Primarily produced by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson, Going to a Go-Go features compositions co-written by Miracles members Robinson, Ronald White, Bobby Rogers, Pete Moore, and Marv Tarplin. In fact, with the sole exception of the song, "My Baby Changes Like The Weather", this entire album was written by The Miracles.
Going to a Go-Go was the only Miracles studio LP to chart within the Top 10 of the Billboard Top LPs chart, where it remained for 40 weeks, peaking at number 8. The LP peaked at number-one on Billboard's R&B albums chart. In 2003, the album achieved Gold Record status.[citation needed] It was ranked number 271 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[5] and number 273 in the 2012 revised list, and number 412 in the 2020 revised list.[6][7]
Going to a Go-Go was reissued on CD in 2002, coupled with the Miracles' Away We a Go-Go.
Composition
Sessions for the album took place at Hitsville USA in Detroit between February 10 and September 29, 1965, but six of the twelve tracks had been recorded years earlier, in 1963 and 1964.[8] Robinson wrote or co-wrote all the tracks, apart from "My Baby Changes Like the Weather", which was written by two other Motown writers, Hal Davis and Frank Wilson. Robinson's main writing partner was his childhood friend and co-founder of the Miracles, Warren "Pete" Moore, who worked with him on seven of the album's twelve tracks. The other writers are: Miracles members Bobby Rogers, Ronald White, and Marv Tarplin, along with William "Mickey" Stevenson, a Motown songwriter and producer, who contributed to one song. Marv Tarplin, the Miracles' lead guitarist, created the evocative opening chords of "The Tracks of My Tears".[9] and the starting guitar riffs on the title song, and "My Girl Has Gone" .[10]
Release
Going to a Go-Go was released November 1, 1965,[1] and reached number-eight on the Billboard Top LPs chart, and number-one on Billboard's R&B albums chart. It is the only Miracles studio LP to chart within the Top 10. (Another Miracles LP, Greatest Hits Vol. 2 was also a Top 10 success, but that was a compilation, not a studio album.)
^ abHughes, Keith (2018). "Going To A Go-Go". Don't Forget the Motor City. Ritchie Hardin. Archived from the original on 19 December 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
^Hughes, Keith (2018). "Miracles". Don't Forget the Motor City. Ritchie Hardin. Archived from the original on 24 April 2024. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
