B.W. Goes C.W.

Though the affinity between soul music and country & western had long been implied, Bobby Womack was one of the few superstars bold enough to make the connection explicit. Though it was a commercial failure, B.W. Goes C.W. is an artistic triumph, and in its way it's as visionary as contemporaneous soul masterworks by Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield. Though Womack mostly shied from those artists' political bravado, his choice to publicly embrace country music was an audacious social statement. It implied a certain mutual respect buried under the racial divisions of the Deep South, which gave birth to both styles. A songwriter at his core, Womack immediately recognized the sterling quality of “Behind Closed Doors,” “Bouquet of Roses," and “I’d Be Ahead If I Could Quit While I’m Behind.” Two of the singer’s most emotional performances to date are “Don’t Make This the Last Date” and “I Take It On Home.” Expanding the album’s diversity is Womack’s cover of the Cajun classic “Big Bayou,” which rocks as hard as anything by Creedence Clearwater Revival.