Gisteren was het exact 55 jaar geleden dat The Rolling Stones “It’s all over now” uitbrachten en vandaag is het vijf jaar geleden dat de componist van het nummer (samen met zijn schoonzus Shirley), Bobby Womack, overleden.
Bobby Womack begon inderdaad zijn actieve carrière als zanger in de band The Valentinos, die hij samen met zijn broers Friendly, Jr. (born 1941), Curtis (born 1943), Harry (1945-1974) and Cecil (1947-2013) vormde als begeleidingsband voor Sam Cooke. Omgekeerd stond Sam Cooke in voor de productie van de single “It’s all over now”, maar eveneens voor de deal die met de opkomende Engelse band The Rolling Stones werd gesloten. Aangezien op dat moment alles wat Engels was werd aanbeden in de Verenigde Staten, belandde de single van The Valentinos zelf helemaal op de achtergrond. Womack was daarover natuurlijk niet te spreken, maar de royalties die overvloedig binnen kwamen dankzij de versie van de Stones maakten veel goed. “He cried all his way to the bank,” zou Liberace zeggen…
In December 1964, the Valentinos’ career was put in jeopardy when Cooke was suddenly shot and killed while at a Los Angeles motel. Struggling to deal with the sudden loss of Cooke, the group lay low. Not long after Cooke was buried, however, in March of the following year, Bobby, who had just turned 21, married Cooke’s widow, 29-year-old Barbara Campbell. Womack would claim later that he initially had wanted to console Barbara after she lost her husband fearing she “may do something crazy” because of the attention given to Sam Cooke’s stature. Womack, his family and friends later say that Barbara fell in love with Bobby and convinced him to marry her. Womack even wore one of Sam’s suits to the wedding by Barbara’s request.
The marriage angered many of Cooke’s loyal fans due to the fact that Cooke’s death was still being investigated at the time. In response to the negative attention, Bobby chose to leave the Valentinos and start his solo career in 1965, first recording for Him Records and later the Chess Records subsidiary, Checker. But due to the Cooke scandal, radio deejays refused to play his records and onstage, he was often referred to as “the kid that married Sam Cooke’s wife”. Womack settled on session work for the time being as a rhythm guitarist, beginning in 1966. After contributing guitar to recordings by Aretha Franklin, he gave up some of his compositions to Wilson Pickett, who later took the Womack single, “I’m in Love”, to the top 40 on the pop and soul charts. Several of Womack’s other songs including “I’m a Midnight Mover” would also be recorded by Pickett. Following this success, Minit Records signed Bobby and released the album, Fly Me to the Moon, which featured the singer’s first charted hit, a cover of The Mamas & The Papas’ “California Dreaming”. Dit nummer is prominent te horen in de film Fish Tank van Andrea Arnold, waarin het belangrijkste personage, Mia (rol van Katie Jarvis), hierop danst en het voor haar auditie gebruikt.
However, this period of success would unfortunately be short lived. On March 9, 1974, Harry Womack was shot to death by his girlfriend during a fight while living in Bobby’s Los Angeles home. Bobby Womack’s solo career struggled following the death of his brother. In 1982, Bobby Womack’s solo career received a boost with the release of “If You Think You’re Lonely Now”, which featured his surviving brothers backing him. The following year, Cecil Womack, now married to Linda Cooke, Sam Cooke’s daughter and Bobby’s former stepdaughter, began finding success on his own with Linda as the duo Womack & Womack. The duo later had a hugely successful international hit with “Teardrops”.
Bobby Womack van zijn kant sukkelde al een tijdje met zijn gezondheid. Hij mocht dan wel een drugsverslaving overwonnen hebben, hij hield er wel diabetes, darmkanker en Alzheimer aan over. Ondanks zijn fragiele gezondheid trad de man nog altijd op. Einde juli stond een optreden van hem gepland in het Rivierenhof in Deurne. Vorig jaar gaf hij nog een naar het schijnt voortreffelijk optreden op Gent Jazz. Womack was een nieuw album aan het opnemen onder de optimistische (of was het eerder: cynische?) titel ‘The Best is Yet to Come’, waaraan Stevie Wonder, Rod Stewart en Snoop Dogg bijdragen zouden leveren. Het wordt nu afwachten of er daarvan überhaupt al wat was ingeblikt…
dagelijks iets degelijks 