''Flying High Together'' is an album by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles on Motown Records' Tamla label, released in 1972. It is noted as The Miracles' last studio album with original lead singer Smokey Robinson, who retired from the act to concentrate on his duties as vice president of

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

. The album charted at #46 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Pop Album chart, and featured two singles: the appropriately named "We've Come Too Far to End It Now", which matched the parent album's chart position on the ''Billboard'' singles chart, charting at #46, and reached the Top 10 of the ''Billboard'' R&B singles chart, charting at #9, and "I Can't Stand to See You Cry", which charted at #45 Pop, and #21 R&B. The album also featured a cover of The Stylistics' 1971 hit " Betcha By Golly Wow", the " Theme from ''Love Story''" and covers of the

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

solo hit, " Got to Be There" (featuring guitar work by Miracle Marv Tarplin), and The Chi-Lites'#1 hit, " Oh Girl". The album also features songs composed by Ashford & Simpson,

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

and Syretta Wright, Bobby Miller, who was responsible for

The Dells The Dells were an American R&B vocal group. Formed in high school in 1953 by founding members Marvin Junior, Verne Allison, Johnny Funches, Chuck Barksdale, and Michael and Lucius McGill, under the name the El-Rays. They released their first r ...

' long string of hits, and Motown producer Johnny Bristol, but neither Smokey nor any of the other Miracles contributed to the writing on this album and Smokey himself produced only two tracks, the aforementioned "Got to Be There" and "Love Story". The release of this album coincided with the group's final nationwide tour, before replacing Smokey with Billy Griffin. As of 2018, ''Flying High Together'' has yet to be issued on CD, but several of its songs have shown up on various Miracles foreign and domestic CD compilations. The Miracles' next studio album was 1973's Billy Griffin-led ''

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

''.

Track listing

Side one

# "I Can't Stand to See You Cry" ( Johnny Bristol, Wade Brown, Jr., David Jones, Jr.) # " Theme from ''Love Story''" (

Francis Lai Francis Albert Lai (; 26 April 19327 November 2018) was a French composer, noted for his film scores. He won the 1970 Oscar for Best Music, Original Score and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for the film '' Love Story''. The ...

, Carl Sigman) # " We've Come Too Far to End It Now" (Bristol, Brown, Jones) # "Flying High Together" (Bristol, Brown, Jones) # "With Your Love Came" (Bristol, Brown, Jones) # "It Will Be Alright" (

Syreeta Wright Syreeta Wright (born Rita Wright, February 28, 1946 – July 6, 2004), known mononymously as Syreeta, was an American singer-songwriter, best known for her music during the early 1970s through the early 1980s. Wright's career heights were songs ...

)

Side two

# " Oh Girl" ( Eugene Record) # " You Ain't Livin' till You're Lovin'" ( Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson) # "We Had a Love So Strong" (Wonder, Wright) # " Got to Be There" ( Elliot Willensky) # "Betcha by Golly, Wow" ( Linda Creed, Thom Bell)

Personnel

The Miracles

* Bill "Smokey" Robinson – lead vocals * Claudette Rodgers Robinson – backing vocals (soprano) * Robert "Bobby" Rodgers – backing vocals (tenor) * Ronald "Ronnie" White – backing vocals (baritone) * Warren "Pete" Moore – backing vocals (bass) * Marvin "Marv" Tarplin – guitar

Additional

The Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

– other instrumentation * H.B. Barnum – arranger * David Van De Pitte – arranger * Eddie Nucilli – arranger

References

External links

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - ''Flying High Together'' (1972) album review by John Lowe, credits & releases
at

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Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - ''Flying High Together'' (1972) album releases & credits
at

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Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - ''Flying High Together'' (1972) album to be listened
as stream on

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{{Authority control 1972 albums The Miracles albums Albums produced by Smokey Robinson Albums produced by Johnny Bristol Tamla Records albums Albums produced by Stevie Wonder Albums produced by Ashford & Simpson