In the history of Motown there is only one person more important in its evolution and everlasting success than Berry Gordy, and that's Smokey Robinson - the only artist at the label to also become a class songwriter, producer and company vice-president. Robinson was beginning to reap the benefits of a reluctant solo career by May 1978, when he wowed an enthusiastic crowd at Los Angeles' Roxy nightclub. A recording of that night became the double-live LP Smokin', an extraordinary document of the man in his vocal prime - which, until now, has never been on CD.
Smokin', back in print in any format for the first time in 30 years, includes definitive live versions of classic Miracles songs "The Tracks Of My Tears," "The Tears Of A Clown" and more - even a surprise medley of the group's earliest ballads, "Bad Girl" and "(You Can) Depend On Me." Among the Smokey solo hits are extended live versions of "Quiet Storm," "Baby That's Backatcha," "Vitamin U" and "Baby Come Close." Also included is the album's original studio bonus track, the R&B-charting single "Shoe Soul."
Smokin', as Volume 5 in the Smokey Robinson Solo Album Series, not only new includes a reproduction of the LPs' original artwork, its booklet features additional photos from the original performance at the Roxy. And, as in previous volumes, there are newly commissioned liner notes by U.K. author Peter Doggett, who calls the album "a supreme demonstration of how a great artist can make a concert venue feel like a small room."
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