Save the Children

Save the Children was Bobby Womack's sole release for Dick Griffey's Solar Records. Produced by Womack, Keg Johnson, keyboardist Frank Hamilton, and Cecil and Kevin Womack, it was a pretty good attempt to update Womack's '60s soul-based sound while reflecting the influences of late-'80s hip-hop and pop. Highlights include the snappy "Baby I'm Back," "She's My Girl," and the torchy duet "Now We're Together," but it's on "Too Close For Comfort," a ballad co-written with H.T. Payne, that Womack comes closest to rekindling the kind of sound found on some of the best-known tracks. The title track (not to be confused with similarly named songs by Marvin Gaye and the Intruders) managed to chart R&B in late 1989. Save the Children was reissued on CD by U.K. label Sequel in October 1999. Of special note is the title track of Eddie Murphy's 1985 music album, How Could It Be, redone as the socially conscious "How Can It Be," a version of which can be found on the 1998 Sequel CD Soul Sensation. ~ Ed Hogan