The Valentinos

The Valentinos (aka The Womack Brothers), was a Cleveland, Ohio-based family R&B group that recorded from the late 1950s until the mid 1970s consisting of Bobby Womack and his four brothers, Cecil Womack, Harry Womack, Friendly Womack Jr., and Curtis Womack. All of the brothers were songwriters, and on many occasions, produced their own material.

They recorded with some level of success for Chess Records, and for Sam Cooke's SAR Records, releasing several songs that were hits on the R&B charts, and that later became major hits for other artists, such as "It's All Over Now" (later covered by The Rolling Stones) "Looking For A Love" (covered by The J Geils Band ,and which was also later covered and made a major hit by Bobby himself as a solo artist),"I Found A True Love",(later covered by Wilson Pickett) ,"Everybody Wants To Fall In Love" which was covered by Solomon Burke, and "I Can Understand It" (which was later covered by New Birth). They started out as gospel artists, singing at their father , pastor Friendly Womack Sr.'s church, and released several records on Cooke's SAR Records label as "The Womack Brothers".

They were discovered by Sam Cooke, while the latter was still touring with The Soul Stirrers, and he offered them a contract with his SAR Records label. The brothers left Cleveland, in an old Cadillac, and headed to California to record for Cooke, against their father's wishes, who didn't want them singing "the Devil's music". The group became Cooke's proteges, and Bobby his session guitarist. They released several songs on SAR,and began appearing in the national R&B charts,until the label folded in the wake of Cooke's death in 1964, after which they were signed by Chess.Their first hit,1962's Looking For A Love (on SAR), became a Billboard Top 10 R&B hit,peaking at #8,and reached #72 Pop. Despite the song's modest Pop success,it was a major R&B hit, selling over 2 million copies in the summer of that year and allowed The Valentinos to do their first secular national tour with James Brown.Although Curtis was ,up to this point, the Valentinos' lead singer,Sam noticed something in Bobby's voice that he wanted to work with, stating that he "sang with authority, and commanded attention on stage". Bobby became the group's lead singer, and breakout star,which caused some problems within the group. It's All Over Now,written by Bobby and his sister-in-law, Shirley Womack (also on SAR), reached #94 Pop, but became a #1 hit in the UK (Top 20 U.S.), by the Rolling Stones, which deceived the Pop record buying public into believing that their version was the original. But, R&B fans knew better, as the Valentinos' original version of the song just missed the Top 20 on the Billboard R&B charts. It was also covered by Rod Stewart on his album "The Very Best of Rod Stewart."

Later songs on Chess, which became R&B hits, included Everybody Wants To Fall In Love ,I've Found A True Love, and Do It Right,among others. Brother Harry was the inspiration behind Bobby's Top 10 R&B 70's hit ,"Harry Hippie".

Tragedy struck when brother and Valentinos member Harry Womack was killed by his girlfriend during a fight in 1974. Ever since, Bobby Womack has sung the song as a dedication to his fallen late brother. Continuing to record well into the 1970s , The Valentinos appeared on Soul Train on May 26, 1973. In the early 1970s, they recorded for the now-defunct independent label, Jubilee Records.

Brother Cecil Womack was once married to Motown star Mary Wells,with whom he had 3 children. The couple later divorced, but not before the two of them co-wrote the Valentinos' Motown-flavored 1965 R&B hit,"Sweeter Than The Day Before" (Chess 1977) . Cecil later went on to be one half of the successful R&B duo, Womack & Womack with his second wife, Linda Cooke, daughter of Sam Cooke . Bobby went on to be a major star as a solo artist, recording over 40 chart hits, numerous hit albums, and became a renowned session guitarist, producer, and songwriter. In early 2009, Bobby was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Harry (before his death), also enjoyed a modestly successful solo career after the group disbanded. Cecil's songwriting career also took off with "Love T.K.O.",a major hit for Teddy Pendergrass, "Your True Heart (A Shining Star)," for The O'Jays, songs for The Dramatics, and others. Many of The Valentinos' songs have since become hits on Britain's "Northern Soul" music scene.

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