Shortly after its release in 1981, The Poet rose to the #1 slot on Billboards Top R&B Album chart, and it went on to become the biggest selling full-length album of Bobby Womacks career. “If You Think You’re Lonely Now,” the albums leading single, went to #3 on Billboards Hot Soul Singles chart. The album also yielded two additional chart singles, Secrets and Where Do We Go From Here.

The original tapes, long believed to be lost, the have been recovered and are sourced for the remasters of The Poet I. The Poet I is pressed on heavyweight (180 gram) vinyl, making the album available in the vinyl marketplace for the first time in decades. The historic album is packaged with extensive liner notes by R&B scholar Bill Dahl.