At birth, William Robinson was so light skinned that a nurse mistakingly put him in
the "white babies" section of the hospital. He grew up with childhood dreams of being a cowboy and
his uncle Claude gave him his cowboy nickname "Smokey Joe" at age 3 but dropped it at age 13 to just "Smokey".
As a young boy, Smokey's father drove him from Detroit to California just so he could finally see the Wild West and
put his cowboy non-sense to rest.
At age ten, Smokey's first job was delivering groceries in the neighborhood for the
local grocery store. Aretha Franklin's brother Cecil was one of Smokey's best childhood friends and lived just
a few blocks away. Diana Ross lived just four houses down the street and the guys from The Four Tops and the Temptations
all lived in his North West Detroit neighborhood.
In High School, Smokey Robinson began mastering
his love of music writing poems and avidly listening to soul and classic popular music at home with his family. He formed
a local singing group called the Matadors and after graduation, Smokey was on
the way to college to become an electrical engineer because he thought that becoming a singer was "the impossible
dream". He delivered telegrams for Western Union on his bicycle that summer before college and by chance
he met fellow Detroit businessman Barry Gordy who would change his life forever.
Barry took at look at his songs and recorded Smokey's
first record that fall which convinced him to quit college and follow his entertainment dreams. Gordy
signed the Matadors (then called the Miracles) and mentored Smokey on his songwriting skills. The result was the best songwriter in America during the 60s, churning out classic cuts for Motown with the
Miracles, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye and others with songs like "My Girl," "Ooh Baby Baby," "The
Way You Do The Things You Do," "My Guy," and dozens of other soul classics.
Smokey's smooth voice and mesmerizing
green eyes rode the charts during the 60's and 70's all while being consistently involved in every part
of Motown's operations as Vice President for seventeen years, writing, producing, auditioning young hopefuls, and
making his own hit records.
Inducted
into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1988, Smokey Robinson is a Music Legend, passionate song writer, and one of America's
greatest poets. Smokey humorously calls himself the "George Burns" of singers stating that "I'll
sing as long as I have fans and can remember all my lyrics".
From my personal time spent golfing with Smokey I can assure you that Smokey loves golf more than anyone
I know and what I've grown to love most about this lovely man is his great sense of humor. We share a tremendous
love for both music and golf, but Smokey's depth of character and gracious spirit are his greatest attributes.
From his years of traveling the globe and eating lots
of hotel food, Smokey has developed a destinct taste for quality foods. An extremely healthy eater, he has created
his own food line with some of his most favorite dishes and recipes. Just like the Grammy Living Legend’s
music, Smokey Robinson’s "Soul in the Bowl” Chicken Gumbo and Red Beans & Rice is soulfully delicious
and can be found at Albertson and Kroeger grocery stores nationwide.
As with most entertainers, life on the road in hotel rooms can be quit boring but Smokey's
love for television and the movies, keeps him watching plenty of new releases to pass the time. Smokey is a self
proclaimed Golf Channel junkie and calls "Back to the Future" his all time favorite movie and would love nothing
more than to have a great role in a great movie someday.
Currently, Smokey is wrapping up his latest CD due in early 2009 featuring guest artists India
Aire, Joss Stone, and Carlos Santana. Look for another magnificent creation from this gifted man soon!
Smokey plays about one to two rounds
of golf each week around Los Angeles with his best friends and golf buddies Robert Gordy, Barry Gordy IV, and Motown's
long time A & R man Mickey Stevenson. "Those guys are my family, my brothers, and my fellow golf-addicts. We
love golf, but golf doesn't care about us at all," he laughs. He has even kept all his score cards over the years so that when he can no longer play, he'll be able
to recall who won or lost all the money that day and relive precious memories with his best pals on the course. "We
play team skins, sandys, and low medal each round and the money has passed in and out of our grasp pretty evenly over the
years."
When asked what he loves most about golf Smokey says, "What I really love most about golf is that it is an individual
sport which constantly challenges you". If he could change one rule about the game Smokey would love to have footprints
in bunkers and divots in fairways played as "ground under repair". "It shouldn't be a penalty that
someone playing before you was inconsiderate".
A member at both Mountain Gate in Los Angeles and Spanish Trails in Las Vegas, Smokey
carries a 14 handicap and has two (2) Hole In One's to his credit. He calls both towns home and plays in several
Celebrity golf tournaments throughout the year including the Frank Sinatra Classic in Palm Desert and long time friend Tom
Dreesen's Celebrity Classic in Chicago.
Deb's Celebrity Q & A:
Lowest Round: 71 at The Plantation Course
in Kapalua during a PGA Pro-Am with Peter Jacobsen in 1998.
Favorite Golf Gadget: my new Pro
Golf GPS with over 20,000 courses pre programmed.
Something people don't know about me:
I used to run marathons. I also have hundreds of golf shoes and gloves from the 70's in all colors and still
wear them. I love to match and wear colorful outfits with my glove matching my shoes and pants.
I'm particular about:
The food I eat. I only drink soy milk, prefer Oatmeal for breakfast with turkey sausage omelets. I drink
lots of water and apple juice and never drink any caffine, alcohol, coffee, or red meat.
Most Inspirational Golf
Moment: When I saw guys playing in the snow from outside my hotel room window in
New York and realized that I must not really love golf as much as I thought I did.
Fantasy Tour Pro Foursome: Tiger, Sergio, and Lorena Ochoa. I love how much distance they get from their body, especially Lorena!
Current
Swing Thoughts: keeping my elbows together throughout the swing and also, leading the downswing with my legs
not my arms.
Most Frustrating thing about golf: Lack of consistant scoring,
I would love to eliminate the "blow-up holes. I usually carry my golf clubs in the car but recently I played
so bad that I put my clubs away on "time out" inside the garage and haven't looked at them yet......just give
me a few days, I'll be back!"
