My attitude was I didn’t want to sit there and explain. She loved me and I loved her.
Of course, some of my fans were not convinced either. At one gig in Philadelphia, the black women in the audience went crazy as soon as they saw I was with Jody with her blonde hair. One lady ran up behind us and I heard, ‘What has happened to you, Bobby?’ This was a new experience for me. ‘All our brothers, every time they make a bit of money, the first thing they get is a white woman. I never thought I’d see the day.’
Some people checked this scene out and laughed. I said, ‘Hey, stay out of my business.’ Jody had a stand-up row with the woman and, when we got backstage, I said, ‘That’s the kind of shit I’m talking about. I want to be fighting racism, but I never thought I’d be fighting it from my side.’
I became angry with all the opposition to us. It looked like we were back to the old days. I didn’t want to marry a white chick to go through all the old prejudices. I wouldn’t be free because even though I loved her I wouldn’t be able to be with her without thinking about people looking at us strange when we walked in places. I didn’t think I had to go around and prove myself again.
Jody got pregnant and went back to Chicago to have the baby, and along came a boy. We called him Cory and he was the sweetest-looking kid, one eye blue, like Jody, and one brown, from me. I thought, ‘Damn, you’re going to fuck yourself up just to make each one of us happy.’ But he looked like me, acted like me.
My other son, Bobby, was in jail, so it was great to have another son around, but I started thinking of the problems again of bringing a son up to go through the same shit I went through. Actually, I thought it would be worse for him because he wouldn’t know if he was black or white.
What brought me out of that was Jody’s sister’s kids. They didn’t see colours. That taught me a lot. It was me going around fucked up, thinking about black and white hate. People put the hate in children later, taught them about prejudice. Kids don’t think like that.
The family finally took me in. They loved Jody and I guess they figured if Jody liked me that much then they had to accept me, but it was still difficult. For Cory’s first birthday, I was the only black in the room. Jody was busy waiting on everyone and I felt uneasy sat there. Then my son came over and slept on my lap and I felt like it didn’t matter.
We still had our moments, but they were mainly my problems. When Jody mentioned Martin Luther King, I told her to can it. Told her she didn’t know what she was talking about. She asked, ‘Where do you get off being so defensive, Bobby?’
‘Don’t mess with Mr King.’
‘Why not? I read books.’ She couldn’t understand why I was so defensive.
I made out I used to hang out with the guy, shoot crap with him, all kinds of shit. Told Jody, ‘You know nothing about Martin Luther King so don’t start making out you know how black people feel.’
Jody was mad. ‘You are ridiculous.’
That was kind of an epiphany. Yeah, what was the problem? Stuff was said on TV, racial things I heard in the street, but it wasn’t everyone. It wasn’t Jody. I couldn’t blame everyone.
We weathered that and a lot of other shit besides. What we couldn’t weather was the Los Angeles earthquake in 1994. The big one. I lived over the hills in Sherman Oaks at that time, with Jody.
First thing I thought was I’d had some bad cocaine. When the shaking started, I said, ‘Oh, Lord, if you ever let me get out I’ll never do it again.’ I got down on the floor, lay by the bed and prayed. Prayed like crazy. I mean really prayed.
Jody rushed in to find me and I told her, ‘I have sinned so much, it’s not you, it’s me he wants.’
All my stuff in the apartment was toppled over and crashed about the place. I had two statues from Africa in the bedroom and the fuckers jumped up and down with all the shaking. They looked like they had come alive. I asked Jody to lie on top of me.
‘Why on top of you?’
‘’Cos that’s what you do when something like this happens, it’s the way to protect each other.’
She wasn’t convinced. ‘And, while I lie on top, the TV falls on my head.’
It felt like that earthquake lasted hours, but was probably only minutes. I couldn’t see anything in the halls, the elevators were out and people were running down the stairs. The whole apartment block was swaying, rattling and rolling. Outside was like a war zone and the LA residents had become refugees in it, walking around in their pyjamas.
The end game was Jody went back to Chicago. She didn’t want to stay in LA if there was another chance of an earthquake. I guess the earthquake must have been stronger than our love, but we’re still very close.
We had another boy after – Jordan. It bothers me I’m not able to see the kids as much as I would like, but I have to work weekends. Sometimes both the boys ask why we don’t get married, but I think part of it was I just wasn’t ready to have a new family simply because I was still attached to Regina, still married to her.
I’ve gotten ready to be a senior citizen. I’m holed up in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles. Been in the same apartment I’ve been in for more than a decade. It’s OK. I go out nights, ride my bike or run, and no one bothers me. I haven’t done drugs in a long, long time. The wine in the rack has been there four years or more. Haven’t touched a drop of it.
Alone now and I take it one day at a time. Go to bed, fall asleep at four, come awake at eight or nine. I feel like I’m adjusting like a person who has been in a wheelchair and taking their first steps. My main thing now is to do the gig and leave.
It’s sad. I don’t speak to Barbara no more; Linda doesn’t speak to her. Haven’t spoken to Cecil for years. No one speaks to no one.
Don’t know where Sly is at. I hear all kinds of stories, but I love him. If he made the turn I made, then we could talk. That would be beautiful, but it is what it is and life goes on.
Pickett I hadn’t heard from for a while by the time he died. I don’t talk to Jim Ford, but think about him all the time. And sometimes, when you don’t hear anything, then you assume people are doing OK, and that is better than if they called and they are not doing so good.
I don’t even try to talk to women now. Don’t need one. I ran out of energy. I don’t pick them up or see anyone else, not with this ton of baggage I still got. I guess I could tell them I got two kids in Chicago, one in New York, another in jail and two deceased. That’s enough.
CHRONOLOGY
1930s
Five Blind Boys of Mississippi form at Piney Woods School near Jackson, Mississippi
22 January 1931
Sam Cooke born Clarksdale, Mississippi
18 March 1941
Wilson Pickett born Prattville, Alabama
4 March 1944
Bobby Dwayne Womack born Cleveland, Ohio
15 March 1944
Sly Stone (Sylvester Stewart ) born Denton, Texas
1951
Pop Staples forms the Staples Singers
1953
Bobby meets Sam Cooke when the Womack Brothers opens for Cooke’s band The Soul Stirrers
1954
Bobby makes his debut in a studio when the Womack Brothers make their first record
August 1955
Black teenager Emmett Till is murdered for allegedly whistling at a white woman in Mississippi
December
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger, triggering a boycott of the local bus system
1957
Sam Cooke quits The Soul Stirrers
1961
Sam Cooke sets up SAR Records in Los Angeles and signs The Womack Brothers, who later become The Valentinos
Marvin Gaye is signed to Motown
July 1962
The Valentinos score first hit with ‘Lookin’ For A Love’
July 1963
Sam Cooke’s son Vincent drowns in the swimming pool of the house on Ames Street, Los Feliz, Los Angeles.
August
&n
bsp; Martin Luther King delivers his ‘I have a dream’ speech in Washington
November
President John F Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas
June 1964
The Rolling Stones score first UK No 1 with a cover of Bobby’s ‘It’s All Over Now’
11 December 1964
Sam Cooke shot dead by Bertha Franklin in a Los Angeles motel
March 1965 Bobby marries Barbara Cooke
August 1965 ‘In The Midnight Hour’ is an R&B hit for Wilson Pickett
The Voting Rights Act is passed in a bid to make the voting system fairer for black Americans
1967 Sly and the Family Stone form in San Francisco
September 1967
‘Trust Me’ is first solo release by Bobby
December
Otis Redding dies in a plane crash at the age of 26
1968
Bobby and Wilson Pickett team up. Pickett has a hit with Bobby’s ‘Midnight Mover’
1970
Bobby and Barbara divorce
May Marvin Gaye releases What’s Going On
September 1970
Jimi Hendrix dies
October 1970
Janis Joplin dies
November 1971
Bobby plays guitar on Sly And The Family Stone’s
There’s A Riot Going On
1974
Bobby’s brother Harry is stabbed to death
Bobby meets Ronnie Wood and joins The Faces on their last tour
1976
Bobby meets and in December marries Regina Banks
1978
Death of Bobby’s infant son, Truth Bobby
1980
Bobby signs to Beverley Glen
1981
Friendly Womack, Bobby’s father, dies
October 1982
Marvin Gaye releases ‘Sexual Healing’
April 1984
Marvin Gaye shot dead by his father Marvin Sr
1986
Rolling Stones use Bobby on the album Dirty Work and and sings vocals on ‘Harlem Shuffle’
1993
Bobby meets Jody Laba. The couple have two boys, Cory and Jordan
1997
Quentin Tarantino reprises Bobby’s 1973 hit ‘Across 110th Street’ for title theme to his movie Jackie Brown, starring Bobby’s former girlfriend Pam Grier
January 2001
Bobby contributes ‘I’m Your Puppet’ to Meet The Parents soundtrack
DISCOGRAPHY
n/i – not issued
n/e – no chart entry
TITLE LABEL UK US
* * *
THE WOMACK BROTHERS
SINGLES
1961
Somebody’s Wrong/
Yield Not To Temptation SAR n/i n/e
[Other unreleased tracks recorded as The Womack Brothers include ‘Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray’ and ‘Somewhere There’s A God’, later changed to ‘Somewhere There’s A Girl’]
TITLE LABEL UK US
* * *
THE VALENTINOS
SINGLES
July 1962
Lookin’ For A Love/
Somewhere There’s A Girl SAR n/i 72
September 1962
I’ll Make It Alright/
Darling Come Back Home SAR n/i 97
1962
She’s So Good To Me/
Baby Lots Of Luck SAR n/i n/e
June 1964
It’s All Over Now/
Tired Of Living
In The Country SAR n/i 94
September 1964
Everyone Wants To Fall In Love/
Bitter Dreams SAR n/i n/e
[Bobby split from The Valentinos in 1964. Several further singles were issued by the remaining brothers]
1966
What About Me Chess n/i n/e
October 1966
Sweeter Than The Day Before Chess n/i n/e
1968
It’s All Over Now/
Tired Of Living In The Country Soul City n/e n/i
[Unreleased tracks by The Valentinos include ‘I’ve Got A Girl’ and ‘I’ve Got Love For You’]
ALBUM
1968
Double Barrelled Soul Soul City n/e n/e
TITLE LABEL UK US
* * *
BOBBY WOMACK
SINGLES
1965
I Found A True Love/
A Lonesome Man Chess n/i n/e
1965
Nothing You Can Do Him n/i n/e
September 1967
Trust Me/Baby I Can’t Stand It Minit n/i n/e
February 1968
Broadway Walk/
Somebody Special Minit n/e n/e
April 1968
What Is This/What You Gonna Do
(When Your Love Has Gone) Minit n/e n/e
August 1968
Fly Me To The Moon/
Take Me Minit n/e 52
December 1968
Californian Dreamin’/
Baby You Oughta Think It Over Minit n/e 43
April 1969
I Left My Heart In San Francisco/
Love, The Time Is Now Minit n/i n/e
July 1969
It’s Gonna Rain/
Thank You Minit n/i n/e
November 1969
How I Miss You Baby/
Tired And Convicted Minit n/i 93
April 1970
More Than I Can Stand/
Arkansas State Prison Minit n/i 90
June 1970
I’m Gonna Forget About You/
Don’t Look Back Liberty n/i n/e
December 1970
Something/
Everybody’s Talkin’ Liberty n/i n/e
December 1971
That’s The Way I Feel
About Cha/Come L’Amore United
May 1972
Woman’s Gotta Have It/
If You Don’t Want My Love United
Artists n/e 60
August 1972
Sweet Caroline/Harry Hippie United
Artists n/e 51
December 1972
Harry Hippie/I can Understand It United
Artists n/e 31
January1973
Across 110th Street/
Hang On In There United
Artists n/e 56
June 1973
Nobody Wants You When You’re Down And Out/I’m Through Trying To Prove My Love For You United
Artists n/e 29
February 1974
Lookin’ For A Love/Let It All Hang Out United
Artists n/e 10
June 1974
You’re Welcome, Stop On By United
Artists n/i 59
April 1975
Check It Out/Interlude No 2 United
Artists n/e 91
November 1975
Where There’s A Will There’s A Way/Everything’s Gonna Be Alright United
Artists n/e n/e
March 1976
Daylight/Trust Me United
Artists n/e n/e
October 1976
Home Is Where The Heart Is/
We’ve Only Just Begun CBS/
Columbia n/e n/e
1978
Wind It Up/Stop Before We Start CBS/
Columbia n/i n/e
June 1979
I Honestly Love You/
How Could You Break My Heart Arista n/i n/e
August 1979
Roads Of Life/Give It Up Arista n/i n/e
February 1982
Secrets/Stand Up Motown/
Beverly Glen n/e n/e
July 1982
So Many Sides Of You/
Just My Imagination Motown/
Beverly Glen n/e n/i
March 1984
Love Has Finally Come (with Patti Labelle)/American Dream Motown/
Beverly Glen) n/i 88
&nbs
p; June 1984
Tell Me Why/Through The Eyes Of A Child Motown 60 n/e
September 1984
Surprise Surprise/American Dream Beverly Glen n/e n/e
September 1984
It Takes A Lot Of Strength To Say Goodbye (with Patti Labelle)/Who’s Foolin’ Who Beverly Glen n/i n/e
January 1985
I Wish I Had Someone To Go Home To/Someday We’ll All Be Free Beverly Glen n/i n/e
March 1985
Searching For My Love/I’m So Proud Beverly Glen n/i n/e