Smoke Signals is a solo album from legendary Motown artist Smokey Robinson. The Carpenters' connections are strong here -- most of the tracks on the CD were co-produced by Carpenters' guitarist Tony Peluso, and Herb Alpert performs a trumpet solo on the song "Te Quiero Como Si No Hubiera un Manana."
Richard Carpenter appears on two tracks on this album. On the song "Sleepless Nights," Richard arranged the backing vocals and sings backing vocals along with Michael Lovesmith and Maureen Steele. On the song "Hanging On By a Thread," Richard arranged the backing vocals, sings backing vocals along with Michael Lovesmith, and also plays additional keyboads. Tony Peluso plays a guitar solo on this track as well.
Many Smokey Robinson fans do not regard this as one of his best albums. The production is a bit dated-sounding, with heavy use of synthesizers. Richard's backing vocals are very distinctive, though, especially on "Hanging On By a Thread," where the backing vocals sound very much like his arrangements from Time.
This CD is out-of-print, and neither of the tracks with Richard Carpenter appear to be available on any Smokey Robinson anthologies, either.
Return to the Carpenters Album Index.