Smokey Robinson and The Miracles

From day one, the Miracles were at the epicenter of the Motown empire. They were Berry Gordy, Jr.’s first group, delivered Motown’s first big hit, was the label’s first act to appear on American Bandstand, and was the headlining act on the Motor Town Revue national tour. The group helped kickstart Motown, as leader Smokey Robinson suggested Gordy should forget the percentages from record companies—cut out the middleman and let’s do it ourselves, he said. And the Miracles became the model for the company’s self-contained acts—all of the writing, production, and singing they needed was within easy reach. The result was more than two dozen Top 40 pop hits credited to the Miracles.

Smokey’s soaring tenor and gifted, metaphor-rich songwriting were crucial to the group’s success. Bob Dylan once called him “today’s greatest American poet.” But the contributions of Miracles Ronnie White, Bobby Rogers, Pete Moore, guitarist Marv Tarplin, and Claudette Robinson—then Smokey’s wife, who stopped touring after 1962 but still sang backup in the studio—were considerable and indispensable.

Their first single, 1958’s “Got a Job,” was a preview of Motown and 1960’s major breakthrough of “Shop Around,” the label’s first R&B no. 1 and first million-seller. The pop Top 40s/R&B Top 20s “What’s So Good About Goodbye” and “I’ll Try Something New” followed. The Miracles gave the fledgling Motown enterprise a shot of hitmaking credibility when it was most needed. Evolving from doo-wop to sophisticated pop-soul, the Miracles created a handful of the most romantic pop songs of our time, the vast majority written and/or produced by Smokey, establishing him as one of contemporary music’s most prolific and successful songwriters and producers.

The group’s biggest hits included “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” “OOO Baby Baby,” “I Second That Emotion,”  “Baby, Baby Don’t Cry,” and “The Tears of a Clown.” The latter, a surprise hit culled from a three-year-old album, went no. 1 on both the R&B and pop charts for what since 1965 was billed as Smokey Robinson & The Miracles. Though balladry was Robinson’s forte, the Miracles also danced up a storm on Holland-Dozier-Holland’s “Mickey’s Monkey” and “Going to a Go-Go."

Their list of hits is astonishing in length and quality. Among those not already mentioned are the smashes “The Tracks of my Tears,” “My Girl Has Gone,” “(Come ‘Round Here) I’m The One You Need,” “The Love I Saw In You Was Just a Mirage,” “If You Can Want” and, in 1971, their last with Smokey, “I Don’t Blame You At All.”

Smokey went solo in 1972, exiting with Claudette and Tarplin. The Miracles continued with new lead singer Billy Griffin, whom Smokey, in a show of typical class, introduced on stage during a farewell tour and in television appearances. The group also added Billy’s brother Donald on guitar, and reassumed its pre-1965 billing as The Miracles.

For 1973’s Renaissance, Freddie Perren wrote and produced “Don’t Let It End (‘Til You Let It Begin).” Perren’s up-tempo jam “Do It Baby” spun off from the 1974 album of the same name and the title track from 1975’s Don’t Cha Love It went no. 4 R&B. The Miracles would enjoy their biggest success in 1976 with “Love Machine,” whose six-month chart run made it their longest-lasting hit with or without Smokey. That dance classic from the Perren-produced concept album City of Angels was co-written by Griffin and Moore. 1976’s The Power of Music preceded a move to Columbia where they recorded 1977’s Love Crazy and its controversial R&B Top 40 “Spy for Brotherhood.” Soon after, the Miracles disbanded. Later, the Miracles, in various forms, would reform and continue to perform.

For Rolling Stone in 2004, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles were among “The Immortals – The Fifty Greatest Artists Of All Time.” Detroit’s Bob Seger wrote of them: “I used to go to the Motown revues, and the Miracles always closed the show. They were that good, and everybody knew it. Not flash at all. The Supremes had bigger hits. The Temptations had the better dance moves. The Miracles did it with pure music.”