The Ultimate Collection (The Miracles album)

The Ultimate Collection is a compact disc by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, released on Motown Records, catalogue 314530857-2, in February 1998. It is a collection of singles comprising many of the group's greatest hits, with liner notes written by Stu Hackel.

The Ultimate Collection
Compilation album by
The Miracles
ReleasedFebruary 10, 1998
Recorded1959-1972
GenreSoul music
Length71:03
LabelMotown Records
ProducerHarry Weinger
The Miracles chronology
The Thirty-Fifth Anniversary Collection
(1994)		 The Ultimate Collection
(1998)		 Depend On Me: The Early Albums
(2009)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Content

The disc contains seventeen top ten Rhythm and Blues singles chart hits, and nineteen Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 enjoyed by the Miracles and released on the Motown subsidiary label Tamla Records imprint. The only exception is "Bad Girl," released locally in the Detroit area on the Motown label (the first single under this imprint) but nationally licensed to Chess Records. Three of the tracks included were B-sides — "Who's Lovin' You," "Choosey Beggar," and "(You Can) Depend on Me" — respectively the flipsides to "Shop Around," "Going to A Go-Go," and "Way Over There," with "Choosey Beggar" charting independently of its A-side on the R&B singles chart. "The Tears of A Clown" had been initially buried as a track on the album Make It Happen in 1967, but to quell clamor for more record releases by the group in the United Kingdom became a belated hit three years later. Issued in the United States shortly thereafter, it was the Miracles' only #1 hit with Smokey Robinson on the American pop singles chart. Years later, the group hit #1 again on the Billboard Pop chart with the smash hit "Love Machine," but by then Robinson had long since left the group, replaced with Billy Griffin. The disc was part of an "Ultimate Collection" series initiated in 1997 by Motown for many of their top-selling classic artists.

Starting in the late 1960s and early 1970s, standard industry practice shifted to a focus on album sales, where a single became less a separate entity and more simply an advertisement for an LP, and a lead single would be pulled off an album as a promotional tool. Prior to this, singles were concentrated upon as a profitable commodity, especially for smaller record labels, and albums were often built around already successful singles. Since Motown fixated on the hit single until the very end of its stay in Detroit, single versions of songs often featured different mixes than versions that would be later placed on albums. Singles were usually mixed "punchier" and "hotter" to sound better on car radios receiving AM broadcast.[2] The single versions are the ones appearing here.

All six original members of The Miracles are pictured on the cover, clockwise from left: Claudette Robinson, her cousin Bobby Rogers, Ronnie White, Smokey Robinson, Marv Tarplin, and Pete Moore .

Personnel: The Miracles

Track listing

Singles chart peak positions from Billboard charts; no R&B chart existed from November 30, 1963, through January 23, 1965.

TrackCatalogueRelease DatePop ChartR&B ChartSong TitleWriter(s)Time
1.Tamla 5412712/6/65#11#2Going to A Go-GoSmokey Robinson, Warren Moore, Marvin Tarplin, Robert Rogers2:49
2.Tamla 5415910/12/67#4#1I Second That EmotionSmokey Robinson and Al Cleveland2:40
3.Tamla 5403410/15/60#2#1Shop AroundSmokey Robinson and Berry Gordy2:48
4.Tamla 540284/4/60#94Way Over ThereSmokey Robinson and Berry Gordy2:55
5.Chess 17349/59#93Bad GirlSmokey Robinson and Berry Gordy2:42
6.Tamla 54034b10/15/60Who's Lovin' YouSmokey Robinson3:02
7.Tamla 540594/9/62#39#11I'll Try Something NewSmokey Robinson2:36
8.Tamla 5407311/9/62#8#1You've Really Got A Hold on MeSmokey Robinson2:56
9.Tamla 540837/26/63#8#3Mickey's MonkeyBrian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Edward Holland Jr.2:46
10.Tamla 540986/3/64#27I Like It Like ThatSmokey Robinson and Marvin Tarplin2:34
11.Tamla 541133/5/65#16#4Ooo Baby BabySmokey Robinson and Warren Moore2:42
12.Tamla 54127b12/6/65#35Choosey BeggarSmokey Robinson and Warren Moore2:32
13.Tamla 541239/22/65#14#3My Girl Has GoneSmokey Robinson, Warren Moore, Marvin Tarplin, Ronald White2:52
14.Tamla 541999/24/70#1#1The Tears of A ClownSmokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Henry Cosby3:03
15.Tamla 5417812/12/68#8#3Baby, Baby Don't CrySmokey Robinson, Al Cleveland, Terry Johnson3:58
16.Tamla 541186/23/65#16#2The Tracks of My TearsSmokey Robinson, Warren Moore, Marvin Tarplin3:00
17.Tamla 541451/27/67#20#10The Love I Saw in You Was Just A MirageSmokey Robinson and Marvin Tarplin2:57
18.Tamla 5414010/19/66#17#4(Come 'Round Here) I'm the One You NeedBrian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Edward Holland Jr.2:29
19.Tamla 541525/26/67#23#5More LoveSmokey Robinson2:48
20.Tamla 541727/30/68#26#4Special OccasionSmokey Robinson and Al Cleveland2:18
21.Tamla 541622/8/68#11#3If You Can WantSmokey Robinson2:25
22.Tamla 541675/13/68#31#9Yester LoveSmokey Robinson and Al Cleveland2:17
23.Tamla 542205/4/72#46#9We've Come Too Far to End It NowSmokey Robinson and Al Cleveland3:49
24.Tamla 5405310/14/61#35#16What's So Good About GoodbyeSmokey Robinson2:21
25.Tamla 54028b4/4/60(You Can) Depend on MeSmokey Robinson and Berry Gordy2:40

References
  1. Allmusic review
  2. George, Nelson. Where Did Our Love Go? The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1985. ISBN 0-312-86698-4, pp. 113-114.
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