Alright since the Beats is almost the go-to pop group of the sixties for you kids, how about this group for size?

Oh yeah, the Beats were greatly influenced by the Miracles. As if you didn't know...

yall kill me, I don't get these anti-Beats rants,

face it folks, the Beats were THE best POP-ROCK band of all time and the most successful/well-known act of the 60s; that doesn't mean they were the best THING of the 60s...specially with other acts/genres like the Stones, James Brown, Dylan, The Doors, Hendrix, Aretha, etc

you know what the problem is: successful magazines/websites like Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and similar shit, which mainly focus on white (yeah, I said it, because it's the truth) pop/rock bands, so for them, the Beats are like Jesus H. Christ...

but there are also wackos who claim that the Beatles never released a bad song and blah blah, whatever

my 2 cents...

Bruh bruh this is NOT an anti-Beats thread. This is just MY personal opinion mane. Of course blame goes to the so-called music sites because they're told to say that. They don't wanna admit they didn't have any bad tunes. Like I said they were good but there were better groups.

But anyway, this is just about The Miracles here mane. That's all.

The Beatles had some bad songs and even some weak albums, but their catalog as a whole - phenomenal. For 8 years they have recorded 13 albums, most of which are great ...

For me, the greatest artists of the 60s:
1. The Beatles

the rest are not in strict order
The Rolling Stones
James Brown
Aretha Franklin
Bob Dylan
The Beach Boys
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
The Supremes
Elvis Presley
Sam Cooke
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Ray Charles
The Temptations
Marvin Gaye

list is not complete ... there are other great

Timmy84 said:

The choreography...the wardrobe... unpayable

PS The music Smoke Robin & The Mirs may not be as good as The Beats but were quite good too

Well, I will not touch the Beatles thing, because anyone who knows me knows how I feel about that.

But I think Smokey (as much of a legend as he is) is totally underrated as a songwriter. He has written some of the best songs ever written. And for some reason he does not come up on these "best of" lists as much as Beatles, Dylan, Jimi, Stevie, Ray, Stones...

Dylan called him the greatest living American poet. What he meant IMO was not just about his lyrics, but rather about the poetry of a pop song. And Smokey really mastered that art.

NDRU said:

Well, I will not touch the Beatles thing, because anyone who knows me knows how I feel about that.

But I think Smokey (as much of a legend as he is) is totally underrated as a songwriter. He has written some of the best songs ever written. And for some reason he does not come up on these "best of" lists as much as Beatles, Dylan, Jimi, Stevie, Ray, Stones...

Dylan called him the greatest living American poet. What he meant IMO was not just about his lyrics, but rather about the poetry of a pop song. And Smokey really mastered that art.

Yeah he is rather underrated when you think about it. That's one thing I definitely give him props on, he knew how to compose one hell of a song musically as well as lyrically. His boys helped him in the long run too especially Marv Tarplin. I actually think he, Bobby Rogers, Pete Moore and Tarplin wrote better songs than John, Paul and George (Ringo wasn't much a songwriter).

Smokey Robinson is the Cole Porter of soul music, and an icon of that quasi-mythical Great American Songbook.

But the best band of the 1960's? For me, The John Coltrane Quartet stands heads and shoulders above them all.

Fuck the Beatles.

THIS is my type of music.

Smokey is on that table with Curtis Mayfield, Bobby Womack, Sly Stone and Mr.Percy Mayfield as the head of the panel.

Seriously, we talk about Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hammerstein as the quintessential songwriters of the 20th century, and they are. But I'm willing to place my bet that those guys I mentioned are AS profound.

Harlepolis said:

Smokey is on that table with Curtis Mayfield, Bobby Womack, Sly Stone and Mr.Percy Mayfield as the head of the panel.

Seriously, we talk about Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hammerstein as the quintessential songwriters of the 20th century, and they are. But I'm willing to place my bet that those guys I mentioned are AS profound.

I fully agree with you!!!!

Smoke was on fiya with Mary Wells

yup

Harlepolis said:

Smokey is on that table with Curtis Mayfield, Bobby Womack, Sly Stone and Mr.Percy Mayfield as the head of the panel.

Seriously, we talk about Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hammerstein as the quintessential songwriters of the 20th century, and they are. But I'm willing to place my bet that those guys I mentioned are AS profound.

see my reply no. 4

namepeace said:

Harlepolis said:

Smokey is on that table with Curtis Mayfield, Bobby Womack, Sly Stone and Mr.Percy Mayfield as the head of the panel.

Seriously, we talk about Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hammerstein as the quintessential songwriters of the 20th century, and they are. But I'm willing to place my bet that those guys I mentioned are AS profound.

see my reply no. 4

I'm not surprised that we're on the same page, I didn't even read your post, NP.

Harlepolis said:

namepeace said:

see my reply no. 4

I'm not surprised that we're on the same page, I didn't even read your post, NP.

I enjoyed yours.

I think Smokey Robinson overall is underrated.

mjscarousal said:

I think Smokey Robinson overall is underrated.

Totally I thought he always wore suits

LiLi1992 said:

The Beatles had some bad songs and even some weak albums, but their catalog as a whole - phenomenal. For 8 years they have recorded 13 albums, most of which are great ...

For me, the greatest artists of the 60s:
1. The Beatles

the rest are not in strict order
The Rolling Stones
James Brown
Aretha Franklin
Bob Dylan
The Beach Boys
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
The Supremes
Elvis Presley
Sam Cooke
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Ray Charles
The Temptations
Marvin Gaye

list is not complete ... there are other great

+ 1 + The Doors, Coltrane, Bill Evans, Roy Orbison, Janis, Patsy Cline, Dionne Warwick, etc.

JoeTyler said:

yall kill me, I don't get these anti-Beats rants,

face it folks, the Beats were THE best POP-ROCK band of all time and the most successful/well-known act of the 60s; that doesn't mean they were the best THING of the 60s...specially with other acts/genres like the Stones, James Brown, Dylan, The Doors, Hendrix, Aretha, etc

you know what the problem is: successful magazines/websites like Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and similar shit, which mainly focus on white (yeah, I said it, because it's the truth) pop/rock bands, so for them, the Beats are like Jesus H. Christ...

but there are also wackos who claim that the Beatles never released a bad song and blah blah, whatever

my 2 cents...

And that right there is the reason my love for them diminished slightly.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a Beatlemaniac since age 5, and I really think they're a great group. Their music is simple but reaching, which is still better than any shit being produced nowadays.

But I have grown to hate Rolling Stone Magazine with all my might. They never give props where it's due and only focus on a select few white artists. They still acting like Dark Side Of the Moon is the greatest selling album of all time.

That said, I love Smokey and the Miracles. Great choice there, Timmy.

If we are talking strictly Smokey Robinson and the Miracles vs. the Beatles let me put this out there. As an album artist the Beatles are in a whole other league.

Now, one could make a very credible argument that if Smokey had kept the many great songs that he gave away for himself that his/their albums would rival the Beatles. That might even be true. However, the reality is that the Miracles albums had an awful lot of filler while the Beatles were probably the very best of their era when it came to filling their albums with great music.

There is a reason that the Beatles albums have continuously remained in print while most of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles' have not.

NDRU said:

Well, I will not touch the Beatles thing, because anyone who knows me knows how I feel about that.

But I think Smokey (as much of a legend as he is) is totally underrated as a songwriter. He has written some of the best songs ever written. And for some reason he does not come up on these "best of" lists as much as Beatles, Dylan, Jimi, Stevie, Ray, Stones...

Dylan called him the greatest living American poet. What he meant IMO was not just about his lyrics, but rather about the poetry of a pop song. And Smokey really mastered that art.

Yes, Smokey is very underappreciated as a songwriter. I think he and Chuck Berry were kind of similar. On the surface their songs can appear very basic but they are both great storytellers. They did more in two and a half minutes than most modern songwriters can do with five minutes.