February 19, 2010. Copyright 2010, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Motown "King" Smokey Robinson takes his place among U.S. greats
By Susan Shepherd

LONDON, February 19, Graphic News:  Just before the blizzard which brought Washington DC to a standstill this month, Smokey Robinson found himself at the White House, the President's hand on his shoulder, singing along with fellow songwriters from the Civil Rights movement -- Bob Dylan and Joan Baez among them -- in a stirring rendition of the protest anthem, Lift Every Voice And Sing. The evening was a  celebration, hosted by the Obamas, of the part music played in bringing political change to the United States. That Robinson was there, centre stage, says much about his place in American cultural history, as well as his personal standing after five decades in the music industry. 
 
Forever associated with his band, The Miracles, Robinson has now been a solo artist longer than a member of the group which signed to the fledgling Motown organisation under founder Berry Gordy, in 1958. He left them, amicably, in 1972, after dozens of hits, including The Tears of a Clown and The Tracks of My Tears. Alongside chart success with The Miracles, Robinson wrote popular numbers for his contemporaries, such as Mary Wells' My Guy and The Temptations' My Girl. Dylan has called him "America's greatest living poet", while John Lennon frequently cited Robinson as an important influence. To date, Robinson is credited with penning over 4,000 songs.
 
Born William Robinson Jr., in Detroit on February 19, 1940, he was given the nickname "Smokey Joe" while still a young boy, by an uncle who, it is said, wanted to reinforce his black roots. In his teens the Joe was dropped and he became simply Smokey. Like many youngsters at the beginning of the rock and roll era, Robinson formed a band with his friends while at High School. They started out as The Five Chimes, then The Matadors, with various changes in line-up, including the replacement of Emerson Rogers -- drafted into the U.S. Army -- by his sister, Claudette, in 1957. Two years later, she and Robinson married. During the decade that followed, when The Miracles were locked into a gruelling schedule of almost constant touring, Claudette suffered seven miscarriages, before the couple finally had two children -- a son, Berry and a daughter, Tamla, named as a tribute to Gordy and his label. By then, both Robinson and his wife were preparing to quit the group -- he wanted to develop his role as vice president of Motown -- when their 1970 release, The Tears of A Clown, went unexpectedly to number 1 in the U.S. and the UK charts. The pair stayed on until the summer of '72, when, during their final concert, Robinson introduced his lead-singer replacement, Billy Griffin.
 
Robinson's reputation as a smooth R&B performer was consolidated throughout the 70s and 80s with a number of highly successful solo albums, until a self-confessed addiction to cocaine threatened his achievements and brought his 27-year marriage to an end. In his 1987 autobiography, Robinson tells how he was dramatically saved from fast-approaching ruin during a religious healing service. Giving a eulogy last year at Michael Jackson's funeral in Los Angeles, Robinson proclaimed his faith to the millions watching worldwide, saying he had received "many, many blessings" in his life. In May 2002, Robinson married his second wife, Frances Glandney. He remains one of only a handful of artists to have two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; one on his own and then, in March 2009, a second, in recognition of his time with The Miracles.
/ENDS