I Don't Know What the World Is Coming To

The most agitated and funk-oriented of all Bobby Womack’s albums on United Artists, 1975’s I Don’t Know What the World Is Coming To suggests a toughening of the times and a toughening of his style. “This world is in a state of confusion/Happiness, if just an illusion” sings Womack on the title track. For an artist who usually lets his sensitivity and conviction prevail, it's exciting and sometimes unnerving to witness Womack overcome by anger and disorder. The guitars in his music have never appeared more enraged than they are in “Git It” and “It’s All Over Now.” (The latter is a Bill Withers duet that revives Womack’s first big hit from 1964.) Even as it writhes and fumes, the album alights with the inspiration of Womack’s peers. James Brown's influence hangs in the air, in the crackling rhythms of “Check It Out” and the hoarse squeal Womack unleashes in “Jealous Love.” When writing “Git It,” Womack was clearly inspired by the searing, socially conscious dance rhythms of The Isley Brothers. Womack strives for a note of resolution by closing with “Yes, Jesus Loves Me,” but he sings it in a weary fashion.