View Full Version : Bobby Womack, legendary soul singer, dead at 70



Achilleslastand
06-28-2014, 12:12 AM
Bobby Womack, legendary soul singer, dead at 70 - MSN Music News (http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=875228&ocid=ansent11)

Soul singer Bobby Womack has died, his record company, XL Recordings, confirmed. The cause of death is currently unknown.

The singer's career spanned seven decades and included '80s hit "If You Think You're Lonely Now."

Womack began his career in the early 1960s as the lead singer of his family musical group The Valentinos. He was also Sam Cooke's backing guitarist.

In the late-60s, Womack went solo. In 1968, he signed with Minit Records and recorded his first solo album, "Fly Me To The Moon," which included his first major hit with a cover of The Mamas & The Papas' "California Dreamin'." He would go on to collaborate with music notables Gábor Szabó, George Benson
, Sly and the Family Stone, Janis Joplin and Pearl.

He would later leave Minit and sign with United Artists where he released the album, "Communication." He would earn his first Top 40 hit, "That's the Way I Feel About Cha."

Womack's biggest commercial success would occur in the 1970s with back-to-back successful albums.

In the 80s, Womack's career was complicated by substance abuse. He would have kicked the problem and saw a resurgence in the 90s. During this time, he worked with Todd Rundgren and The Roots.

In 2010, Womack collaborated on the single, "Stylo," alongside Mos Def, from the third Gorillaz album, "Plastic Beach."

A year earlier, in 2009, Womack was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOg_8hCC4u4

Achilleslastand
06-28-2014, 12:13 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbbZ_k1Z8gU

dcsooner
06-28-2014, 05:23 AM
Great song. GOD rest your Soul BW

Dennis Heaton
06-28-2014, 06:37 AM
One of thee absolute BEST of all time. RIP Bobby.

RadicalModerate
07-11-2014, 11:46 AM
Driving down the road, returning a rented lawnmower--used to complete a voluntarily required task, one that is mostly mundane yet involves instant gratification of a sort (sort of like cooking good food =)--I became a huge Bobby Womack fan.

When this thread first appeared, I thought, "'Bobby Womack' . . . (Hmmm) . . . Where have I heard that name before . . ? (whatever) . . ."

Today, I had the radio dial tuned to a local NPR affiliate and Terri Gross was playing a recording of an interview she did with this Genius back in '99. The program is Fresh Air and I'm going to load a copy of the interview into my Favorites file when it becomes available . I'll probably even go to Barnes and Noble to buy a couple of Bobby Womack CDs at some point.

First, there was a version of one of my favorite songs--"Stand By Me"--that was similar to the more famous version yet completely different at the same time.

Then there were the witty, down-to-earth words of Mr. Womack talking about history, "church music", the music business and his humble roles in all of them.

The last part of the audio clip, that I caught by completely by chance, was how the success of the cover version of one of his tunes and one of the few Rolling Stones songs I actually like ("She Used to Love Me (but it's all over now)") affected him:

"I didn't really like the Mick Jagger version at first. To this day I will say that I can out-sing Mick Jagger.
"I was really tired of music written by black artists not being played on Pop Stations unless covered by Pat Boone or The Beatles or whomever.
"But when I saw the royalty check . . . I really liked his version." =)

Another lesson learned from that interview was: "A Deuce and A Quarter Buick is worth more than a Cadillac."

As one of my favorite songwriters (Billy Joe Shaver) once said, "I'm Just And Old Chunk of Coal (but I'm gonna be a diamond someday)".

Just the other day, was your day, Sir.
To become a Diamond.

Rest In Peace, Bro. Womack.
You Were THE MAN.