BOBBY WOMACK: LOOKIN' FOR A LOVE AGAIN (1974)
1) Lookin' For A Love; 2) I
Don't Wanna Be Hurt By Ya Love Again; 3) Doing It My Way; 4) Let It Hang Out;
5) Point Of No Return; 6) You're Welcome, Stop On By; 7) You're Messing Up A
Good Thing; 8) Don't Let Me Down; 9) Copper Kettle; 10) There's One Thing That
Beats Failing.
It is not exactly clear why Bobby decided to
re-record his decade-old Valentinos hit, ʽLookin' For A Loveʼ, for the lead
single off his new album, not to mention using its title for the entire LP. One
might have easily taken this for a sign of stagnation — even despite the fact
that Bobby did come up with a bunch of original compositions this time; none of
them, apparently, could be regarded as commercially viable, and indeed, while
ʽLookin' For A Loveʼ still managed to hit No. 1 on the R&B charts, its
follow-up, the «soft-funk» dance number ʽYou're Welcome, Stop On Byʼ, was a
relative flop in comparison.
The essence of ʽLookin' For A Loveʼ, which used
to be indeed one of the finest mergers of R&B and doo-wop in the early
1960s, is preserved quite caringly, but the arrangement has been upgraded to
include an intrusive synthesizer lead that makes the revision as dated to its
epoch as the original; so you have yourself a choice of preference here,
depending on whether you prefer generic Sixties production (crisp, but poorly-recorded
sound) or generic Seventies (well-recorded, but somewhat sterile and stuffy in
comparison). In any case, revisiting past successes is always a bad omen for
the artist, and it does not help that the remaining nine songs all pale, one
way or another, next to the opening vigorous punch of the title track.
Bobby still retains enough strength to come up
with another unpredictable reinvention — this time, he is experimenting with
the old folk standard ʽCopper Kettleʼ, but even though the new arrangement,
envisaged as a lush blend of country and R&B, with a slow bass groove and
slide guitars, is properly creative, it all ends up losing the song's original
essence and turning it into just another soulful declaration of... well,
whatever can be soulfully declared. Reinvention keeps the juices flowing
alright, but everything has got to have reasonable limits: you can't do that much with yer basic campfire tune
without depriving it of its basic sense (for an example of a reasonable reinvention, check out
Dylan's version on Self Portrait).
Other than that, you've got your regular
proto-disco dance fun (ʽLet It Hang Outʼ, with some fabulously ecstatic guitar
soloing), your regular R&B ballads (ʽI Don't Wanna Be Hurt Againʼ), your
regular slow soul-burning ballads (ʽDoing It My Wayʼ), and so on. As usual, it
all sounds good, and Bobby's singing is formally impeccable, but there is a
strong impression that he is not trying all that much, running on auto-pilot
and milking that old «strong feeling» vibe instead of looking for interesting
chord sequences or startling vocal flourishes. As a result, everything is even,
smooth, and modestly classy, but the distinct lack of individual highlights
means only one thing: the man is finally caught in a rut. Consequently, I
cannot recommend this record for «fans of R&B» in general — only for fans
of Bobby in particular, since, at the very least, there are no attempts here to
change at the expense of his own identity.
Check "Lookin' For A Love Again" (CD) on Amazon
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