Smokey Robinson's Motown Memories

Smokey Robinson is practically synonymous with Motown. Not only did he pen some of the most enduring and instantly recognizable songs of the past five decades, but he served as the label's vice president for over 25 years. And while he may no longer record for Berry Gordy's imprint, Robinson is helping celebrate Motown's 50th anniversary this year, and his latest release, Time Flies When You're Having Fun, finds him as smooth and soulful as ever. The record features guest spots by Joss Stone ("You're The One For Me"), India.Arie ("You're Just My Life") and Carlos Santana ("Please Don't Take Your Love"), and its leadoff single is a sultry cover of "Don't Know Why." The frequent guest of American Idol recently spoke to Rolling Stone about writing his biggest hits and being complimented by Bob Dylan.

What's the story behind stocking Time Flies When You're Having Fun with so many vintage soul sounds?
Time Flies When You're Having Fun came about because that's how I feel about my life. Last year we started to celebrate — we're going to celebrate straight through 2010, we're having a three-year celebration of the 50th anniversary of Motown. So that's gone by overnight to me [laughs]. It seems like it's been maybe 10 years ago, and here it is 50 years. I'm very blessed, and I'm living the life that I absolutely love. I love every aspect of my work, and when your job is something that you love like that, time flies.

And also, I recorded it live. When I say "live," I mean live in the studio, the old fashioned way, when you have the musicians in there playing while you're singing. We had a ball — I have a lot of great musicians on there. Guys that I have known forever and ever. When you have everybody in the studio at the same time, it's like doing a concert. Everybody gets a chance to feed off of each other, everybody gets a chance to feel each other. You just don't get that recording everybody separately.

How did the special guests get involved?
I have three guests, and they are all my really good friends, who I've known for a long time. I've known Joss since she was 15 years old, I've known Carlos for thirty-something years, and I've known India for 10 or 12 years. I was introduced to India by Stevie Wonder. It was a joy recording with all of them. They're the only people that I actually overdubbed, because I had the tracks recorded, and my voice was on there.

How did you decide to cover "Don't Know Why"?
"Don't Know Why" is one of my favorite songs — I loved it since the first time I heard it by Norah Jones. You have to really pay attention to what "Don't Know Why" is saying, to really get the fact that it is a love song, and it's one of regret. It's an abstract song, but the melody is so beautiful, and it's such a great song. I love great songs, man. So I just chose to do my own rendition of it.