Smokey Robinson and The Miracles became Motown Records' first superstars when the group's 1960 single "Shop Around" ascended to No. 1 on both the Billboard R&B and Cash Box Pop charts and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.  Motown's first million-selling song, "Shop Around" set the stage for a remarkable string of hits for William "Smokey" Robinson, his wife Claudette, her cousin Bobby, and friends Ronnie White, Pete Moore, and guitarist/honorary Miracle Marv Tarplin.

Their recording reign continued through the decade with such timeless classics as "The Tracks of My Tears," "You've Really Got a Hold on Me," "Ooo Baby Baby," "Going to a Go-Go," and "I Second That Emotion," inspiring artists from The Beatles to Linda Ronstadt and everyone in between.  By the end of the 1960s, Smokey - the group's lead singer and primary songwriter and producer - was getting restless.  He resolved to leave The Miracles...only for "The Tears of a Clown" to hit No. 1 on both sides of the Atlantic, reaffirming his commitment to his friends and the beautiful music they created together.

Ultimately, the group would notch more than 50 chart hits including 26 top 40 Pop entries - 16 of which reached the top 20, seven of which reached the top ten, and one which topped the Pop chart.  The Miracles released more than 20 studio and live albums between 1961 and 1972, but the group's final years at Motown have long been neglected.  That all changes on April 19 when SoulMusic Records and The Second Disc present four classic Smokey Robinson and The Miracles albums on one 2-CD set, including three CD debuts.

The new collection features:

• What Love Has Joined Together (1970) plus two new-to-CD bonus tracks;
• A Pocket Full of Miracles (1970);
• One Dozen Roses (1971); and
• Flying High Together (1972).

Only What Love Has Joined Together has previously appeared on CD, and that release is long out-of-print.  Despite only featuring six tracks, What Love... may be the most highly romantic record in The Miracles' discography.  Smokey and co-arranger Jerry Long reinvented each one of its familiar songs, plucked both from the Motown catalogue and the wider hit parade, slowing them down and emphasizing their pure beauty.  The Miracles' blended voices, sensual and smooth, took the recognizable compositions (including Bacharach and David's "This Guy's in Love with You," Motown staples "You've Made Me So Very Happy," "If This World Were Mine," and "My Cherie Amour," and The Beatles' "And I Love Her") to another level.  The original album is expanded by two non-LP outtakes, "Paper People" and "(You've Got Me) Looking Through the Eyes of Love," which premiered digitally in 2014 but have never previously appeared on CD.

Their second of three albums in 1970, A Pocket Full of Miracles returned the group to a more standard LP length with twelve songs on the U.S. issue.  Smokey, Bobby, Pete, and Ronnie were pictured on the cover in a pocket, but the amiable cover design hardly hinted at the more mature sounds within.  "Who's Gonna Take the Blame" took Smokey and The Miracles into darker lyrical territory with its melancholy tale of a child who grows up to become a "woman of the streets."  Smokey nodded to the prevalent brass-rock sound of the era with "Flower Girl" and revisited "Get Ready" (which he had penned for The Temptations in 1966) in the wake of Rare Earth's own rock reinvention.  Smokey and producer Johnny Bristol reframed Paul Simon's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" as a romantic ballad, and united Chris Kenner's "Something You Got" with George Harrison's "Something" in a medley recalling What Love Has Joined Together.

While the album affirmed The Miracles' ability to meet the changing times, it was an older song that gave the group their first Number One.  That song, "The Tears of a Clown," had previously appeared on their Make It Happen LP before it was rediscovered in the United Kingdom.  It success there led to a single release in the U.S., and then its inclusion on One Dozen Roses.  Smokey's songwriting credit adorned eight of the twelve tracks on the appropriately-titled album.  While "Tears" was a tough act to follow, his original songs for the LP proved equally exquisite including "When Sundown Comes" and "Satisfaction."  One Dozen Roses also featured the bright, Latin-tinged "Crazy About the La-La-La" and a revival of The Marvelettes' 1967 Smokey-penned hit "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game."

By the time 1972's Flying High Together was released, Smokey had already bid farewell to the group he'd co-founded.  But as the album's title indicates, they would be forever linked.  Still, it was the group's only album to feature no writing contributions from Smokey, who produced just two of its twelve cuts.  Johnny Bristol, Stevie Wonder, and Bobby Miller all contributed productions to the album.  Bristol co-wrote "We've Come Too Far to End It Now," a proper valedictory song for The Miracles in the mode of Diana Ross and The Supremes' "Someday We'll Be Together" (also co-written by Bristol).  Wonder and then-wife Syreeta Wright shared two songs for Smokey's last hurrah with The Miracles, "It Will Be Alright" and "We Had a Love So Strong."  Smokey's two productions comprised recent hits: Francis Lai and Carl Sigman's soaring film theme "Where Do I Begin (Theme from Love Story)" and The Jackson 5's "Got to Be There," while Johnny Bristol helmed two more recent pop-soul crossover favorites, Eugene Record's "Oh Girl" and Thom Bell and Linda Creed's Philly soul anthem "Betcha by Golly Wow."

The upcoming four-on-one release has been remastered by Nick Robbins and designed by Roger Williams.  The 24-page booklet features new liner notes from TSD's Joe Marchese drawing on new and archival quotes from Smokey Robinson, Claudette Robinson, Motown tape librarian Pat Cosby, and journalist Sharon Davis (a key player in the story of "The Tears of a Clown") as well as detailed annotations from Motown historian Andrew Skurow.  Look for this collection of Miracles classics on April 19 from SoulMusic Records, Cherry Red, and The Second Disc!

Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, What Love Has Joined Together/A Pocket Full of Miracles/One Dozen Roses/Flying High Together (SoulMusic/The Second Disc SMCR-5219D, 2024) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / SoulMusic Shop (U.S. Customers Only) / Cherry Red)

CD1: WHAT LOVE HAS JOINED TOGETHER (Expanded Edition)/A POCKET FULL OF MIRACLES

What Love Has Joined Together (Tamla LP TS-301, 1970)

1. What Love Has Joined Together
2. My Cherie Amour
3. If This World Were Mine
4. You've Made Me So Very Happy
5. This Guy's In Love With You
6. And I Love Her
7. (You've Got Me) Looking Through The Eyes Of Love (Bonus Track, released digitally, 2014)
8. Paper People (Bonus Track, released digitally, 2014)

A Pocket Full of Miracles (Tamla LP TS-306, 1970)

9. Flower Girl
10. Who's Gonna Take The Blame
11. Darling Dear
12. You've Got The Love I Need
13. Get Ready
14. Bridge Over Troubled Water
15. Something/Something You Got
16. Point It Out
17. Don't Take It So Hard
18. Backfire
19. The Reel Of Time
20. Wishful Thinking

CD2: ONE DOZEN ROSES/FLYING HIGH TOGETHER

One Dozen Roses (Tamla LP T-312L, 1971)

1. When Sundown Comes
2. No Wonder Love's A Wonder
3. The Tears Of A Clown
4. Satisfaction
5. Crazy About The La La La
6. Cecilia
7. I Don't Blame You At All
8. That Girl
9. Faces
10. I Love You Dear
11. Oh Baby Baby I Love You
12. The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game

Flying High Together (Tamla LP T-318L, 1972)

13. I Can't Stand To See You Cry
14. Where Do I Begin (Theme From Love Story)
15. We've Come Too Far To End It Now
16. Flying High Together
17. With Your Love Came
18. It Will Be Alright
19. Oh Girl (Album Version)
20. You Ain't Livin' Till You're Lovin'
21. We Had A Love So Strong
22. Got To Be There
23. Betcha By Golly Wow