EXCLUSIVE: Message from a Miracle
- Letters To You
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
April 11, 2025
Standing onstage in Harlem's legendary Apollo Theater just over thirteen years ago, Bruce Springsteen told his audience, "If you played in a bar on the Central Jersey Shore in the sixties and seventies, you played soul music... Motown, Atlantic, Stax... These were the labels whose very names held a power and a mystery for us when we were young and gettin' goin'. And we knew that way off in some never-never land of rhythm-and-blues, there was a place called the Apollo. It was the home of the gods, and the true Temple of Soul... And all the men and women who worked on this stage were our teachers and our masters, and they schooled us, and we hope to deliver on just some small piece of their promise. We studied all our subjects... geography; we learned the exact location of Funky Broadway from Wilson Pickett... history; change is gonna come - Sam Cooke... math; 99 1/2 won't fuckin' do! - Wilson again... religion; Aretha Franklin... sex education; Marvin Gaye. We were imparted with the wisdom of Solomon... Burke. And of course, it was the poetry... the poetry... the poetry... of Smokey Robinson."
William "Smokey" Robinson will be among the five honorees later this month when The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University presents its third annual American Music Honors event in the University's Pollak Theatre. As the press release announcing this year's event stated, Smokey Robinson will be honored for his immense impact as an "artist, songwriter, producer... one of the architects of the famed ‘60s Motown Sound/the Sound of Young America with classics as 'The Tracks of My Tears,' 'Tears of a Clown,' and 'You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me.'” Oh, and incidentally, he also wrote and produced more than a few hits for other Motown acts, including both "My Guy" AND "My Girl." 'Nuff said.
Appropriately, Robinson's honoree award will be presented by that noted disciple of soul music, Stevie Van Zandt. In 2020, on the occasion of Smokey Robinson's 80th birthday, Van Zandt wrote on his social-media, "My first memory is my Uncle Sal buying me 'Going To A Go-Go,' which remains one of my favorite records of all time and continues to inform my own writing. I would become a lifetime fan of both his songwriting and one of the great voices ever."
Letters To You recently reached out to Smokey Robinson to ask if he might like to share a few thoughts with our readers on his American Music Honors recognition. As he so often does, Smokey exceeded expectations, responding by recording exclusively for us a brief personal message directed to Bruce Springsteen himself, and he included a well-deserved nod to Stevie Van Zandt, as well. Of course we're very honored and excited to "relay" this message on behalf of Smokey Robinson. Below, you can hear it as presented on our SoundCloud and YouTube platforms, and also read the transcribed version:
"Hey, Bruce, it's Smokey, man. Thank you so much for giving me the American Music Honors for 2025. I really appreciate that, man. I'm a big fan of yours, and you're my brother; I love you, man. And I'm so happy that Steven's gonna give it to me, so I'm looking forward to it. Can't wait to see you guys."
And finally, for more on the greatness of Smokey Robinson, check out the two videos embedded below. The first is an insightful and moving 2015 keynote lecture by retired music writer (and Springsteen biographer) par excellence Dave Marsh, delivered at Case Western Reserve University for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's Music Masters series honoring Robinson that year. The second is an excerpt from Robinson's 2010 SXSW Keynote, presented as an onstage conversation between Marsh and Robinson, during which Robinson's hilarious "Oobla" fable embodies the essential spirit behind The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music.