It’s a soulful track built track built around keyboards and blazing horns, while female backing vocalists accompany Smokey. Get Out of Town is a slower track, one that allows Smokey to demonstrate his beautiful vocal. This is as far removed from those two songs as you can get, but this is an irresistible and compelling slice of funky from Smokey Robinson. When you listen to this stonewall funk classic from Smokey, it’s hard to believe that this is from the man who brought us Tracks of My Tears and The Tears of A Clown. Above the arrangement floats a flute, while keyboards punctuate the now joyful arrangement. It’s replaced by Smokey’s gentle vocal, accompanied by a driving, funk drenched rhythm section, guitars, percussion and subtle, soulful female backing vocalists. The tempo is quick, the sound slightly moody as the track opens, quickly giving way to a fast and furiously funky track, which loses the moody sound. Opening Smokey’s Family Robinson is When You Came, one of four tracks written by Smokey. So what does Smokey’s Family Robinson sound like? That’s what I’ll now tell you. Why the album didn’t fare better commercially seems strange, given the quality of music on Smokey’s Family Robinson. On the album was a combination of dance-floor friendly funk, mellow soul and space jams.
Although the album hadn’t fared as well as Quiet Storm, the music on Smokey’s Family Robinson was just as good as its predecessor. Open was the only single released from the album, reaching number eighty-one in the US Billboard 100 and number ten in the US R&B Charts. Smokey’s Family Robinson was released in February 1976, reaching number fifty-seven in the US Billboard 200 and number nine US R&B Charts. With the Smokey’s Family Robinson recorded, the album was set for release in February 1976. Like Quiet Storm, Smokey wrote four of the seven tracks, while he cowrote two tracks with Rose Ella Jones. While Smokey produced Smokey’s Family Robinson, Sonny Burke helped Smokey arrange the rhythm section, while Fred Smith arranged the horns. Recording of seven tracks took place in 1975 with musicians Fred Smith playing horns, bassist Wayne Tweed, drummer Joseph A. Would Smokey’s Family Robinson continue the success of Quiet Storm, a landmark album, one that spawned a musical genre? 1976 saw Smokey release his fourth album Smokey’s Family Robinson, a pun on the Swiss Family Robinson, a book and movie. Smokey had released number seventy in the US Billboard 200 and number ten in the US R&B Charts, while Pure Smokey reached number ninety-nine in the US Billboard 200 and number twelve in the US R&B Charts. This was Smokey’s third solo album, with 1973s Smokey and 1974s Pure Smokey the two albums preceding Quiet Storm. On Quiet Storm’s release, the album was a both commercially successful and critically acclaimed, reaching number thirty-six in the US Billboard 200 and number seven in the US R&B Charts. So, Smokey’s album Quiet Storm was a complete contrast to most of the music being released back then. Back then, funk ruled the roost, with James Brown, Sly and The Family Stone and even Curtis Mayfield releasing funk albums. The music on Quiet Storm was very different to most of the music being released in 1975. This a critically acclaimed and landmark album, one that spawned its own musical genre Quiet Storm. In a previous review, I reviewed one of Smokey Robinson’s solo albums, Quiet Storm, which released in 1975. SMOKEY ROBINSON-SMOKEY’S FAMILY ROBINSON. SMOKEY ROBINSON-SMOKEY’S FAMILY ROBINSON.