Bobby Womack - The Best Of

Bobby Womack is bigger than we know. Yes, “Across 110th Street” provided the hue of blaxploitation to several films, but that only scratches the surface. A prot»g» of Sam Cooke, a songwriter for Wilson Pickett and Janis Joplin, and a session guitarist for the likes of Aretha Franklin and Sly Stone, Womack is a triple-threat, especially when factoring in his scorching, raspy baritone. As comfortable with fiery, raw southern soul (“I’m A Midnight Mover”) as with tender, sweet soul ballads (“That’s The Way I Feel About Cha”), Womack’s only real trouble was saying no to soulful renditions of pop classics (“California Dreamin’” and “Fire and Rain” fare surprisingly well, whereas “Fly Me To The Moon” is lackluster ho-hum). But these missteps are rare. Instead, you’ll be entranced by how well he translates his heroes: The hip funkiness he learned from Sly while contributing to his There’s A Riot Going On album permeates the track “Communication,” while the secular sermonizing that builds to rapturous intensity on “The Preacher (Part Two)” is a righteous tribute to Sam Cooke’s life extraordinaire.