He has also maintained close ties with the Rolling Stones, contributing instrumentals and even vocals to more than one Stones album. Womack has earned Top 40 hits in three decades while providing material and backup work to artists as varied as Aretha Franklin, Joe Tex, Ray Charles, Janis Joplin, and jazzman Gabor Szabo. He went solo shortly after Sam Cooke's violent death in 1964 and steadily worked his way to prominence in the soul field. In effect, Womack has been asking himself that question all along. But then, after 30 years, you've got to ask yourself: 'Can I say something myself now?'" So I appreciated the fact that they could take the message a lot further than me. "I like the fact that people sang my songs," he told the Philadelphia Inquirer, "because there was a blockage for me because I was black. Womack has always been ambivalent about the fact that white artists have been able to make bigger hits of his music than he could himself. Another Womack song, "Looking for a Love," later became a major hit for the J. The song was also picked up by a white group-none other than the Rolling Stones, who made it their second American hit.
Their biggest hit came in 1964, when Bobby's "It's All Over Now" sold four hundred thousand copies.
Within two years the Valentinos were filling halls on the R&B circuit, led by Bobby's smooth vocals and steadily sharpening songwriting talents. By 1962 Cooke had convinced the other Womacks to go secular as well, and the brothers formed a group called the Valentinos. The move proved fruitful for both Cooke and Womack. "I remember telling my father, ' blessed you with this voice and look at you-$100 a week in the steel mill.' So I started to think, 'I hope the Lord understands that I can sing a different kind of music and do good deeds as well.'" Womack told the Philadelphia Inquirer that his father warned him he would face eternal damnation if he joined Cooke. Cooke offered Womack a job as backup guitarist in his first rhythm & blues band, and in 1960 Womack accepted, dropping out of school. Womack became fast friends with another gospel singer, Sam Cooke, who had decided to move into secular music. Looking back on those days in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Womack said: "We were so sincere we thought singing anything else was the way to hell." Despite his deep faith, Womack felt something else stirring in the mid- to late-1950s-the nascent soul music movement that provided money and fame far beyond the bounds of the gospel circuit. The group travelled throughout the Midwest and performed in shows with other gospel ensembles. He and his brothers-Cecil, Curtis, Friendly, and Harris-began singing gospel as the Womack Brothers while Bobby was still a youngster. In the Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock & Soul, Irwin Stambler notes that, through his many stylistic incarnations, Womack has "provided a body of work ranking among the finest in modern pop music."īobby Womack was born in Cleveland, Ohio, one of five sons of a steelworker. Although so-called "mainstream" success has always eluded him, Womack is immensely popular among black American listeners and a veritable superstar in Europe, where his albums often sell in the millions. Like many other black singer/songwriters, Womack began performing gospel music in church settings as a youngster and then moved into the secular field as a composer, guitarist, and singer. Addresses: Record company- Epic, 51 West 52nd St., New York, NY 10019.īobby Womack is one of the most respected artists in black music, with a long and distinguished career in rhythm & blues and soul. Born March 4, 1944, in Cleveland, Ohio son of a steelworker children: Vincent.
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