Smokey Robinson

William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born: ), better known online as Smokey Robinson, is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. 
==History==
William Robinson Jr. was born to an African-American father and a mother of African-American and French descent in a poor family in the North End area of Detroit, Michigan. https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofp006lark/page/4584/mode/2up?q=%22smokey+robinson%22 Robinson's ancestry is also part Nigerian, Scandinavian, Portuguese, and Cherokee. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WdZ3rQCiwk&feature=youtu.be&t=2660 His uncle Claude gave him the nickname "Smokey Joe" when he was a child. http://www.cbn.com/cbnmusic/interviews/700club_smokeyrobinson101305.aspxhttp://www.lasentinel.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9665:smokey-robinson-a-poet-that-you-knoweth&catid=59&Itemid=149 
He attended Northern High School, where he was above average academically and a determined athlete. However, his main interest was music, and he formed a doo-wop group named the Five Chimes. He and Aretha Franklin lived several houses from each other on Belmont. He said he'd known Franklin since she was about five, overhearing her play the piano when he had come to play with her older brother Cecil after her family first moved to Detroit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23vLfHvYG5k&ab_channel=WXYZ-TVDetroit%7CChannel7 
In 1955, he formed the first lineup of The Five Chimes with childhood friend Ronald White and classmate Pete Moore. Two years later, they were renamed the Matadors and included Bobby Rogers. Another member, Emerson Rogers, who was later replaced by, Claudette Rogers. The group's guitarist, Marv Tarplin, joined them sometime in 1958. The Matadors began touring Detroit venues around this time. Eventually they changed their name to The Miracles. https://primarywave.com/writer/smokey-robinson/https://books.google.com/books?id=8JRHnCMUVb8C&q=Gladys+Knight+%26+The+Pips+Neither+One+Of+Us&pg=PA101 
By 1969, Robinson wanted to retire from touring to focus on raising his two children with his wife Claudette, and on his duties as Motown's vice president, a job he had taken on by the mid-1960s after Esther Gordy Edwards had left the position. However, the success of the group's "Tears of a Clown" made Robinson stay with the group until 1972. His last performance with the group was in July 1972 in Washington, D.C. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2V32NxPaeohttps://1027wkbh.com/2023/06/22/flashback-smokey-robinson-performs-his-last-concert-with-the-miracles/ 
After a year of retirement, Robinson announced his comeback with the release of the eponymous Smokey album, in 1973. http://www.allmusic.com/album/smokey-mw0000320366 
==Discography==
===Albums===
*Smokey (1973)
*Pure Smokey (1974)
*A Quiet Storm (1975)
*Smokey's Family Robinson (1976)
*Deep in My Soul (1977)
*Big Time (1977)
*Love Breeze (1978)
*Where There's Smoke... (1979)
*Warm Thoughts (1980)
*Being With You (1981)
*Yes It's You Lady (1982)
*Touch the Sky (1983)
*Essar (1984)
*Smoke Signals (1986)
*One Heartbeat (1987)
*Love, Smokey (1990)
*Double Good Everything (1991)
*Intimate (1999)
*Food for the Spirit (2004)
*Timeless Love (2006)
*Time Flies When You're Having Fun (2009)
*Smokey & Friends (2014)
*Christmas Everyday (2017)
*Gasms (2023)
===Singles===
*Baby That's Backatcha (1975)
*Pops, We Love You (A Tribute to Father) (1978)
*Cruisin (1979)
*Being With You (1981)
==References==
Category:Music YouTubers
Category:Vlogging YouTubers
Category:American YouTubers
Category:Users who joined in 2014