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Bobby Womack
The son of a gospel singer, the three of five singing brothers from a Cleveland housing project, the protege of Sam Cooke, Wilson Pickett's famed songwriter, and a legendary singer in his own, Bobby Womack rose to the top in the late sixties and early seventies as one of the proprietors of modern soul music with a selection of hits including "That's the Way I Feel About Cha", "A Woman's Gotta Have It", "Harry Hippie" and "I'm Lookin' for a Love". In a career that has spread more than 55 years, Womack has seen his share of highs and lows but is gracious to call himself "the last great soul man alive".
Born Robert Dwayne Womack in Cleveland, Ohio on March 4, 1944, Bobby was the third of five sons born to Naomi and Friendly Womack, Sr. As a child, he formed The Womack Brothers with his siblings Friendly, Jr., Harry, Cecil and Curtis. In 1953, the Womack boys met singer Sam Cooke, then the lead singer of The Soul Stirrers, who put Bobby's group as his group's opening act. A burgeoning friendship between Sam and Bobby started almost immediately. By the late fifties, the Womack Brothers were one of the most successful performing groups on the gospel circuit. Then in 1962, Cooke, now a successful crossover pop artist, persuaded the Womacks to leave their gospel roots for a commercial pop sound. After much persistence, Bobby's father eventually allowed his boys to leave the sacred sounds of gospel. As "The Valentinos", they recorded for Cooke's label SAR Records and with Bobby as lead singer, the group scored their first R&B hit with "I'm Lookin' for a Love", which peaked at number eight R&B. A second single, "It's All Over Now", which was Womack's own penned song, became their second charter and soon gained royalty checks for Womack when a then-unknown UK rock group named The Rolling Stones recorded the song and took it to number-one on the UK chart, it was the Stones' first No. 1 single and soon gave Womack monetary checks for the song's success.
However, the early momentum Womack gained stopped almost immediately after the tragic death of Sam Cooke in December of 1964. Womack, who had been Cooke's backing guitarist for four years (during that time, he trained a then-young Jimi Hendrix how to play guitar properly), was devastated by his friend and mentor's death. In March of 1965, Womack, fearing Cooke's widow Barbara would "do something crazy", married Barbara. In an instant, Womack's career took a nosedive as many in the music industry didn't take kindly to the marriage. In 1966, Womack volunteered to quit the Valentinos. In 1967, Womack moved to Memphis and befriended singer Wilson Pickett. Womack wrote a session of songs for Pickett's next album, "I'm a Midnight Mover". The title track became a hit for Pickett in 1968. Womack then gained a reputation as a sideman for acts such as Aretha Franklin, Joe Tex, James Brown and Ray Charles. In 1968, Womack returned to performing as a solo artist scoring his first charted hit with "What Is This?" A year later, he gained notoriety for his bluesy cover of The Mamas and Papas' "California Dreamin'".
In 1970, Womack contributed to Janis Joplin's posthumous "Pearl" album and a year later performed rhythm guitar on Sly and the Family Stone's landmark album, There's a Riot Going On (that's him playing guitar on the group's #1 hit, "A Family Affair"). In 1972, he scored his first smash solo single with the soulful ballad "That's the Way I Feel About Cha" from his Communication album. In 1973, he scored two hit singles (the number-one hit "A Woman's Gotta Have It" and "Harry Hippie") from his Understanding album. His funk song, "I Can Understand It", was remade in a James Brown-styled production by Detroit band New Birth in 1973. Gaining gold singles and albums by this point, Womack produced, wrote and arranged the soundtrack for the movie, Across 110th Street, its title track being a modest hit for Womack. In 1974, he gained his biggest single success with his remade version of "Lookin' for a Love", taking the song to number-one R&B and number-ten pop. That same year, Womack dealt with tragedy when his older brother Harry was killed during a fight with his girlfriend. The song, "Harry Hippie", written by Womack's friend Jim Ford, was loosely based on him. Womack has since performed the song as an emotional tribute to Harry.
Womack's brother's death signaled a turning point in Womack's career just as it was picking up steam. His stream of hit singles ended with 1976's "Daylight" (#5 R&B) and after trying to record a country album, he left United Artists over creative disputes. Dabbling in drugs and alcohol, by the release of 1979's Roads of Life, Womack was out of favor with the R&B audience as disco and dance music dominated the airwaves. All seemed lost until 1981 when he signed with Beverly Glen Records and recorded the groundbreaking album, The Poet, which yielded the number-three R&B smash, "If You Think You're Lonely Now". In 1984, he released The Poet II, which became a critical and commercial success in Europe and featured two hit duets with Patti LaBelle, including "Love Has Finally Come at Last". In 1985, Womack recorded his final R&B smash, "I Wish He Didn't Trust Me So Much", loosely based on his brothers Cecil and Curtis who dealt with the same woman - Motown star Mary Wells.
Since then, Womack has carried on with his career surviving drug abuse, tragedy, deaths and other issues to call himself "the last soul man". Several of his songs have been covered over the years and he's always been referenced by several artists in other songs, most famously Mariah Carey referenced him in her biggest hit in years, "We Belong Together". Womack's "Daylight" was turned into a UK hit by Kelly Rowland this year while his "Across 110th Street" has been played on several film scores.
With these credentials and the recent passings of his soul man contemporaries, Womack could simply really be the "last great soul man alive".
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