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The Miracles

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The Miracles (known from 1965 to 1972 as Smokey Robinson & the Miracles) are an American R&B/soul group from Detroit, Michigan, notable as the first successful group act for Berry Gordy's Motown Records. The Miracles went on to become one of Motown's signature acts of the 1960s, during which time their original lead singer and founding member Smokey Robinson became one of the most successful songwriters and record producers of all time.

In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Smokey Robinson and The Miracles [1] #32 on their list of The Immortals: 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[2].

History

Early years

The Miracles began with two young Detroit students, William Robinson and Ronald White, who had become friends and started singing together while in the fifth grade. Robinson, nicknamed "Smokey" because of his love of cowboy movies, started a doo-wop group called The Five Chimes in 1955 at Northern High School with himself, White, bass singer Pete Moore, Clarence Dawson, and James Grice. Within a half a year, Dawson and Grice had been replaced by cousins Emerson and Bobby Rogers, and the group's name had been changed to The Matadors. Emerson Rogers was drafted in 1956. He was replaced by his sister Claudette Rogers, who married Smokey Robinson in November 1959. In 1960, the group added guitarist Marv Tarplin, who had originally been the accompanist for The Primettes (later known as The Supremes).

In 1958, local songwriter Berry Gordy and colleague Tryan Carlo aka Roquel Billy Davis wrote a song called "Got a Job" as an answer song to The Silhouettes' hit single "Get A Job". Gordy, an admirer of the Matadors, took the song to the group, and got them a deal with End Records. At this time, they changed their name to The Miracles, as "Matadors" had a masculine sound to it, and the group now included a girl. Gordy became the group's main outside collaborator, and he and Robinson wrote another Miracles single, "Bad Girl". Issued on Chess Records, "Bad Girl" became the group's first charting single, peaking at #93. After a suggestion from Robinson, Gordy founded Tamla Records (later Motown) in 1959, and signed The Miracles as one of his first acts. By 1961, Robinson would be appointed vice-president of the corporation.

File:Themiracles-early60s.jpg
The Miracles in the early 1960s. Clockwise from top left: Bobby Rogers, Marv Tarplin, Ronald White, Claudette Rogers, and Smokey Robinson. At the time of this photograph, Miracles member Pete Moore (not pictured) was serving in the US Army after being drafted.

Motown success years

After three unsuccessful singles, The Miracles' fourth Tamla single, "Shop Around" (1960), became their first Motown hit, and was the first Motown song to reach #1 on the R&B charts.It was also the label's first million-selling record. "Shop Around" was followed by many more hits such as the much-covered "Who's Lovin' You" ("Shop Around's" b-side), "You Really Got a Hold on Me" (1962),"What's So Good About Goodbye" (1962),"I'll Try Something New" (1962} "Mickey's Monkey" (1963), "Going To A Go-Go" (1965),"My Girl Has Gone" (1965) the classic "The Tracks Of My Tears" (1965), and their signature song, "Ooo Baby Baby" (1965). During this period, The Miracles were the most popular group on the label, and as its lead singer, Smokey Robinson became a popular teen idol. Behind the scenes, Robinson handled most of the songwriting and production for not only the Miracles, but for most of the acts on Motown during this early period. During the first half of the 1960s, Robinson tutored both The Supremes and The Temptations, and he and various members of the Miracles penned hits for the Temptations ("The Way You Do The Things You Do", "My Girl", "Since I Lost My Baby"), Mary Wells ("My Guy"), Marvin Gaye ("I'll Be Doggone", "Ain't That Peculiar"), The Marvelettes ("Don't Mess With Bill"), and Brenda Holloway ("When I'm Gone").

Despite their success, the Miracles were beset with a number of personal problems as well. During the first Motor Town Revue tour, Smokey Robinson caught the Asian flu, requiring Claudette Robinson to take over his role as lead singer until he recovered. In addition, Pete Moore was drafted into the US Army, and remained away from the group for over a year.

Smokey and Claudette Robinson made plans to begin a family, but the rough life of touring caused Claudette to have several miscarriages. In early 1964, Claudette decided to retire from the road and remain at home in Detroit. From this point on, Claudette did not tour with the Miracles or appear in any official group photographs or on television, although she continued to sing backup with the group in the studio until 1972. Acknowledging Smokey Robinson's presence upfront, the Miracles changed their name to "Smokey Robinson & the Miracles" with the release of the Going to a Go-Go album in 1965, although their singles continued to be credited to "The Miracles" until the release of "The Love I Saw in You was Just a Mirage" in 1967.

After scoring a few more major hits such as "I Second That Emotion" (1967), " If You Can Want " (1968) and "Baby Baby Don't Cry" (1969), The Miracles' career began to falter somewhat during the late 1960s. Constantly away from home and his family, Smokey Robinson began planning to leave the group for a solo career, which would allow him more time to remain at home more often and concentrate on his role as vice-president of Motown. Robinson told White, Moore, and Rogers of his intentions in 1969, but Robinson decided to stay for three more years when the group's 1970 single "The Tears of a Clown" became the group's biggest hit to date.

"The Tears of a Clown" had in fact been recorded in 1967 in the album Make It Happen, and became the group's first US number-one hit (and their only number-one hit with Smokey Robinson) after first reaching number-one in the United Kingdom. This led to the reissue of Make It Happen as Tears of a Clown: same tracks, same cover, different title. In addition, the group had its own ABC television special in 1970 with THe Smokey Robinson Show, which starred The Miracles and guest-starred The Temptations and The Supremes.

Exit Smokey Robinson, enter Billy Griffin

In late 1971, Robinson announced that he would indeed leave the Miracles, and the group began a six-month farewell tour of the United States. Robinson's final performance as a Miracle was on July 16, 1972 at the Carter Barron Amphitheater in Washington, DC. For this performance, Claudette Rogers Robinson rejoined the group onstage for the first time in eight years. At the conclusion of the concert, which Motown later released as a live album entitled 1957–1972, Robinson introduced the group's new lead singer, Billy Griffin.

Griffin's arrival marked the departure of not only Smokey Robinson, but Claudette Robinson and Marv Tarplin as well. Tarplin continued to tour and work with Smokey Robinson, while Griffin's brother Donald became the Miracles' new guitarist. The Miracles continued, scoring two more Top 40 hits: 1973's #13 hit "Do It Baby", and 1976's #1 hit "Love Machine (Part 1)", the biggest hit of the group's existence. However, the group's other releases failed to match the success of "Love Machine", and The Miracles never managed to regain their former fame. In 1977, they left Motown for Columbia Records, where their releases failed to make an impact.

Later years

In 1978, Billy Griffin and Pete Moore retired from performing to concentrate on songwriting, although Billy went on to enjoy a brief and quietly successful solo career in the mid-1980s (his signature song 'Hold Me Tighter In The Rain' still gaining radio airplay today). Marv Tarplin left the group five years earlier, and began touring with Smokey, now a solo artist, and Ronnie White and Bobby Rogers recruited new member Dave Finley. After reuniting with Smokey Robinson on the Motown 25 television special in 1983, the Miracles essentially disbanded and ceased to perform.

Motown held a 35th anniversary retrospective for the Miracles in 1993, and Ronnie White and Bobby Rogers decided to reunite the group. The two of them and Dave Finley recruited Sidney Justin (formerly of Shalamar) as the new fourth member, and began making personal appearances and touring. White, the last founding member remaining in the group, died of leukemia in 1995, and the other three members carried on as a trio for some time. In 1987, Smokey Robinson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist,but, in a decision that has since sparked much controversy, the other original Miracles, Bobby,Ronnie,(now deceased), Pete,Claudette, and Marv, were not. In early 2007, "The Tracks of My Tears" became the fourth Miracles song to be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.The other inducted songs were "Shop Around" (inducted 2006), "The Tears of a Clown" (inducted 2002), and "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" (inducted in 1998). Today, the Miracles are comprised of classic-era members Bobby Rogers and Claudette Robinson, along with Dave Finley, Tee Turner, and new lead singer Mark Scott. The group continues to tour and perform, and, in 2001, The Miracles were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.

Cover Versions

Motown's first group are also the most covered Motown group of all time. Almost all of their hits were self-written,making them unique among Motown groups, and due to their consistent high quality many of their songs have been major hits for, or have been recorded by, other artists.

Examples are:

  • "You've Really Got A Hold On Me" - The Beatles
  • "Going To A Go-Go" - The Rolling Stones
  • "More Love" - Kim Carnes, Paul Young and Barbara McNair
  • "Who's Loving You", covered by The Jackson Five, En Vogue and Terrence Trent-D'arby,
  • "The Tracks Of My Tears " (covered by Linda Ronstadt, Aretha Franklin, Johnny Rivers,and Gladys Knight & The Pips, among others,and featured in the Oliver Stone film "Platoon" ),
  • "Shop Around" (covered by The Captain and Tennille )
  • "From Head To Toe " (from the "Going To A Go-Go" album) covered by Elvis Costello & Chris Clark
  • "I've Been Good To You","Way Over There","You Can Depend On Me",& You Really Got A Hold On Me", all covered by The Temptations on their tribute album "The Temptations Sing Smokey" ,
  • "I Second That Emotion" (covered by Japan,Michael Mc Donald,Kiki Dee , The Manhattan Transfer & Jerry Garcia),
  • "I'll Try Something New" (covered by The Supremes & The Temptations),
  • "If You Can Want" (covered By The Dirtbombs)
  • "Save Me" (covered by The Undertones),(
  • "The Love I Saw In You Was) Just A Mirage" (covered by The Jackson Five on their "Third Album",
  • "(Come Round Here) I'm The One You Need " also covered by The Jackson Five on their "ABC " album,& The Cowsills,
  • "The Tears Of A Clown" (covered by Latoya Jackson & The Beat) ,
  • "OOO Baby Baby" (mis-spelled as "OOH Baby Baby on her album),covered by Linda Ronstadt & Laura Nyro,
  • "Swept For You Baby" (from their 1966 album ("Away We A Go-Go"), covered by The Sylvers,
  • "More More More Of Your Love",(also from the "Away We A Go Go" album ) covered by Bob Brady & The Con Chords, and
  • "Love Machine" (covered by Wham),

...among others...

Members

(*) Claudette Robinson retired from performing in 1964 to start a family. Although she does not appear in any official Miracles photographs, nor on stage or on television, after this point, she continued to sing backup with the group on record for as long as her husband Smokey Robinson was a member.

Discography

For a detailed listing of albums and singles, see Miracles discography.

File:Smokey-miracles-anthology.jpg
The Miracles circa 1966. From left to right: Pete Moore, Bobby Rogers, Ronnie White, and Smokey Robinson

Top Twenty US and UK singles

Top Forty albums

The Miracles official Web Site: http://theoriginalmiracles.net

References

  1. ^ "Smokey Robinson and The Miracles". Bob Seger. Rolling Stone Issue 946. Rolling Stone.
  2. ^ "The Immortals: The First Fifty". Rolling Stone Issue 946. Rolling Stone.
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