With the passing of time, people tend to forget that in the years before The Temptations, the Supremes, & the Four Tops were even heard of, THE MIRACLES reigned as the number one MOTOWN group.Their hits actually BUILT THE LABEL, and their importance can not be overstated (although fans of some of the aforementioned groups try to UNDERSTATE IT from time to time). They also have the distinction of having had more two- sided hit singles than ANY OTHER MOTOWN GROUP. Too many people reviewing this , and other MIRACLES albums, tend to mistakenly and unfairly credit only SMOKEY for this group's success. They don't realize the tremendous TALENT posessed by ALL the members of the MIRACLES. ALL OF THEM WERE SONGWRITERS,AND HAD A SHARE IN WRITING THEIR MANY HITS.Look at the writing credits for the GOING TO A GO GO ALBUM. YOU'LL SEE ALL THEIR NAMES, NOT JUST SMOKEY'S. PETE MOORE , for example , was , FOR YEARS, the groups' uncredited vocal arrainger. In the early years , BOBBY ROGERS,RONNIE WHITE , AND EVEN CLAUDETTE were featured lead vocalists in the group just like Smokey. Miracle MARV TARPLIN'S fantastic guitar licks punctuated each hit, and he CO- WROTE many of them . AND ALL OF THE MIRACLES (except CLAUDETTE) have won the prestigious BMI award for songwriting . Can you say that about the Temptations, Supremes, or Four Tops ? THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME WAS DONE A GREAT DISSERVICE to this fantastic group by only inducting their lead singer , especially since other , more highly - praised MOTOWN groups who HAVE BEEN INDUCTED, never wrote A SINGLE LYRIC OF MUSIC !!! THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER GROUP LIKE THE MIRACLES. THEIR MUSIC LAUNCHED THE ENTIRE MOTOWN PHENOMONON !! And , the GOING TO A GO GO ALBUM ( A BILLBOARD TOP 10 POP SMASH ), WAS ONE OF THEIR ALL- TIME BEST !!!!

Well, you get six hit records; you get some great B sides--so much part of the Motown legend; you get a rare live side; you get two songs--Baby Baby and Oh Be My Love--later retooled for the Supremes and in their original versions nearly unrecognizable (Motown was forever doing this; for example the Marvelettes' "Only Your Love Can Save Me" became Marvin and Tammi's "This Poor Heart of Mine); and you get the worst of Motown, four awful, terrible covers of dreck such as "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me," Berry's achilles heel. He just couldn't stay away from white mush--everytime I hear Diana trying to navigate "Ode to Billy Joe" I end up helplessly laughing. Through it all there is that Motown sound, just irreplaceable. The biggest shock in retrospect was how disjointedly all of this was put together. After opening with four consecutive hits, the C.D. moves into a tune which sounds recorded years before at the bottom of a washtub. It's amazing we accepted this stuff as real albums. The cover from Motown's basically one-man graphics arts department (mainly Curtis McNair) is terrific. Every year he had to come up with covers for albums which mostly weren't albums, just generic titles (the worst being the Miracles "Four in Blue" because Motown had a photo of the group dressed in blue suits--that same release include the Four Tops' "Soul Spin," the Vandellas "Natural Resources," the Marvelettes "In Full Bloom" and the Supremes' "Cream of the Crop," all random collections of tracks masquerading as albums). McNair's covers are quite remarkable given what he had to work with. Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end. They did. The music remains, still glorious.

For better or worse, when it appeared in the last days of 1965, The Miracles "Going to a Go-Go" LP raised expectations among Motown fans about the quality level we would anticipate from the company's album output from then on. And they succeeded at least as often as they failed. Tellingly, `Going to a Go-Go,' was the first Miracles LP to nudge it's way into the Top Ten album charts.

As it was, it was a mini-greatest hits in itself as it contained every one of their 1965 singles and their flip sides: "Ooo Baby Baby," "The Tracks of my Tears," "My Girl Has Gone," and the title song, along with (respectively) "All That's Good," "A Fork In The Road," "Since You Won My Heart," & "Choosey Beggar." "Beggar" and "Road" (especially) were so good they could have been `A' sides themselves. The LP tracks fit in very fine alongside these already familiar eight, particularly "In Case You Need Love" and "From Head to Toe." The hidden jewel was Frank Wilson's "My Baby Changes Like the Weather," which, from the title alone, echoes some of Smokey's own compositions that spoke directly to how wife Claudette's changeable Gemini personality could send him to clouds or devastate him with just a word or look. All the more reason why Smokey's delivery of the tune is so assured and evergreen even now. Yep, we played this album a lot - still do.

Maybe because the Miracles singles of '66 ("Whole Lot of Shaking..." & "I'm the One You Need") aren't quite as strong as `65s, "Away We A Go-Go" couldn't have been as strong as the preceding album either, and it wasn't. Still, hardcore Miracles fans weren't all disappointed because those singles ARE good, and the album contained great flips sides too: "Oh Be My Love," "Save Me," and "Swept For You Baby" which would eventually ride the B-side of "More Love." And we didn't have long to wait for another five-star Miracles album: "Make It Happen" would show up in August of '67. Investigate that one too after you buy this essential set.

To be able to own 2 of the group's better lp's from Motown's 'classic' period was a joy when it came in the mail. The single-disc cd also contains a few extra tracks thrown in as well.
Sound quality is excellent. Pictures of the group included were a welcome as well.
Both albums, when originally released were careful slices of pop music compiled to give the buyer the most for their money. 1965 was the year when Berry Gordy Jr. took the power of the album by any artist on his various labels seriously. Hardly any lp after 1965 contained any filler, despite the fact that many artists were singing the same songs, we, as Motown fans were given different interpetations by talented people we all came to love and appreciate.
From a passing 'casual' point of view, and from someone who likes Smokey's voice, this cd will not disappoint. No song here is filler by any means.
A must have to say the least, no fan should walk away thinking they are just buying the same songs over and over with this set. It IS worth it not just because of the extra tracks, but because of the low price to obtain it.

The first album here and by far the most successful of the two, Going to a go-go, was originally released in America in 1965, though it didn't appear in Britain until early 1966. Smokey co-wrote all the songs except My baby changes like the weather, a song co-written by Hal David though I don't remember hearing this song elsewhere. Four singles were released in Britain and America, these being Ooh baby baby, The tracks of my tears, My girl has gone and the title track. All of them charted in America, both in the R+B charts (where they all made the top five) and the pop charts (where they all made the top twenty but none made the top ten). None of them charted in Britain at the time, though a 1969 re-issue of The tracks of my tears made the British top ten.

The second half of this twofer comprises Away we a go-go, released in 1966 in America, but held until 1967 in Britain. Only two singles were released from it, these being Whole lot of shaking in my heart and Come round here I'm the one you need. Neither of them charted in Britain, nor did they make the top forty in the main American pop charts, though both made the top fifty and they did better in the R+B charts. Most of the other songs are originals, though there are covers of two songs made famous by Dusty Springfield (You don't have to say you love me, I just don't know what to do with myself), a cover of Beauty is only skin deep (Temptations) and a cover of Walk on by. Can you love a poor boy (co-written by Ivory Joe Hunter and Stevie Wonder) is probably also a cover.

If you enjoy the music of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and wish to explore what else the group has to offer besides the obvious hits, this is a great twofer to listen to.