Understanding (album)
Encyclopedia
Understanding is a 1972 R&B album recorded by Bobby Womack
for United Artists Records
. Womack recorded Understanding in Memphis, Tennessee
at American Sound Studio and in Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
. At Muscle Shoals, he utilized top session players, including drummer Roger Hawkins
, guitarists Jimmy Johnson
and Tippy Armstrong, bassist David Hood
and keyboardist Barry Beckett
.
The album reached No. 43 on the Billboard
pop albums chart and No. 7 on the R&B albums chart. One of the key songs from the album, "I Can Understand It", has become a soul classic and was a major hit for New Birth the following year.
’s daughter). Recorded at American Sound, personnel on the track included Mike Leech on bass, Reggie Young
on guitar, Hayward Bishop on drums and percussion, Bobby Wood on piano and Bobby Emmons on organ. With emphasis on Leech’s bassline, "Woman’s Gotta Have It" was Womack’s first Number One R&B hit, topping the charts in the spring of 1972. He followed with a cover of Neil Diamond
’s 1969 hit "Sweet Caroline (Good Times Never Seemed So Good)". The song had moderate success on the R&B charts, perhaps on the strength of Womack’s two previous hits. However, black radio deejays played the B-side, "Harry Hippie." Taylor Hicks
on his 2009 album The Distance
Womack explains, "Harry was the bass player and tenor for the brothers when we were the Valentinos. He lived a very carefree life. As a child he always said he wanted to live on an Indian reservation. We used to joke about it, but when we got older he was the same way. He always thought I wanted the materialistic things and I said, 'I just want to do my music. My music put me into that comfortable territory.' He didn’t want the pressure. We used to laugh and joke about the song when I’d sing it. When he was brutally killed in my home, it was by a jealous girlfriend who he’d lived with for five years. She fought a lot, violence. And in our home it was considered to be worth less than a man to fight a woman, so he didn’t fight back and she stabbed him to death.
"At the time I was in Seattle doing a gig and he was going to join me when we got back. Previously I had hired a new bass player because I felt it would help [Harry’s] relationship with his spouse if he weren’t on the road. And that turned out to be very sour. He ended up losing his life behind it. At that time ['Harry Hippie'] wasn’t a joke anymore; I had lost a brother. I still do that song in his honor today."
Bobby Womack
Robert Dwayne "Bobby" Womack is an American singer-songwriter and musician. An active recording artist since the early 1960s where he started his career as the lead singer of his family musical group The Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's career has spanned more than 40...
for United Artists Records
United Artists Records
United Artists Records was a record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 initially to distribute records of its movie soundtracks, though it soon branched out into recording music of a number of different genres.-History:...
. Womack recorded Understanding in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
at American Sound Studio and in Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of the city to be 12,846. The city is included in The Shoals MSA. It is famous for its contributions to American popular music.-Geography:Muscle Shoals is located...
. At Muscle Shoals, he utilized top session players, including drummer Roger Hawkins
Roger Hawkins
Roger G Hawkins , is an American drummer best known for playing as part of the studio backing band known as The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section of Alabama...
, guitarists Jimmy Johnson
Jimmy Johnson (musician)
Jimmy Johnson is an American a member of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section that was attached to FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama for a period in the 1960s and 1970s, and later was the a founder of Muscle Shoals Sound Studio located at first on 3614 Jackson Highway in Sheffield, Alabama and at...
and Tippy Armstrong, bassist David Hood
David Hood
David Hood , is a bassist from Muscle Shoals, Alabama. He also plays the trombone and is a member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame....
and keyboardist Barry Beckett
Barry Beckett
Barry Edward Beckett was a keyboardist who worked as a session musician with several notable artists on their studio albums...
.
The album reached No. 43 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
pop albums chart and No. 7 on the R&B albums chart. One of the key songs from the album, "I Can Understand It", has become a soul classic and was a major hit for New Birth the following year.
"Woman's Gotta Have It"
The first single released from Understanding was "Woman’s Gotta Have It", a warning to a man who was taking his wife for granted, which Womack co-wrote with Darryl Carter and Linda Cooke Womack (Sam CookeSam Cooke
Samuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...
’s daughter). Recorded at American Sound, personnel on the track included Mike Leech on bass, Reggie Young
Reggie Young
Reggie Young was lead guitarist in the American Sound Studios Band , and is a leading session musician. He played on various recordings with artists such as Elvis Presley, B.J. Thomas, John Prine, Dusty Springfield, J.J...
on guitar, Hayward Bishop on drums and percussion, Bobby Wood on piano and Bobby Emmons on organ. With emphasis on Leech’s bassline, "Woman’s Gotta Have It" was Womack’s first Number One R&B hit, topping the charts in the spring of 1972. He followed with a cover of Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
’s 1969 hit "Sweet Caroline (Good Times Never Seemed So Good)". The song had moderate success on the R&B charts, perhaps on the strength of Womack’s two previous hits. However, black radio deejays played the B-side, "Harry Hippie." Taylor Hicks
Taylor Hicks
Taylor Reuben Hicks is an American singer who achieved fame in 2006, when he won the fifth season of American Idol. Hicks got his start as a professional musician in his late teens and performed around the Southeastern United States for well over the span of a decade, during which he also released...
on his 2009 album The Distance
The Distance (Taylor Hicks album)
-Singles:*"What's Right Is Right" – peaked at No.24 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks.*"Seven Mile Breakdown" - released May 4, 2009 to country radio.-Chart performance:...
"Harry Hippie"
When the label flipped the single, "Harry Hippie" became the hit, reaching number eight on the R&B charts early in 1973 and giving the artist his first certified gold single. "Harry Hippie" had special meaning to Womack because the song was an ode to his brother Harry, who was found stabbed to death two years later.Womack explains, "Harry was the bass player and tenor for the brothers when we were the Valentinos. He lived a very carefree life. As a child he always said he wanted to live on an Indian reservation. We used to joke about it, but when we got older he was the same way. He always thought I wanted the materialistic things and I said, 'I just want to do my music. My music put me into that comfortable territory.' He didn’t want the pressure. We used to laugh and joke about the song when I’d sing it. When he was brutally killed in my home, it was by a jealous girlfriend who he’d lived with for five years. She fought a lot, violence. And in our home it was considered to be worth less than a man to fight a woman, so he didn’t fight back and she stabbed him to death.
"At the time I was in Seattle doing a gig and he was going to join me when we got back. Previously I had hired a new bass player because I felt it would help [Harry’s] relationship with his spouse if he weren’t on the road. And that turned out to be very sour. He ended up losing his life behind it. At that time ['Harry Hippie'] wasn’t a joke anymore; I had lost a brother. I still do that song in his honor today."
Track listing
- "I Can Understand ItI Can Understand It"I Can Understand It" is a soul classic written and originally recorded by rhythm and blues musician Bobby Womack and turned into a top ten R&B hit by funk group New Birth in 1973. Womack originally recorded the song for his top ten album, Understanding, which was released in late 1972. His...
" (Womack) - 6:36 - "Woman's Gotta Have ItWoman's Gotta Have ItWoman's Gotta Have It is the second album by Cornershop, released in 1995.-Track listing:...
" (Womack, Linda WomackLinda WomackLinda Womack , also known as Zeriiya Zekkariyas, is an American singer and songwriter.Womack is the daughter of Sam Cooke, and with her husband Cecil Womack has had a successful recording career under the name Womack & Womack. Their first album Love Wars proved a critical hit on the Elektra label. ...
, Darryl Carter) - 3:35 - "And I Love HerAnd I Love Her"And I Love Her" is a song recorded by The Beatles, written mainly by Paul McCartney . The fifth track on their third album, A Hard Day's Night, it was released 20 July 1964 with "If I Fell" as a single by Capitol Records in the United States, reaching #12 in Billboard.The Beatles performed "And I...
" (John LennonJohn LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, Paul McCartneyPaul McCartneySir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
) - 2:46 - "Got To Get You Back" (Chris Green, Jerry Lynn Williams) - 2:53
- "Simple Man" (Womack, Joe HicksJoe Hicks (musician)Joe Hicks is an American R&B and soul blues singer and songwriter. He hailed from San Francisco, California, United States, and found limited success in the late 1960s and early 1970s...
) - 5:58 - "Ruby Dean" (Womack, Joe Hicks) - 3:27
- "Thing Called Love" (Joe Hicks) - 3:57
- "Sweet CarolineSweet Caroline"Sweet Caroline" is a pop song written and performed by Neil Diamond and officially released on September 16, 1969, as a single. It was later released on December 9, 1972 as a part of Diamond's Hot August Night album. There are three distinct mixes of this song...
" (Neil DiamondNeil DiamondNeil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
) - 3:13 - "Harry HippieHarry Hippie"Harry Hippie" is a 1972 song written by Jim Ford, who wrote it for singer Bobby Womack as a dedication to his brother, bass guitarist Harry Womack, that became a top ten R&B hit for Womack when issued as a single in 1973 reaching number eight on the chart....
" (Jim FordJim FordJim Ford was an American singer-songwriter originally from Johnson County, Kentucky. After living in New Orleans, Ford moved to Los Angeles, and finally settled in Fort Bragg, CA. His music is a mixture of soul, country and folk. His songs have been recorded by numerous artists, including Aretha...
) - 3:40
Personnel
- Bobby WomackBobby WomackRobert Dwayne "Bobby" Womack is an American singer-songwriter and musician. An active recording artist since the early 1960s where he started his career as the lead singer of his family musical group The Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's career has spanned more than 40...
- vocals, guitar - Jimmy JohnsonJimmy Johnson (musician)Jimmy Johnson is an American a member of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section that was attached to FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama for a period in the 1960s and 1970s, and later was the a founder of Muscle Shoals Sound Studio located at first on 3614 Jackson Highway in Sheffield, Alabama and at...
, Reggie YoungReggie YoungReggie Young was lead guitarist in the American Sound Studios Band , and is a leading session musician. He played on various recordings with artists such as Elvis Presley, B.J. Thomas, John Prine, Dusty Springfield, J.J...
, Tippy Armstrong - guitar - David HoodDavid HoodDavid Hood , is a bassist from Muscle Shoals, Alabama. He also plays the trombone and is a member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame....
, Mike Leech - bass - Barry BeckettBarry BeckettBarry Edward Beckett was a keyboardist who worked as a session musician with several notable artists on their studio albums...
, Bobby Wood, Bobby Emmons - keyboards - Hayward Bishop, Roger HawkinsRoger HawkinsRoger G Hawkins , is an American drummer best known for playing as part of the studio backing band known as The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section of Alabama...
- drums, percussion - Ronnie Eades, Harvey Thompson - saxophone
- Harrison Calloway, Jr. - trumpet
- Dale Quillen - trombone
- Janice Singleton, Pam GrierPam GrierPamela Suzette "Pam" Grier is an American actress. She became famous in the early 1970s, after starring in a string of moderately successful women in prison and blaxploitation films such as 1974's Foxy Brown. Her career was revitalized in 1997 after her appearance in Quentin Tarantino's film...
, Patrice HollowayPatrice HollowayPatrice Holloway was an African-American soul and pop singer.-Career:Patrice Yvonne Holloway was born on March 23, 1951 in Los Angeles, California, the youngest of three children born to Wade Holloway, Sr. and his wife, the former Johnnie Mae Fossett...
- background vocals
Charts
| Chart (1972) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Billboard Pop Albums Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
43 |
| Billboard Top Soul Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
7 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
|||
| 1972 | "Woman's Gotta Have It" | 60 | 1 | |
| "Sweet Caroline (Good Times Never Seemed So Good)" | 51 | 16 | ||
| 1973 | "Harry Hippie" | 31 | 8 | |