"After All" is a 1960 song written by

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...

and originally recorded and released by The Miracles on the Tamla label. It was first recorded as an unreleased single by The Supremes for Tamla; it was supposed to be their first single but it was canceled in favor of " I Want a Guy", and their cover wasn't released until it appeared on the 2000 box set, '' The Supremes''. The song is noted for both groups' unusual choices for leads. For the Miracles' version it serves as a rare lead for

Claudette Rogers Robinson Claudette Annette Rogers Robinson ( Rogers; born June 20, 1938) is an American singer, best known as a member of the vocal group The Miracles from 1957 to 1972. Her brother Emerson "Sonny" Rogers was a founding member of the group, which befor ...

, instead of the group’s main lead, Claudette's husband, Smokey Robinson. In the Supremes' case it is their only single to feature Barbara Martin singing on lead vocals (although she does have a spoken line during the song "(He's) Seventeen"). Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, and

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

sing verses, and Martin sings the bridge (usually Ballard or Ross was given the lead on the group's recordings at that time). "After All" was also later covered by The Marvelettes, in the early 1970s, with group member Wanda Young Rogers as lead. (There's a connection to the two previous groups in that Wanda Young was the wife of Miracles member Bobby Rogers, and she was the only member of The Marvelettes on the song—as with the late-1960s singles of The Supremes, The Andantes served as background singers.) Their version appears on the album '' The Return of the Marvelettes'', and later became the group's belated final single (it failed to chart).

Personnel

The Miracles version *Lead vocals by Claudette Robinson *Background vocals by

, Ronnie White, Bobby Rogers, and Warren "Pete" Moore *Guitar by Marv Tarplin *Other Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers The Supremes version *Lead and background vocals by Florence Ballard (1st verse), Mary Wilson (2nd verse), Barbara Martin (bridge), and

(3rd verse) *

Musitron The clavioline is an electronic keyboard instrument, a forerunner to the analog synthesizer. It was invented by French engineer Constant Martin in 1947 in Versailles. The instrument consists of a keyboard and a separate amplifier and speaker ...

& Ondioline Instrumentation by

Raynoma Liles Gordy Raynoma Mayberry Liles Gordy Singleton (March 8, 1937 – November 11, 2016) was an American R&B producer, songwriter, and vocalist perhaps best known for her association with ex-husband, Berry Gordy during the early days of Motown when she was ...

*Guitar by Marv Tarplin *Other Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers The Marvelettes version *Lead vocals by Wanda Rogers *Background vocals by The Andantes: Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps *Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers

External links

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References

{{authority control 1960 songs Songs written by Smokey Robinson The Supremes songs The Marvelettes songs The Miracles songs Motown singles Song recordings produced by Berry Gordy Song recordings produced by Smokey Robinson