Genre > Soul, R&B, Funk

In 1970 Womack and manager Ed Wright decided to capitalize on his new-found solo visibility by capturing an in-person performance at a Los Angeles nightclub. The Womack "Live" was the result, a compelling, cathartic session where, as the original liner notes attest, Womack "held church," agonizing, pleading, exhorting and testifying to a crowd fully in rapture to him. As well as extended jams on album material like 'How I Miss You Baby,' the playlist featured killer versions of 'Something' and 'Everybody's Talkin'' and some outrageous stage patter. All in all, it's an incredible recital capturing Bobby Womack in his prime, and even comes with an uncredited appearance from Percy Mayfield.

1968's Fly Me To The Moon was Womack's first solo long-player, after a decade of forging a singular path as R&B morphed into soul music, first with the Sam Cooke-sponsored Valentinos, and subsequently as a songwriter and guitarist for the likes of Wilson Pickett. Indeed, the album features Womack's version of Pickett's 'Midnight Mover,' along with very groovy interpretations of 'California Dreamin'' (a small hit at the time),' 'Moonlight In Vermont,' and the title cut. But it is the singers own superlative material - 'What Is This,' 'Somebody Special,' 'Take Me' - that shines best on this fantastic debut, produced by the estimable Chips Moman at his American Studios facility in Memphis, utilizing one of the finest session crews in southern soul.

Womack returned to American in 1969 to cut My Prescription, also produced by Moman, at a time that the venue was becoming exceptionally hot with visits from the likes of Elvis, Dusty Springfield, Neil Diamond and others. Womack's sophomore album may however well be one of the most demonstrative showcases of studio and session crew, incandescent on a finely-honed program of classy and soulful performances, with the singer in full control. Tracks like 'How I Miss You Baby,' 'Arkansas State Prison' and 'I Can't Take It Like A Man' stand as some of Womack's greatest moments, and taken as a whole, My Prescription stands not only the man's first truly great solo album, but also a timeless slice of sophisticated southern soul-making.