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Tamla T 54048 (A), September 1961
b/w I Can’t Believe
(Written by Smokey Robinson and Ronnie White)
If the Miracles had found it difficult to recapture the commercial success of their million-selling breakthrough Shop Around, as Motown might have hoped, they’d nonetheless had a consistent series of minor Top 50 pop hits since then.
Both of their follow-up singles, Ain’t It Baby and Mighty Good Lovin’, had scraped the outer reaches of the top fifty on the Billboard charts, and this new single followed that path, climbing to the dizzy heights of number 52. Not spectacular, but solid and dependable; the group had a fanbase and could be counted on to sell decent numbers of records. If it wasn’t the superstardom Berry Gordy had been hoping to see, it was still a respectable commercial performance which kept the Motown name in the trade papers.
If the sales weren’t getting markedly better, though, the records definitely were. This single – another product of the group’s endless recording sessions throughout the summer and autumn of 1961 which would go on to form their second album Cookin’ With The Miracles that November – is yet again leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessors, showing the remarkable rate of development of both Smokey Robinson the songwriter and Smokey Robinson the vocalist. In short, it’s excellent.
More than anything, it sounds like an update of the wonderful Way Over There, as though a long-dropped thread had suddenly been picked up again. It’s no pointless rewrite, though. Rather, it’s the first real indication of just where the Miracles were headed, a fun, sweet and touching midtempo R&B pop number with a great tune, and featuring Smokey’s best lead vocal performance so far.
Drenched in the best strings heard thus far on a Motown record (arranged, at no small expense, by Gordy’s newest recruit, Argo/Chess conductor/arranger Riley C. Hampton – the first time an external arranger was credited on a Motown release), Everybody’s Gotta Pay Some Dues was also the most complicated of Smokey’s songs to date. Co-written by bandmate Ronald White (of “Ron & Bill”, er, “fame”), it’s so far advanced from the duo’s dreadful 1959 novelty single It that despite the fact only two years had elapsed since that mis-step, it actually sounds more like twenty.
Whereas with Way Over There, a double helping of strings had been grafted on to a previously-recorded song, here the strings are an integral part of the whole record. Opening with a brief burst of violins and drums to the exact tempo pattern of Ravel’s Bolero, Smokey gives a staccato vocal intro, starting out by reciting his lyrics at high speed in something almost resembling a sea chantey – If ever I have a son in life, I’ll call him in one day / And sit him down upon my knee, and here is what I’ll say – as the music slowly grinds to a halt and then abruptly stops, and with a daring and well-executed change in tempo, the song proper begins.
The verses take the same basic shape as those of Way Over There, with the same time signature and brushed drum patterns, but instead of that song’s endless, self-reinforcing loop of rhythm, Everybody’s Gotta Pay Some Dues has a lot more going on. Highlights include frequent drum stops and fills after each chorus to keep the listener riveted; a great call-and-response bit at 1:22 with Smokey challenging the Miracles to match his melismatic “whoas” and “yeah-yeah-yeahs” (unmistakeable shades of Mickey’s Monkey a year and a half later); and a quite startling ending section from 2:32 on, where the rest of the Miracles take up a chanted incantation of dues, got to pay some dues, got to pay some dues on backing vocals, while Smokey speeds up and starts spooling his lines out without breaking for breath, almost freestyling as he runs the words into one another: “no-matter-what-you-do-or-say-y-there-is-gonna-come-a-day-y-when-you’re-gonna-have-to-pay-y-can’t-nobody-get-away-y”.
(When I talk about other Motown records from the era being forgettable, or not sticking in the memory, it’s because this is the sort of standard I’m holding them to. Unfair, perhaps, to penalise other records because they weren’t made by Smokey Robinson – but then this is Motown we’re talking about here, where “good enough” isn’t good enough. I want pop records to be outstanding. And this one is outstanding.)
Anyway, the effect is wonderful; the Miracles are on better form than ever before, carrying off a deceptively complicated multi-part harmony in perfect unison with the strings, and Smokey matches them throughout, giving his paternal advice with a confident and assured delivery that belies his youth (he was still only 21). It’s hard to listen to this one – or, indeed, any of the Miracles’ early singles – without thinking about where they were headed, a future this Smokey and these Miracles didn’t know lay ahead of them. In September 1961, Smokey Robinson was a promising songwriter with one big hit (and a few novelty songs) under his belt as a performer, and it must have seemed as though there was every chance that’s how it would remain.
This is one of the best singles of the early years of Motown (and one of the least-heralded, if the rest of the Internet is anything to go by), and it really should have been a bigger hit. Nonetheless, anyone who listened to it would have been put on notice that far from being a one-hit wonder or novelty act, this group really was something special.
MOTOWN JUNKIES VERDICT
(I’ve had MY say, now it’s your turn. Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment, or click the thumbs at the bottom there. Dissent is encouraged!)
You’re reading Motown Junkies, an attempt to review every Motown A- and B-side ever released. Click on the “previous” and “next” buttons below to go back and forth through the catalogue, or visit the Master Index for a full list of reviews so far.
(Or maybe you’re only interested in Smokey Robinson & the Miracles? Click for more.)
Pete Hartfield “Darling Tonight” |
The Miracles “I Can’t Believe” |
Rick Bueche said:
This should have been the group’s second top ten entry. Dynamic orchestration with the Detroit strings augmenting the heavy rhythms of the early Funk Brothers. Typically snappy lyrics…never understood why this track didn’t go further. One of the best instrumental intro’s of all the early Motown releases.
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nixonradio said:
Can’t argue with any of that! Thanks Rick.
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Dave L said:
“Least-heralded” is right, and Motown can take a hefty share of the blame.
Other than the single, the only LP it appeared on was “Cookin’ With The Miracles,” whose own availability was difficult by the mid-60s. It was not included on “Greatest Hits From The Beginning” in 1965 (Motown’s first 2-LP set on any artist), nor the three-LP “Anthology” in 1974. It wasn’t even regarded as good enough for inclusion on any of the eleven different “Collection of 16 Big Hits” series either. I myself didn’t land my first 45 of “Dues” till 1976.
The same shoddy availability would eventually settle on “Would I Love You” by the 1970s also. “Baby Don’t You Go”?! Forget it. If you didn’t have the ‘globe & record’ Tamla 45 of “Come On Do The Jerk” it rode the back of, you waited until 1994(!) for the 4-CD “35th Anniversary” set.
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Landini said:
I, too, was really surprised when this (and several other songs) was left off Greatest Hits from the Beginning. I bought that album in 1970 but wasn’t aware of “Dues” until an oldies station in the Washington DC area played it a few times in the early 70s.
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Robb Klein said:
The Miracles’ “Broken Hearted” also got that same treatment. But, it wasn’t quite as good as “Everybody’s Got To Pay Some Dues”.
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Steve Robbins said:
Bought it new and as always, nearly wore it out. It never bothered me my songs weren’t big hits, in fact I’ve come to regard that as a plus on my side. If the masses are going for it, it must lack soul, or something.
I guess in order to get Mr Hamptons credit in, they had to omit the “Featuring William “Smokey” Robinson”.
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Damecia said:
Great review Steve D. You really went in-depth about certain parts of the song. I can tell that you really love this song! = )
Unfortunately I have to disagree with the 9/10 ranking. Yes this song shows much development on behalf of Smokey, but this is just not a timeless Motown tune. I cannot imagine this being a major hit or sung 40 years later on tour. Nice lyrics and arrangements, but I would have to give this no higher than a 7/10.
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Steve R said:
I always felt a little out of step from my friends because I thrived on the Miracles yet they got little respect in the marketplace.
Its now nice to meet fellow enthusiasts
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Damecia said:
Hi Steve R.! = )
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Steve R said:
Backatcha Hun!
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Robb Klein said:
I also think it deserves a “7” rating (which makes it a very good song – but not excellent -which is denoted by 9 or 10). If this song deserved a “9”, there would be way too many songs in the excellent level that deserve to be further differentiated from this level. That difference can be determined by the limit on number of songs byou could take with you to the proverbial desert island. THIS song wouldn’t make that very limited, exclusive group, for me, although it is a very nice song.
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Nick in Pasadena said:
I compile an ITunes playlist for my daily walks and keep listening at random until I hear every song (usually around 120 tunes). This one’s on my current playlist. I didn’t remember this song very much when it came up on my iPod, but now that I’ve heard it four or five times more, I think, “Damn! This record’s pretty good!” I looked up its chart performance and was surprised to see it only reached #52. Every time I hear it I appreciate its appeal more.
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gavin Sandeman said:
“Everybody’s Gotta Pay Some Dues”. used on Lorraine Kelly show . fashion spot backing track Wednesday 27th Nov 2013 ITV
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The Nixon Administration said:
Thanks Gavin (I’ve moved your comment to the page about the song itself).
Wow, that’s a strange choice – but a good one, and I find it strangely reassuring the early Miracles are still finding room on daytime TV some 52 years later!
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