Genre
Soul and quiet storm, with disco and R&B influences. The album navigates between mid-tempo groove-driven tracks, churchy ballads, and disco-inflected numbers, representing a deliberate stylistic update from the Muscle Shoals-rooted Southern soul toward the polished, Los Angeles-flavoured sound then reshaping black popular music.
Release
Released in 1979 by Arista Records.
Production
Produced by Bobby Womack and Patrick Moten — the Los Angeles-based keyboard player and producer who would go on to helm Womack's celebrated comeback album The Poet (1981). The Muscle Shoals Sound Rhythm Section, anchored by Barry Beckett on keyboards and Reggie Young on guitar, contributed to the sessions alongside Womack's brother Cecil. Recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios on the River, Sheffield, Alabama, and Magic Wand Studios (Paramount), Los Angeles; mastered at Masterfonics, Nashville. The album was dedicated to Womack's infant son Truth, who died at four months old in June 1978.
Reception
Roads of Life reached number 55 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart. Dismissed at the time by some critics as overly disco-tinged, it has been substantially reassessed since its CD reissue. Soul and Jazz and Funk described it as an overlooked masterpiece in the Womack canon, singling out "How Could You Break My Heart" as an all-time classic — a view confirmed when the track received a belated UK 12-inch release in 1987 following listener demand.
Bobby Womack
Bobby Womack (March 4, 1944, Cleveland, Ohio – June 27, 2014) was an American soul singer, songwriter, and guitarist who began his career performing gospel with his brothers before being mentored by Sam Cooke, under whose influence the group transformed into the R&B act the Valentinos. Their 1964 song "It's All Over Now" became the Rolling Stones' first UK number one. His most celebrated solo run spans Communication (1971) through Facts of Life (1973), and he scored the blaxploitation film Across 110th Street (1972). He also played guitar for Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin, and Sly Stone. His commercial revival came with The Poet (1981). He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009.
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