The last four proper studio albums
Smokey Robinson and
the Miracles recorded as a unit are combined on this superbly annotated two-disc set from
SoulMusic and
Second Disc. Only one of the LPs had previously been issued on CD. That's the first of this early-'70s bunch,
What Love Has...Joined Together. Pieced together, containing only one
Smokey composition, lacking a single, and short, it's nonetheless a satisfying, low-profile gem in the group's catalog -- six love ballads rendered with dreamlike elegance, leading with
Smokey and
Bobby Rogers' title song, recorded earlier by
Mary Wells,
the Temptations, and
Barbara McNair. (Two negligible bonus tracks unearthed for the 2014 digital edition of the album are appended.)
A Pocket Full of Miracles, an unexceptional LP released five months later, yielded two Top Ten R&B singles with the satisfactory "Point It Out" and startling "Who's Gonna Take the Blame," the latter an
Ashford & Simpson collaboration that takes an unexpected dark turn. Between those two albums,
Motown's U.K. distributor released the finale from the three-years-old
Make It Happen, "The Tears of a Clown," as a single. Shortly after the ultimate happy/sad song reached number one on the U.K. pop chart,
Motown issued a spiffed-up version Stateside, where it topped the Hot 100. Another mix of "Tears of a Clown" appeared in 1971 on the fine
One Dozen Roses, the source of three more Top 20 R&B singles: "I Don't Blame You at All" (also Top 20 pop), "Crazy About the La La La," and "Satisfaction" (an original
Smokey ballad).
Flying High Together, the uneven swan song, appeared a couple weeks after
Smokey and
the Miracles completed their six-month farewell tour (documented on
1957-1972).
Smokey had one foot out the door, as he didn't contribute any songs and produced only two of them, but the group got some valuable input from chief producer
Johnny Bristol, who with songwriting partners
Wade Brown, Jr. and
David Jones, Jr. granted the apt hit ballads "We've Come Too Far to End It Now" and "I Can't Stand to See You Cry," in which it can be sensed that
the Miracles are feeling the weight of the moment. Less than a year after the release of
Flying High Together,
the Miracles were back with their first
Billy Griffin-fronted album (
Renaissance, executive produced by
Smokey), and
Smokey released his solo debut (
Smokey). ~ Andy Kellman