Personnel includes: Smokey Robinson, Rick James (vocals); Kenny G (saxophone).

Producers include: William "Smokey" Robinson, Willie Hutch, Michael Sutton, George Tobin, Rick James.

Compilation producer: Dana G. Smart.

Includes liner notes by David Ritz.

This is part of Motown Records' "The Ultimate Collection" series.

Smokey Robinson's compositions blended pop and R&B conventions, infusing the combination with a highly literate lyrical sensibility that set his songs apart from the pack. With his group the Miracles, Detroit native Robinson got in on the ground floor of the Motown explosion, as his songs and his voice--a smooth, liquid marvel of soul--resonated not only with label head Berry Gordy, but with legions of '60s teens. Throughout the '60s, Robinson and the Miracles produced countless pop-soul hits, both effervescent ("Going to a Go-Go") and mournful ("The Tracks of my Tears"). Robinson's flexible, almost Cole Porter-ish way with a lyric made him an in-demand songwriter for many of his contemporaries, like Mary Wells, Marvin Gaye and the Marvelettes.

After splitting from the Miracles in 1972, Robinson began a solo career, exploring the more introspective, balladic side of his music. His 1975 album QUIET STORM set the bar for virtually every smooth, romantic R&B singer of the next two decades, virtually defining the style. After a fallow period, he made a comeback in the early '80s, with commercial-but-irresistible hits like "Cruisin'" and "Being With You."