Bobby Womack-Roads of Life (1979)

 


Artist: Bobby Womack

Title: Roads Of Life

Label: Arista

Format: LP

Catalog Number: AB 4222

Year of Release: 1979

Country and Year of Edition: US 1979 Santa Maria Pressing

Sell Price: $17.65

Sell Date: 8/16/26

Condition: VG+/VG corner clipped

Discogs Last Sold: 12/24/25 VG/VG $5.95

Low: $5.95

Median: $16.30

Average: $17.89

High: $34.88 M/VG+ 9/6/25

Current low price: $4.04 G+/G+, $9.99 VG/VG

Curren Number on Sale at Discogs: 4

Have/Want: 47/85

Where Sold: Southampton, MA

Time It Took To Sell: 3 years

Where and When Bought: whatnot vinyl lot

Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: B-

Sad To See It Go: No

When the opening Anthony Willis (of the Detroit Rhythm Group and heard on "Love Shock" by Albert King in 1977)  bass walk-up kicks in on "The Roads of Life,"  you know you are in the Disco era.  For Bobby Womack, roughly 20 years into his career  (remember he wrote the Stones "It's All Over Now" with his sister Shirley and released by his group the Valentinos), this wasn't necessarily a good thing.  He was somewhere between his prime and his 1981 comeback The Poet in 1979.  Fortunately, he surrounds himself with good musicians and sneaks in just enough personality to make this sound a little more interesting than a generic slickly produced late 70's R&B major label record.   When he does "I Honestly Love You" he prefaces it with a spoken word introduction that people know it from Olivia Newton-John but he is gonna do it his own way.   His plea for Mr. DJ not to stop the music seems like a true need to party heavily after the 1978 death of his son, who was the namesake of his production company Truth shortly after.  He also brought in 22 year old keyboardist Patrick Molten as co-producer.  Molten passed at 42 in 1999 of liver failure.  Bobby calls him out to "give some new melody out in the street" on the upbeat side 2 opening  track "What Are You Doin''."  

Womack had a well known 30 year coke problem and this album seems to signify something.  It was reviewed badly, but much like Rick James or his party buddy Sly Stone,  the man knew how to surround himself with talent and pull it together when it counted.

This is a session record where multiple players are on various instruments thoughout.   Womack produced it himself.  The personality comes out when he starts talking to you.  A seemingly by the numbers ballad like "How Could You Break My Heart" suddenly sees Bobby demanding his guitar and ripping a blues solo to close out the track.  The background ladies come to the fore like a Greek chorus of yore or Kendrick Lamar in recent NFL past on the side on closer "The Roots In Me."

"Some people spend a lifetime trying to get it together."

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