Covered: Smokey Robinson, Volume 3: 1972-2013

This is the third and final Covered album celebrating Smokey Robinson, the songwriter, as opposed to Smokey Robinson, the singer. As with the previous two volumes, the focus is on songs he wrote or co-wrote. I've selected versions performed by others, even when the original hit version was performed by him.

The timing on this volume works out nicely, because 1972 was the farewell tour for his band Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and after that it was all his solo career. Note though that the Miracles continued on without Robinson, and even had some more hits, especially "Love Machine."

In retrospect, maybe I should have made this a Covered album of Smokey Robinson and Marv Tarplin, who was the guitarist for the Miracles, because they wrote many songs together. Tarplin left the Miracles the same time Robinson did, and continued to sometimes write songs with him. For instance, the big hit "Cruisin'" was cowritten by them. Band member Pete Moore also wrote many hits with Robinson. He even co-wrote "Love Machine" mentioned above, without him.

Robinson's solo career wasn't as successful as his career with the Miracles, in my opinion. There were a lot of mellow, soulful ballads that didn't distinguish themselves from each other much. In fact, the name of one of his solo hits, "Quiet Storm," became the name of a radio format for that type of music. But he did write some classics, including two huge hits all over the world, "Cruisin'" and "Being with You."

That said, a majority of the songs here are later covers of songs that were first hits by the Miracles in the 1960s. So many of them have timeless appeal and have been hits multiple times for different music acts.

I broke my rule of trying not to include any performances by Smokey Robinson himself by including one, "Baby That's Bachatcha." It's not because that was his best performance or something like that. Rather, it was a solo hit worthy of inclusion here, and I didn't find any decent cover versions.

As I previously mentioned in an earlier volume, Robinson is still alive as I write this in 2024. But he's 84 years old, so he's basically retired from music. May his music be enjoyed and remembered long after he's gone.

This album is 54 minutes long.

01 Floy Joy (Supremes)
02 Happy [Love Theme from 'Lady Sings the Blues'] (Michael Jackson)
03 The Tracks of My Tears (Linda Ronstadt)
04 The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game (Patti Smith)
05 Baby That's Backatcha (Smokey Robinson)
06 Don't Look Back (Peter Tosh with Mick Jagger)
07 Ooh Baby Baby (Linda Ronstadt)
08 The Tears of a Clown (English Beat)
09 More Love (Kim Carnes)
10 Going to a Go-Go (Rolling Stones)
11 Being with You (John Holt)
12 From Head to Toe (Elvis Costello)
13 Who's Loving You (Terence Trent D'Arby)
14 Cruisin' (Huey Lewis & the News & Gwyneth Paltrow)
15 I'll Be Doggone (Solomon Burke)
16 Quiet Storm (Eliza Lacerda)

https://www.upload.ee/files/17350557/COVRDSMOKYRBNSN1972-2013Vlum3_atse.zip.html

alternate:

https://pixeldrain.com/u/RvZMuRGT

The cover photo is from 1980. That's all I know.