Good old Damon Albarn. It was the Blur man who plucked Bobby Womack out of quasi-retirement and convinced him to release last year’s The Bravest Man in the Universe, the soul survivor’s first album of original material in 18 years.
It marked the latest chapter in a remarkable life that’s seen Womack play guitar for Sam Cooke, write a number-one hit for the Rolling Stones (It’s All Over Now) and be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The American’s latest honour was to open this year’s BluesFest, a four-day roots festival at the Royal Albert Hall that will also play host to Van Morrison and Robert Plant.
Even by blues music’s nocturnal standards, a stage time of 11pm seemed a tad excessive. Still, if Womack — a 69-year-old who has battled pneumonia, heart failure and colon cancer — could hack it, who were we to complain?
Dressed in more leather than you’d find at a Hell’s Angels convention, and backed by a slick 10-piece band, Womack began with the horn-heavy R’n’B of Across 110th Street.
His body may now be so frail that he spent half the 90-minute show sat slumped in a chair but his voice remains as strong as ever. A funky version of Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out was a showcase for his iconic growl, a cover of Sam Cooke’s A Change is Gonna Come was dripping with soul, and Deep River’s God-fearing gospel prompted whoops of approval from the crowd.
Womack was funny too. “I’m still looking for love,” he announced late on. “When you get to my age, money don’t matter.” Grooves, growls and gags: this was one show worth waiting up for.
