A few years ago I read a book about Sam Cooke called Dream Boogie: The Triumoh of Sam Cooke by Peter Guralnick. It was a great book and it made me re-visit the live LP I was given some years ago Live at the Harlem Square Club 1963. One of the great live albums. It is easy to pocket Sam Cooke into the deceptively light pop of his singles like Wonderful World or You Send Me but on the live album you can see where Rod Stewart  got it all from. There is something lascivious and insistent about the music and the immediacy between the singer and his audience.

At the end of the book I got to thinking that Peter Guralnick should next be writing about Bobby Womack. 

Bobby Womack features heavily in the life of Sam Cooke. The band he was in with his brothers The Valentinos were mentored and produced by Sam Cooke and they released their first records on his label. Bobby Womack married Sam Cooke’s widow. Not only is he one of the few living connections with the people who sang then but over the years he has written songs for and had connections with some of the very best music.

He is playing in Liverpool tonight so much of the day so far has been spent doing homework and listening through all the CDs and albums I have. So far that has been about 4 hours of solid Bobby Womack.

In between I have made a chicken curry to eat before go out and been for a walk round the garden to see what is coming up. There is some tidying up to do outside but it has been wet and windy so it will have to wait for another weekend. The garlic I planted last year in September is coming up well and there are still some beetroots that need eating up. As always there is a glut of cavolo nero. I will need to look up some recipes to use it all up.