SMOKEY ROBINSON AND THE MIRACLES – TIME OUT LP – EXC+ A1 UK 1970 SOUL MOTOWN

Smokey Robinson and The Miracles – Time Out
(Tamla Motown Records  1970  STML11129)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1 – UK Pressing

G&L Flipback Sleeve in Very Good+ condition
– some wear to edges/corners and some discolouration on back cover
Original Motown/EMI Inner Sleeve with no splits

Vinyl in Excellent+ condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl which do give some light pops/crackles but sound quality is excellent overall)

William “Smokey” Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief songwriter and producer. He led the group from its 1955 origins, when they were called The Five Chimes, until 1972, when he retired from the group to focus on his role as Motown Records vice president. Robinson returned to the music industry as a solo artist the following year. He left Motown in 1999.

The Miracles (later known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1955. They were the first successful recording act for Motown Records and are considered one of the most important and most influential groups in the history of pop, soul, rhythm and blues and rock and roll music. The group’s international fame in the 1960s, alongside other Motown acts, led to a greater acceptance of R&B and pop music in the U.S., with the group being considered influential and important in the development of modern popular music.

Time Out for Smokey Robinson & the Miracles is a 1969 album by Motown group the Miracles. It reached #25 on the Billboard Pop Album chart, and contains four pop top 40 singles – “Doggone Right”, “Abraham, Martin & John”, “Here I Go Again” and the top ten pop smash hit “Baby, Baby Don’t Cry”. Time Out also features covers of Motown songs such as “For Once in My Life” and the Robinson-penned songs “My Girl” and “The Composer”. Miracles members Marv Tarplin, Pete Moore and Ronnie White were also co-writers on several of the album’s tracks, along with Motown staff songwriters Al Cleveland, Ron Miller and Terry Johnson. Miracle Pete Moore also co-produced two of the album’s tracks, a prelude to his later production of the Miracles’ massively successful platinum-selling City of Angels album of a few years later. The Miracles’ Time Out album was originally released on CD in 1986, and again in 2001 coupled with their album, Four in Blue.

1. “Doggone Right” (Robinson, Marvin Tarplin, Al Cleveland)
2. “Baby, Baby Don’t Cry” (Cleveland, Terry “Buzzy” Johnson, Robinson)
3. “My Girl” (Robinson, Ronald White)
4. “The Hurt Is Over” (Robinson, Tarplin, Cleveland)
5. “You Neglect Me” (Robinson, Tarplin)
6. “Abraham, Martin & John” (Dick Holler)

1. “For Once in My Life” (Ron Miller, Orlando Murden)
2. “Once I Got To Know You (Couldn’t Help But Love You)” (Johnson, Robinson)
3. “Wichita Lineman” (Jimmy Webb)
4. “The Composer” (Robinson)
5. “Here I Go Again” (Robinson, Johnson, Cleveland, Warren Moore)
6. “I’ll Take You Anyway That You Come” (Robinson)

• Smokey Robinson – lead vocals
• Ronnie White, Bobby Rogers, Warren “Pete” Moore (co-lead on “Doggone Right”), Claudette Robinson – backing vocals
• Marv Tarplin – guitar

• Smokey Robinson – producer, album executive producer
• Warren “Pete” Moore and Terry “Buzzy” Johnson – co-producer on “Baby, Baby Don’t Cry” and “Here I Go Again”
• Funk Brothers – other instrumentations