Artist Profile. Smokey Robinson. Visual & Performing Arts Essay

Smokey Robinson
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Music has been part of many cultures around the globe for centuries. Individuals in society tend to indulge in different types of music depending on the occasion. Over the years there have been countless phenomenal and talented musicians and songwriters who have dazzled audiences with their skills and outstanding performances. While it is easy to find an individual with a beautiful and unique voice and consequently a great musician, it is usually a daunting task to identify one who also writes their songs. It is in this regard that William “Smokey” Robinson will go down as one of the greatest of all time because he was not only a singer but also a songwriter and record producer. Fortunately, despite his old age, he is still alive and once in a while wows audiences with his famous tunes. The paper will provide an extensive summary of Smokey Robinson’s artistic career.
William Robinson Jr. is a talented American artist who is renowned for his skills as a singer, performer, songwriter and record producer. He was born in 1940 in Detroit Michigan into a poor African-American family although it is believed that his mother had a bit of French ancestry (Smokeyrobinson.com, 2020). He was very close to his uncle Claude growing up and together they used to spend their time watching cowboy movies. It is during those moments that he acquired the cowboy name Smokey Joe. He would then go on to introduce himself as Smokey Joe until the age of 12 years when he dropped the name Joe. It is essential to note that although he was just an average student academically, he was keen on athletics and highly interested in music during his time at Northern High School. Robinson would occasionally go through his mother’s record collection that comprised of classics from the likes of Sarah Vaughan and Muddy Waters. It is from his interest in music that he formed a doo-wop group that was identified as the Five Chimes. Doo-wop is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated among African-American youth in the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Detroit, and Washington, DC (Smokeyrobinson.com, 2020). Doo-wop gained significant popularity in the 1950s and was highly successful in the 1960s. It also influenced many performers and musical genres including Smokey Robinson.
Additionally, Smokey Robinson has alluded that he was influenced into music upon hearing the musical groups Diablos and the Dominoes that were headed by lead vocalists Nolan Strong and Billy Ward respectively on radio. The Diablos for instance, were based in Robinson’s home town Detroit and was a renowned doo-wop vocal group that comprised of students from Central High School. Billy Ward and the Dominoes also impacted Robinson’s desire to engage in music because of their ability to command audiences that crossed racial divides. Robinson was one of the fans that impressed with the groups famous song “Sixty minute man” that was released in 1951 that was not only voted song of the year but also topped the R&B charts for 14 weeks straight. Robinson has also shared that he was...