Bobby Womack - Woman's Gotta Have It (United Artists 50902)

Woman's Gotta Have It

In my opinion, this is one of the best records ever made. Released in April of 1972, It was Bobby Womack's first number one hit, and the last truly great recording cut at American Sound in Memphis.

In a recent episode of Unsung, the TV One documentary series, they spend a lot of time talking about the single released immediately prior to this one (which only made it to #2) That's The Way I Feel About Cha, and basically completely ignore the significance of this remarkable 45. As a matter of fact, they don't mention Darryl Carter's name at all, which seems like an incredible oversight to me. They were quite a team, and Bobby wrote some of his best songs with him. The way Darryl tells it, he and Bobby had written this tune with Jackie Wilson in mind a few years earlier and, when work on his upcoming Understanding LP kind of stalled creatively down in Muscle Shoals, Bobby came back to Memphis to record it. Neither of them had been inside American since 1968, but they knew that's where they had to go. Chips told them he wouldn't mind if Darryl came in and worked the board, "as long as everyone got paid." In a marathon 48 hour session with old friends The Memphis Boys, they cut this masterpiece, along with three other tracks for the album. Darryl said they put on the strings, and Bobby's second vocal track, with Stan Kesler (presumably at Sounds of Memphis). When they brought the finished master to United Artists, they wanted to cut Bobby's introductory monologue, but he adamantly refused... he was right, of course.

It is Darryl Carter who is the one who is truly unsung as, once again, his rightful place in all of this has been summarily ignored. Please visit us over on The B Side, where we'll attempt to straighten all that out. Thanks!