Special Occasion (The Miracles album)

Special Occasion is an album by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles released in 1968. It contains three Top 40 hits: "If You Can Want", "Yester Love", and "Special Occasion". Also included are versions of the Motown hits "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Everybody Needs Love" (both made popular by Gladys Knight & The Pips) and The Beatles' "Yesterday". The album's biggest hit was the uptempo "If You Can Want", which just missed the Billboard Pop Top 10,peaking at # 11,and was performed by the group on their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1968 . The Miracles were actually the first group to record "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", before the later hits versions by Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight & the Pips were done, although the master used on this album is a re-recorded version prepared following the release of the Pips' version.This album also includes the popular Miracles regional hit "B" sides, Much Better Off (which inspired a cover version by late rapper J Dilla) , and Give Her Up .

Track listing

Side one

1. "Yester Love" (Smokey Robinson, Al Cleveland)
2. "If You Can Want" (Robinson)
3. "Special Occasion" (Robinson, Cleveland)
4. "Everybody Needs Love" (Norman Whitfield, Edward Holland, Jr.)
5. "Just Losing You" (Robinson)
6. "Give Her Up" (Robinson)

Side two

1. "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (Whitfield, Barrett Strong)
2. "Yesterday" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
3. "Your Mother's Only Daughter" (Robinson, Cleveland)
4. "Much Better Off" (Smokey Robinson, Warren Moore)
5. "You Only Build Me Up To Tear Me Down" (Robinson)

Personnel: The Miracles

• Smokey Robinson: lead vocals, producer, executive producer
• Ronnie White, Bobby Rogers, Warren "Pete" Moore, Claudette Robinson: background vocals
• Marv Tarplin: guitarist

Other Credits

• Norman Whitfield, producer ("Everybody Needs Love", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine")
• The Funk Brothers: instrumentation