Going to a Go-Go

{{About|the 1965 album by the Miracles|the single|Going to a Go-Go (song)}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Going to a Go-Go

| type = studio

| artist = Smokey Robinson & the Miracles

| cover = Miraclesgoingtoagogo.jpg

| alt =

| released = {{Start date|1965|11|01}}

| recorded = 1963–1965

| venue =

| studio = Hitsville USA, Detroit

| genre = Soul{{cite book|title=33 1/3 Revolutions Per Minute - A Critical Trip Through the Rock LP Era, 1955–1999|first=Mike|last=Segretto|date=2022|chapter= 1965|pages=72–73|publisher=Backbeat|isbn=9781493064601|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jtNtEAAAQBAJ}}

| length = 33:49

| label = Tamla

| producer = Smokey Robinson

| prev_title = Greatest Hits from the Beginning

| prev_year = 1965

| next_title = Away We a Go-Go

| next_year = 1966

| misc = {{Singles

| name = Going to a Go-Go

| type = Studio

| single1 = Ooo Baby Baby

| single1date= March 5, 1965

| single2 = The Tracks of My Tears

| single2date= June 23, 1965

| single3 = My Girl Has Gone

| single3date= September 22, 1965

| single4 = Going to a Go-Go

| single4date= December 6, 1965}}

}}

{{Music ratings

|rev1 = Allmusic

|rev1score = {{rating|4.5|5}}[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r67477|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic review]

| rev2 = Record Mirror

| rev2Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{Cite magazine |last1=Jones |first1=Peter |author-link1=Peter Jones (journalist) |last2= Jopling |first2= Norman |date=26 February 1966 |title=The Miracles: Going To A Go Go |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/60s/66/Record-Mirror-1966-02-26.pdf |magazine=Record Mirror |issue=259 |page=8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401225640/https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/60s/66/Record-Mirror-1966-02-26.pdf |archive-date=1 April 2022|access-date=22 August 2022}}

}}

Going to a Go-Go is the seventh studio album by the American R&B group Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.{{refn|group=nb|The album was the first credited to Smokey Robinson and the Miracles rather than simply the Miracles.{{cite news |author1=MOJO Staff |title=The Best Motown Albums Ranked |url=https://www.mojo4music.com/articles/the-mojo-list/the-top-10-motown-albums/ |work=MOJO |date=September 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240909153100/https://www.mojo4music.com/articles/the-mojo-list/the-top-10-motown-albums/ |archive-date=September 9, 2024 |language=en |url-status=live |quote=Going To A Go-Go was the first Miracles album to feature its lead singer and main songwriter’s name out-front.}}}} It was released on November{{nbsp}}1, 1965, in the United States on Motown's Tamla label. It includes four of the Miracles' Top 20 hits: "Ooo Baby Baby", "The Tracks of My Tears", "Going to a Go-Go", and "My Girl Has Gone".

Going to a Go-Go was the only Miracles studio LP to chart within the Top 10 of the Billboard Top LPs chart, where it remained for 40 weeks, peaking at number 8. The LP peaked at number-one on Billboard's R&B albums chart. In 2003, the album achieved Gold Record status.{{citation needed|date=May 2013}} It was ranked number 271 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6626121/271_going_to_a_gogo |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313204729/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6626121/271_going_to_a_gogo |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 13, 2007 |title=News |publisher=Rolling Stone |access-date=2011-12-05}} and number 273 in the 2012 revised list, and number 412 in the 2020 revised list.{{cite web| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-156826/smokey-robinson-and-the-miracles-going-to-a-go-go-172876/| year=2012| title=500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time| publisher=Rolling Stone| access-date= September 10, 2019}}{{Cite magazine|date=2020-09-22|title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/|access-date=2020-11-11|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US}}

Going to a Go-Go was reissued on CD in 2002, coupled with the Miracles' Away We a Go-Go.

Composition

Sessions for the album took place at Hitsville USA in Detroit between February 10 and September 29, 1965, but six of the twelve tracks had been recorded years earlier, in 1963 and 1964.{{cite web |last1=Hughes |first1=Keith |title=Miracles |url=http://www.dftmc.info/artists/amiracles.htm |website=Don't Forget the Motor City |date=2018 |publisher=Ritchie Hardin |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240424035611/http://www.dftmc.info/artists/amiracles.htm |archive-date=24 April 2024 |url-status=live |access-date=16 September 2024}} Robinson wrote or co-wrote all the tracks, apart from "My Baby Changes Like the Weather", which was written by two other Motown writers, Hal Davis and Frank Wilson. Robinson's main writing partner was his childhood friend and co-founder of the Miracles, Warren "Pete" Moore, who worked with him on seven of the album's twelve tracks. The other writers are: Miracles members Bobby Rogers, Ronald White, and Marv Tarplin, along with William "Mickey" Stevenson, a Motown songwriter and producer, who contributed to one song. Marv Tarplin, the Miracles' lead guitarist, created the evocative opening chords of "The Tracks of My Tears".{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/oct/03/marv-tarplin |title=Marv Tarplin obituary | Music | The Guardian |author=Richard Williams |work=The Guardian |date=3 October 2011 |publisher=GMG |location=London |issn=0261-3077 |oclc=60623878 |access-date=11 May 2013}} and the starting guitar riffs on the title song, and "My Girl Has Gone" .DVD: Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: The Definitive Performances

Release

Going to a Go-Go was released November 1, 1965,{{cite web |last1=Hughes |first1=Keith |title=Going To A Go-Go |url=http://www.dftmc.info/titles/tg-02.htm |website=Don't Forget the Motor City |date=2018 |publisher=Ritchie Hardin |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181219003655/http://www.dftmc.info/titles/tg-02.htm |archive-date=19 December 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=23 September 2019}} and reached number-eight on the Billboard Top LPs chart, and number-one on Billboard's R&B albums chart. It is the only Miracles studio LP to chart within the Top 10. (Another Miracles LP, Greatest Hits Vol. 2 was also a Top 10 success, but that was a compilation, not a studio album.)

The tracks "Ooo Baby Baby", "The Tracks of My Tears", "Going to a Go-Go", and "My Girl Has Gone", were released as singles, and reached the Top 20. "Choosey Beggar" charted on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart at number 35. "A Fork in the Road" was a strong regional hit in several areas of the country and was regularly performed as part of the Miracles' live show.

Going to a Go-Go was reissued on CD in 2002, coupled with the Miracles' Away We a Go-Go.

Track listing

{{track listing

|headline = Side one

|title1 = The Tracks of My Tears

|writer1 = Warren Moore, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Tarplin

|length1 = 2:55

|title2 = Going to a Go-Go

|writer2 = Moore, Robinson, Robert Rogers, Tarplin

|length2 = 2:46

|title3 = Ooo Baby Baby

|writer3 = Moore, Robinson

|length3 = 2:45

|title4 = My Girl Has Gone

|writer4 = Moore, Robinson, Tarplin, Ronald White

|length4 = 2:50

|title5 = In Case You Need Love

|writer5 = Robinson

|length5 = 2:47

|title6 = Choosey Beggar

|writer6 = Moore, Robinson

|length6 = 2:33

|total_length = 16:36

}}

{{track listing

|headline = Side two

|title1 = Since You Won My Heart

|writer1 = Robinson, William "Mickey" Stevenson

|length1 = 2:16

|title2 = From Head to Toe

|writer2 = Robinson

|length2 = 2:25

|title3 = All That's Good

|writer3 = Moore, Robinson

|length3 = 3:12

|title4 = My Baby Changes Like the Weather

|writer4 = Hal Davis, Frank Wilson

|length4 = 2:47

|title5 = Let Me Have Some

|writer5 = Robinson, Rogers

|length5 = 3:07

|title6 = A Fork in the Road

|writer6 = Moore, Robinson, White

|length6 = 3:26

|total_length = 17:13

}}

Personnel

According to the 2022 reissue's liner notes:{{Cite AV media notes |author=Anon. |title=Going to a Go-Go |others=Smokey Robinson & the Miracles |date=2022 |type=Liner notes|publisher=Tamla, Elemental Music |id=602902}}

The Miracles