Smokey Robinson & The Miracles – The Tracks Of My Tears
Universal/Spectrum | 2000 | R&B | MP3 | VBR, avg 285 kbps | 01:00:51 | 103 MB
Total Time: 01:00:51 | Size: 103 MB (incl. 10% Recovery record)
Of all the R&B vocal groups formed in Detroit, Michigan, USA, in the mid-50s, the Miracles proved to be the most successful.
They were founded at the city’s Northern High School in 1955 by Smokey Robinson (b. William Robinson, 19 February 1940, Detroit, Michigan, USA), Emerson Rogers, Bobby Rogers (b. 19 February 1940, Detroit, Michigan, USA), Ronnie White (b. 5 April 1939, Detroit, Michigan, USA, d. 26 August 1995) and Warren ‘Pete’ Moore (b. 19 November 1939, Detroit, Michigan, USA).
Emerson Rogers left the following year, and was replaced by his sister Claudette, who married Smokey Robinson in 1959.
Known initially as the Matadors, the group became the Miracles in 1958, when they made their initial recordings with famous producer Berry Gordy. He leased their debut, ‘Got A Job’ (an answer record to the Silhouettes’ major hit ‘Get A Job’), to End Records, produced a duet by Ron (White) And Bill (Robinson) for Argo, and licensed the classic doo-wop novelty ‘Bad Girl’ to Chess Records in 1959.
The following year, Gordy signed the Miracles directly to his fledgling
Motown Records label. Recognizing the youthful composing talents of Smokey Robinson, he allowed the group virtual free rein in the studio, and was repaid when they issued ‘Way Over There’, a substantial local hit, and then ‘Shop Around’, which broke both the Miracles and Motown to a national audience. The song demonstrated the increasing sophistication of Robinson’s writing, which provided an unbroken series of hits for the group over the next few years.
Their raw, doo-wop sound was further refined on the Top 10 hit ‘You Really Got A Hold On Me’ in 1962, a soulful ballad that became a worldwide standard after the Beatles covered it in 1963. Robinson was now in demand by other Motown artists: Gordy used him as a one-man hit factory, to mastermind releases by the Temptations and Mary Wells, and the Miracles’ own career suffered slightly as a result.
Tracklisting
01 – Going To A Go-Go
02 – (Come ’round Here) I’m The One
03 – I Second That Emotion
04 – If You Can Wait
05 – The Tracks Of My Tears
06 – The Tears Of A Clown
07 – I Don’t Blame You At All
08 – Shop Around
09 – You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me
10 – The Love I Saw In You Was Just A Mirage
11 – Mickey’s Monkey
12 – My Girl Has Gone
13 – Yester Love
14 – More Love
15 – (You Carn’t Let The Boy In You Overpower) The Man In You
16 – Ooo Baby Baby
17 – Whole Lot Of Shakin’ In My Heart
18 – Choosey Beggar
19 – Point It Out
20 – We’ve Come To Far To End It Now
