9
for the blaxploitation flick ‘Across 110
th
Street’ the next year, and his
personalized update on the ancient blues
Nobody Wants You When You’re
Down And Out
was a #2 R&B smash that summer.
During sessions he produced in Muscle Shoals with a band including keyboardist
Barry Beckett, guitarists Tippy Armstrong and Jimmy Johnson, bassist David
Hood, and drummer Roger Hawkins, Womack revisited
Lookin’ For A Love
as a
warmup, not intending it for the LP. It was determined to be strong enough to
issue as a single and proved even bigger its second time around. In addition to
pacing the R&B charts, the remake went to #10 pop, his biggest seller ever on
that front.
Bobby stayed hot in 1981 with
If You
Think You’re Lonely Now
and duetted with
Patti LaBelle on
Love Has Finally Come
At Last
in ’84, both on the Beverly Glen
imprint. At MCA the next year, he
rocketed to #2 R&B with
I Wish He Didn’t
Trust Me So Much
. While weathering
recent health issues, Womack remains a
vital contemporary musical force.
“Sometimes you need to be reminded of
where you came from. Being in this crazy
business,”
says Bobby,
“it’s like being on
a roller coaster. And you’re riding
backwards.”
