Known as the “Last Soul Man”, Bobby Womack was an accomplished musician, dynamic stage performer, and a prolific songwriter. Womack has written hits for many artists including Wilson Pickett “I’m In Love“, later covered by Aretha Franklin, The J. Geils Band “Lookin’ for a Love“, Millie Jackson “Put Something Down On It” (Rod Stewart used the distinctive string arrangement from the song for his hit “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy“), Kokomo and New Birth “I Can Understand It“, Ronnie Wood “I Got A Feeling” and George Benson with the instrumental “Breezin”.
Other artists to record Bobby Womack songs include Kelly Rowland and Travis McCoy of the Gym Class Heroes, O. V. Wright “That’s The Way I Feel About You”, reggae act Dennis Alcapone, who issued a distinctive version of “Harry Hippie” entitled “Sorry Harry” and Triston Palma, who issued “Love Has Finally Come At Last” in 1984. Janis Joplin recorded “Trust Me” which was later recorded by others including Winfield Parker.
Womack wrote “It’s All Over Now” with his sister-in-law Shirley Womack. The song was first released by The Valentinos featuring Bobby in June 1964 and was a top 10 single on the Billboard R&B chart. The song was later recorded by The Rolling Stones and it became their first UK #1 hit in July 1964. It also charted with versions by Patti Drew in 1966 and as a duet between Womack and Bill Withers in 1975.
The 1960s and 1970s were especially prolific years for Womack’s songwriting career, either as a solo writer or in partnership with the likes of Darryl Carter and Jim Ford.
Jodeci‘s K-Ci Hailey, a notable admirer of Womack’s work, covered “If You Think You’re Lonely Now” in 1994. On the 1994 release 1-800-NEW-FUNK, Nona Gaye covered “Woman’s Gotta Have It“, produced by Prince and backed by his band, New Power Generation.
The song is sampled in Mariah Carey‘s “We Belong Together“, a #1 hit in June 2005. Carey sings “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.'” Hailey again covered Womack in 2006 with his rendition of “A Woman’s Gotta Have It”.
In 2007, R&B singer Jaheim interpolated the song as “Lonely” on his album “The Making of a Man”. Neo soul singer Calvin Richardson also covered many of Womack’s tunes. “That’s the Way I Feel About Cha” was covered by the late R&B musician Gerald Levert and fellow singer Mary J. Blige on Levert’s 1998 album Love & Consequences.
Bobby wrote and recorded music for the soundtrack of “Across 110th Street” in 1972 and film director Quentin Tarantino used the song in the opening and closing sequences of his 1997 film Jackie Brown. Womack’s work has been used in several other popular films and commercials, including Ali (2001) and American Gangster (2007). In 2005, “Across 110th Street” appeared in the hit Activision video game True Crime: New York City.
Bobby Womack was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009.
