RIP Cecil Womack

Cecil Womack passed away aged 65 last Friday, Feb 1st. Via Potholes in my blog...

"Cecil Womack, who with his wife Linda formed Womack and Womack, passed away Friday, Feb. 1 at the age of 65. Soul Source reports that he died in an unknown African country, where he and Linda moved some years ago. His final request was to have his ashes spread over a river close to their house.

Cecil began his career as part of a gospel group with his brothers, including Bobby Womack, called the Valentinos. They were guided by Sam Cooke up until his death in 1964. During that time, Cecil was married to fellow soul legend Mary Wells, though they split in 1977 and Cecil later married Linda Cooke.

In the years following that, the Womack couple recorded several albums together with 1983′s Love Wars and 1988′s Conscience serving as their most popular efforts. The latter spawned their biggest hit, “Teardrops”, which charted high in the United Kingdom and New Zealand [the song hit no 1 in NZ and Australia].

They continued recording together in the ’90s when they moved to Africa and adopted the surname Zekkariya."

ADDED: From The Independent, 1994: How we met: Womack and Womack 

ADDED Feb 8: From Bobby Womack, on his official Facebook page: " I was terribly upset when I heard about my brother's passing, and I still am. We made music together for a long time, but we've had many differences over the years. Thankfully we got a chance to reunite last year after a very long separation - and little did I know that it would be the last time I would see him. I can only pass along what I have now learned, which is to not let anything - money, success, etc, come between you and your family.
- Bobby Womack"