"Lookin' for a Love" is a song written by J. W. Alexander and Zelda Samuels and was the debut hit of the family group

the Valentinos The Valentinos (also known as The Womack Brothers) was an American family R&B group from Cleveland, Ohio, best known for launching the careers of brothers Bobby Womack and Cecil Womack. Bobby went on to find greater fame as a solo artist whil ...

, which featured

Bobby Womack Robert Dwayne Womack (; March 4, 1944 – June 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Starting in the early 1950s as the lead singer of his family musical group the Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guit ...

. The song was a hit for the Valentinos, climbing to number eight on the

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

and crossing over to number 72 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1962, released on

Sam Cooke Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered to be a pioneer and one of the most influential soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred ...

SAR SAR or Sar may refer to: Places * Sar (river), Galicia, Spain * Sar, Bahrain, a residential district * Sar, Iran (disambiguation), several places in Iran * Sar, Tibet, Tibet Autonomous Region of China * Šar Mountains, in southeastern Europe ...

label. The song became a much bigger hit when Womack issued a solo version in 1974; this version reached number one on the

and number ten on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. As well, an interim version of "Lookin' for a Love" by

the J. Geils Band The J. Geils Band was an American rock band formed in 1967, in Worcester, Massachusetts, under the leadership of guitarist John "J." Geils. The original band members included vocalist Peter Wolf, harmonica and saxophone player Richard "Magic ...

in 1971 was a top-40 hit for them, peaking at number 39.

Background

The melody originally came from a gospel hymn titled, "Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray," recorded and released in 1961 when they were still known as the Womack Brothers. Sam Cooke produced that session as well as the sessions for "Lookin' For a Love". Following the release of "Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray" and convinced that 17-year-old Bobby Womack would "go places", Cooke hired his staff writers J. W. Alexander and Zelda Samuels to rewrite the song as a

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

dance number, basing the song's chord structure on the melodic motif found in "Pray". When the brothers were presented with the song, they protested initially fearing a backlash from their minister father, Friendly Womack. However, Cooke convinced them that the song would be a hit and guarantee the Womacks some financial success as well as commercial. Like "Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray", the song featured Bobby on lead. Prior to its release, Cooke suggested a name change, thinking the change would do wonders for their career as it had done for him. Cooke settled on the Valentinos and released the song that spring.

Chart performance

After its success, the group opened for

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

The Famous Flames The Famous Flames were an American Rhythm and blues, Soul vocal group founded in Toccoa, Georgia, in 1953 by Bobby Byrd. James Brown first began his career as a member of the Famous Flames, emerging as the lead singer by the time of their first ...

where they won fans. In 1973, Bobby used "Lookin' for a Love" as a warm-up song to help loosen up his vocal cords during a recording session. Womack recorded one take of the song - with his brothers again providing background vocals - but had no plans of putting it out as a single. However, after some convincing, he released the song in early 1974 and the song went on to be his most successful single to date, and was his second number-one single on the Hot Soul Singles chart (after "

Woman's Gotta Have It ''Woman's Gotta Have It'' is the second album by Cornershop, released in 1995. Recording and release The song ''My Dancing Days Are Done'' is performed in French (''mes jours de bal perdus'') by the guest singers Parsley and Sasha Andres. The ...

" in 1972, which only got to number 60 on the Hot 100) and his first and only top-10 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, where it peaked at number 10. It also reached number eight on the ''Cash Box'' Top 100. The single was later certified gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

for sales of one million copies. This resulted in the song later selling more than two million copies. The song's success was bittersweet, however: the song's background vocalist Harry Womack later died from stab wounds from his girlfriend the week before it hit number one.

Charts

;Valentinos original

Credits (Bobby Womack versions)

1962 original

*Lead vocal by Bobby Womack *Background vocals by the Valentinos: Friendly Womack, Jr., Curtis Womack,

Harry Womack 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 ...

and

Cecil Womack Cecil Dale Womack (September 25, 1947 – January 25, 2013) was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He was one of the musical Womack brothers, and had success both as a songwriter and recording artist, notably with his wife Linda ...

*Instrumentation by SAR Records staff musicians, Bobby Womack (guitar) and Harry Womack (bass) *Produced by Sam Cooke

1974 version

*Lead vocal by Bobby Womack *Background vocals by the Valentinos: Friendly Womack, Jr., Curtis Womack,

and

*Instrumentation by the

Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section is a group of American session musicians based in the northern Alabama town of Muscle Shoals. One of the most prominent American studio house bands from the 1960s to the 1980s, these musicians, individually or as ...

*Produced by Bobby Womack

Charts

;Bobby Womack version

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

;J. Geils Band cover

Cover Versions

*In 1971, rock band

covered the song as one of its first releases and the song became a top-40 hit for them, peaking at number 39. ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...

'' called it a "hard driving rocker" and a "high energy package." * Squeeze covered the song for their album '' East Side Story'', which features

Paul Carrack Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

on co-lead vocals. The track is only available as a bonus track. *Tortoise Matsumoto as singer of

Ulfuls is a Japanese rock band from Osaka. The band name Ulfuls is derived from a misreading of the word "soulful," found on the cover of one of the band members' favorite records. They were signed by Toshiba-EMI in 1992, but after 15 years they transfer ...

had covered the song his first solo album ''Traveller'' in 2003.

References

*"Lookin' for a Love" song review [] on Allmusic website {{authority control 1962 singles 1971 singles 1974 singles Bobby Womack songs The J. Geils Band songs [ ategory:Songs written by J. W. Alexander (musician) 1962 songs Atlantic Records singles United Artists Records singles Song recordings produced by Bobby Womack

Background

Chart performance

Charts

Credits (Bobby Womack versions)

1962 original

1974 version

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Cover Versions

See also

References