Soul Man Bobby Womack

The last of the soul greats, Bobby Womack’s legacy to the music industry is substantial.

With a portfolio of R&B classics, he has been covered extensively by R&B and rock artistes over the years. Womack has also written and produced songs for many R&B greats and influenced many younger musicians like Jimi Hendrix.

Bobby Womack was born in Cleveland in 1944. As a youngster he and his brothers formed a gospel group called the Womack Brothers which was managed by his father. The quintet performed extensively on the gospel circuit and before long was noticed by the legendary Sam Cooke.

When Cooke set up his own label SAR Records, the brothers were signed on and eventually renamed The Valentinos. The group’s first R&B hit was Lookin’ For a Love (1962). Later their 1964 track Its All Over Now would be covered by the Rolling Stones, giving them their first #1 in the UK.

Alongside recording with his brothers Womack also began playing the guitar with Cooke’s band. However Cooke’s untimely death in 1964 affected Womack and his brothers greatly. The Valentinos found the going difficult without Cooke’s guidance and eventually split up. In the meantime, Womack married Cooke’s widow Barbara Campbell, just three months after Cooke’s murder, thus creating a huge scandal. The controversy affected Womack’s attempts to launch himself as a solo artiste and though he recorded throughout the ‘60s his attempts only met with moderate success.

Forced to take on assignments as a backing guitarist, Womack began earning a reputation as a talented composer and arranger, working with artistes like Joe Tex, Aretha Franklin and Dusty Springfield. He was one of Wilson Pickett’s favourite song writers, penning such classics as I’m In Love and I’m A Midnight Mover for the singer. These collaborations gradually helped Womack overcome the effects of the earlier scandal.

By the end of the decade, Womack’s luck began to turn. Beginning with 1968’s What Is This? he started charting hits regularly. Some were inventive covers like Fly Me To The Moon , California Dreamin’ and I Left My Heart In San Francisco while others were originals like Its Gonna Rain , How I Miss You Baby and More Than I Can Stand. Several of these were written in partnership with engineer Darryl Carter.

Womack’s greatest success as a solo artiste came on the United Artists label to which he signed in 1971. Tracks like That’s The Way I Fell About Cha (1971), Woman’s Gotta Have It (1972), a re-recorded version of Lookin’ For A Love and You’re Welcome, Stop On By all made it into the R&B Top Ten.

By the end of the ‘70s, the disco phenomenon was eating into Womack’s popularity. Coupled with Womack’s rock and roll lifestyle and escalating drug problem, this resulted in the hits gradually drying up.

In 1980 Womack returned to the charts with the critically acclaimed The Poet, which included the single If You Think You’re Lonely Now, a song that would come to be Womack’s signature tune. Over the next few years his hits included Love Has Finally Come At Last (with Patti LaBelle) (1984),(No Matter How High I Get) I’ll Still Be Looking Up To You(1985),and I Wish He Didn’t Trust Me So Much. This period was also marked by Womack’s regular change of labels.

Post the ‘80s Womack has made sporadic appearances on the music scene. He recorded Resurrection in 1994 on Slide and released a pure gospel album Back To My Roots in 1999. In 1997 Across the 110th Street, recorded by Womack in 1972, was used on the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown.