Harry Womack
American musician
Harris "Harry" Womack (June 25, 1945 – March 9, 1974) was an American singer and musician, most notable for his tenure as a member of the family R&B quintet The Valentinos.
Biography
Early life
Harris "Harry" Womack grew up the fourth of five sons to Friendly and Naomi Womack in Cleveland's east side. The brothers were very close and attached nicknames to one another— Harry's was "Goat.” Raised as Baptist, all five brothers began singing together when Harry was seven, forming The Womack Brothers. Like his brothers Bobby (1944–2014) and Cecil (1947–2013), Harry took up instruments, playing bass guitar before reaching his teenage years. Along with brothers Cecil and Curtis, Harry was a tenor vocalist while Bobby and Friendly, Jr. were baritones. In 1960, when he was 15, Sam Cooke signed the act to his SAR Records label, having told the brothers – and their father – that he was willing to work with them. Friendly Womack made Cooke promise that the brothers would continue to sing gospel and not what he referred to as "the devil's music".
Career
Following two gospel releases with SAR, Sam Cooke suggested the group change their sound and name. In 1962, he renamed them The Valentinos and produced and arranged the group's first major hit, "Looking for a Love", which was led by Bobby.
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This entry incorporates text from “Harry Womack” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.