1974 Bobby Womack – I’m Lookin’ For A Love
The five Womack brothers began singing together in church in the early fifties. They recorded their first single (Buffalo Bill) as Curtis Womack and the Womack Brothers, in 1954. Curtis and Bobby continued trading off lead vocals and impressed Sam Cooke with their talent. Sam promised to work with them once he got his own record label in place, and in 1960, he signed the group to a recording contract.
The group recorded a few gospel singles, including Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray. While the single didn’t sell very well, everything changed after Sam convinced the group to switch to secular music instead.
The band changed their name to The Valentinos and recorded a pop version of Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray, a single which featured the lyrics Lookin’ For A Love.
Their single reached #8 on the R&B chart and #72 on the Hot 100 in 1962.
Several more singles followed, the most notable of which was It’s All Over Now, a song written by Bobby and his sister-in-law Shirley. The Rolling Stones quickly covered the song, and their single reached #26 on the Hot 100 in 1964.
Bobby left the group and began a solo career in 1965. Because he married Sam Cooke’s widow, many disk jockeys refused to play his records, and by 1968, he had settled into a career as a studio musician.
The J. Geils Band started recording singles in 1969. Their first visit to the Hot 100 came in 1971 with their cover version of Lookin’ For A Love. The single peaked at only #39, but it provided them an entry point to their career.
Bobby returned to recording and finally began reaching the R&B top ten in 1972. He then reached the Hot 100 top ten in 1974 with a solo re-recording of Lookin’ For A Love. Bobby produced the single himself at Muscle Shoals with the remaining Valentinos providing background vocals on his recording.
After reaching the top of the R&B chart with that single, Bobby had more than a half-dozen top forty singles on the R&B chart. He never reached the top forty on the Hot 100 again.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Valentinos
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Womack
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lookin%27_for_a_Love
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