Where There's Smoke...: Difference between revisions

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{{about|the Smokey Robinson album||Where There's Smoke (disambiguation)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}

{{italic title}}

{{Infobox album

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| alt =

| released = May 22, 1979

| recorded = 1978-19791978–1979

| venue =

| studio =

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==Critical reception==

{{albummusic ratings

|rev2rev1 = ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|Christgau's Record Guide]]''

|rev2Scorerev1Score = A−<ref name="CG">{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]|publisher=[[Ticknor & Fields]]|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: R|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=R&bk=70|accessdate=March 12, 2019|via=robertchristgau.com}}</ref>

| rev2 = ''[[Smash Hits]]''

| rev2Score = 6/10<ref>{{cite journal|last=Starr|first=Red|title=Albums|journal=[[Smash Hits]]|issue=September 6–19, 1979|page=25}}</ref>

}}

Reviewing for ''[[The Village Voice]]'' in 1980, music critic [[Robert Christgau]] gave the album an "A−" and called it Robinson's best solo album. He said that, despite potential "cavils" from novice Motown purists about the [[disco]] version of "[[Get Ready (The Temptations song)|Get Ready]]", the songs on side one especially update Robinson's "concise, smoldering romanticism with a flair that seemed lost to him years ago".<ref>{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=February 25, 1980|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv2-80.php|title=Christgau's Consumer Guide|newspaper=[[The Village Voice]]|___location=New York|accessdate=August 7, 2013}}</ref> ''[[Stereo Review]]'' magazine's PhilPhyl Garland commended him for remaining an unadorned composer and producer, and cleverly underplaying several tracks' "disco flavor". HeShe found the songs pleasurable and consistent, and remarked that, although it may not be a milestone in Robinson's career, ''Where There's Smoke'' is "solid, ingratiating music that should wear well."<ref>{{cite journal|journal=[[Stereo Review]]|page=516|volume=43|title=Smokey Robinson: Where There's Smoke...|date=July 1979|last=Garland|first=PhilPhyl}}</ref> [[Dave Marsh]] did view it as a turning point and "genuine creative breakthrough" for Robinson, who finally modernizes his style of [[soul music]] without "being compromised." Marsh also felt that he has matured as a vocalist, because of how he immerses his voice around rhythms and tries [[phrase (music)|phrasings]] that were less evident in his early music.<ref>{{cite book|last=Marsh|first=Dave|author-link=Dave Marsh|year=1985|page=[https://archive.org/details/fortunatesoncrit00mars/page/284 284]|title=Fortunate Son: Criticism and Journalism by America's Best-Known Rock Writer|publisher=[[Random House]]|isbn=0394721195|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/fortunatesoncrit00mars/page/284}}</ref> Red Starr, writing in ''[[Smash Hits]]'', gave the album a mixed review and described it as "pleasant if tame and unremarkable stuff".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Starr|first=Red|title=Albums|journal=[[Smash Hits]]|issue=Sept 6–19 1979|page=25}}</ref>

In a retrospective review, [[AllmusicAllMusic]]'s William Ruhlmann gave it three out of five stars and said that it may be inconsistent and slightly too "disco-ish in places," even though it restored Robinson's commercial viability.<ref>{{cite web|last=Ruhlmann|first=William|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/where-theres-smoke-mw0000198670|title=Where There's Smoke... – Smokey Robinson|publisher=[[AllmusicAllMusic]]|accessdate=August 7, 2013}}</ref> ''[[The Mojo Collection]]'' (2007) was more enthusiastic and wrote that Robinson had "hit a new vein of excellence" with ''Where There's Smoke...'', "the most vibrant album he'd yet made, climaxing with the gorgeous hit, 'Cruisin'{{'}}."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Agarwal|first1=Manish|last2=Alexander|first2=Phil|last3=Aston|first3=Martin|last4=Barnes|first4=Mike|last5=Batey|first5=Agnus|last6=Black|first6=Johnny|last7=Bradley|first7=Lloyd|title=[[The Mojo Collection]]|edition=4th|publisher=[[Canongate Books]]|year=2007|isbn=978-1847676436|display-authors=1|page=443}}</ref>

==Track listing==

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#"It's a Good Night" - 5:46

#"I Love the Nearness of You" (Robinson, [[Stevie Wonder]]) - 4:30

#"The Hurt's on You" (Lawrence Hanks, Rodney Massey) - 4:16

#"Ever Had a Dream" (Robinson, [[Janie Bradford]]) - 3:47

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<li>"[[Cruisin' (Smokey Robinson song)|Cruisin']]" (Robinson, [[Marv Tarplin]]) - 5:53</ol>

== Personnel ==

* Smokey Robinson – lead vocals

* Cheryl Cooper, Ivory Davis, Paula Dickerson, Patricia Henley Talbert, Bernard Ighner, [[Claudette Robinson]], Smokey Robinson, James Sledge, and Charles Wright – backing vocals

;'''Musicians (Tracks 1 & 4-7)'''

* Reginald "Sonny" Burke – arrangements

* Reginald "Sonny" Burke, [[Ronnie McNeir]], [[Ronnie Rancifer|Ron Rancifer]] – keyboards

* [[Paul Jackson Jr.]], Rick Littlefield, [[Marv Tarplin]], [[David T. Walker]], [[Wah Wah Watson]], [[Robert White (guitarist)|Robert White]] – guitarsguitar

* [[Larry Davis (blues musician)|Larry Davis]], [[Chuck Rainey]], Wayne Tweed – bass guitar

* [[James Gadson]], Scotty Harris – drums

* [[Eddie Brown (musician)|Eddie "Bongo" Brown]], James Sledge – bongos[[Bongo drum|bongo]]s, congas[[conga]]s

* [[Jack Ashford]], Ivory Davis – tambourine

* Fred Smith – alto saxophone, [[flute]], flute solos

* Michael Jacobsen – horns, strings

;'''Track 2'''

* [[Stevie Wonder]] – rhythm arrangements

* [[Paul Riser]] – string arrangements

* [[Greg Phillinganes]] – [[Rhodes piano|Fender Rhodes]]

* [[Michael Sembello]], Rick Zunigar – guitarsguitar

* [[Nathan Watts]] – bass guitar

* [[Dennis Davis]] – drums

;'''Track 3'''

* Robert Bowles, Terry Fryer, Paul David Wilson – arrangements

* Terry Fryer, Lawrence Hanks, Roger Harris – keyboards

* [[Bryan Gregory]], Danny Leake – guitars guitar

* Bernard Reed – bass guitar

* Brian Grice – drums

* Reginald "Sonny" Burke – [[Cowbell (instrument)|cowbell]], spoonsspoon

== Production ==

* Producers – Smokey Robinson (Tracks 1, 2, & 4-7); Stevie Wonder (Track 2); Jerry Butler and Homer Talbert III (Track 3); Reginald "Sonny" Burke (Track 5).

* Engineers – Roger Dollarhide, [[Cal Harris (engineer)|Cal Harris]] and Michael Lizzio.

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|-

|"Get Ready"

|U.S. '' Billboard'' Hot R&B/Hip-Hop SongsSingles

|align="center"| 82

|-

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|align="center"| 4

|-

| U.S. ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary <br>

|align="center"|34

|-

|U.S. '' Billboard'' Hot R&B/Hip-Hop SongsSingles

|align="center"| 4

|}