by Tim Walter
Copyright '19K; ,TSI Syndicate Featuraa
SAT., MARCH 13, 1982
THE CAROLINA TIMES -5
Womack Ponders Offer
. ' From The Majors
- j , ' .
Been listening to the hits lately? Bobby Womack is back, un
compromising, doing his own thing to counter industry trends
and gimmicks. His album "The Poet" has crossed Oyer to Pop
charts and now five or six major labels want to sign him up
again. ..
Womack, a protege of the late Sam Cooke, has been around
for over twenty years, but after twelve years, of success with self
production at United Artists, the label tried to stifle him with
producer David Rubinsoit.
"Rubinson was talented enough, but just didn't know what to
do with me," Womack told me. "Here I sit with a catalog of 600
or so of my own songs, having written for Janis Joplin, the Roll
ing Stones, Sly Stone and others, and he wanted me to crank out
covers of Stevle Wonder hits. Hell, I was writing and performing
before Stevie was born. Not to take anything from him, but I've
got my own thing to do." A disgruntled Womack signed with
Columbia "for three times the money and it was the biggest
mistake I ever made." His career and records quickly bit the
dust so Womack married and disappeared for five years.
"You've got to' be yourself," he explains, "you can't just
slant for a market simply because the labels tell you they want
another hit; I don't write for the black market, nor for white,
green, blue, purple or anything else. 1 write for Bobby Womack.
The songs I write are to educate; they're about real life. I write
for me and to me, they're all hits. I'm the only guy I've got to
satisfy. ; . . "
"But I'm happy to be on the road again. It doesn't matter that
we're sometimes an opening act. We did three of the Stones
dates in California and Mick (Jagger) said they didn't care about
our drawing power. 'We didn't bring you for that', he told me.
' We got you for our own inspiration; we come to the show early
just to hear you, so play to us. The Stones are great, they don't
record for hits, they sit down to have fun, They're real; the au
dience understands that." . ' 'V V 1
"Thi foet" is on the Beverly Glenn label, a company little
more than a record pressing and shipping factory. Womack is
currently fighting a $5 million lawsuit wrangle over ownership of
masters with that company. Nonetheless, he's touring in support
of the album, working the East Coast through March before
moving West. The Rolling Stones have booked him for a South
American tour and he's debating following that with concerts in
France. If he succeeds in extricatjng the BG masters, he'll have a
second album virtually finished and he confides he plans to cut a
gospel album with the Womack Brothers yet this year
The success of "The Poet" was a surprise, even for Womack,
"We didn't have anything like typical promotion for it," he ex
plains, "The album was shipped to a few DJ's and they listened
to it, -mainly out of curiosity. They wanted to see what it was
like, after all these years. Finally a Chicago radio station picked
it up and ran with it.
Is Frank Sinatra fantastically wealthy? Yes & No. Close
mutual friends confidentially estimate he may have given away ,
as much as 's of his wealth as an anonymous benefactor.
What's left is still a healthy capital base. One of his latest pro
jects, for which he has shunned publicity, is a benevolent fund
for Local 369 in Las Vegas of the American Federation of Musi
cians. Sinatra is not only appearing in the show, he's quietly
picking up the tab for the orchestra. The April 28 affair at the
Aladdin's 7,500 seat Theatre for the Performing Arts will also
showcase Sarah Vaughan and possibly include Bill Cosby,
Wayne Newton, Louie Bellson and maybe a birthday tribute to
the late Duke Ellington (it's the day after).
Set the rumors about Eddie Kendricks' and David Ruffin s
reunion with the Temptations to rest. A Motown insider confid
ed to me that an album is being cut for March release with
various producers, followed by a tour in support of the joint ,
disc. ' ,
The Black Music Association has signed Lou Rawls to host a
24-hour radio special for June broadcast in support of their
Black Music Month concept. ABC Radio is breaking a new
90-minute radio talk show, "Inside Track", on March 16. First
guests include Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Bill Wyman.
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