SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES/MAKE IT HAPPEN TML 11067 (-68) UK MONO

The fifth Miracles LP I'm posting here. Big fan of almost anything Gordy and his staff did in the sixties - vocals, backing, production and the perfect monos. It's hard to pick a favorite, but IMO this is one of the best albums from that stable. Most numbers written by Robinson, one by Holland/Dozier/Holland and three compositions involving Stevie Wonder. I'm free from work this morning and have listened to it twice already. To my ears all songs have hit potential - Robinsons vocals are clear and emotional with exactly the right tremble and the backing precise. It takes a lot to melt the geezer nowadays, but this does it. Tracks like "You Must Be Love" and "The Tears Of A Clown" goes directly to my heart. Even though it originally produced two hit singles and the album itself peaked at #28 I'd still call it underrated at release. Almost three years later, as the group got more popular in England, a UK re-mix "The Tears Of A Clown" was done and soon got to #1 on the list. That led to re-issue in US where it immediately topped both Billboard and the R&B chart september 1970. Along with the new success the album was re-released as "The Tears Of A Clown" with same cover, tracking and stereo number. This UK mono sounds lovely, without doubt using the original US mix (T-276). First UK had label as shown here and laminated flip/back cover. (TÖMÖ*) (SXÖM*)