I’m very sad to report the loss of another musical giant. Although Bobby Womack had a long list of impressive accolades, beyond the fans of the genre, he wasn’t as well known as his sixties and seventies Soul, Funk and R&B contemporaries. Early on he played guitar with Sam Cooke, he was a session player with The Box Tops and on several Aretha Franklin albums, he also wrote songs recorded by Wilson Pickett. He famously wrote the Rolling Stones first No1. hit, It’s All Over Now. He played guitar on Sly Stone’s magnificent No.1 single Family Affair from the groundbreaking There’s A Riot Going On, reviewed here on the In Deep site:

http://indeepmusicarchive.net/2013/11/251113-theres-riot-goin-sly-family-stone-2013/

In 1968 he had a hit with a superb R&B version of The Mamas & The Papas, California Dreamin’ and his song Trust Me appeared on the posthumous Janis Joplin album, Pearl in 1971. More recently he appeared on Gorillaz’ albums and his song Across 110th Street originally from the 1972 movie of the same name was used again in Denzel Washington’s 2007 film American Gangster. Quentin Tarantino used the song in the opening and closing sequences of his brilliant paean to Blaxploitation movies, Jackie Brown from 1997.

If you haven’t caught up with Bobby Womack in his life, now might be the time to change that in the wake of his passing. Sadly missed, condolences to friends and family and respect to Bobby Womack for all the timeless music he left behind for us to enjoy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Womack

Here’s Bobby being interviewed on Soul Train in 1973 and then singing a live vocal on Across 110th St, showcasing what a great soul singer he was.