Published on Jul 20, 1999
You could call
Back To My Roots, the latest album from soul legend Bobby
Womack, an album of unfulfilled dreams. Womack, who was originally
a gospel singer – and who tried to reconcile the worlds of secular
music with his spirituality, dreamed of handing his father the
finished product that would become this album. (Womack’s father, as
as he tells in the intro to “Rug,” was disappointed that Womack
chose a career outside of gospel music.) Unfortunately, Womack’s
father died while this album was being made.
If this was not enough heartbreak for Womack, J.W. Alexander, a
former business partner of the late Sam Cooke who Womack brought
into this project, died not long after the album’s completion. But
instead of this being a melancholic look at life through worship of
song,
Back To My Roots is a celebration of life and beliefs that
mixes enough soul with the old style gospel music that Womack was
brought up with.
Now, a bit of a warning here: I’m probably the last person on
staff who should be reviewing gospel music. I’ve never been a big
fan of religious music; while I have my own beliefs in God, I don’t
like music that hits you over the head with a spiritual message.
(No offense to Mike Ehret, our resident contemporary Christian
music expert.) But, sometimes I like to take chances and expand my
horizons by listening to discs that I normally wouldn’t give a
chance to. So, into the player this one went.
What will strike you about
Back To My Roots at first is that Womack knows how to
balance the spiritual side of his music with the secular; there are
a few songs on this disc that don’t necesarrily talk about
religion, but have enough of an uplifting theme to get their
message across subtly. These songs also seem to have the strongest
roots in Womack’s soul music past; “Motherless Child” and a cover
of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
characterize these moments the best. Womack and crew do an
admirable job on the latter, but I admit I’ll always prefer the
original version.
If you’ve not been exposed to gospel music a lot,
Back To My Roots might take some time to get used to – and
through. You don’t need to be frightened off by songs with titles
like “Nearer My God To Thee,” “What A Friend We Have In Jesus” and
“Jesus Be A Fence”. The truth be told, Womack’s reaching back to
the “old school” of gospel reveals a form of the genre that was
considerably less preachy than a lot of modern-day religious music.
(Having listened to a few discs of this ilk over the past three
years, I speak from first-hand knowledge.) These songs highlight
both the devotion to and the support found in God – all presented
in a way that even someone who was from a different religious
background could find pleasure in, even if they didn’t necessarily
agree with the beliefs.
And while some portions of the disc drag a bit (I thought “Oh
Happy Day,” while closest to a gospel feel, dragged on a bit too
long),
Back To My Roots is a listener-friendly introduction to
gospel music that isn’t too preachy, and isn’t too stuck in modern
music. It gets a little tiring at the end; by the time I reached
“It Is Well” and “Open Our Eyes,” I was ready for a break. But
Womack does, in the end, succeed in tying his soul roots with the
music of his youth.