Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1955) - Clarence Dawson -- vocals - James Grice -- vocals - Warren "Pete" Moore -- vocals - Bill "Smokey' Robinson -- vocals - Marvin Tarplin -- vocals, guitar - Ronald "Ronnie" White -- vocals
line up 2 (1955-56) - Warren "Pete" Moore -- vocals NEW - Emerson "Sonny" Rodgers -- vocals NEW - Robert "Bobby" Rodgers NEW - Claudette Rodgers Robinson -- vocals - Bill "Smokey' Robinson -- vocals - Ronald "Ronnie" White -- vocals
line up 3 (1956-59) - Warren "Pete" Moore -- vocals - Robert "Bobby" Rodgers - Claudette Rodgers Robinson -- vocals - Bill "Smokey' Robinson -- vocals - Ronald "Ronnie" White -- vocals
line up 4 (1959-64) - Warren "Pete" Moore -- vocals - Robert "Bobby" Rodgers - Claudette Rodgers Robinson -- vocals - Bill "Smokey' Robinson -- vocals NEW - Marvin Tarplin -- vocals, guitar - Ronald "Ronnie" White -- vocals
line up 5 (1964-72) - Warren "Pete" Moore -- vocals - Robert "Bobby" Rodgers - Bill "Smokey' Robinson -- vocals - Marvin Tarplin -- vocals, guitar - Ronald "Ronnie" White -- vocals
line up 6 (1972-74) as The Miracles NEW - Billy Griffin -- vocals (replaced (Smokey Robinson) - Warren "Pete" Moore -- vocals - Robert "Bobby" Rodgers - Marvin Tarplin -- vocals, guitar - Ronald "Ronnie" White -- vocals
line up 7 (1974-77) - Billy Griffin -- vocals - Warren "Pete" Moore -- vocals - Robert "Bobby" Rodgers - Ronald "Ronnie" White -- vocals
line up 8 (1977-78) - Billy Griffin -- vocals (replaced (Smokey Robinson) NEW - Donald Griffin -- vocals, guitar - Warren "Pete" Moore -- vocals - Robert "Bobby" Rodgers -- vocals - Ronald "Ronnie" White -- vocals
line up 9 (1980-83) NEW - Carl Cotton -- vocals NEW - Dave Finley -- vocals - Robert "Bobby" Rodgers -- vocals - Ronnie White -- vocals
line up 10 (1993-95) - Dave Finley -- vocals - Robert "Bobby" Rodgers -- vocals - Ronnie White -- vocals
line up 11 (1995-2001) - Dave Finley -- vocals -NEW Sidney Justin -- vocals - Robert "Bobby" Rodgers -- vocals - Ronnie White -- vocals
line up 12 (2001-2005) - Dave Finley -- vocals - Sidney Justin -- vocals - Robert "Bobby" Rodgers -- vocals -NEW Tee Turner -- vocals (replaced Sidney Justin) - Ronnie White -- vocals
line up 13 (2005-11) - Dave Finley -- vocals - Tee Turner -- vocals - Robert "Bobby" Rodgers -- vocals NEW - Mark Scott -- vocals (replaced Sidney Justin) - Ronnie White -- vocals
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- The Miracles - Smokey Robinson (solo efforts)
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Genre: soul Rating: 3 stars *** Title: A Pocket Full of Miracles Company: Tamla Catalog: TS
306 Country/State: Detroit, Michigan Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: -- Available: 1 Catalog ID: 1578 Price: $20.00
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Was 1970's "A Pocket Full of Miracles" a great Smokey Robinson and the Miracles album ? Nah, but it was certainly a good album. For long standing fans the set offered up plenty of patented ballads (nine by my count), but Smokey and company also took time to explore some new and unexpected directions. The opener 'Flower Girl' was interesting for offering up a nod towards Norman Whitfield-styled pop-psych. Penned by Ashford and Simpson, 'Who's Gonna Take the Blame' found the group taking on an unexpectedly topical subject (good girl goes extremely bad). The other big surprise was hearing Robinson's take of 'Get Ready'. Many folks don't realize Robinson wrote the song and The Temptations' hit is the version most people are familiar with. Smokey and company turned in a surprisingly funky and engaging version that was only hurt by the abbreviated version that appeared on the album. In spite of a couple of missteps it was still a solid collection that's been largely overlooked by collectors. The Carl Owens cover was a hoot. The album also proved another decent seller hitting # 10 on the US R&B charts and # 56 on the pop charts.
"A
Pocket Full of Miracles" track listing: 1.) Flower Girl (Marvin Tarplin - William Robinson - Warren Moore) - 3:40 Hum, Smokey and company follow The Temptations and other Motown acts down the psychedelic path, but in a patented Miracles fashion. The combination of Smokey's unique voice and the track's lysergic feel was a bit strange to hear on a Miracles tune, but I have admit it grew on you after a couple of spins. Different, but quite cool and I always loved the way Robinson handled the do-do-do-do-ya know sequence. rating: **** stars 2.) Who's Gonna Take the Blame (Nikolas Ashford - Valerie Simpson) - 3:25 Lots of Miracles fans love this tune with what was a surprisingly topical lyric (good girl turns bad girl and ends up on the streets). Unfortunately, to my ears it was overly sentimental to the point of being cloying - That didn't stop Tamla from tapping the tune as the second single:
- 1970's 'Who's Gonna Take the Blame' b/w 'I Gotta Thing for You' (Tamla catalog number T 54194) rating: *** stars 3.) Darling Dear (H. Gordy - R. Gordy - A. Story) - 3:07 Patented Miracles ballad with a bit of bossa nova thrown into the mix. The real winner hear was James Jameson's melodic bass line. rating: **** stars 4.)
You've Got the Love I Need (R. Jones - William Robinson) - 3:25 5.) Get Ready - 3:15 Funny, but the guitar-heavy opening has always reminded me of Cream's 'Sunshine of Your Life'. That's kind of funny given Robinson wrote this tune; but most folks associate it with The Temptations. Musically this version didn't differ all that much from The Temptations' hit. Smokey's velvet voice actually sounded right at home on this tune's atypical rocking arrangement. One of the album highlights. Certainly better than the disco version Robinson recorded for his "Where There's Smoke" album. rating: **** stars 6.) Bridge Over Troubled Water (Paul Simon - Art Garfunkel) - 4:40 Hardly hyperbole, but it certainly seems as if virtually every early-'70s album included a mandatory cover of 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'. I've always wondered if Berry Gordy Jr. had some sort of royalty agreement with Paul Simon since so many Motown acts recorded the tune. The Miracles version wasn't the best, or the worst of the lot. Smokey's spoken word intro wasn't anything to get excited about, but the rest of the performance was professional. Nice of Motown to give Garfunkel a co-writing credit on the tune since Simon wrote it himself. rating: ** stars
(side
2) Even though the song titles appeared reverse (the tune started out with a snippet of 'Something You Got'), at least on paper a medley of George Harrison's 'Something' and Chris Kenner's 'Something You Got' should have been interesting. It wasn't. Bland effort seemingly intended to pad the album's running time. rating: ** stars 2.) Point t Out (William Robinson - Marvin Tarplin - Al Cleveland) - 2:34 After the sluggish 'Something' medley, the breezy 'Point It Out' was a breath of fresh air. Great melody with Marv Tarplin on funky guitar, and one of the album's bets platforms for Robinson's magical voice. I'm guessing that's why Tamla tapped it as the first single:
- 1969's 'Point It Out' b/w 'Darling Dear' (Tamla catalog number T 54189) rating: **** stars 3.) Don't Take It So Hard (T. Johnson - W. Schofield - C. Johnson) - 3:50 Another nice MOR-ish ballad featuring Claudette on harmony vocals. Well it was nice until the crying sound effects kicked in. rating: *** stars 4.) Backfire (William Robinson - Al Cleveland - Johnny Bristol) - 3:30 Ballads were clearly their forte, but I have to admit a fondness for their up-tempo performances and the dance-ready 'Backfire' was a classic tune. Love the way Robinson sand the burn-burn-burn refrain. rating: **** stars 5.) The Reel of Time (J. Bradford - J. Goga) - 3:40 Even though it was heavily orchestrated, 'The Reel of Time' may have been Robinson's most impressive performance on the album. What a unique voice! It was also nice to hear Claudette Robinson on backing vocals. rating: **** stars 6.) Wishful Thinking (M. Johnson) - 2:57 Another patented ballad with one of those melodies the group excelled at and another album highlight - the weird guitar accompaniment was worth the price of admission itself. For hardcore fans, Robinson recorded a horrible remake on his "Smoke Signals" album. ratings: **** stars
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