Detroit-born, William “Smokey” Robinson was once hailed as “America’s greatest living poet” by the legendary Bob Dylan.
1990 Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Smokey Robinson wrote songs not only for his seminal soul group The Miracles, but also for the Temptations, the Marvelettes, Marvin Gaye, Mary Wells and others. He has penned such soul classics as “My Girl,” “Ooh Baby Baby,” “The Way You Do The Things You Do,” “My Guy,” “I Second That Emotion” and “The Tracks of My Tears.” Robinson garnered eighteen Top Thirty hits with the Miracles while on Motown Records. Numerous Robinson songs have become standards, appearing and reappearing in versions by artists as diverse as the Beatles, Otis Redding, Linda Ronstadt, the Rolling Stones, Jerry Garcia, Kim Carnes and Al Green.
In 1972, Smokey Robinson embarked on a solo career garnering the hits, “Cruisin’,” “Bein’ With You” and “Tell Me Tomorrow.” The latest project from Smokey was an April 2004 release titled, Food for the Spirit, his first Gospel album and his first studio album of any kind in five years.