The Tracks of My Tears

Infobox Single
Name = The Tracks of My Tears


Caption =
Artist = The Miracles
from Album = Going To A Go-Go
A-side = The Tracks of My Tears
B-side = "A Fork in the Road"
Released = June 1965
Format = vinyl record (7" 45 RPM)
Recorded = Hitsville USA (Studio A); 1965
Genre = Soul
Length = 2:57
Label = Tamla
T 54118
Writer = William Robinson, Jr., Warren Moore, Marvin Tarplin
Producer = Smokey Robinson
Certification =
Chart position = 16 (US), 2 (R&B)
Last single = "Ooo Baby Baby"
1965
This single = "The Tracks of My Tears"
1965
Next single = "My Girl Has Gone"
1965
Misc =

"The Tracks of My Tears" is a 1965 hit single by The Miracles for the Tamla (Motown) label. It is considered among their best recordings, and is listed on the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. An all- time classic, this million- selling song is also a 2007 Grammy Hall of Fame inductee.

The Miracles' original version of this song was also ranked #50 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time [cite web|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6595895/the_tracks_of_my_tears/1|title=The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|publisher=RollingStone.com|accessdate=2008-06-19] .

Overview

Like a number of Miracles songs, "The Tracks of My Tears" finds Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson as a man hiding the sadness of a bad breakup behind a false smile and laugh. "Outside I'm masquerading/Inside, my hope is fading", he sings. "If you look closer, it's easy to trace/The tracks of my tears."

Written by Robinson, Pete Moore, and Miracles guitarist Marv Tarplin, "The Tracks of My Tears" was a #2 hit on the Billboard magazine R&B singles chart, and reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single also was a Top 10 hit in England, reaching #9 on the UK singles chart.

On the Motown five-LP release "The Motown Story", Robinson explains the origin of the song: :"Tracks of My Tears" was actually started by Marv Tarplin, who is a young cat who plays guitar for our act. So he had this musical thing - " [singing melody] " – you know, and we worked around with it, and worked around, and it became "Tracks of My Tears."

In a 2006 poll for a Channel 5 program "Britain's Favourite Break-up Songs", it was voted sixteenth. In early 2007, the Miracles' original version of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Cover versions

"The Tracks Of My Tears" is The Miracles' most honored and most covered song .It has been ranked at or near the top of many "best of" lists in the music industry over the last 40 years. Singer Linda Ronstadt did a successful cover version of the song in 1976, eventually hitting #11 on the Billboard country singles chart. "The Tracks of My Tears" also became a hit for Johnny Rivers and Aretha Franklin. The Flying Pickets released an a cappella version of this song on It has also been covered by numerous other artists. Go West also covered it for their "Best Of" album in 1993 and released it as a single, reaching #16 on the UK Singles Chart.In 2008, Boyz II Men did their own rendition for their Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA album. Other fellow Motown artists who covered the song included Gladys Knight & The Pips , The Jackson Five and The Contours.
*Other Cover Versions:

*Johnny Rivers (1967)
*Linda Ronstadt (1976)
*Dean Martin (2001)
*Pat Kelly (1969)
*Latoya Jackson (1995)
*Big Country - "Live on the King Biscuit Flower Hour" (1984)
*Go West - "Aces and Kings - The Best Of Go West" (1993)
*Flying Pickets - "" (1994)
*Gavin DeGraw (2004)
*Michael McDonald- "Motown Two" 2005
*Boyz II Men - "" (2007) Also released as the first single from the album.
*Dolly Parton - "Backwoods Barbie" (2008)
* Other cover versions by: Brenda Russell,Mary Beth Maziarz,Colin Blunstone,Dianne Reeves,Mongo Santamaria,Brian Ferry,Human Nature,Peter Andre,The Mighty Diamonds , Q-Tips,The Mega Kids, Soul Asylum and others.

Awards and Accolades

* The "Record Industry Association of America" (RIAA) ranked it at # 127 in its list of the "Songs of the Century"- the 365 Greatest Songs of the 20th Century.
* Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame .
* Chosen by "Rolling Stone Magazine" as #50 in its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
* Chosen as one of "The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
*Preserved by The Library Of Congress into the National Recording Registry .
*Chosen as one of the "Top 10 Best Songs of All Time" by a panel of 20 top industry songwriters and producers including Hal David,Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, Jerry Leiber,and others as reported to Britain's Mojo music magazine. (1).

Other uses

It was featured in a memorable scene in the 1986 Vietnam war film "Platoon". In 2002, folk singer Billy Bragg released the song "Tears of My Tracks" on the album "England, Half English". In the song, a man laments selling his vinyl record collection. Bragg had previously recorded a version of "The Tracks of My Tears" that was issued, along with other demos, b-sides, and rarities, on the second disk of the rereleased "Talking With the Taxman About Poetry."

On May 14, 2008, the song was preserved by the Library of Congress as an "culturally, historically and aesthetically significance" to the National Recording Registry. The Miracles can be seen performing "The Tracks Of My Tears" on the Motown DVD release: "Smokey Robinson and The Miracles: The Definitive Performances".

On August 5,2008 the A&E original series The Cleaner featured the song "Tracks of My Tears" recorded by Gavin DeGraw in the episode "Chaos Theory".

Credits The Miracles:

*Smokey Robinson - Lead vocals
*Marv Tarplin - Guitar
*Claudette Rogers Robinson - Background vocals
*Pete Moore - Background vocals
*Ronnie White - Background vocals
*Bobby Rogers - Background vocals

Other Credits

*Written by William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr., Warren "Pete" Moore, and Marvin "Marv" Tarplin of The Miracles
*Produced by William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr.
*Other Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers

References

*"Hits Of The Sixties: The Million Sellers" by Demitri Coryton and Joseph Murrells (pg 131) .
*"Smokey Robinson and The Miracles: The Definitive Performances 1963-1987"(Motown/Universal DVD-2006) .
* "The Tracks of My Tears - Top 10 Best songs of All Time" (#5} [http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,49779,00.html] http://www.geocities.com/thedanzman/inmylife.html

Notes