Smokey Robinson makes Bass Hall debut on July 18

by PegNews wire

Bob Dylan once called Smokey Robinson “America’s greatest living poet.” For more than four decades, Robinson has lived up to that title, writing and recording some of the best-known songs of the 20th century. As both a solo performer and with his longtime backup band the Miracles, the Grammy®-winning singer wrote and/or recorded soul music staples such as “The Tracks of My Tears,” “I Second That Emotion,” “The Tears of a Clown,” “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” “Going to a Go-Go” and others; Robinson has racked up more than 40 Top 40 hits on his own and has written numerous hits for others.

“In 1972, just before Motown moved from Detroit to Los Angeles, Motown’s in-house publishing company gave me a list of 560 songs that I had released and published,” Robinson said in an interview with The New York Times. “Since then I’ve lost count. Songs flow from people. That’s the only way I can explain it.”

He remains active today, touring and recording on a regular basis. Rolling Stone music reviewer James Hunter raved about Robinson’s latest CD, Timeless Love, saying the collection of cover songs “is about the high miracle of Robinson’s voice, blazing here with steady flow, detail and invention.”

Born in Detroit, Robinson formed the Miracles while still in high school. “My singing idols when I was growing up were Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson, who had high voices like mine,” he said in the Times interview. “My voice is naturally high. I sang soprano in my high school choir.” The Miracles were eventually discovered by producer and songwriter Berry Gordy, whom Robinson befriended and encouraged to start the Motown label. In the years that followed, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles had several hits for Motown, and Robinson was named label vice president.

Robinson and the Miracles’ hot streak continued throughout the 1960s and early ‘70s, during which time Robinson also wrote hits for other artists, including Mary Wells (“My Guy”); The Temptations (“The Way You Do the Things You Do,” “Get Ready” and “My Girl”); The Marvelettes (“My Baby Must Be a Magician”); Marvin Gaye (“Ain’t That Peculiar”); and The Four Tops (“Still Water (Love)”).

In the mid-‘70s, Robinson decided to leave The Miracles and focus on a solo career. He scored several hits, including “Baby Back Atcha,” “Cruisin’,” “Being With You” and “Quiet Storm.” After winning a battle against a cocaine addiction in the ‘80s, Robinson returned to the stage and studio with the Grammy-winning song “Just to See Her” and the Top 10 hit, “One Heartbeat.”

In 1988, his autobiography, Smokey, was published. He was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, awarded a Soul Train Music Award for Career Achievement and given a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

More recently, Robinson appeared as a guest judge on American Idol and, earlier this year, he mentored the season 8 top 10 contestants.

He’s currently touring behind Timeless Love, which features the singer covering some of his favorite childhood songs by Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole and Sarah Vaughan. “I grew up in a home where there was always music playing,” Smokey said in an interview with Web site MP3.com. “I had two older sisters, and this was the music that they played. They played these people, and my mom played these people – and these songs were written when the song was king. These are the first songs I ever heard in my life.”

To charge tickets by phone, call (817) 212-4280 in Fort Worth; 1-877-212-4280 (toll free) outside Fort Worth; or order online at www.basshall.com . Tickets are also available at the Bass Performance Hall ticket office at 525 Commerce Street. Ticket office hours: Tuesday through Friday 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. and Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Source: Bass Performance Hall