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Original Album Classics (Home Is Where The Heart Is/Pieces/Roads Of Life) (3CD set)

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Three seminal late 70s albums from Bobby Womack – all wrapped up in a single package! Home Is Where The Heart Is is an exceptional album from Bobby Womack's years at Columbia Records – and a record that brings together smooth and roosty styles wonderfully! When Womack moved to Columbia, he was doing it at a time when a number of other older deep soul artists (Johnny Taylor, Betty Wright, Tyrone Davis) were making the shift – pulling their sound out of the indie ghetto, and going for a more sophisticated approach that expanded their style without dampening their spirit! In the case of Bobby, the shift was perhaps near perfect – as the raspy Womack vocals are still wonderfully in place, but the increasingly great choice of songs, warmer style of arrangements, and completely professional presentation of the material really helps push Bobby to the next level! Pieces is proof that Bobby's move to Columbia in the late 70s did a heck of a lot of good things to his music! At the label, he forged a strong mellow soul sound that still incorporated a lot of his roots and his strengths, but which was also a lot more forward-looking, and which helped Bobby escape from some of the cliches of his later UA albums. In a way, his shift was similar to that of Johnnie Taylor at the label, and it's no surprise that the great Don Davis was at the helm. Roads Of Life is a great album from Bobby – different than his earlier albums for United Artists, but in a good way – one that revives his whole career, and takes his sound into a whole new direction! The album's got a smooth soul finish with some touches of synth funk – produced by Bobby and Patrick Moten, who would later work together on the masterful Poet LP – and the contrast between the more modern arrangements and Bobby's raspy soul vocals works wonderfully! The mellow tracks are really great – with a tight, lightly funky sound bubbling under Bobby's wonderful vocals – and the album's got loads of nice cuts like "The Roads Of Life", "Give It Up", "The Roots In Me", "Honey Dripper Boogie", "How Could You Break My Heart", and "What Are You Doing". (CDs come in mini LP-style sleeves.)  © 1996-2013, Dusty Groove, Inc.