‘THE BRAVEST MAN
IN THE UNIVERSE’, out June 201, Bobby Womack’s 27th studio album.
Now you would think this album would be listed under R&B Soul or Blues, but
no, this album is listed in the ‘Electronic’ section if you’re looking for it. Assuming
you didn’t know who he was or anything about Bobby Womack. It has an electronic vibe to it, but it is
clearly R&B. Womack has been a
recording artist since the 1950’s, and a hit maker from the 1960’s-1970’s, who
keeps reinventing himself to fit the times.
Now at the age of 68 Womack has had his share of up’s and
downs. He started out as part of the
Womack Brother’s, a gospel group in the 1950’s. Later they hooked up with the
great Sam Cooke who encouraged the brothers to record R&B, under his label
SAR, and he renamed the group The Valentino’s. By 1962 they had 10 hits in the
top ten on the R&B charts and they were on a roll. In 1964 Bobby wrote ‘It’s All Over Now’,
which the Rolling Stones picked up and recorded the same year and Womack was suddenly
a rich man.
After Sam Cooke died December 1964, The Valentio’s were in
limbo without the guidance of Cooke. To
make things worse, Bobby married Cooke’s widow just 3 months after his passing,
which did not set well with the R&B community and Bobby was no longer
getting the gigs he had become accustomed to. To keep his name out there he
became a back-up guitar player, for Ray Charles, and Chips Moman, and various
others. At about the same time he was writing songs and became a
favorite writer for Wilson Pickett and penned 17 top ten hits for him. He had it
goin’ on, but trouble followed.
By the 1970’s drugs were taking over, his brother Harry was
murdered by a jealous girlfriend, his marriage had failed and his musical
success had waned. In the mid-70’s he had a few R&B hits, but continued
with the writing, and wrote for some of the best in the business
He was traded to various recording companies, and in 1979, shortly
after the death of his infant son, he came out with a disco album ‘ROADS OF
LIFE’, which had mediocre success. From the mid-80’s to this current album he
released ten albums with only 2 singles in the top ten, plus a Christmas album.
He took a little time off, in mid 80’s-to
early 90’s. He finally sobered up around
the mid-90’s and has been coming back strong and slow. His voice is a little gravely, but he can
still belt a tune, now suffering colon cancer he has given us an album with
only one ‘FUNK’ number “Please Forgive My Heart” which says a lot for the man
and his music. You will find a few tracks worth a download, or the entire album if you are a fan of Bobby Womack, regardless of the vocals he knows how to write a good song.
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