 229.
Retrieved 14 September 2014.
[12] Smokey Robinson. EW.com. 1940-02-19. Retrieved
2012-04-24.
[13] Robinson, Smokey and Ritz, David. Smokey: Inside My
Life pg. 14. 1989.
[14] Smokey RobinsonA Poet That You Knoweth. Los
Angeles Sentinel. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
[15] Smokey Robinson. Los Angeles Times.
[16] Ella Award Special Events. February 12, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2015.

Fresh Air interview

Smokey Robinson at the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame
Smokey Robinsons page at soulwalking.co.uk
Smokey Robinson Biography and Update at SoulTracks
Smokey Robinson at cosmopolis.ch
Smokey Robinson at the Internet Movie Database
Smokey Robinson interviewed on the Pop Chronicles
(1969)

10
10.1

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