The last four proper studio albums Smokey Robinson and the Miracles recorded as a unit are combined on this superbly annotated two-disc set from SoulMusic and Second Disc. Only one of the LPs had previously been issued on CD. Thats the first of this early-70s bunch, What Love Has...Joined Together. Pieced together, containing only one Smokey composition, lacking a single, and short, its nonetheless a satisfying, low-profile gem in the groups catalog -- six love ballads rendered with dreamlike elegance, leading with Smokey and Bobby Rogers title song, recorded earlier by Mary Wells, the Temptations, and Barbara McNair. (Two negligible bonus tracks unearthed for the 2014 digital edition of the album are appended.) A Pocket Full of Miracles, an unexceptional LP released five months later, yielded two Top Ten R&B singles with the satisfactory "Point It Out" and startling "Whos Gonna Take the Blame," the latter an Ashford & Simpson collaboration that takes an unexpected dark turn. Between those two albums, Motowns U.K. distributor released the finale from the three-years-old Make It Happen, "The Tears of a Clown," as a single. Shortly after the ultimate happy/sad song reached number one on the U.K. pop chart, Motown issued a spiffed-up version Stateside, where it topped the Hot 100. Another mix of "Tears of a Clown" appeared in 1971 on the fine One Dozen Roses, the source of three more Top 20 R&B singles: "I Dont Blame You at All" (also Top 20 pop), "Crazy About the La La La," and "Satisfaction" (an original Smokey ballad). Flying High Together, the uneven swan song, appeared a couple weeks after Smokey and the Miracles completed their six-month farewell tour (documented on 1957-1972). Smokey had one foot out the door, as he didnt contribute any songs and produced only two of them, but the group got some valuable input from chief producer Johnny Bristol, who with songwriting partners Wade Brown, Jr. and David Jones, Jr. granted the apt hit ballads "Weve Come Too Far to End It Now" and "I Cant Stand to See You Cry," in which it can be sensed that the Miracles are feeling the weight of the moment. Less than a year after the release of Flying High Together, the Miracles were back with their first Billy Griffin-fronted album (Renaissance, executive produced by Smokey), and Smokey released his solo debut (Smokey). ~ Andy Kellman

Rovi