#A QUIET STORM SMOKEY ROBINSON PROFESSIONAL#

Moreover, itвЂ™s the guiding light for a fresh R&B radio format: вЂњsoft, romantic soul music with a sexy bite,вЂќ Smokey recalls. вЂњI saw seven songs carried on the back of a breeze,вЂќ he declares in his autobiography, вЂњblowing through the record from start to finish.вЂќ Released in 1975, A Quiet Storm proves to be his most popular yet, a Top 10 R&B success which also flows through the pop charts for the best part of a year. For his third album, Smokey locates the lyrical concept heвЂ™s sought since hearing Marvin GayeвЂ™s WhatвЂ™s Going On.Two other songs, вЂњVirgin ManвЂќ and вЂњI Am I Am,вЂќ are Top 10 R&B hits. Before that, Pure Smokey is a second solo outing, featuring four collaborations with Marv Tarplin, the indispensable guitarist of the Miracles years.Among his creations for the trio are вЂњFloy Joy,вЂќ a Top 20 pop success, and вЂњAutomatically Sunshine.вЂќ At the same time, his catalog prospers, with artists as diverse as the Staple Singers and Petula Clark remaking his songs, while Linda Ronstadt sends вЂњThe Tracks Of My TearsвЂќ back to the Top 40 in 1976. As in the вЂ™60s, Smokey continues to work with fellow Motown artists, including the Supremes.Accompanying it is an album, Smokey, co-produced with Willie Hutch, which includes the socially conscious вЂњJust My Soul Responding.вЂќ

He also writes a song dedicated to the Miracles, вЂњSweet Harmony,вЂќ which becomes the first hit single of his solo career, in the summer of вЂ™73.

But America loves a second act, and SmokeyвЂ™s begins when he leaves the Miracles, gets off the road, spends more time with wife Claudette, and tends to duties as talent scout and vice president of Motown вЂ“ a rank bestowed on him ten years earlier.

It was Smokey who encouraged Berry Gordy to form Motown Records, and their legacy of music is playing, somewhere in the world, even as youвЂ™re reading this.

#A QUIET STORM SMOKEY ROBINSON PROFESSIONAL#

For this son of the Motor City (born February 19, 1940), the first 15 years of his professional life are documented in the metaphorical filing cabinet marked вЂњ Smokey Robinson & the MiraclesвЂќ and celebrated in his farewell album with the group, 1957-1972.

A quiet storm smokey robinson