What Love Has...Joined Together (album)
Note: For the song, see "What Love Has Joined Together"
What Love Has...Joined Together | ||||
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Studio album by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles | ||||
Released | April 28, 1970 | |||
Recorded | 1970 | |||
Studio | Hitsville USA, Detroit | |||
Genre | Soul | |||
Length | 27:36 | |||
Label | Tamla TS-301 | |||
Producer | Smokey Robinson | |||
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | |
Christgau's Record Guide | B+[1] |
What Love Has...Joined Together is a 1970 album by R&B group The Miracles AKA "Smokey Robinson & The Miracles" on Motown Records' Tamla label (TS301). A concept album consisting solely of six extended-length love songs, it charted at #97 on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart, and reached the Top 10 of Billboard's R&B album chart, peaking at # 9. It featured songs written by noted composers, such as Stevie Wonder, (My Cherie Amour), Berry Gordy, Frank Wilson, Brenda Holloway and her sister Patrice Holloway (You've Made Me So Very Happy), Burt Bacharach and Hal David (This Guy's in Love With You), Marvin Gaye (If This World Were Mine), The Beatles' John Lennon & Paul McCartney, (And I Love Her), and Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Bobby Rogers (What Love Has Joined Together).
The Miracles performed a medley of this album's songs on a 1970 telecast of NBC's The Andy Williams Show.[2] What Love Has...Joined Together features Miracles members Smokey Robinson, Bobby Rogers, Pete Moore and Ronnie White on the front cover, and Claudette Robinson on the back cover. Miracles member Marv Tarplin played guitar on this album, but was not featured on its cover. Allmusic Guide called it "A stunning concept album that should have fared better".[3] The New Yorker, in an article dated April 16, 2013, referred to this album as "A standout", and as "one of the rare jewels in the (Motown) label's crown".[4]
One of the rarest of The Miracles' albums/CDs, What Love Has....Joined Together was only released on CD once, in 1992, and is now a valuable out-of-print and highly sought-after collectors' item, commanding well over $100.00 in the collectors' market. As of 2016, Amazon.com reports some vendors and private sellers charging well in excess of $200.00 for the CD version of this album .[5]
As of 2019 it is unknown whether Motown will ever re-release it on CD. However, in 2013, Motown released this album, exclusively as a digital download, available on Amazon, iTunes, and several other websites.[6][7]
Track listing
Side one
- "What Love Has Joined Together" (Smokey Robinson, Bobby Rogers) 5:50
- "My Cherie Amour" (Stevie Wonder, Hank Cosby, Sylvia Moy) 4:16
- "If This World Were Mine" (Marvin Gaye) 4:30
Side two
- "You've Made Me So Very Happy" (Frank Wilson, Patrice Holloway, Berry Gordy, Brenda Holloway) 5:04
- "This Guy's in Love With You" (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) 5:19
- "And I Love Her" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) 2:37
Personnel
The Miracles
- Smokey Robinson – lead vocals, production
- Claudette Robinson – lead vocals, backing vocals
- Bobby Rogers – backing vocals
- Pete Moore – backing vocals
- Ronnie White – backing vocals
- Marv Tarplin – guitar
- The Funk Brothers – other instrumentation
References
- Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: R". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 12, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- http://www.tv.com/shows/the-andy-williams-show-1969/march-7-1970-1155394/
- AllMusic
- https://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/04/smokey-robinson-miracles-what-love-has-joined-together.html
- https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000008K2Z/ref=tmm_acd_used_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=used&qid=&sr=
- https://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/04/smokey-robinson-miracles-what-love-has-joined-together.html
- https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00C5ZN514/ref=tmm_other_meta_binding_new_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=new