Bobby Womack is releasing a new album called "Living In The House of Blues" which features a collaboration with blues legend Bobby "Blue" Bland. Womack has long admired Bland since childhood and considers him a hero. The album represents the fulfillment of Womack's dream to produce Bland. It features new songs written by Womack as well as covers, with their vocals layered together. Womack's experiences touring with Gorillaz reinvigorated his creative spirit and provided the means to record the album independently. He hopes the album will introduce Bland's talents to a new generation and inspire them to tour together.

1. BOBBY WOMACK
“Living In The House of Blues”
RO CK and RO LL HALL O F FAM ER
Bobby Womack has been dreaming of Living in the House of Blues a long time – and now, with
his historic dual recording with legendary bluesman and fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Famer
Bobby ―Blue‖ Bland, the R&B legend is finally moving in and making groovin‘ musical magic
like never before. The upcoming independent release will feature appearances by longtime
Womack friends and musical cohorts Eric Clapton, Ron Wood and B.B. King.
In 2009, after over a decade out of the limelight, Womack enjoyed a banner year that sparked a
long overdue career renaissance. The famed singer, songwriter and guitarist who graced
recordings by Sly Stone, Wilson Pickett and Sam Cooke; wrote and originally recorded The
Rolling Stones‘ first UK #1 ―It‘s All Over Now‖; and recorded such 70s soul classics as
―Lookin‘ For A Love,‖ ―That‘s The Way I Feel About Cha,‖ ―Harry Hippie‖ and ―Across 110th
Street‖ at last got his due and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Then Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, the sonic masterminds behind the British virtual
alternative hip-hop group Gorillaz, got a hold of him and made Womack and Mos Def the
centerpiece of ―Stylo,‖ a track from their Plastic Beach album that reached #24 on the Billboard
Alternative chart. In 2010, Womack was part of the ensemble that performed the tune on The
Colbert Report. After performing it at the Glastonbury Festival with De La Soul, Snoop Dogg
and Lou Reed, Womack joined Gorillaz on their first ever world tour, which began in Lebanon
and took them across America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Womack had recorded the highly anticipated gospel album Back To My Roots in 1999 and his
classic instrumental ―Breezin‘‖ had become a staple of the smooth jazz format via George
Benson‘s mid-70s recording. He also earned a co-writing credit for Mariah Carey‘s #1 multiple
Grammy Award winning 2005 hit ―We Belong Together‖ because the song mentions him and his
1981 top 5 soul hit ―If You Think You‘re Lonely Now.‖ Yet, Womack hadn‘t penned any new
material in 15 years. Gorillaz gave Womack the creative freedom to write and sing whatever was
on his mind, and the singer didn‘t hold back, ―going crazy,‖ as he says, ―about love and politics,
getting it off my chest.‖
The Gorillaz experience, and the renewed appreciation for his legacy that it engendered, inspired
him to begin composing again and provided the funds to begin recording an album dear to
Womack‘s heart—and one which he has been thinking about since first performing with ―Blue‖

2. some 20 years ago. Womack only did a handful of shows with Bland, but his personal history
with the blues legend‘s music goes back to Womack‘s childhood in Cleveland. Womack always
credits his father as the strongest motivational force in his decision to pursue music, but his dad
forbade him to listen to Bland, whom he felt ―stole‖ too much from gospel music.
Years later, when Womack was building his own career--first as a session guitarist for everyone
from Joe Tex and The Box Tops to Aretha Franklin, Sly Stone and Janis Joplin, then as a
songwriter for Wilson Pickett and finally as a hitmaking recording artist for United Artists in the
70s—he always hoped Bland was following his breakthroughs. Throughout the 60s when
Womack was building his own legacy, Bland was establishing himself as a blues and soul
legend, scoring 23 Top Ten hits on the Billboard R&B charts; according to rock music historian
Joel Whitburn, he ranks as the #13 all-time best selling artist.
―Bobby was the guy when I was seven or eight,‖ Womack recalls. ―Before Sam Cooke
and Ray Charles came along, he was showing the other world, the white world, how to sing soul.
He was my hero when I was a kid, and I felt spiritually connected to him long before he knew
me personally. Years later, when we played those shows together, I told him it would be my
dream to produce him. Anytime I would see him over the years, I would say the same thing. For
a long time, he was signed to a Malaco Records, which would make such an independent project
difficult to do. But when he was released from his contract, I knew the time was right. I began
writing songs and told him that while I don‘t have a label yet, I will by the time we are finished.‖
Living In The House of Blues will feature a mix of new Womack-penned material and
covers, all arranged with Womack‘s vocals two steps higher than Bland‘s; Womack hits the high
notes while Bland‘s voice will do the bottom parts, the foundation of each song. The basic tracks
were recorded at two studios in Los Angeles, including that of guitarist Michael Thompson, who
plays throughout the recording. The 13-track collection includes a revamp of two Womack
classics: ―I Wish He Didn‘t Trust Me So Much‖ (his final Top 10 R&B single), which the singer
says he ―changed to another pocket, to give it a face lift‖; and ―One More Chance on Love,‖
from his 1976 album Home Is Where The Heart Is.
The project also features covers of Seals & Croft‘s AC staple ―Diamond Girl,‖ Johnny
Taylor‘s ―Cheaper To Keep Her‖ and the poignant ―The Sun Died,‖ a somewhat obscure Ray
Charles song that Womack would often listen to with Barbara Campbell, Sam Cooke‘s widow
who later became Womack‘s wife. New Womack songs on Living In The House of Blues
include ―Jealous Love,‖ ―Let Me Kiss It Where It Hurts.‖
―Bobby is a blues singer and I didn‘t want to take him too far away from his roots,‖
Womack says. ―I‘m making him stretch a little bit into R&B, but I think this could cross over
and become a big pop record. I‘m the producer of the project so I have to make sure I can make
him hear it and feel it. As successful as he‘s been in the R&B and blues world, I still feel he‘s
been a little shortchanged and is a stranger to a new generation of soul fans. Living In The
House of Blues is going to change all that.‖
Womack is feeling other music these days as well. After the release of Living In The
House of Blues, the singer will put out his first solo album in over 10 years, a labor of love

3. entitled The Best Is Yet To Come. The album will feature an incredible array of legendary guests,
including the late Gerald Levert and Teena Marie, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, Ronald Isley
and Snoop Dogg. The collection will also include a beautiful new autobiographical song about
Womack‘s early days learning to play his instrument.
―Being on the Gorillaz tour reminded me of just how wonderful a feeling it is to walk out
onstage and feel that connection with the audience,‖ says Womack. ―It‘s like I get to be a doctor,
healing these people in ways the guy in the white coat can‘t. Every time I perform, I have a
chance to make a difference in people‘s lives by simply having the courage to sing my truth. I‘m
looking forward to getting out there with these new projects and keeping that exciting
conversation going with the many generations of pop and R&B fans.‖

4. Q&A with Bobby Womack
Talk about your relationship with Bobby “Blue” Bland and why Living In The House of
Blues is such a special project for you.
I like to say that I was into ―Blue‖ spiritually before he ever heard of me, because I was listening
to his early music in grade school, even if my dad didn‘t want me too because he felt it stole too
much from gospel. When I was a kid, the idea of meeting him was a dream. The whole time I
was working on building my own career, I kept wondering if he was paying attention. My dream
finally came true and I got to play some shows with him. I‘ll never forget the promoter asking
me to close the concert and I was thinking, ‗No way I can do that, he‘s the star.‘ I remember in
the beginning he came out of his bus and just said, ‗Sing to me.‘ Then he let me come on board.
What a moment.
Back then, I remember telling him I would love to produce you sometime. But it was just talk
because of label and management issues, and that went on for years. I kept in touch with him and
each time we talked I said the same thing. Finally the pieces came together. I felt inspired to
write again after a 15 year layoff, he was released from his old label, and I couldn‘t wait to get in
and arrange songs and cut tracks that would work for both our voices. What can compare to
working with your hero? And the opportunity to expose him to a different audience who is not
aware of his genius? That‘s my ultimate hope with Living in the House of Blues, that ―Blue‖
gets his due. That and having the album do so well that I can push him onstage in his wheelchair
to pick up our Grammys for it!
How do your recording and touring experiences with Gorillaz play a role in making Living
in the House of Blues a reality?
Well, on the financial side of things, coming off the tour, I had earned enough money to fund ten
albums, and I‘m glad we‘re able to do the recording ourselves before we worry about getting
involved with a label. On the artist side, I like to say my talent came back when I was on tour
with them. My pen came back! I had been off the scene and not written anything for so long that
I lost all my confidence in myself as a writer, singer and performer. I didn‘t think I could be in
this business anymore. People would always ask when I would be coming out with something
new. I didn‘t know what to tell them.
All of a sudden, I‘m singing on a hit single and walking onstage in front of 60,000 people with
someone saying, ‗Ladies and Gentlemen, Bobby Womack.‘ And the fans are cheering. At one of
the shows, a little girl came up to me and said she loved my song ‗Harry Hippie‘ that I recorded
many years before she was born. I felt wanted and needed again. It lit the fire, and I kept it
burning. I began to write. I thought about what I kept saying to Bobby over the years about
producing him, and knew I had the material and financial means to start making it happen.
Assuming the album is as great a success as you hope, do you have plans to tour with Bobby
―Blue‖ Bland?

5. Yes! I want to do a tour with him. I intend to perform with him and some of the album‘s other
participants, including Eric Clapton at the House of Blues in London on the first day of the
London Olympics in 2012. I‘m hoping Eric‘s involvement will help expose Bobby to his
audience and open some doors in Europe, where Bobby has never traveled because he doesn‘t
fly. He‘s 81 and I‘m 67, and now is the time. If I were 81, I would go across the world before it
was too late. It‘s all about passion and it is going to be a blast bringing this new music we‘re
making to audiences everywhere.