Bobby Womack: The bravest man in the universe
Best known for his 1972 hit, ‘Across 110th Street,’ Womack has lived a life of drama, grace and tragedy.
In the mid-1960s, he became controversial in the African-American music community for marrying the widow of singer, Sam Cooke, three months after Cooke’s death — the opprobrium threatened his career.
Later, two of his six children died and he struggled with drug addiction. In his autobiography, I’m A Midnight Mover, Womack writes about discovering cocaine in the late 1960s and becoming a full-blown addict a decade later (the death, as an infant, of son, Truth, was a factor). It is a wrenching read.
After a stint in rehab in the late 1980s, Womack cleaned up and renewed his passion for music. But now, at 69, he is dogged by ill-health. Early in 2012, he was hospitalised for pneumonia. Several months later, he was successfully treated for colon cancer. This year, he was diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s. It is a cruel blow, as he is belatedly receiving the acclaim he has long deserved. Speaking ahead of his Arthur’s Day visit to Ireland (venue yet to be announced), Womack seems jittery but in full command of his faculties. He is delighted with the acclaim since the release, in the middle of his cancer fight, of a new solo album, The Bravest Man in the Universe. He thought he was forgotten.
“To have an audience this late in my career is amazing,” he says, from his home in New York. “I’m getting off on it. I’ll never take any of this for granted. Every time I hit the stage, I’m delighted to be there.”
The Bravest Man in the Universe was produced by Damon Albarn, of Blur and Gorillaz. He first worked with Womack in 2010, on the last Gorillaz record proper, Plastic Beach.
Smiling, Womack says he’d never heard of Albarn when the singer approached him. Womack’s daughter had to take him aside and explain who the Englishman was.
“I did not know Damon,” he says. “I don’t keep up with what is going on in the music business. I keep up with what I am doing, in terms of writing songs. I had never heard of Gorillaz. My daughter said ‘they’re a great group — if you want to come back, this would be a good way to do it’.”
With Plastic Beach a critical and commercial hit, Albarn cajoled Womack into touring with him. On the road, he would take Womack aside and plead with him to write again.
He’s not the sort to take ‘no’ for an answer. “He kept mentioning it to me — he would say, ‘if you want to do an LP, I’d love to produce it’.”
The thought had never crossed Womack’s mind. With all he’d gone through, emotionally and physically, he was happy in retirement.
Nonetheless, Albarn persisted. Eventually, Womack relented.
“I did experience some doubt,” he says. “If you’ve been away for a long time, you wonder if it is going to work out. Then, we got to the studio and it was fantastic. There were no drugs, none of that stuff.
“Simply a bunch of people who wanted to make good music.
“That was fantastic — it meant I could focus on the songs, rather than be distracted by other stuff.”
The Bravest Man in the Universe was acclaimed, which continues to shock Womack. “I couldn’t believe it. The idea that people still wanted to hear me took me aback. I’ve never taken anything for granted. I certainly didn’t take this for granted. In the studio, when I saw Damon and the others getting into the music, that helped me get real loose — and to start to enjoy it, too.”
He speaks effusively about his collaborator: “Damon has an amazing ear,” says Womack. “He goes to places you don’t expect. He incorporated electronics into the record, which was a first for me. It was like nothing I have experienced before. I must say, it was fantastic to get into the studio.”
On his new tour, Womack performs material from across his career. In Dublin, last May, he opened with his biggest hit, ‘110th Street’. Named for the avenue in Manhattan that separates Harlem from Central Park, the song is a metaphor for stepping into the unknown. Womack says it has universal resonance.
“It still speaks to audiences,” he says. “Across the world, lots of us are crossing our own ‘110th Streets’. For me, performing is like reading a book.
“You remember the day the song was recorded, what your life was like. You’re going on a journey and taking the crowd with you.”
He’s looking forward to coming to Ireland. Musicians say that all the time. Womack sounds like he means it.
“Everywhere I go, I’m meeting people with soul,” he says. “People think soul music means black music. I think everyone has soul.”
*Bobby Womack plays Arthur’s Day, Sept 26.
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