Smokey on the View today

[luke]

Discussed his career, his poetry, not wanting to be called African American- he’s a Black American he states... interesting interview. Las Vegas appearance upcoming.

[milven]

I watched this earlier, and it was a good interview. He says that he does not like being labeled an African American. He said that he has never been to Africa in his life and considers himself a Black American. He made some good points in the interview.

And in this great big melting pot of a country, will there ever come a time, when we just label ourselves as American? Someone posted the interview on YouTube. Check it out


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsAYHxjjLzg

[motony]

Smokey has & always will be my fave writer & producer.

[Roberta75]

Smokey is one of the worlds greatest poets IMO

[Levi Stubbs Tears]

Smokey is one of the worlds greatest poets IMO

Something Bob Dylan said back in the 60s.

[snakepit]

Something Bob Dylan said back in the 60s.

Except that Bob Dylan didn't say any such thing.
It was " made up" by Motown publicist Al Abrams

[jobucats]

Except that Bob Dylan didn't say any such thing.
It was " made up" by Motown publicist Al Abrams

Thanks, snakepit, for pointing that out. Here's what Ben Harper had to say about this claim from Al Abrams.
"Al Abrams is a master of this suspect genre. He had a plum gig as the head of PR for Motown during the company's salad days. A whopper he told about Dylan still reverberates. Abrams has told the tale a number of times, but he lays it out best in his 2011 book Hype & Soul: Behind the Scenes at Motown: "One morning I received a memo from Berry reminding me that Smokey Robinson is one of our nation's greatest songwriters and I should really do something in a hurry to promote him as such in the media because he wasn't getting all the recognition he really deserved." He continues, "I mentioned it to Al Aronowitz, a music writer who was also Dylan's biographer and very close friend. Al said that he had heard Dylan praise some of Smokey's lyrics as being poetical. I asked Al if he would let me get a quote from Dylan about Smokey. Al asked me what I had in mind and I suggested Smokey Robinson is America's Greatest Living Poet. Al thought about it for a minute and said, 'Why bother even telling Bob? That sounds just like something he'd say anyway. Go ahead and do it. If Bob sees it in print he'll think he said it. He's certainly never going to deny it.'"

Abrams confesses, "I will admit that I lived in fear every time I heard Dylan was doing a major interview and might say, 'What the fuck? I never said that.'"

That Bob Dylan called Smokey Robinson "America's greatest living poet" has been presented as fact for more than four decades. The quote turns up in quite a large pile of books, some by respected writers. Nelson George mentions it in Where Did Our Love Go?: The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound. In Fortunate Son Dave Marsh writes, "When Bob Dylan said that Robinson was America's greatest living poet, he was not talking about rhyme schemes and meter — but he knew what he was talking about." It turns out that it looks like he didn't know."

[snakepit]

Thanks Jobucats
Let's hope this myth gets nailed once and for all.
Motto...do not believe all of what you read in the 'media'.

[jobucats]

Thanks Jobucats
Let's hope this myth gets nailed once and for all.
Motto...do not believe all of what you read in the 'media'.

I usually rely on the comments on Facebook to get my facts. And I ain't got time to go research to check on a story's validity. I just go by my gut feeling at the time as to what is true or false...especially when a commenter states, "And I know this to be a fact." LOL

[marybrewster]

https://www.blackenterprise.com/motown-icon-smokey-robinson-reclaims-power-in-being-called-a-black-american/