At Home In Muscle Shoals

An amalgam of the two albums Bobby Womack recorded for Columbia in the late '70s (1976’s Home Is Where the Heart Is and 1977’s Pieces), At Home in Muscle Shoals finds him rediscovering his Southern soul roots at a time when they were deeply unfashionable. While the disco era turned many formerly great R&B acts insipid, the trend brought out the lion in Womack. “Trust Your Heart,” “Never Let Nothing Get the Best of You," and "How Long (Has This Been Goin’ On)” are downright ferocious. Womack was always a bluesman at heart, but not many people know that this period brought out some of his darkest, bluesiest work, including “When Love Begins Friendship Ends,” the Candi Staton duet “Stop Before We Start,” and a burning, brooding rendition of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come.” Disco tended to flatten the personalities of its participants, but Womack was an exception. He was atypical in the sense that he was simultaneously songwriter, singer, guitarist, arranger, and producer; the tracks here highlight his idiosyncrasies and individualism.