Soul legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bobby Womack pays no mind to the elements when it comes to his touring and performance schedule.
"I'm used to the weather, travelling all my life," he said. "You're good when you can book days and it's in the summertime, or in spring. But sometimes you have to work in 40 below zero. And if the people can show up for that, why can't I?"
Making his way from sunny California to the region for a Feb. 4 performance at The Venue at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Womack's music career has spanned nearly a half century and crossed a wide spectrum of genres.
Reared in Cleveland, Womack was championed by fellow icons Wilson Pickett and Sam Cooke in the early 60s. With his brothers and as the Valentinos, Womack's first high–charters came in 1964 with "Lookin' for a Love" and "It's all Over Now," which Womack co–wrote and found a crossover audience when it was covered by the Rolling Stones.
In his early days, Womack's primary concern wasn't focused on the charts and the number of units his records sold.
"The thing you have to be into is the music itself," he said. "When I started to sing, I didn't think about getting paid for it. I was just happy that they allowed people to hear me ... music is all about feeling first before you can get to the deal, because if people don't believe you, you don't have anything to sell."
Womack's hit-making streak continued through the 70s and well into the 80s with "Lookin' for a Love," "Across 110th Street," "If You Think You're Lonely Now" and "That's The Way I Feel About Cha." Womack also lent his songwriting and studio talents over the decades to Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Sly and the Family Stone and Rolling Stone's Ron Wood.
With a back catalogue that includes excursions into R&B, soul, pop, rock and even country, Womack was most recently heard alongside Britpop veteran Damon Albarn in his experimental outfit Gorillaz. Womack was featured on 2010 and 2011 Gorillaz tracks "Stylo" and "Cloud of Unknowing."
Given his decades as a prominent tunesmith and performer and as an influence to today's urban superstars, Womack offered sage advice to aspiring R&B and soul movers and shakers.
"If you have a voice, you have to watch what you say," he said. "The new generation is listening, and they'll buy whatever you say. They don't think about if it's right or wrong, because they're too young. They just want to be in the moment.
"If you're going to represent the new school, represent the old one. When you don't know your history, you take it for granted."
Joining Womack at the Venue on Feb. 4 is 70s and 80s soul songstress Millie Jackson, who had pop and R&B hits "It Hurts So Good" and "(If Loving You is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right," and veteran crooner Latimore, who scored R&B hits in the 70s with "Let's Straighten it Out" and "Somethin' About 'Cha."
