Bobby Womack
Robert "Bobby" Dwayne Womack (born March 4, 1944 in Cleveland , Ohio , † June 27, 2014 in Tarzana , Los Angeles , California ) was an American singer and songwriter in the musical styles of soul and R&B . He celebrated his greatest successes in the 1970s and 1980s.
Life
Womack's father, also a musician, promoted the careers of Bobby and his brother Cecil at an early age . Together they founded their own band under the name Womack Brothers . They were discovered by Sam Cooke , who got them a record deal for Cooke's SAR Records in the early 1960s . Sam Cooke led the Womack in a less through church music certain, more commercial direction and named the band in The Valentinos . They had their first small hit in 1964 with the single It's All Over Now , the cover version of the Rolling Stones was so successful that Womack was able to live well off the royalties for a while.
After Sam Cooke's death in 1964, Bobby Womack married his widow Barbara Cooke, who was eight years older than him, at the age of 21. The resulting scandal spread in the following years, when this marriage failed due to Womack's affair with his stepdaughter Linda and Barbara shot Bobby. Linda later married his younger brother Cecil.
On December 31, 1975, Womack entered into a second marriage to Regina Banks. In early 1976 he got a contract with Columbia Records . In 1981 he switched to the Beverly Glen label , where he also recorded the album The Poet . After a successful legal battle with Beverly Glen over missing royalty payments , Womack moved to MCA in 1985 . In 1986 he worked with the Rolling Stones on their album Dirty Work and sang the duet Harlem Shuffle with Mick Jagger . Since 1997 he has been releasing Christian-inspired music again, for example in Back to my roots . In 2012 his colon cancer became known. In early 2013, Womack announced in an interview that he suffered from Alzheimer's disease .
music
Womack's music has a high recognition value due to the very elegant, reserved and understated guitar line as rhythm and his excited-looking and passionate solo voice.
From about 1965 onwards, Womack worked mainly as a studio musician and producer at Chip Moman's American Recording Sound Studios in Memphis (Tennessee) for other bands, but also released half a dozen of his own singles. He had his solo breakthrough in the R&B charts in 1968 with his self-written What Is This . In the same year he had his first two hits in the official US single charts with his version of the classic Fly Me to the Moon and a cover version of California Dreamin ' . From then on he was regularly represented in the charts. During this time he also wrote the song Breezin ' , with which George Benson landed a hit.
In the early 1970s, Womack moved from Minit Records to United Artists . With his label debut Communication he came into the top 100 of the official album charts and the song That's the Way I Feel About 'Cha contained on it was his first top 40 hit. Other hits were Harry Hippie , his first million seller , Nobody Wants You When You're Down and Out , a blues classic, as well as a solo recording of Valentinos hit Lookin 'for a Love , with which he made it to number 1 on the R&B charts and in brought the top 10 of the official charts. It was also his second million seller. In 1973 he also composed the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Across 110th Street (German title Straße zum Jenseits ) with JJ Johnson and sang the title song, among other things.
In the second half of the 1970s, the success waned a little, but it was still frequently featured on the R&B charts. In 1981 Womack released his successful album Poet with the R&B hit single If You Think You're Lonely Now . Three years later, Patti LaBelle was also featured as a guest singer on the follow-up album The Poet II . With the song Love Has Finally Come at Last he had another official chart hit in the USA after 9 years. The song Tell Me Why from the same album was again his first chart hit in the British charts . There he had other chart hits until the mid-1990s, especially together with other British artists such as the band Living in a Box and the singer Lulu .
After 1986, Bobby Womack had hardly any success with album releases. Guest musicians such as Rod Stewart , Keith Richards and Stevie Wonder did the honors on the 1994 album "Resurrection" . It earned him the only chart placement in the UK in the 1990s and also just on the R&B charts in the US. He mostly worked as a producer and occasionally he was seen performing live. According to his daughter GinaRe, at times he completely lost interest in his musical work.
It was not until 2010 that Womack stepped out of his creative crisis. Damon Albarn of the British band Gorillaz contacted him in order to win him over for his planned album Plastic Beach . Womack then played together with the Gorillaz and Mos Def on the track Stylo , which was released as the first single two months before the album. Womack can also be heard in another track on the album, Cloud of Unknowing . Albarn retaliated a short time later together with Richard Russell by producing with him The Bravest Man in the Universe . It was released in 2012 and was a great success, it not only made it into the charts in Great Britain and the USA, but also brought it into the album charts for the first time in German-speaking countries. It also came in at number 36 of Rolling Stone's top albums in 2012 and won the Q Award for Best Album 2012. Lana Del Rey was a duet partner on the track Dayglo Reflection . But it was his last publication before he died two years later.
Trivia
Mariah Carey sang a phrase in her number 1 hit We Belong Together in 2005 that goes something like, “I can't sleep at night when you're on my mind. Bobby Womack is on the radio and sings for me: 'When you think that you are lonely now'. ":
"I can't sleep at night
When you are on my mind.
Bobby Womack's on the radio
Singing to me: 'If you think you're lonely now'."
In the opening and closing credits of the 1997 film Jackie Brown , director Quentin Tarantino used the song Across 110th Street , which, together with the film songs by the group The Delfonics, led to a small renaissance in soul music.
The song Across 110th Street originally comes from the crime drama of the same name starring Anthony Quinn in 1972, but is also included on modern soundtracks such as American Gangster .
In a 2003 commercial for the Saab car brand , an excerpt from Bobby Womack's California Dreamin ' is alluded to.
Discography (excerpt)
Albums
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1968 | Fly me to the moon | - | - | - | - |
US174 (2 weeks) US |
|
| 1971 | The Womack "Live" | - | - | - | - |
US188 (5 weeks) US |
Live album
|
| Communication | - | - | - | - |
US83 (17 weeks) US |
||
| 1972 | Understanding | - | - | - | - |
US43 (48 weeks) US |
|
| 1973 | Across 110th Street | - | - | - | - |
US50 (20 weeks) US |
Soundtrack of the film of the same name (German title Straße zum Jenseits )
Split album with 6 own songs and 5 instrumental pieces by JJ Johnson & His Orchestra |
| Facts of Life | - | - | - | - |
US37 (21 weeks) US |
||
| 1974 | Lookin 'for a love again | - | - | - | - |
US85 (19 weeks) US |
|
| Bobby Womack's Greatest Hits | - | - | - | - |
US142 (7 weeks) US |
||
| 1975 | I Don't Know What the World Is Coming To | - | - | - | - |
US126 (4 weeks) US |
|
| 1976 | Safety zone | - | - | - | - |
US147 (11 weeks) US |
|
| 1981 | The poet | - | - | - | - |
US29 (23 weeks) US |
|
| 1984 | Poet II | - | - | - |
UK31 (8 weeks) UK |
US60 (14 weeks) US |
Guest singer: Patti LaBelle
|
| 1985 | So many rivers | - | - | - |
UK28 (7 weeks) UK |
US66 (19 weeks) US |
|
| 1994 | Ressurection | - | - | - |
UK87 (1 week) UK |
- | |
| 2012 | The Bravest Man in the Universe |
DE84 (2 weeks) DE |
AT36 (3 weeks) AT |
CH32 (4 weeks) CH |
UK49 (4 weeks) UK |
US181 (1 week) US |
|
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
More albums
- My Prescription (1970)
- BW Goes C&W (1976)
- Home Is Where the Heart Is (1976)
- Pieces (1978)
- Roads of Life (1979)
- Someday We'll All Be Free (1985)
- Womagic (1986)
- The Last Soul Man (1987)
- Save the Children (1989)
- Midnight Mover: The Bobby Womack Collection (Compilation, 1993)
- Soul Seduction Supreme (1994)
- Soul Sensation Live (Live album, 1998)
- Back to My Roots (1999)
- Traditions (1999)
- Christmas Album (2000)
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1968 | Fly me to the moon | - |
US52 (13 weeks) US |
Author: Bart Howard (1954)
|
| California Dreamin ' | - |
US43 (9 weeks) US |
||
| 1969 | How I Miss You Baby | - |
US93 (2 weeks) US |
Authors: Bobby Womack, Darryl Carter
|
| 1970 | More Than I Can Stand | - |
US90 (4 weeks) US |
Authors: Bobby Womack, Darryl Carter
|
| 1971 | That's the way I feel about 'Cha | - |
US27 (13 weeks) US |
Authors: Jimmy Grisby, Joe Hicks, Bobby Womack
|
| 1972 | Woman's Gotta Have It | - |
US60 (9 weeks) US |
Authors: Bobby Womack, Linda Womack, Darryl Carter
|
| Harry hippie | - |
US31  (12 weeks)US |
Author: Jim Ford
|
|
| Sweet Caroline (Good Times Never Seemed So Good) | - |
US51 (9 weeks) US |
Original / author: Neil Diamond (1969)
B-side of Harry Hippie |
|
| 1973 | Across 110th Street | - |
US56 (6 weeks) US |
Authors: Bobby Womack, JJ Johnson
theme song of the film of the same name (German title Straße zum Jenseits ) |
| Nobody Wants You When You're Down and Out | - |
US29 (15 weeks) US |
Original / Author: Jimmy Cox (1923)
|
|
| 1974 | Lookin 'for a love | - |
US10 (17 weeks)US |
1962 a hit for the Valentinos , which also included Womack.
Authors: James Alexander , Zelda Samuels |
| You're Welcome, Stop On By | - |
US59 (7 weeks) US |
Authors: Bobby Womack, Truman Thomas
|
|
| 1975 | Check It Out | - |
US91 (3 weeks) US |
1974 debut hit by Tavares
writers: Floyd Butler, Billy Osborne |
| 1984 | Love Has Finally Come at Last | - |
US88 (5 weeks) US |
Author: Bobby Womack
Bobby Womack and Patti LaBelle |
| Tell Me Why |
UK60 (3 weeks) UK |
- |
Authors: Bobby Womack, Jim Ford
|
|
| 1985 | I Wish He Didn't Trust Me so Much |
UK64 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
Authors: James K. Eubanks, Peter Luboff, Harold Payne
|
| 1987 | Living in a box |
UK70 (2 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 1993 | I'm back for more |
UK27 (5 weeks) UK |
- |
Author: Kenny Stover
Lulu and Bobby Womack |
| 1994 | It's a Man's Man's Man's World |
UK73 (1 week) UK |
- | |
| 2004 | California Dreamin ' |
UK59 (1 week) UK |
- |
Re-release of the recording from 1968
|
As a guest musician
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1985 | (No Matter How High I Get) I'll Still Be Lookin 'Up to You | - | - | - |
UK63 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
Music: Bobby Womack, Text: Paul Kisch
Wilton Felder feat. Bobby Womack and introducing Alltrina Grayson |
| 1987 | So the story goes | - | - | - |
UK34 (8 weeks) UK |
US81 (4 weeks) US |
|
| 2010 | Stylo |
DE63 (8 weeks) DE |
AT40 (8 weeks) AT |
CH56 (7 weeks) CH |
- | - | |
More singles
- Nothing You Can Do (1965)
- I Found a True Love (1965)
- What Is This (1966)
- Find Me Somebody (1967)
- Baby, I Can't Stand It (1967)
- Broadway Walk (1967)
- What Is This (1968)
- I Left My Heart in San Francisco (1969)
- It's Gonna Rain (1969)
- I'm Gonna Forget About You (1970)
- Everybody's Talkin ' (live, 1970)
- Breezin ' (1971)
- The Preacher (Part 2) / More Than I Can Stand (live, 1971)
- Communication (1971)
- I'm Through Trying to Prove My Love to You (1973)
- I Don't Know (1974)
- It's All Over Now (1975)
- Where There's a Will, There's a Way (1975)
- Daylight (1976)
- Home Is Where the Heart Is (1977)
- Standing in the Safety Zone (1977)
- Wind It Up (1978)
- Trust Your Heart (1978)
- How Could You Break My Heart (1979)
- Secrets (1981)
- If You Think You're Lonely Now (1982)
- Where Do We Go from Here (1982)
- It Takes a Lot of Strength to Say Goodbye (with Patti LaBelle , 1984)
- Someday We'll All Be Free (1985)
- Let Me Kiss It Where It Hurts (1985)
- I'm So Proud (with Cecil Womack , 1985)
- Gypsy Woman (1986)
- (I Wanna) Make Love to You (1986)
- How Could You Break My Heart (1987)
- Outside Myself (1988)
- Priorities (1989)
- Save the Children (1989)
- I Wish I'd Never Met You (with Mica Paris , 1991)
- Please Forgive My Heart (2012)
literature
- Stambler, Irwin: The Encyclopedia Of Pop, Rock And Soul . 3rd revised edition. St. Martin's Press, New York 1989, ISBN 0-312-02573-4 , pp. 747-749.
Web links
- German fansite
- Paul Vitello: Bobby Womack, Royalty of the Soul Era, Dies at 70th obituary in The New York Times, June 27, 2014
- Bobby Womack at laut.de
- Bobby Womack at Allmusic (English)
- Bobby Womack at Music VF
- Bobby Womack at Discogs (English)
- Bobby Womack in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Literature by and about Bobby Womack in the catalog of the German National Library
Individual evidence
- ↑ Chicago Tribune : Soul poet Bobby Womack dead at 70 , June 27, 2014
- ↑ Message at EurWeb
- ^ Bobby Womack diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease at CBS News
- ↑ on www.contactmusic.com from August 16, 2011 , accessed on January 3, 2014 (English)
- ↑ on www.rollingstone.de from April 23, 2012 , accessed on January 3, 2014
- ↑ 50 Best Albums of 2012. rollingstone.com, accessed December 20, 2013 .
- ↑ Muse, Pulp and Blur win Q Awards. BBC News, October 22, 2011, accessed December 20, 2013 .
- ↑ a b c Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
- ↑ a b US singles: Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2006. Billboard Books, New York 2007, ISBN 0-89820-172-1 . / US albums: The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
- ↑ a b British Hit Singles & Albums , 18th Edition, Guinness World Records Limited 2005, ISBN 9781904994008 .
- ↑ Bobby Womack in the RIAA gold / platinum database (USA)
- ↑ So the Story Goes (song) in the UK charts
- ↑ Chart sources for Stylo (Gorillaz): Germany - Austria - Switzerland
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Womack, Bobby |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Womack, Robert Dwayne; Womack, Bobby Dwayne (nickname) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American soul and R&B singer and songwriter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 4, 1944 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cleveland , Ohio , USA |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 27, 2014 |
| Place of death | Tarzana , Los Angeles , USA |