Bobby Womack – Understanding

Bobby Womack is a fairly interesting character and artist. He exposes a style of African American music that was beginning to take a stronghold during the early 70s. Possessing a lot of the same sounds as Marvin Gaye, there are definitely a variety of different musical aspects that distinguish Womack as a completely different and versatile artist, who has his own niche in the genre of soul. While Gaye had predominantly smooth and calm music, Womack focuses on a slightly more energetic end of soul that simply oozes out of him. Womack creates songs that are not just Motown or soul. He is a classic example of the convergence that occurs in rock, because I hear a variety of aspects from all kinds of genres. While, for the most part, his songs are relatively smooth and suave, he also throws in wild things such as electric guitar and screams. This benefits his music because it gives his songs an alternative dynamic and edge that distinguishes himself as an artist as well as his songs from one another.

Womack has a lot of classic R&B sounds that makes a perfect fabric of jazzy beats, bass, and vocals. While Womack doesn’t nearly have the level of funk and vast variety of instruments as Curtis Mayfield, he definitely holds his ground to comparison. The success in his music is a combination of his vocal talent and countermelodies. His countermelodies are full of heavy beats and crazy bass vibes. As a guitarist, Womack knows how to create a great countermelody! In a lot of his songs, he shows this talent with the heavy use of bass. This goes on to influence other music of the time as well. Womack’s reliance on bass mixed with insane beats makes the listener want to nod their head or tap their foot to the rhythm. Even after listening to a little bit of Curtis Mayfield, I can hear influences of Womack and his countermelodies.

This advanced countermelody contrasts fairly nicely to his complex voice. Womack’s voice is as complex as a Rubik’s cube. It has so many different sides to it that it is hard to fully analyze and articulate just how his voice should be classified. He is able to change it to add versatility throughout the album depending on the tone/mood of the song. While Womack has a vast range of singing, he doesn’t have the purity of other artists. It doesn’t sound so smooth as to the point that his voice is a separate instrument, yet it is still very effective for this genre. Although his voice is capable of sounding very suave at times, whenever he screams in the middle of the song, I feel like I’m listening to gravel in a blender. This takes me to another point. Seemingly periodically, Womack would throw in wild screaming in the middle of his songs. Despite adding flavor to otherwise lulling parts and waking me up, I don’t think that Womack needs to do this. I tend to associate yelling with a lack of musical talent and “talentless” is one adjective I would NOT use for Bobby Womack!

I’d also like to take a minute to discuss the whole genre of soul. It is very foreign and confusing to me but I feel it growing on me. It encompasses such a wide variety of music that it is fun to listen to what soul/R&B artists are capable of creating with their passionate voices and funky countermelodies. In a single album, Womack is able to evolve from a jazzy rock feel to a more country gospel sound towards the end of the album. This versatility is very interesting and shows how complex the genre is as well as the artist. By mixing wild sounds with soft vibes, it keeps Womack’s music intriguing all the time.

 A great example of this would be Womack’s cover of the Beatles’ “And I Love Her”. Usually covering the Beatles is very shaky ground. Womack, however, makes this song his own and puts his own unique blend/spin. He makes the Beatles sound Motown and full of soul. I wouldn’t even recognize these songs if put next to each other because of the stark contrast and spin he has put on this jam. He seemed to have modernized it for his time period and it works into the beautiful fabric of the album. Check it out:

Another song that I really liked from Womack’s album Understanding is the song “A Woman's Gotta Have It”. It also illustrates Womack's versatility. This song sounds like the quintessential 70s jam with an EXTREME bass line! Unfortunately, I can't find any YouTube videos that do the bass laine justice. But you’ve still gotta hear “A Woman's Gotta Have It”!