George’s “Pure Smokey,” a tribute to Smokey Robinson, gave
credit to an artist who had been part of the Beatles’ musical
foundation. Robinson’s “You Really Got a Hold on Me,” in fact, appeared
on their second studio effort, 1963’s With the Beatles.
These hat tips from one of rock’s biggest bands didn’t go unnoticed
by the Motown legend — though, at least during the height of
Beatlemania, Smokey Robinson didn’t get to spend much time with them.
“The Beatles were a very unique group, as we all know,” Smokey
Robinson once told Hazy Rock. “I had the pleasure of meeting the
Beatles, you know. And George, I had the pleasure of spending more time
with him than any of the other guys. I just met the other guys briefly.
George, for a time, was living in Los Angeles, and I had the pleasure of
being in his company a few times. We got to know each other kind of
well.”
“Pure Smokey” was the centerpiece of side two on George’s Thirty Three and 1/3, released in November 1976. “Ooh Baby (You Know That I Love You),” from 1975’s Extra Texture,
also traced back to Smokey Robinson’s influence. “That was a wonderful,
flattering thing for him to feel like that, and to write about it,”
Smokey Robinson adds, “so that the world could know that he felt like
that. It was wonderful to me, and I’m very flattered by that.”
More recently, Robinson was part of The Art of McCartney, a multi-artist tribute to George’s former Beatles bandmate, singing Paul’s solo hit “So Bad.” He also covered the Beatles’ “And I Love Her,” with the Miracles.
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