On December 6th, two historic icons met in Beverly Hills. One of them is the historic art deco theater on Wilshire Boulevard, the Saban Theater. The other is a man who for the last 50 years has carved out a rather impressive place in the annals of musical lore; Mr. Bobby Womack. Now the Saban (formerly the Wilshire Theater) is about 14 years older than Womack but they seemed to get along just fine as the two blended as one into a walk down musical memory lane. As Bobby frequently said during the show, “Let’s go back.”
If you’re unfamiliar with Womack let me take you on the 25 cent tour of his career. Beginning in the late 50’s as Sam Cooke’s guitar player, Womack performed left handed with a right handed guitar held upside down…sound familiar to anyone else you might know. Anyway, Womack was discovered by Cooke performing with the Womack Brothers (The Valentinos). In the early 60’s he wrote a song called “It’s All Over Now” which was the first number one hit on the UK charts for a little band called the Rolling Stones. In 2008 Womack was inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame and in 2013 he was awarded the Bluesfest Lifetime Achievement Award. Both awards were presented to him by Ron Woods of the Rolling Stones.
Flash forward 50 years or so and we find Bobby still doing it and giving the audience 110% at the age of 69.
Highlights from the show at the Saban are hard to nail down song by song. The whole show was great. As most bands and entertainers save the “best” for last, Bobby came out the gate strong with one of his more recognizable songs, “Across 110th Street,” which got the crowd all whipped into a frenzy. Then into a “Nobody Wants You” with a rippin guitar solo by Nate LaPointe. Harry Hippie followed and included the amazing voice of Alltrinna Grayson as “Mary Hippie.” The first time I heard her sing that on the video from Glastonbury Music Festival I about hit the floor. What amazing talent that woman has! Late in the set we got a glimpse into the future of the changes that might come for the Womack family as GinaRe Womack, Bobby’s daughter, joined her Dad for a duet of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come,” the last song Sam wrote before his untimely death in 1964. GinaRa altered Cooke’s lyrics near the end with a “Change Has Come.” The future looks bright for the young offspring. Clearly the talent runs deep in the Womack DNA.
Bobby Womack Setlist, Saban Theater, Beverly Hills, CA 12/6/13
Across 110th Street, Nobody Wants You (When Your Down and Out)*, Harry Hippie#, Daylight, I Wish He Didn’t Trust Me So Much, That’s The Way I Feel Bout Cha, Woman’s Gotta Have It, Stop on By, Change Gonna Come@, Looking For A Love, If You Think You’re Lonely Now, Jesus Be A Fence, No Matter How High
*Nate LaPointe guitar solo, #w/ Altrinna Grayson, @w/ GinaRa Womack
Womack and his band will perform in New York City at the City Winery in SoHo on December 20-22. If you are anywhere near NYC on those dates, do yourself a favor and go get a history lesson from a man who helped write the book!
