Bobby Womack-Baby I'm Back

Gone again.

Your long, agonizing wait is over. I'll finally let you in on how I'd vote on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 2009 ballot.

I'd opt for Metallica, Run-D.M.C., the Stooges, War and Bobby Womack. I'd take no pleasure in excluding Jeff Beck, Chic, Wanda Jackson and Little Anthony and the Imperials, but four candidates need to be rejected. I just hope Womack's not one of them. I never understood why he doesn't enjoy equal status with, say, Little Milton and Marvin Gaye. Womack split the difference between the former's sophisticated innovation and the latter's mastery of Southern soul.

Womack's "Across 110th Street" has enjoyed a recent vogue, but either "That's the Way I Feel About 'Cha" or "If You Think You're Lonely Now" is probably the definitive Womack statement. "Harry Hippie" is the song that first introduced me to Womack.

This obscure out-of-print recording documents an early '90s London show.

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Oh no they didn't! That was my initial reaction upon discovering that Buckcherry had appropriated the Dead Kennedys' "Too Drunk..." on their latest hit. I suppose it was inevitable. Besides, I happen to like Buckcherry. (So sue me.)

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Kansas City Click: Spanish folk ensemble La Musgana appears at Unity Temple tonight.

Speaking of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the current incarnations of the Temptations and the Four Tops perform at Starlight on Saturday.

Billy Joe Shaver is scheduled to return to Knuckleheads Sunday.