''Love, Smokey'' is an album by American R&B singer/songwriter

Smokey Robinson 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 ...

, released in 1990.The Complete Encyclopedia of African American History Jessie Carney Smith, Lean'tin Bracks, Linda T Wynn - 1578595835 2015 - Page 386 "Between 1986 and 1991 Robinson released five more albums, including Smoke Signals, One Heartbeat, and Love, Smokey." Love, Smokey was the follow-up to Robinson's most successful album '' One Heartbeat''. The first single was "Everything You Touch" which reached #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

plays harmonica on the track "Easy".

Track listing

#"Love Is The Light" (

David Ritz David Ritz (born December 2, 1943) is an American author. He has written novels, biographies, magazine articles, and over a hundred liner notes for artists such as Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and Nat King Cole. He has coauthored 36 autobiograp ...

, Fred White, Kelly McNulty, Smokey Robinson) – 5:18 #"(It's The) Same Old Love" (Brenda Madison, Ken Gold) – 4:45 #"Love 'N Life" (Jeff Pescetto,

Reed Vertelney Reed Philip Vertelney is an American record producer, songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist from Calabasas, California, Calabasas, CA. He has written, produced, played, and worked for and with artists such as Michael Jackson, Luther Vand ...

) – 4:59 #"I Can't Find" (Smokey Robinson) – 4:07 #"Take Me Through the Night" (Pam Reswick, Steve Werfel) – 3:54 #"Everything You Touch" (Pam Reswick, Steve Werfel) – 4:14 #"Don't Wanna Be Just Physical" (Fritz Cadet, Howard King, Smokey Robinson) – 5:03 #"Come to Me Soon" (Smokey Robinson) – 4:38 #"You Made Me Feel Love" (

Dave Loggins David Allen Loggins (November 10, 1947 – July 10, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his 1974 hit single " Please Come to Boston" as well as his 1984 duet with Anne Murray, " Nobody Loves Me Like You ...

, Jon Goin) – 4:08 #"Jasmin" (Smokey Robinson) – 4:28 #"Easy" (

Marv Tarplin Marvin Tarplin (June 13, 1941 – September 30, 2011) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist for the Miracles from the 1950s through the early 1970s. He was one of the group's original members and co-wrote several of their bigges ...

, Smokey Robinson) – 4:40 #"Just Another Kiss" (Scott Cutler, Roy Freeland) – 3:33 (CD Bonus track) #"Unless You Do It Again" (Smokey Robinson) – 3:36 (CD Bonus track)

Personnel

* Smokey Robinson – lead vocals, arrangements (10, 11) *

Paul Laurence Paul Laurence (aka Paul Lawrence Jones III; born 1958) is an American songwriter, producer and keyboardist. He had several number one R&B hits Freddie Jackson's " Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake)," " Jam Tonight," " Tasty Love," " Hey Love ...

– keyboards (1), Audio Frame programming (1), backing vocals (1), arrangements (1) * Darryl Sheppard – keyboards (1), AudioFrame programming (1) * Keith Andes – keyboards (2, 3), drum programming (2, 3), percussion (2, 3), arrangements (2, 3), backing vocals (3) * Johnny Davis – keyboards (2, 3), backing vocals (3) * Larry Hatcher – keyboards (2, 3), percussion (2, 3), backing vocals (2, 3), arrangements (2, 3), BGV arrangements (2, 3) * Michael Stokes – keyboard (4), arrangements (4) * Johnny Allen – synthesizers (4) * William Bryant – acoustic piano (4), synthesizers (4) * Michael Rochelle – programming (4) * Claude Gaudette – keyboards (5, 6), synthesizers (5, 6), arrangements (5, 6), bass (12) * Fritz Cadet – keyboards (7), arrangements (7) * Howard King – keyboards (7), drum programming (7), arrangements (7) * Robbie Buchanan – keyboards (8, 12), synthesizers (8, 12), arrangements (8, 12) *

George Duke George Martin Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as ...

– arrangements (9-11), Yamaha TX816 Rhodes (9-11),

Roland D-550 Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was milit ...

(9, 11),

Synclavier The Synclavier is an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation manufactured by New England Digital Corporation of Norwich, Vermont. It was produced in various forms from the late 1970s into the ea ...

(9-11),

Yamaha DX7 The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units. In the early 1980s, th ...

(10), synthesizer effects (10),

marimba The marimba ( ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the mari ...

(10), percussion (10),

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

(11) * Jeff Fargus – keyboards (13), computer programming (13), arrangements (13) *

Tommy Organ Thomas LeRoy Organ, Jr. (born 22 February 1963) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. The son of Thomas LeRoy Organ, Sr. (1940 – 1966 Musician, Army Veteran) and Dorothy Louise Render-Organ (1941 Legal Secretary, Entreprene ...

– guitars (3) * David Williams – guitars (4) * Teddy Castellucci – guitars (5, 6) *

Michael Landau Michael Christopher Landau (born June 1, 1958) is an American musician, audio engineer, and record-producer. He is a session musician and guitarist who has played on many albums since the early 1980s with Boz Scaggs, Minoru Niihara, Joni Mitchel ...

– guitars (8, 12), lead guitar (9) *

Paul Jackson Jr. Paul Milton Jackson Jr. (born December 30, 1959) is an American Jazz fusion, fusion/urban jazz composer, arranger, producer and guitarist. In addition to being a recording artist in his own right, Jackson is also a session player, with a career ...

– rhythm guitar (9), guitars (10, 12) * Sheldon Reynolds – guitars (11) *

– guitars (11) * Freddie Washington – bass (4, 9-11) *

Leon Sylvers III Leon Frank Sylvers III (born March 7, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, disc-jockey, record producer and multi-instrumentalist. He was a member of the family group The Sylvers and became one of the most successful producers in Black mus ...

– bass (13), drum programming (13), arrangements (13) * Tim Cornwell – drum programming (2) *

James Gadson James Edward Gadson (born June 17, 1939) is an American drummer and session musician. Beginning his career in the late 1960s, Gadson has since become one of the most-recorded drummers in the history of R&B. He is also a singer and songwriter. ...

– drums (4) * John Robinson – drums (9, 10) *

Ricky Lawson William Riser III (November 8, 1954 – December 23, 2013), better known as Ricky Lawson or Ricky Remo, was an American drummer and composer. A native of Detroit, Michigan, he worked extensively as a session musician, collaborating with Stev ...

– drums (11) * Gary Coleman – percussion (4) *

Paulinho da Costa Paulinho da Costa (, born Paulo Roberto da Costa on May 31, 1948) is a Brazilian percussionist. Beginning his career as a samba musician in Brazil, he moved to the United States in the early 1970s and worked with Brazilian bandleader Sérgio Me ...

– percussion (4, 8) * Terry Santiel – percussion (4) *

Luis Conte Luis Conte (born 16 November 1954) is a Cuban percussionist best known for his performances in the bands of artists including James Taylor, Madonna, Pat Metheny Group, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart and Shakira. He began ...

– percussion (5, 6) * Romeo Stone – percussion (13) * Felix Ramos – alto saxophone (2) *

Gerald Albright Gerald Albright (born August 30, 1957) is an American jazz saxophonist. He earned Grammys for the albums ''24/7 (Gerald Albright and Norman Brown album), 24/7'' in 2012 and ''Slam Dunk'' in 2014 and was nominated for ''New Beginnings (Gerald Albr ...

– saxophone (4), alto saxophone (9) * Dave Boruff – saxophone (6) *

Kenny G Kenneth Bruce Gorelick (born June 5, 1956) is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, composer, and record producer. His 1986 album ''Duotones'' brought him commercial success. Kenny G is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selli ...

– saxophone (12) *

–

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

(11) * Iris Gordy – BGV arrangements (2) *

Dennis Lambert Dennis Earle Lambert (born May 18, 1947 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. Career Lambert began his music career in 1960 when he signed to Capitol Records as a recording artist. By the mid-1960s, ...

– BGV arrangements (5, 6) * Janice Dempsey – backing vocals (1) *

Joyce Vincent Wilson Joyce Vincent Wilson (born December 14, 1946) is an American singer, best known as part of the group Tony Orlando and Dawn. Her sister, Pamela Wilson, is also a vocalist. Biography Wilson began her career in Detroit providing background voc ...

– backing vocals (2) * Pamela Vincent – backing vocals (2) *

Michael Campbell Michael Shane Campbell (born 23 February 1969) is a New Zealand professional golfer who is best known for having won the 2005 U.S. Open and, at the time, the richest prize in golf, the £1,000,000 HSBC World Match Play Championship, in the ...

– backing vocals (3) * Abe Hatcher – backing vocals (3) * Jackie Bell – backing vocals (4) * Patricia Henley – backing vocals (4-6, 8, 11-13) * Linda Stokes – backing vocals (4) * Ivory Stone – backing vocals (4-6, 8, 11-13) *

Jeff Pescetto Jeffrey Pescetto (born November 21, 1954) is an American musical artist who is most notable for collaborating with David Foster on the 1990 recreation of John Farnham's Australian single, "You're the Voice". Pescetto lent the vocals to Foster's ...

– backing vocals (5, 6, 12) * Sandra St. Victor – backing vocals (7) * Carmen Twillie – backing vocals (8) * Mark Kibble – backing vocals (9) *

Claude V. McKnight III Take 6 is an American a cappella gospel sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. The group integrates jazz with spiritual and inspirational lyrics. Take 6 has received several Grammy Awards as well as Dove ...

– backing vocals (9) * David Thomas – backing vocals (9) *

Mervyn Warren Mervyn Edwin Warren (born February 29, 1964) is an American film composer, record producer, Conductor (music), conductor, musical arranger, arranger, lyricist, songwriter, pianist, and vocalist. Warren is a five-time Grammy Award winner and a 1 ...

– backing vocals (9) * Alexandra Brown – backing vocals (11) * Robert Henley – backing vocals (13)

Production

* Executive Producer – Iris Gordy * Producers – Paul Laurence (Track 1); Keith Andes and Larry Hatcher (Tracks 2 & 3); Berry Gordy and Michael Stokes (Track 4); Dennis Lambert (Tracks 5 & 6); Fritz Cadet and Howard King (Track 7); Robbie Buchanan, Iris Gordy and Smokey Robinson (Tracks 8 & 12); George Duke (Tracks 9-11); Leon Sylvers III (Track 13). * Associate Producer on Track 4 – Michael Rochelle * Engineers – Ron Banks and Steve Goldman (Track 1); Eric Camp (Track 2); Al Phillips (Tracks 2 & 3); Warren Woods (Track 4); Doug Rider (Tracks 5 & 6); Fil Brown and Stephen Seltzer (Track 7); Steve MacMillan (Tracks 7 & 8); Jeff Balding and Ian Eales (Tracks 8 & 12); Erik Zobler (Tracks 9-11); Frank Wolf (Track 12); Derek Marcil (Track 13). * Assistant Engineers – Randy Long (Tracks 2 & 3); Claudio Ordenas and Jeff Poe (Tracks 5 & 6); Andy Batwinas, Kyle Bess, Paula Max Garcia and Leroy Quintyn (Track 7); Kevin Fisher, Mitch Gibson, Steve Holroyd and Tom Perry (Tracks 9-11). * Recorded at Giant Sound and Science Lab (New York, NY); Soundcastle, Hollywood Sound Recorders, Le Gonks West, Creative Source Studios and Summa Studios (Hollywood, CA);

O'Henry Sound Studios O'Henry Sound Studios was a commercial studio complex in Burbank, California, Burbank, California, that was owned by engineer Hank Sanicola and his wife, Jacqueline Sanicola.

(Burbank, CA); The Hop and

Ocean Way Recording Ocean Way Recording was a series of recording studios established by recording engineer and producer Allen Sides with locations in Los Angeles, Nashville, and Saint Barthélemy. Ocean Way Recording no longer operates recording facilities, but O ...

(Los Angeles, CA). * Mixing – Ron Banks (Track 1); Gary Dobbins (Tracks 2 & 3);

Brian Malouf Brian Malouf (born September 8, 1955) is an American producer, engineer, and mixer who has worked with acts such as Michael Jackson, Queen, Madonna, Pearl Jam, Stevie Wonder, Dave Matthews Band, Tokio Hotel, Wolfmother, and All Time Low. Also se ...

(Track 4-6); Taavi Mote (Tracks 7 & 13); Erik Zobler (Tracks 8-11); Doug Rider (Track 12) * Mixed at Ocean Way Recording, Elumba Recording and

Lion Share Studios Lion Share Studios is a recording studio at 8255 Beverly Boulevard in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Established by Kenny Rogers in 1981 in the former location of the ABC Recording Studios, Lion Share has been the site of ...

(Los Angeles, CA);

Larrabee Sound Studios Larrabee Sound Studios is a recording studio complex in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, North Hollywood, California, originally established in 1969. Facilities Located at 4162 Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood, Larrabee has six studios, thre ...

and

Pacifique Recording Studios Pacifique Recording Studios is a mixing and recording studio based in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, North Hollywood, California that was launched by Joe, Ken, and Vic Deranteriassian in 1984. In 1999, Pacifique installed its second SSL console, t ...

(Hollywood, CA); Can-Am Recorders (Tarzana, CA). * Mastered by Steve Hall at Future Disc (Hollywood, CA). * Production Assistants – Karla Dawn Bristol (Karla Gordy Bristol), Sharon Burston, D. Dee Click, Stephanie McCravey and Marriane L. Pellicci. * Art Direction – Jeff Adamoff * Design – Michael Diehl * Photography – Randee St. Nicholas * Wardrobe – Rick Pollack * Management – Michael Roshkind

Track listing

Personnel

Production

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References