Search - Bobby Womack :: Lookin' For A Love: The Best Of Bobby Womack (1968-1975)

THE UNDER-RATED: "MERCHANT OF SOUL"

southcentraldiva | LOS (SOUTH CENTRAL) ANGELES | 03/06/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"WHILE THIS CD HAS SOME OF BOBBY'S GREATEST WORK..YOU STILL SHOULD CHECK OUT NOT ONLY HIS LATTER WORKS...BUT ALSO CHECK OUT HIS YEARS WITH "SAR" RECORDS 1959-1964. I BELIEVE BOBBY REALLY ENJOYS BEING AWAY FROM THE LIMELIGHTS. WHILE HE'S A DAMM GOOD SINGER...IT'S MY TAKE, HE'S NOT A MASTERFUL SHOWMAN. BACK IN THE 60'S, YOU HAD TO BE ABLE TO SING, DANCE AND ENTERTAIN. HAD BOBBY BEEN ABLE TO DO SPLITS, BOO-GA-LOO OR DO THE PHILLY-DOG, HE COULD HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED AS A BLACK MAN, WITH A HEART TO SING INCREDILBLY WELL...INSTEAD OF A COMMERCIAL SALES VEHICLE, ON WHICH RECORD COMPANY EXEC COULD SEND THEIR KIDS TO COLLEDGE WITH! I ENJOY HIS "MORE THAN I CAN STAND" HOWEVER, MY FAVORITE WAS: THE ORIGINAL "LOOKING FOR A LOVE" NOTWITHSTANDING: (NO MATTER HOW HIGH I GET) I"LL STILL BE LOOKING UP TO YOU!! THE BROTHER IS JUST GOOD!"

Gonna Catch Me Up Again

leeleedee | Lexington, KentuckyCincinnati | 09/17/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a good one-disc introduction to Bobby Womack. "Midnight Mover: The Bobby Womack Collection," with liner notes by the late Robert Palmer, is a more comprehensive two-disc set that gives recording dates, personnel, discography, none of which is given here. Plus the cover art is lousy. Still, not a bad place to start. Bobby Womack is a curious figure--his contributions to soul music are great, yet I think the main reason for his relative lack of success, and relative obscurity (compared to the soul musicians everyone knows, like Redding, Pickett, Green and Franklin), has something to do with his eclecticism, which isn't necessarily always a good thing. In other words, he has tried a lot of different things but somehow or other hasn't always put his stamp on them. I myself like stuff like "You're Welcome, Stop on By," "Across 110th Street," "Arkansas State Prison," and the song I consider his masterpiece, the awesome 1975 recording "Daylight," one of the most atypical soul recordings ever, and a genius song. "It looks like daylight is gonna catch me up again/Most people are getting up when I'm just getting in." Great. His later stuff like "The Poet" has its moments but doesn't really compare to his classic work of the late '60s and mid-'70s."

Solid, if paltry, one disc collection

gordon@ruraltel.net | 01/19/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Undoubtably, had I known that a two disc retrospective was available, it would have been worth the extra $$, but this is a very nice collection. It's only 14 songs - it's too bad that Razor & Tie couldn't have made it a 20 song collection.Anyway, this guy has to his credit writing many great songs and playing a great guitar for Wilson Pickett, among others. His own recordings may not be up to the Pickett records' standard, but certainly worth a place in any serious soul music aficiando's collection."