About this Artist

• Biography

Editorial Reviews

Just in time for Bobby Womack's 2009 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, ABKCO reissued the singer's classic soul albums of the early '80s, The Poet and The Poet II, on a single CD, squeezing into the format's 80-minute limit with only three seconds to spare. Originally issued in 1981 and 1984, the two LPs contained a total of 17 tracks, six of which got into the R&B charts, including the number three hits "If You Think You're Lonely Now" (sampled on Mariah Carey's 2005 number one pop hit "We Belong Together") and "Love Has Finally Come at Last," the latter one of three duets with Patti LaBelle. Although The Poet, Womack's biggest crossover pop success as a performer, generally is considered far the superior of the two albums, they combine well together, particularly because The Poet begins with relatively quick tempos, only to slow for its extended ballads, while The Poet II leads off with ballads and gradually builds speed, so the transition from one album to the other is seamless. It is those ballads, also including "Where Do We Go from Here" and "It Takes a Lot of Strength to Say Goodbye," that remain the most impressive a quarter-century later. In contrast, songs that might have seemed more current in the early '80s now seem dated; more than ever, the bass riff stolen from Stevie Wonder's "Master Blaster (Jammin')" sticks out on the opening track, "So Many Sides of You," while "Stand Up" is reminiscent not only of the Commodores' "Brick House," which it followed by a few years, but also of the Dazz Band's "Let It Whip," which actually followed it by a few months. Still, the issue isn't so much that such songs sound like other ones of around the same time, it's that they sound like that time, while Womack's vocal showcases on the ballads sound timeless. William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

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