ABC/Image Group LAIt was business as usual Tuesday night on the legendary Grand Ole Opry stage. But just a few feet away in the building’s Studio A, things were getting soulful, as Cam teamed up with R&B legend Smokey Robinson for a new episode of CMT Crossroads.
The California native first met the Motown legend at last year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
“I remember walking into the trailer, and it’s like a really freezing cold morning in New York, and there’s just this bright aura in the back of the trailer, and it’s just Smokey, just as happy as can be,” Cam recalled, slipping into her best imitation of the legend. “‘Hi, baby! Hi!'”
Cam revealed her love for Smokey’s music was born out of her childhood travels to visit her family.
“We’d have to do road trips down to my grandparents’ house,” she recalled, “because they lived in LA and we lived kinda in the Bay Area. That’s like an eight-hour drive. And we’d listen to, there’s a Best of Motown soundtrack.”
Clad in a shimmering gold dress, Cam aided Smokey as the two delivered many of those Motown classics, from “Tears of a Clown” to “Cruisin'” and “I Second That Emotion,” as well as “Being with You.”
The legendary writer veered outside his formidable catalog to choose a duet to sing with Cam, the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell classic written by Ashford & Simpson, “You’re All I Need to Get By.”
Backed by a full horn section, Cam alternately marveled at what the brass added to her tunes, and the fact that Smokey Robinson was actually singing her songs. The two did “Mayday,” “Hungover on Heartache,” and “Burning House.” Smokey gave Cam a considerable endorsement before leaving the stage for a solo version of her latest hit, “Diane.”
You can experience Cam and Smokey together for the first time, when the newest episode of CMT Crossroads premieres March 28 at 10 p.m. ET on CMT.
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