"Choosey Beggar" was a 1965 song recorded by Motown R&B group the Miracles on its Tamla label subsidiary. It was issued as the B-side of the group's top-20 million-selling single,[1] "Going to a Go-Go", and was taken from the group's Billboard Top 10 Pop album of the same name.

"Choosey Beggar"
Single by the Miracles
from the album Going to a Go-Go
A-side"Going to a Go-Go"
ReleasedDecember 6, 1965
RecordedHitsville USA (Studio A): March 9, 1965
GenreSoul/pop
LabelTamla
T 54127
Songwriter(s)Smokey Robinson
Pete Moore
Producer(s)Smokey Robinson
The Miracles singles chronology
"My Girl Has Gone"
(1965)
"Going to a Go-Go" / "Choosey Beggar"
(1965)
"Whole Lot of Shakin' in My Heart"
(1966)

Written by Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Pete Moore and produced by Robinson, this song also became a national hit, reaching number 35 on the Billboard R&B chart. As the song's narrator, lead singer Smokey Robinson, using a play on the old axiom, "Beggars can't be choosers", portrays a man who simply refuses to accept just "any girl":

Beggars can't be choicey, I know...that's what the people say...But though my heart is begging for love ...I've turned some love away..." Only one girl is right for him... "I'm a choosey beggar...and you're my choice..."

Cash Box described it as a "a slow-shufflin' lament about a decidedly one-man woman."[2]

"Choosey Beggar" has inspired cover versions by Debby Boone, and Jazz artist Chazz Dixon, and has been included in the Miracles' compilation album Greatest Hits - Vol. 2, along with several other Miracles "Greatest Hits" compilations.

Personnel Credits

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Personnel – the Miracles

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Other personnel

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References

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  1. ^ Coryton, Demitri; Joseph Murrells. Hits Of The Sixties: The Million Sellers
  2. ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. December 18, 1965. p. 10. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
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