Yester Love

"Yester Love" (Tamla 54167) was a 1968 song by Motown Records R&B group The Miracles (aka "Smokey Robinson" and The Miracles) on its Tamla subsidiary label. It was recorded on December 18, 1967 (released on May 13, 1968), and was included on the group's album, Special Occasion.

Composed by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson, and Motown staff songwriter Al Cleveland and produced by Robinson, the song was a Billboard top 40 pop hit, peaking at No. 31, and a top 10 R&B hit as well, peaking at No. 9. It also reached No. 24 on the U.S. Cash Box Top 100.^[1] In Canada, the song reached No. 28.^[2]

A mid-tempo song, instead of the usual ballad, a trademark of The Miracles, this tune was a sad lament about a lost love, the theme of many Miracles' songs. The song's title, "Yester Love", is a shortened form of "Yesterday Love", or "Love of Yesterday", indicating the relationship has now ended. Smokey, as the song's narrator, portrays a heartbroken man, reminiscing about a once-happy relationship with his girl, with promise of a future, that ended in failure, with his wondering just how it got there:

"Yesterday, we made future plans....

She loved me, I could tell...

Can today be that tomorrow...

That we planned so well...

Yester Baby,I'll never forget her...

Though tomorrow might bring me one better...

Today, I go my way, dreaming of my Yester love..."

During the song, Smokey, ever the master poet, also explains the meaning of his use of the term "Yester", in his usual fashion:

"Yester is.....

The Prefix that we fix

To things that have gone by...

Forever, they say...."

Miracle Marv Tarplin's outstanding guitar work is evident throughout, and is actually the last thing the listener hears, as the song draws to a close. During the song, Miracles Claudette Robinson, her cousin Bobby Rogers, Ronnie White, and Pete Moore, project sympathetic background vocals to Smokey's lead, with Claudette's voice clearly audible in the chorus.

"Yester Love" was released during 1968, a period during which The Miracles, a normally guaranteed Top 20 and occasional Top 10 group, were undergoing an inexplicable chart decline, along with many of Motown's other top groups, including The Supremes. Fortunately, this trend was soon reversed by the Top 10 success of their hit, Baby, Baby Don't Cry, in Spring, 1969.

"Yester Love" has inspired a cover version by Gerald Wilson and his Orchestra, and has been included in several Miracles "Greatest Hits" anthologies. Taken from the same album, the song's "B" side, "Much Better Off", like many Miracles "B" sides, was also a popular regional hit, and inspired a cover version by late rapper J Dilla.^[3]

Personnel—The Miracles

Smokey Robinson - lead vocals
Pete Moore - bass vocals
Claudette Rogers-Robinson - soprano vocals
Ronnie White - baritone vocals
Bobby Rogers - tenor vocals
Marv Tarplin -guitar

Other personnel

The Funk Brothers

References and external links

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: The 35th Anniversary Collection (The Miracles' Discography, pg 61)

References

The Miracles

Smokey Robinson Ronnie White Pete Moore Bobby Rogers Claudette Robinson Marv Tarplin Billy Griffin Donald Griffin Carl Cotton Mark Scott Dave Finley Sidney Justin Alphonse Franklin Tee Turner Pre-Miracles: Emerson "Sonny" Rogers James Grice Clarence Dawson

Production	Berry Gordy Smokey Robinson Pete Moore

Studio albums	Hi... We're The Miracles (1961) Cookin' with The Miracles (1961) I'll Try Something New (1962) The Fabulous Miracles (1963) The Miracles Doin' Mickey's Monkey (1963) I Like It Like That (1964) Going to a Go-Go (1965) Away We a Go-Go (1966) Make It Happen (The Tears of a Clown) (1967) Special Occasion (1968) Time Out For Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (1969) Four in Blue (1969) What Love Has Joined Together (1970) A Pocket Full Of Miracles (1970) One Dozen Roses (1971) Flying High Together (1972) Renaissance (1973) Do It Baby (1974) City of Angels (1975)

Live albums	The Miracles Recorded Live on Stage (1963) Smokey Robinson & The Miracles LIVE! (1969) Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: 1957-1972 (1972)

Other albums	Christmas with The Miracles (1963)

Compilations	Greatest Hits: From the Beginning (1965) Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 (1968) Anthology (1974) Anthology '86 (1986) Anthology: The Best of Smokey Robinson & The Miracles (1995) The Ultimate Collection (1998) Ooo Baby Baby: The Anthology (2002) Depend On Me: The Early Albums (2009)

Singles (US/UK Top Twenty singles)	"Shop Around" "You've Really Got a Hold on Me"/"Happy Landing" "Mickey's Monkey" "Ooo Baby Baby" "The Tracks of My Tears" "My Girl Has Gone" "Going to a Go-Go" "(Come 'Round Here) I'm the One You Need" "The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage" "I Second That Emotion" "If You Can Want" "Baby, Baby Don't Cry" "The Tears of a Clown" "I Don't Blame You At All" "Do It Baby" "Love Machine"

Videography	The Definitive Performances (1963–1987) (2006)

Discography	Albums Songs

Related articles	Motown Records List of cover versions of The Miracles songs

Book:The Miracles

The Miracles singles discography

1950s	"Got a Job" (1958) "Your Love (Is All I Need)" (1958) "I Cry" (1958) "I Need a Change" (1959) "It" (1959) " Bad Girl" (1959) "The Feeling Is So Fine" (1959) / " (You Can) Depend on Me" (1959)

1960s	"Way Over There" (1960) "Shop Around" (1960) / Who's Lovin' You" (1960) "Ain't It Baby" (1961) "Mighty Good Lovin'" (1961) / Broken Hearted" (1961) "Everybody's Gotta Pay Some Dues" (1961) "What's So Good About Goodbye" (1961) / " I've Been Good To You" (1961) "I'll Try Something New" (1962) "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" (1962) / "Happy Landing" (1962) "A Love She Can Count On" (1963) / "I Can Take a Hint" (1963) " Mickey's Monkey" (1963) " I Gotta Dance to Keep From Crying" (1963) "The Christmas Song" (1963) "(You Can't Let the Boy Overpower) The Man in You" (1964) "I Like It Like That" (1964) "That's What Love Is Made Of" (1964) "Come On Do The Jerk" (1964) "Ooo Baby Baby" (1965) "The Tracks of My Tears" (1965) / "A Fork in the Road" (1965) "My Girl Has Gone" (1965) "Going to a Go-Go" (1965) / "Choosey Beggar" (1965) "Whole Lot of Shakin' in My Heart (Since I Met You)" (1966) "(Come 'Round Here) I'm the One You Need" (1966) "The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage" (1967) "More Love" (1967) " I Second That Emotion" (1967) If You Can Want" (1968) "Yester Love" (1968) "Special Occasion" (1968) "Baby, Baby Don't Cry" (1969) "Here I Go Again" (1969) / "Doggone Right" (1969) "Abraham, Martin and John" (1969) "Point It Out" (1969) / "Darling Dear" (1969)

1970s	"Who's Gonna Take the Blame" (1970) "The Tears of a Clown" (1970) "I Don't Blame You At All" (1970) "Crazy About the La La" (1971) "Satisfaction" (1971) "We've Come Too Far to End It Now" (1972) "I Can't Stand to See You Cry" (1972) "Don't Let It End ('Til You Let It Begin)" (1973) "Give Me Just Another Day" (1973) "Do It Baby" (1974) "Don't Cha Love It" (1974) "Gemini" (1975) "Love Machine" (1975) "Night Life" (1976) "Spy for Brotherhood" (1977) "I Can Touch the Sky" (1977) "Mean Machine" (1978)

Book:The Miracles

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