Love Breeze is an album by the American musician Smokey Robinson, released in 1978. It was arranged by Sonny Burke. It peaked at No. 75 on the Billboard 200.[1]

Love Breeze
Studio album by
Released1978
LabelMotown
ProducerSmokey Robinson, Jerry Butler, Homer Talbert III, Mike & Brenda Sutton
Smokey Robinson chronology
Big Time
(1977)
Love Breeze
(1978)
Smokin'
(1978)

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide     [3]

The Bay State Banner determined that "Smokey is content to master today's wah-wah-ing and orchestral perfumery, as his production stretches the music so thin it nearly breaks: soloists' one-notes stand as alone as Smokey's voice."[4] In 2011, The New Yorker wrote: "The record has uncomfortable duds, like 'Shoe Soul', which takes a pedestrian pun to absurd lengths, but also songs like 'Daylight and Darkness', which poses a number of increasingly pointed questions about a lover's mood swings. The music is smooth, easy listening unless you're really listening."[5]

Track listing

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Side one

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  1. "Why You Wanna See My Bad Side" (Smokey Robinson, Janie Bradford) - (3:45)
  2. "Love So Fine" (Smokey Robinson) - (4:34)
  3. "Feeling You, Feeling Me" (Homer Talbert, Jerry Butler) - (3:52)
  4. "Madam X" (words: Smokey Robinson; music: Marv Tarplin) - (6:28)

Side two

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  1. "Shoe Soul" (words: Smokey Robinson; music: Mike Sutton, Brenda Sutton) - (4:41)
  2. "Trying It Again" (Smokey Robinson, Richard Williams) - (4:53)
  3. "Daylight and Darkness" (Smokey Robinson, Rose Ella Jones) - (4:00)
  4. "I'm Loving You Softly" (Kennis Jones) - (4:29)

Personnel

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Production

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  • Producers – Smokey Robinson (Tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 7 & 8); Jerry Butler and Homer Talbert (Track 3); Mike and Brenda Sutton (Track 5)
  • Engineers – Don Boehret, Michael Lizzio, Barney Perkins, Bob Robitaille, Michael Schuman, Art Stewart and Art White.
  • Assistant Engineer – James Warmack
  • Recorded at Motown Recording Studios (Hollywood, CA); ABC Recording Studios (Los Angeles, CA); Kendun Recorders (Burbank, CA).
  • Mixed by Russ Terrana
  • Mastered by Jack Andrews
  • Mixed and Mastered at Motown Recording Studios (Hollywood, CA).
  • Art Direction and Design – Wriston Jones
  • Illustration – Brian Zick

References

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  1. ^ "Smokey Robinson". Billboard. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Love Breeze Review by Andrew Hamilton". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  3. ^ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 595.
  4. ^ Freedberg, Mike (9 Mar 1978). "Smokey Robinson Love Breeze". Bay State Banner. No. 22. p. 17.
  5. ^ Greenman, Ben (Feb 14, 2011). "Miracle Man". The New Yorker. Vol. 87, no. 1. p. 26.