Bobby Womack – Dead at 70

bobby-womackLegendary soul singer, Bobby Womack, has died, aged 70.

Womack’s song, “It’s All Over Now” was recorded by The Rolling Stones, and gave them their first UK number one.

Born the third of five brothers in a musical family, Womack started singing in the church where his father was minister and his mother played the organ. His father also played guitar, and forbade his children from playing the instrument when he was away. Bobby and his brothers showed prodigious musical talent, and so their father bought Bobby a guitar and formed The Womack Brothers. The group toured the gospel circuit, with their parents accompanying them on guitar and organ. In 1954 the group, performing as Curtis Womack and the Womack Brothers, released the single, “Buffalo Bill”.



Sam Cooke discovered the group in 1956, and soon became their mentor. After changing their name to The Valentinos, Cooke produced and arranged, “Looking for a Love”, written by Bobby. It became their first hit, and brought them to the attention of James Brown. 1964 saw their next hit, “It’s All Over Now”. Cooke persuaded Bobby to allow The Rolling Stones to cover it. Speaking on BBC Newsnight in 2012, Womack said,

“He said, ‘One day you’ll be part of history, this group is gonna be huge,’

“I said, ‘Why don’t they get their own songs?’ “

The Valentinos folded following Cooke’s death in December 1964. Losing Cooke had hit Bobby particularly hard, and he grew close to Cooke’s widow, Barbara, 10 years his senior. Marrying only three months after Cooke’s funeral, it was seen by many as a betrayal, with Bobby falling out with his brothers, was severely beaten up by Barbara’s brother, and was booed at concerts. His first solo records were all but ignored. He persevered however, working as a session musician between 1965-1968, and played guitar on recordings by Elvis Presley (Suspicious Minds), Arethea Franklin (Rock Steady), Dusty Springfield (Son of a Preacher Man), the Box Tops (The Letter) and Wilson Pickett (I’m a Midnight Mover).

From 1970-90, Womack charted 36 singles including “That’s the Way I Feel About Cha” and “Woman’s Gotta Have It”.

Womack struggled with drug addiction throughout the 1980s, but sobered up in the 1990s, releasing his album, “Resurrection”, which included a collaboration with The Roots.

In 2009 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, and his career received another boost the following year when he contributed to the Gorillaz album, Plastic Beach.

The singer had a number of health issues, ncluding diabetes, prostate cancer, heart trouble, colon cancer and pneumonia, but was still recording up until his death, with a new album under the working title, “The Best is Yet to Come” set to be released.

Only two weeks ago the singer was on stage at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester Tennessee. Watch the legend perform at Glastonbury last year:

About the author

There’s a lot of music out there - good music. At Essentially Pop our remit is that we cover music that deserves to be heard, with a particular focus on independent artists. That doesn't mean we won't cover your old favourites - rather we hope to give you some new favourites as well.

We no longer accept unpaid PR agency work. We believe the creative arts have value, and this includes writing. As always, we will write about artists who contact us - or who we contact - for free - but we can no longer work free of charge for PR agencies. We work hard, we put in a lot of hours writing, and we ask that you respect that. Contact us for our very reasonable rates.

Follow us on: Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, Myspace, Facebook, Spotify, Youtube. Drop us an email on hello@essesntiallypop.com

Leave a Reply