At Cooke’s urging, he reluctantly let a little-known British band, the Rolling Stones, record the song, even though it would mean The Valentinos’ version would fade out.
“I know we outsang them on the song,” Womack told USA TODAY. “But when I saw the check, I was happy. I said, ‘Let me shut my mouth.’ It still takes care of me today. That when I said, ‘I’m going to be a songwriter.’ “
The label folded after Cooke was murdered in December 1964. Womack went solo, but faced resistance in the industry because he married Cooke’s widow, Barbara, a few months later. (They divorced in 1971.)
Womack found work as a songwriter and session guitarist for Aretha Franklin, Sly Stone, the Stones, Rod Stewart, Joe Tex and others in the late ’60s, before enjoying a steady string of his own hits between 1971-1985.