The Valentinos - Do It Right (1962-1966)

Compilation
The Valentinos were a short-lived American R&B vocal group.

The Valentinos consisted of the five Womack Brothers - Bobby, Cecil, Harry, Friendly and Curtis. They began their careers in gospel music, singing in their father's church in Cleveland, Ohio. They were then discovered by Sam Cooke, who signed them to his SAR Records label, and were persuaded to leave gospel for secular music (against their father's wishes). They moved to California and began to record as The Valentinos, under Cooke's tutelage. For a few years they had several successes on the national R&B charts, with 1962's "Looking For A Love" getting to #8. Originally Curtis was the lead singer, but Cooke recognised something in Bobby's voice and took him under his wing. Bobby began to sing more lead vocal spots, and also became Cooke's session guitarist.
However the brothers' brief run of success ended when Cooke died in 1964, and without his guiding hand they failed to get much further. They eventually disbanded in 1966. By the end of the 60s Bobby Womack managed to finally emerge as a solo artist in his own right, and the other brothers did briefly re-unite. Harry Womack was tragically killed by his girlfriend in 1974. Many of The Valentinos' songs are best known through other artists' covers of them, most famously The Rolling Stones, who took "It's All Over Now" to #1 in the UK in 1964.
They never released any proper studio albums, but there have been various compilations of The Valentinos' music. This one, Do It Right, is the most comprehensive, covering 22 songs from across their career. It's some really brilliant 60s soul music - raw, passionate, energetic, and with a good dose of gospel. Highly reccomended.

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