Remembering Bobby Womack (1944-2014).

Bobby Womack was a soul legend of the great funked, soulful 1970s. He was discovered and mentored by Sam Cooke. Among his songs  were "Woman's Gotta Have It",  "Across 110th Street" and, of course, “I Wish He Didn't Trust Me So Much”. It was Womack who wrote and originally recorded the Rolling Stones' first UK No. 1 hit, "It's All Over Now". He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009.

But for someone so highly talented, he also had too many “demons”. Like most talented entertainers, the only place he could find solace was in drugs and his favorite choice was cocaine. At a time, no one could really say who was much more heavily into drugs between him and Sly Stone. His life was so crazy that even an extremely liberal magazine such as the Rolling Stone would describe it as a ‘messy life”. Here are some examples:

As soon as his mentor, Sam Cooke died, Womack married the man's wife, Barbara, making people around them to wonder if "something" had been going on between the two all along. It all made some “sense” much later in his life when Womack sang “I Wish He Didn't Trust Me So Much”. 

I Wish He Didn't Trust Me So Much - Bobby Womack

The same Barbara was to later get some shockers when she came home one day to see Womack and her daughter (Linda) in bed. The furious woman grabbed a gun and shot the "player" several times. But he survived the shooting.

And, in a twist of fate, the same Linda dumped Womack to be with Womack’s younger brother. When Linda and Womack’s brother eventually got married, observers of the crazy people began to wonder what kind of a Family Reunion they would be having in future.

For a highly talented individual such as Bobby Womack, it was not just a messy life, but also a very dysfunctional kind of life!