Bobby Womack Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee A new lyric video for “American Dream,”

 

JULY 4 RELEASE FOR OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO OF BOBBY WOMACK’S “AMERICAN DREAM”

Bobby Womack’s career spanned six decades In 2009 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

 

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Michael Hepworth

 

HOLLYWOOD (Perfect Music Today) 7/6/20/–A new lyric video for “American Dream,” a Bobby Womack track that debuted on his 1984 album The Poet II, has been released by ABKCO Records just in advance of the July 4 holiday.  “American Dream” is part of ABKCO’s ongoing series of new premium music video content.

The song’s introduction includes a passage from Martin Luther King’s speech titled “American Dream” that he delivered on June 6, 1961 at Pennsylvania’s Lincoln University, the nation’s first degree granting HBCU.   That speech is acknowledged as the precursor of Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech that he would deliver at the March on Washington two years later. When the song was composed by Womack and collaborator Jim Ford, it occurred to Womack that part of Dr. King’s speech would make a fitting intro.  At that time, he reached out to MLK’s widow, Coretta Scott King, who agreed to license it.

The new lyric video is layered with numerous evocative black and white photographs of Womack made by noted LA-based, South African-born, lensman Norman Seeff.  Seeff had an ongoing professional and social relationship with Womack for whom he shot the covers of three studio albums: Communication, Understanding and The Poet. Seef remembered Womack in an interview for M: Music & Musicians, noting, “He loved performing — I didn’t have to push him at all. He would just launch right into a song. He had an energy that, for me, was a benchmark for being in the moment.”  He recalled that Womack was an ideal subject, “Every frame has its own character. He was willing to be vulnerable and fully engaged and not hold anything back. Bobby gave full-on commitment to everything,” Seeff commented. “He was obsessively creative, in a good way.” The two were fast friends out of the studio with Seeff fondly recalling a time in the early ‘70s when Womack surprised him on the eve of their respective birthdays, Seeff’s on March 5, Womack’s the day previous, March 4.  “He dragged me from my office studio to a cube truck waiting outside. It turned out to be Sly Stone’s recording van. We spent a couple of days at Sly’s house, celebrating that we all had birthdays around the same time.” Sly’s birthday is March 15 and all three of them share the same Pisces astrological sign.

Watch the Official Lyric Video for “American Dream” here https://youtu.be/nTW6BMTuMeM

“American Dream” is the closing track on The Poet II, one of the trilogy of albums released in the ‘80s, along with The Poet and Someday We’ll All Be Free on the Beverly Glen label.  The Poet II was produced by Andrew Oldham and James Gadsen, along with Womack.  ABKCO Records, with whom Womack had an association dating back to the mid-1960s, acquired the albums and re-released them in 2009. ABKCO also serves as music publisher for a catalog of Womack’s most notable compositions including “Across 100th Street,” “Woman’s Gotta Have It,” “That’s The Way I Feel About ‘Cha,” “Breezin’,” “It’s All Over Now” and “American Dream.”

Bobby Womack’s career spanned six decades and saw him perform, record and write songs in a diverse array of genres including gospel, rock ‘n’ roll, R&B, soul, pop, jazz, blues and even country until his passing in 2014.  In 2009 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones.

 

 

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