BOBBY WOMACK
THE POET/THE POET II
ABKCO
Given his reputation, it’s hard to believe 1981’s The Poet remains Bobby Womack’s highest charting album in his American homeland. Though awash in smooth 80s production values – and, amid Secrets’ sweet soul, a comparison between his “girl” and “some good old Kentucky Fried Chicken” – it’s the only time the man behind Across 110th Street topped the R&B charts there. Its success was driven by If You Think You’re Lonely Now – “dedicated,” he says, “to all the lovers,” though he then berates his own for criticising him – and its Isaac Hayes ambitions are also present on Where Do We Go From Here, while Stand Up is a brisk funk tune and Just My Imagination aims for The Temptations’ heights, only to fall just short.