The New Yorker has this appreciation:
The album is an oddity in many ways. For starters, it’s only six songs long, with a running time of twenty-seven minutes. It opens with the title song, a reworked and extended version of a Miracles song originally recorded in 1962 and covered by acts such as Mary Wells and the Temptations. Whether that counts as an original is debatable, but it’s the only song on the record that even comes close. The other songs are standards by Stevie Wonder (“My Cherie Amour”), Bacharach and David (“This Guy’s in Love with You,” originally recorded by Herb Alpert), and Lennon and McCartney (“And I Love Her”), along with two Motown chestnuts—Marvin Gaye’s “If This World Were Mine,” which he recorded as a duet with Tammi Terrell, and “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy,” a Brenda Holloway hit co-written by Berry Gordy that was later a huge hit for Blood, Sweat, and Tears. The songs, all similarly themed, all handled at roughly the same tempo, flow together; Robinson’s vocals, high and sweet, float over meticulous harmonies and lavish string and horn arrangements.I'm a big fan of Smokey and Motown, but I guess not enough of one to have heard this LP.
Now I want to.
I heard Smokey's version of "My Cherie Amour" about 12 years ago from a friend's cassette, and have been searching for it ever since. That's awesome that it's now available digitally!
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