Age ain’t nothing but a number for Smokey Robinson. The 83-year-old is living his best life with his new album Gasms still making waves and a busy touring schedule. Smokey is not your average octogenarian, and even at his big age, he is experiencing firsts in his long, storied career, such as being invited by NPR Music to perform a Tiny Desk Concert.
Smokey Robinson is the latest Black Music legend to grace the Tiny Desk Concert series with his presence. He arrived at NPR’s Washington, D.C. headquarters with a 12-piece band – including a four-woman string section – and managed to fit everyone behind and around the world’s most famous desk for his performance. Robinson sat down and went to town with selections old and new.
He began his mini-concert with his 1981 hit “Being With You” before digging deeper in his crates to sing “The Tears Of A Clown,” his 1967 classic with his former group The Miracles, which he noted he co-wrote with a teenage Stevie Wonder. Those oldies but goodies got the live, in-office audience going, and they showered the legend in their midst with applause.
Smokey then decided to give Tiny Desk some Gasms and sang the single “If We Don’t Have Each Other” and the album cut “Beside You,” which he smoothly dedicated to all the ladies in attendance. The bluesy slow jam set the stage for more romantic classics from his catalog.
He segued into his 1975 song “Quiet Storm” for which the radio format that originated in Washington, D.C. at WHUR was named after. The live rendition received an extended instrumental and flute solo that really set it off. After a few words of thanks for having him on Tiny Desk, Smokey and the band ended his set on a glorious note with “Cruisin’” before riding off into the proverbial sunset.
This may have been Smokey Robinson’s first appearance on Tiny Desk, but we certainly hope that it’s not his last. He didn’t even scratch the surface of his songbook here, and he’s got a lot of music – and life – left in him. Watch Smokey Robinson bring his songs to life for NPR Music below.
