I've loved Smokey Robinson since I first heard 'Shop Around.' I've seen him 4 times in concert over 5 decades and I'm not quick to tears but 'Ooo Baby Baby' brought raindrops to my eyes at each performance.

That makes listening a distinct pleasure: You get to spend time with a hugely influential artist who is warm, upbeat, and proud to have built a life and career through his art. He reflects on the ups as well as downs, and looks back with appreciation for the people who put love in his life. He has no agenda to push, no axes to grind, no scores to settle. ItвЂ™s a journey Robinson revisits with a grateful, humble heart. He remembers taking the wheel on the last 150 miles back to Detroit after a tour, humming the melody that would become the Temptations hit вЂњThe Way You Do the Things You Do.вЂќ He recalls being floored by the way a 10-year-old Michael Jackson brought a depth and soul to вЂњWhoвЂ™s Loving You.вЂќ And he explains where the term вЂњQuiet StormвЂќ originated, a song title that went on to become an entire musical genre. He describes where he was - shaving in the mirror at home - when вЂњThe Tracks of My TearsвЂќ finally came together.

For them to come out and tell the world? They were my guys from then on.вЂќДЄnd, of course, he takes us inside his songs. вЂњI ain't never heard no popular white boys say anything like that ever. He shares his pride in being an influence on the Beatles and hearing his songs on their album - a transforming moment for the Motown sound. He describes daily life at the famed Hitsville studio in Detroit, where a young Diana Ross or Martha Reeves could be found working as the receptionist. He takes us back to his groupвЂ™s first, disastrous performance at the Apollo Theater, opening for a brilliant and generous Ray Charles. He guides us through his extraordinary career with the same giddy sense of discovery and delight that music fans recall the first time they heard one of his infectious tunes. His career is filled with so many вЂњ he was thereвЂќ moments itвЂ™s a wonder he doesnвЂ™t recall them with the swagger of a conquering hero: songwriting and singing as a teenager in Detroit co-founding Motown Records with Berry Gordy creating 26 Top 40 hits with his group The Miracles helping to spark racial integration of popular music in the 1960s discovering hitmakers like Diana Ross and the Supremes penning tunes for a jaw-droppingly diverse group of artists including Marvin Gaye, The Beatles, The Jackson Five, Kim Carnes, Linda Ronstadt and releasing smash hits as solo artist well into the 1980s.Д«ut surprisingly, and delightfully, Robinson is as awed by his success as we are listening to him describe it.

If any artist could brag about his contribution to the pop culture canon, itвЂ™s Smokey Robinson.

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