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Tamla T 54102 (A), August 1964
b/w Would I Love You
(Written by Smokey Robinson, Bobby Rogers and Pete Moore)
Stateside SS 353 (A), November 1964
b/w Would I Love You
(Released in the UK under license through EMI / Stateside Records)
Hard to know what to make of this one, really. Smokey Robinson was having a banner year in 1964 as a writer and producer – but only for other people. Perhaps as a result of Smokey being occupied elsewhere, strong material for the Miracles was in rather shorter supply over these twelve months than in days gone by, and the sales were starting to fall off too.
This one was released just two months after the Miracles’ previous single, the rather lovely I Like It Like That; despite that song being something of a return to form, it hadn’t really set the world on fire, and so Motown rush-recorded this follow-up. That’s What Love Is Made Of is a thinly-disguised rewrite of I Like It Like That, with lyrics almost directly cribbed from That’s What Little Girls Are Made Of. It’s better than that makes it sound, but not by much.
If you’re wondering why Motown might have been thinking “Well, I Like It Like That didn’t sell, but it was good – it just needed some more nursery rhyme in there”, it’s not a completely baffling move. There’s a dollop of the Temptations’ big breakthrough hit The Way You Do The Things You Do (written and produced, of course, by Smokey Robinson) in here too, the Marv Tarplin two-chord guitar riff that begins the song and runs all the way through the record a kind of gentle reminder of the sterling work Smokey was turning in away from the Miracles in ’64.
Also, the group themselves are getting better and better with each successive single, in terms of performances if not songs. Compare this one not only with its predecessor, but with the best Miracles cuts from 1962 and 1963: the harmonies are tighter, the voices are smoother, the production is crisper, the arrangements are better. Plus, of course, the band – not just Marv, but the bass, drums and horns, too – are constantly improving. All in all, it sounds great.
But you keep coming back to the song itself, which even the most devoted of worshippers at the altar of Smokey Robinson would have to admit is a weak effort by his standards. It’s not quite a throwaway scribble, but the nursery rhyme thing is a hard blow to its lyrical integrity: by focussing attention on a twee, artificial rhyming scheme at the beginning, and forcing a refrain out of the most childish bit of the nursery rhyme (Snakes! / Snails! / Puppy dogs’ tails!), the later (original) couplets end up sounding similarly forced, when they’d probably be quite sweet in a different context:
Pride gets broken
Cruel words spoken
Hearts say goodbye
Eyes have to cry
Hearts on a tree
Walks by the sea…
Three years on from Smokey’s rhyming-dictionary C&W pastiche Broken Hearted, this is a step backwards from there – and it’s missing the lovely Maybe you don’t know it, girl bit from that song to make up for it. The tune isn’t all that, either – a kind of amalgamation of I Like It Like That and The Way You Do The Things You Do missing all of the best bits of both of those records, formed from 100% connective tissue.
It wasn’t a huge success on the charts (scraping into the Top 40, though it followed the lead of I Like It Like That into the little-read Cash Box R&B Top 10), and it’s not difficult to see why.
All of that being said, I’d underline that it still sounds really good; there are a couple of sweet moments, and some great performances on backing vocals which make this well worth a visit. It’s just that for a Miracles single written and produced by Smokey, that’s kind of the bare minimum I’ve come to expect. This is a water-treading, wheel-spinning entry in the Miracles catalogue, pleasant enough but lacking everything that made me love I Like It Like That, and if anyone were to tell me this was their favourite Miracles record, I’d be deeply suspicious.
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.
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The Miracles “Would I Love You” |
DISCOVERING MOTOWN |
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I’d give this one at least an eight; it’s always been one of my favorites. The intro never fails to grab me immediately, and even though the nursery rhyme structure of the song veers toward the precious at times, Smokey balances it nicely with his more adult-oriented counter-lyrics (You take a cruel word spoken/ Pride gets broken/ And you got a little break-up/ You take a little bit of soul/ Sweet words being told/ And you got a little make-up). I particularly like his moderately unrestrained reading of “soul.” The whole thing builds effectively throughout, really pulling in the listener. Oh, well…at least we both agree that it’s fantastically produced and performed!
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I particularly like the way each verse is longer than the one before owing to the addition of an extra rhyming couplet. 7/10.
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Always have liked this record..love the intro and production values. I give it an 8.
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I believe I’d go one or two more on this one. I can’t say I ever disliked it. It’s just not Smokey at his strongest, but not every Miracles outing can be. It’s easy enough for me to imagine the writer who is about to come up with the very deep “Since I Lost My Baby” and “A Fork In The Road” to scoff at this one, and yet it’s the same man.
It ante’s up and keeps the group in the game, but doesn’t raise the stakes. And it’s not a good piece of luck for the record that it’s released in the second half of August while “Where Did Our Love Go” is sitting at the top of Billboard. Not just Martha & the Vandellas and The Marvelettes but, despite Smokey’s eminence, the Miracles too are about to feel their position shift in Motown’s Starfleet.
But even if none of that were going on, “That’s What Love Is Made Of,” especially regarding the juvenile bent of its lyrics, would still be soundly shown up just by turning the 45 over.
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I’d give it at least a 7.
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I just want to say the only version of this song that I am familiar with is little Michael Jackson’s. I never knew that his version was a remake, but now that I’m older I would have figured it was remake. The opening is cute, but it was not my favorite of little Michael’s.
With that said, this version being the original is not my favorite either. Like Nixon mentioned above the nursery rhyme bit gets a little old quick which kind of drags the song down. I would agree that The Miracles as a group had come along way since “Bad Girl” as far as their sound is concerned.
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I’m giving this a 9. FIVE??????? I’m not even going to comment. Save your fives for the last few Mel-o-dy 45s LOL
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You’re all nuts 🙂
From the little-read “Marks Out Of Ten” page as linked to from the top bar:
Five out of ten is my halfway point (yes, I know this is not mathematically correct!), and is the mark I’ve chosen to represent “average”; it’s the embodiment of okay. The record may veer between sublime brilliance and shocking crapulence, or there may not be anything wrong with it at all – it’s perhaps just not that good a song. This is just about the lowest a record has to score to end up in my ever-growing Motown shuffle playlist (serving as something like a Top 500), although entry isn’t guaranteed; still, anywhere 5 and above, and a record’s doing alright.
I may change my mind, be dazzled by a pleasant surprise I’d previously skipped, but off the top of my head, those late Mel-o-dy sides wish they were looking at fives… And this? It’s nice enough and everything, and it sounds great, but if I’m making a Miracles playlist, this doesn’t make the cut.
Ah, dissent, the very soul of Motown Junkies.
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In the 60s I used to do a weeky personal chart, and this reached Number 1 in it.
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Nixon, I support your vote on this record = )
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This song makes my playlist any day! Motown’s Golden Age was between 1963 – 1972 (in my opinion) and this epitomizes that era. One of my favorites of the Miracles.
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Are you the DJ Terry Jones who used to manage P&J Records?
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Maybe he’s the ex-Monty Pythoner and film producer?
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This one wouldn’t get onto my shuffle playlist, but if we’re talking a greatest hits compilation, it’s one that would try my patience. Let’s go on to the next one (whatever it is). I like the context in the review with the comparison to the Temptations’ “The Way You Do….” That’s not a connection I would have made while waiting for this one to run its course.
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This song is hot and I believe this song deserves at least a 7 or 8. This is one of the Miracles charming singles I heard! LOVE IT! 🙂
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I was visiting my wonderful sister (and contributor to this column) in Massachusetts when this post appeared, or my howls of protest would have erupted earlier. I notice often, Nixon, when I’m in violent disagreement with you about a song, that the word ‘buoyant’ appears in my description.. and it would appear here also. I LOVE the buoyant playfulness of this song, and the way it uses nursery-rhymes to make a really sublime point. (Forgive me, everyone, but how many operatic plots are adumbrated in these lyrics!! Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, Puccini’s Tosca and La Bohème, Verdi’s Otello, it’s all here – in delicious capsule form for those who don’t share my addiction to the other style – but who like to hear the human condition fittingly celebrated in melody, harmony and rhythm!) This song is welcome to keep running in my brain at any time, a quality it shares with Mozart … and not much else. Always in season. I think the lyrics are really inspired, and that their deceptive superficiality hides a deep and lifelong concern with the ways of love. Twee, forsooth! NINE. (A pleasure to read you, as always, even if this one evokes a really vehement response.)
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Well, a 7. I’ve always liked it, but it does seem like the little brother to “The Way You Do the Things You Do”. It’s got a nice gospel-y feel to the backing vocals, always a plus for me, and there’s one spot toward the end where the bass overloads the compressor just a bit and it kind of pops- something I always listen for. The melody is pleasant but nothing special. So it’s not my favortite Miracles record, but it’s far far from the bottom.
Lyrically, it’s OK, though love is made of different things for different people…
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Prepare to be deeply suspicious.
While i may not say this is my favorite Miracles record, i will say it is my favorite Miracles record of 1964.
Its hella danceable and lyrically just see John Plant above. The comparisons to Verdi and Moazrt are classic!
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I tend to agree with those who would rate it higher. For one thing I hear pre-echoes of the Jackson 5’s ABC. Also a great catch by 144man on the fabulous idea of incrementally longer and longer verse (as happened in Baby I Need Your Lovin’). I haven’t heard it enough to weigh in on the rating, but even after one shot, it seems odd for this to be a 5/10 after those two 8/10s awarded to straight-up blues tracks less notable for originality than for their great vocals and grooves – qualities that Smokey always has even when his writing isn’t at its most original.
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This has always been one of my favorite Miracles recordings (not to worry, Nixon, it’s not my all-time favorite; we’ve already passed that one). I really dig the progression of lyrics as Smokey builds his essay on what love is made of. This is a technique that has been heard before in various songs including several folk songs. One illustration is “Must Be Santa,” most recently included by Bob Dylan in his Christmas album a couple of Decembers ago. Another is also a song from the Christmas genre whose title escapes me. It contains lyrics including, “…children go where I send thee,” and “…born, born, born in Bethlehem.” Somebody out there knows which song I’m talking about. It may be a hymn or a spiritual.
But, what I really like about this recording is the melody and the organ, oh…that organ! It’s worth 2 points alone. Added to my original 7, the resulting total is “9.” But it takes something special to appreciate it, and Smokey has the answer right in his lyrics: It takes “a little of soul.” Sorry mates, but some have it and some don’t.
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OK, I have the title: Children, Go Where I Send Thee.” If I were more religious, I’d know this, but I’m not.
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“But you keep coming back to the song itself, which even the most devoted of worshippers at the altar of Smokey Robinson would have to admit is a weak effort by his standards.” [[Nixon, above]
Really? Normally you just speak for yourself. I think it’s better that way. 10/10.
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