BOBBY WOMACK: THE WOMACK LIVE (1970)
1) Intro; 2) Oh How I Miss You
Baby; 3) California Dreamin'; 4) Something; 5) Everybody's Talkin'; 6) Laughin'
& Clownin' / To Live The Past; 7) I'm A Midnight Mover; 8) The Preacher; 9)
More Than I Can Stand.
Despite its relative brevity and despite the
fact that Bobby was not even close at the time to his career peak, The Womack Live is a hell of a great
record — one of the best live R&B recordings of its age, in fact. Played
out somewhere in Hollywood in late 1969 or so, it really sets a great standard
for how an inventive soul artist should entertain his audience if he is not
endowed with either the maniacal energy of a James Brown or the virtuoso
playing chops of a Hendrix.
First, it is very much a matter of the setlist.
Although he already had two solo albums under his belt, not to mention the
entire Valentinos career, only four songs from the studio records make it onto
the record — and at least one of these merely serves as an excuse for something
completely different. The rest consists of such contemporary classics as
ʽSomethingʼ and ʽEverybody's Talkingʼ, supposedly already well known to the
audience but seriously recast, some ecstatic improvisation (ʽThe Preacherʼ),
and even a fleeting guest appearance by Percy Mayfield on his own ʽTo Live The
Pastʼ — anything out there to make the show more intriguing.
Second, it is very much a matter of knowing
your audience and conducting your interaction in a manner that is both
energizing and intellectually inoffensive. For all of James Brown's talent at
revving up his listeners, the usual soul-burning "d'ya feel alright? I
said D'YA FEEL ALRIGHT?" manner of interaction can quickly get tiresome,
especially in the context of a live album, so Womack finds alternate ways of
entertaining — for instance, excusing himself for wanting to «play my guitar
for five minutes» during ʽCaliforniaʼ, then turning the jam section into a
mock-contest between himself and his second guitarist, or dragging out Percy
Mayfield from nowhere, or, once again, apologizing for the onset of a
«preaching» mood, or insisting on limiting the audience participation to
«lonely women» only on ʽOh How I Miss You Babyʼ, or doing something else;
simply announcing a song and playing it always seems like a rather boring chore
to the man, but the best thing is, he never really comes across as an annoying
clown or an irritating narcissistic self-admirer.
Third, of course, the level of musical
performance is impeccable. He drops the guitar solo from ʽSomethingʼ, because
playing like Harrison is not his thang, but the arrangement comes with organs,
steel guitar, and... sitar? I'm
fairly confident there was a sitar plucked back there, or at least something
that arrogantly imitated a sitar, and meshed quite well with the other
instruments. (Of course, there was no sitar on the original, but all the more
reason to put one in the reinvention). The guitar solo on ʽCalifornia Dreamin'ʼ
combines old-school jazz with new-school funk and could well have been much
longer, except that Womack does not dare to burden the audience too long with
free-flight improvisation. And ʽI'm A Midnight Moverʼ gets transformed into a
sweaty R&B jam that incorporates everything that flies through Bobby's mind
at the moment — even a brief excerpt from ʽShake Your Moneymakerʼ.
Thus, the only reason why The Womack Live is not a superb top-level live album is that there
is only so much you can do with that sort of set of limitations — a competent,
but not extraordinary, backing band, a soulful, hard-working, but not vocally
unique singer, and a set of pleasant, but not jaw-droppingly original songs
(well, ʽSomethingʼ is a bit more than
that, but it'd be a bit of a cheat to highly rate any artist just because he
covered ʽSomethingʼ). Usually, though, such limitations, especially in a live
setting, would probably result in utter boredom — all the more glory to Mr.
Womack for making it as exciting, enjoyable, and unpredictable as possible. Thumbs up.
Check "The Womack Live" (CD) on Amazon
Check "The Womack Live" (MP3) on Amazon
No comments:
Post a Comment