Smokey Robinson: The King of Motown is welcomed back with open arms
There appeared to be no elephants in the room when octogenarian Smokey Robinson took to the stage at the Love Supreme Jazz Festival. It was the King of Motown’s first UK show in 15 years, but recent sexual assault allegations – met with denial and a defamation lawsuit: he has yet to be charged with anything – did nothing to dampen a crowd intent on enjoying their night and steadfast in their reverence for his songs.
Robinson was the festival’s Saturday night headliner. The weekend attracts those swept up in the recent UK jazz renaissance as well as local teens letting off steam after exams, which meant there was a surprisingly young slant to Robinson’s audience.
Performers of a certain vintage are often propped up with as many bells and whistles as possible, and indeed Robinson shared the modest stage with about 10 musicians. But this is a man adept at defying age with limber moves and a voice that shows only some of the wear of his 85 years.
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«Rkekkr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R14ekkr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframeHe made his entrance – 20 minutes late – in a shiny blue suit to sing 1981 solo hit Being With You, slow dancing with a backing vocalist. Age hasn’t dimmed his appetite for all things raunchy: after all, he did release an album titled Gasms two years ago.
Two hits with his Motown group the Miracles followed: I Second That Emotion and You Really Got A Hold On Me. “We started Motown about 30 years before I was born,” Robinson joked. “No, I was there from the very first day.” Like an elderly relative at a party, the stories began to flow. His early career is the stuff of legend: he grew up poor in Detroit with Aretha Franklin and Diana Ross for neighbours, and a meeting with Motown founder Berry Gordy in 1957 sent him on his way. He was one of the label’s first acts and later its vice president, also penning hits for Mary Wells, The Temptations, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye.
Two Temptations songs, The Way You Do The Things You Do and My Girl, made the setlist, as well as The Miracles’ hits Tears Of A Clown and Tracks Of My Tears, the latter losing some of its emotional heft. Though these songs stand up more than 60 years on, particularly when bolstered by a full band, a live festival performance can’t live up to the magic of the records. It didn’t help that Robinson’s vocals were low in the mix, and occasionally plagued by feedback and sound bleed from other stages.
The show’s patchy pace didn’t help either: 1975 solo song Quiet Storm was more quiet than storm, a cover of Fly Me To The Moon failed to lift off, and Cruisin’ lingered far too long, Robinson bringing female fans onstage and engaging the crowd in an interminable singing battle.
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«Rpekkr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R19ekkr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframeSeeing him on stage in genteel Glynde, amid the rolling Sussex downs that seem so far removed from the Motor City of the 1960s, it was almost hard to believe he was present at the birth of one of the most influential sounds of the 20th century: a legacy and a half, however you look at it.
Touring the UK until July 11; smokeyrobinson.com
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