The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage

"The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage"
Single by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
from the album Make It Happen[1]
B-side	"Come Spy with Me"
Released	January 27, 1967
Recorded	Hitsville USA (Studio A): November 11, 1966
Genre	Soul, pop, psychedelic soul
Length	2:59
Label	Tamla T 54145
Songwriter(s)	Smokey Robinson Marvin Tarplin
Producer(s)	Smokey Robinson Warren "Pete" Moore
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles singles chronology
"(Come 'Round Here) I'm the One You Need" (1966) "The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage" (1967) "More Love" (1967)

"The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage" is a 1967 song recorded by the American R&B group The Miracles on Motown Records' Tamla label. Written by Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Marv Tarplin and produced by Robinson, it is noted for being the first single to bill the group as "Smokey Robinson" & the Miracles,[2] a billing already present on the group's albums by this time. Group members Smokey Robinson and Pete Moore were the song's producers.[3]^[deprecated source]

Personnel

The Miracles

• Lead vocals by Smokey Robinson
• Background vocals by Claudette Rogers Robinson, Pete Moore, Ronnie White and Bobby Rogers
• Guitar by Marv Tarplin

Other personnel

• Other instrumentation by The Funk Brothers

Lyric content and chart history

The single was a Top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and a Top 10 hit on Billboard's R&B singles chart.[4] As with several of the Miracles' hits, "Mirage" begins with Tarplin's guitar and he plays the riff on a 12-string acoustic guitar. The song's lyrics feature Robinson's character as a man deceived by the beauty of a woman who showed "the promise of love", but then sadly discovered that her love was "just a mirage".

Cash Box called the single a "driving R&B workout that should get a lot of play."[5]

Chart (1967)	Peak position
US Billboard Hot 100[6]	20
US Billboard Top Selling R&B Singles[7]	10

Films and cover versions

• The Jackson 5, Vance Gilbert and The Uniques are among the acts who have recorded cover versions of "The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage".
• The original 45 RPM single had The Miracles' "Come Spy with Me", (the original theme song to the 1967 20th Century Fox film of the same name), as the B-side.
• The hit "A" side, The Miracles' "The Love I Saw In You Was Just A Mirage," was also used in a film, the soundtrack of the 1980 crime drama, "American Gigolo" starring Richard Gere. Gere actually sang along to The Miracles' original recording in the film.[8]

References

1. "www.allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
2. Asanovic, Bosko; Rimmer, Dave & Goldberg, Marv. "Miracles discography". Soulful Kinda Music. Retrieved 2008-03-30
3. "The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage / Come Spy with Me by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles - RYM/Sonemic".
4. Hackel, Stu (1997). Smokey Robinson & the Miracles: The Ultimate Collection [liner notes]. New York: Motown Records/Polygram.
5. "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. February 11, 1967. p. 18. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
6. Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 579.
7. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 404.
8. "アメリカン・ジゴロ （American Gigolo - The love I saw in You was just a Mirage）". YouTube. 2011-12-09. Retrieved 2016-10-01.

External links

• See The Miracles perform the song on YouTube