Legendary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame soul and gospel singer Bobby Womack died last Friday aged 70. The official cause of death has not been announced at the time of writing, but he was known to have been in the grip of diabetes, prostate cancer, heart disease, colon cancer, pneumonia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Womack’s career began when he sang gospel with his brothers at the age of nine. The great Sam Cooke, then known primarily as a gospel singer, signed Curtis Womack and the Womack Brothers to his SAR Records, but they had changed their name to The Valentinos and switched to secular music before, in 1964, the group’s “It’s All Over Now”, co-written by Bobby, launched The Rolling Stones in the US at a time when UK pop artists were looking to Black America for musical inspiration. When Cooke tried to explain the business reasons for allowing the Stones to record his song, Bobby wanted to know “if they are so great, why don’t they record their own song?” He continued to collect royalties for what would become the Stones’ first number one hit until his death.
Womack was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of a mother who played organ in the local Baptist church, and a disciplinarian guitar-playing preacher. It was as a precocious 8-year-old that Bobby defied his father by playing his guitar in his absence. The over-exuberant left-handed Bobby broke a string on his father’s guitar on one occasion, exposing his secret. When his father had Bobby demonstrate what he could play, he was impressed enough to put together a gospel group consisting of Bobby and his two older and two younger brothers.
By the time the Womack Brothers came to Sam Cooke’s attention, they were reasonably accomplished singers and musicians. Cooke nurtured the group’s career and had high enough regard for Bobby’s talents to have him play guitar on many of his hits.
The group, by now known as the Valentino’s, suffered a dip in popularity following Cooke’s untimely death late in 1964 when Womack, who had become a family friend, was 20. Just months later, Bobby married Cooke’s widow Barbara, creating a scandal that led to him leaving the group and becoming a session musician at producer Chips Moman’s American Studios in Memphis. There he played on recordings by Joe Tex, Aretha Franklin and The Box Tops, before his work as a songwriter caught the ear of Wilson Pickett, who recorded his “I’m a Midnight Mover” and “I’m in Love.”
Womack justified his marriage to Cooke’s widow by suggesting he was afraid what she might do to herself if left alone. The marriage ended in 1976 when Womack allegedly had an affair with his step-daughter Linda (Barbara’s daughter with Sam Cooke). Later the tangled web would become more intricate when Cecil Womack, Bobby’s younger brother, married Linda and formed the successful writing and singing duo, Womack & Womack (biggest hit, “Teardrops” in 1988).
In 1968, Bobby Womack signed with Minit Records and released his debut solo album, Fly Me to the Moon, scoring a major hit with a cover of John Phillips’ (of the Mamas & the Papas) “California Dreamin’,” which first came to the notice of many in the UK when it was used in an advert for Saab cars. In 1969, he forged a partnership with Gabor Szabo that produced the guitar hit “Breezin'” for George Benson. He also worked on Sly and the Family Stone’s “There’s a Riot Goin’ On” album and penned the ballad “Trust Me” for Janis Joplin’s “Pearl” album.
A string of successful albums included 1972’s “Understanding” and “Across 110th Street”, the latter the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film of the same name and later used in the opening and closing sequences of Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 film “Jackie Brown”. Those were followed by 1973’s “Facts of Life”, with the Top 40 hit, “Nobody Wants You When You’re Down and Out,” an older song Cooke had done years before, and 1974’s “Lookin for a Love Again”, which featured a remake of his first hit single, “Lookin’ for a Love.”
In 1975, he collaborated with the Stones’ Ronnie Wood on the guitarist’s second solo album, “Now Look”. Womack’s career revived in 1981 when he signed with Beverly Glen Records and had his first Top 10 R&B single with “If You Think You’re Lonely Now.” His accompanying album, “The Poet”, went to No. 1 on the R&B charts, bringing him increased acclaim in the US and Europe. He had two more R&B Top 10 singles, including the Patti LaBelle duet “Love Has Finally Come at Last” and “I Wish He Didn’t Trust Me So Much.”
At his 1970s peak, Womack wrote and originally recorded New Birth’s “I Can Understand It,” among other songs. As a singer, he is most notable for the hits “Lookin’ for a Love,” “That’s The Way I Feel About Cha,” “Woman’s Gotta Have It,” “Harry Hippie” and “Across 110th Street.”
Throughout most of the ‘80s, he struggled with drug addiction, eventually checking himself into a rehabilitation clinic. In 1989, he sang on Todd Rundgren’s “For the Want of a Nail” on the album “Nearly Human” and in 1998 performed George Gershwin’s “Summertime” with The Roots for the Red Hot Organization’s “Red Hot + Rhapsody” benefit album. Womack contributed lyrics and sang on “Stylo” alongside Mos Def on the first single from the third Gorillaz album, “Plastic Beach”, where he met Damon Albarn in 2010. In 2012, Womack began a career renaissance with the release of “The Bravest Man in the Universe”, his first album in more than 10 years. Produced by Albarn and XL’s Richard Russell, the album received critical accolades.
Womack was recording his next album for XL, tentatively titled “The Best Is Yet to Come”, featuring Stevie Wonder, Rod Stewart and Snoop Dogg when he died. His renaissance included a celebrated performance at last year’s Glastonbury Festival, and it was during this year’s festival that news of his passing began to filter through. His final live performance was at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee on June 14 but UK music fans will miss out on another opportunity to appreciate first-hand the resurgent legend. He had been booked to top the bill on the fourth and final night of the internationally-renowned WOMAD festival on Sunday, July 27, at Charlton Park near Malmesbury.
