Front Row: Archive 2012 - Bobby Womack, with Damon Albarn and Peter Guralnick

Download Bobby Womack, with Damon Albarn and Peter Guralnick

With John Wilson.

Singer and songwriter Bobby Womack is one of soul music's great survivors. He reflects on a career which spans more than half a century, in which he's confronted illness, addiction and controversy.

He discusses his return to the studio for the first time in almost a decade, at the invitation of Damon Albarn, and Albarn himself looks back at the dramatic conclusion to their first recording session for a Gorillaz album.

Bobby Womack also recalls his less-than-positive first reaction to the news that The Rolling Stones had recorded his song It's All Over Now - although he readily admits that his views changed when he received the first of many large royalty cheques.

And music biographer Peter Guralnick charts how singer and entrepreneur Sam Cooke played a key role in Womack's early career: Bobby Womack remembers Cooke's ready advice, which included always to own a good ring and a good watch - valuables which could be pawned if a concert promoter failed to pay up.

Producer John Goudie.

Published on Thursday, 30th August 2012.

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