Bargain Audio CDs & Priceless Collection (series)

Ballad Album

by Smokey Robinson

Product Description:

Personnel includes: Smokey Robinson (vocals).

This is part of ESX Entertainment's Motown Legends series.

Motown may have been founded and run by Berry Gordy, but Smokey Robinson's multi-faceted talents as a producer, performer and composer solidified the label's base in establishing it as a major force in music. With his creamy high tenor and lush arrangements, Robinson's strengths as a crooner shine on MOTOWN LEGENDS: THE BALLAD ALBUM.

It's no accident that modern-day radio appropriated the title from Robinson's mid-'70s classic "Quiet Storm" to coin a term for a format intended for romantic interludes. Other classic ballads on this collection are "Ooo Baby Baby" (a hit for Linda Ronstadt in 1979), "Cruisin'" and "Tracks Of My Tears." And while many covered his songs, Smokey Robinson wasn't against returning the favor; particularly the Chi-Lites' "Oh Girl," which he infused with a funkier swagger without diluting the pleading sentiment. Smokey Robinson's lasting flair for crafting odes d'amour can still be heard all over the airwaves, in the sounds of Babyface, Boyz II Men and other like-minded artists.