News Item
Howard Tate R.I.P. 13th Aug 1939 – 2nd Dec 2011
Soul legend Howard Tate has added his illustrious name to the long list of music greats we lost last year. Tate died at his apartment in Burlington, New Jersey on 2nd December, of complications from multiple myeloma and leaukemia. He was 72.
In the ‘60s and ‘70s he had several R&B hits on Verve, Atlantic and Epic among others. Probably best known for 1967’s “Get It While You Can.” His partnership with mega-songwriter and producer Jerry Ragavoy – who also died in July 2011, after a stroke, aged 80 – produced classic soul tracks that were not always a commercial success. But many of their collaborations have since been covered by stars such as Janice Joplin.
After his career stalled, Tate dropped out of the music business and worked in the financial industry, before he got hooked on drugs. He ended up living on the New York streets, and then in a homeless shelter in the late 1980s.
After he got himself clean in the mid ‘90s, following a religious conversion, he became a counsellor and a preacher, working with homeless addicts. He was unaware that his Verve recordings had been re-issued on CD, and that soul fans around the world were trying to find out what had happened to him.
A US radio DJ put out an on-air appeal for anyone who knew what had happened to Tate to get in touch. Veteran R&B session player Ron Kennedy heard that appeal, and put DJ Phil Casden in touch with Tate. Casden helped him get his royalties from Verve, and encouraged Tate to sing again.
So in 2001, he took to the stage for a come-back show in New Orleans; his first in over two decades. He continued to perform and record until his death. Jerry Ragovoy got in contact, and the pair worked together again, on his 2003 comeback album, aptly named: “Re-discovered.” The album got good reviews, was nominated for a Grammy for best contemporary blues record, and gained him lucrative concert work.
He appeared at Madame Jo Jo's in London, and critics lauded his “remarkable range and power.” His loyal European fan club were thrilled he was back, as many of them thought he had died years ago. He had many star fans including Elvis Costello and Prince.
Tate had six Top 40 R&B hits and cut "Get It While You Can" in 1966, released in 1967 and re-released in ’69. Covered by Janis Joplin on her album, “Pearl” in 1970, becoming a hedonist anthem of the time.
He was born in Georgia, the son of a minister and grew up in Philadelphia. His 1970 album (reissued in 2003), “Howard Tate's Reaction,” was co-produced by Lloyd Price and Johnny Nash.
He formed a gospel trio with his cousins, when he was ten years old. Gospel group, the Gainors, invited him to join them. They performed at churches all over the Philadelphia area and were signed to Mercury Records in 1955. But they were forced to sing doo-wop. So after five years, Tate accepted the offer to be a vocalist for organist Bill Dogget. He stayed with Doggett for three years. The Gainors had changed their name to Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters and scored a huge hit with “Cry Baby” (1963.), written and produced by Jerry Ragovoy.
Ragovoy heard a recording of Tate, and encouraged him to move to New York, where he had the pick of top soul session guys, including Paul Griffin, Richard Tee, Eric Gale, Chuck Rainey, and Herb Lovell,
His first single, “Half a Man,” appeared on Ragovoy's Utopia label and failed to chart. Ragovoy signed Tate to Verve Records. In November 1964, “Ain't Nobody Home” hit No 12 on the R&B charts, and Tate quit his job on a building site to join Sam Cooke and Wilson Pickett, on coast-to-coast tours. He toured with Aretha Franklin, as her recording of “Respect” climbed the charts in 1967.
Tate scored a hit with” Look At Granny Run Run” (1966), before his third single, “Get It While You Can” (1967.), “Stop,” was a minor hit in 1968 and later recorded by Jimi Hendrix. Tate, frustrated by his lack of success and money issues, split from Ragovoy. He cut one album without Ragavoy, but the pair re-united when he signed to Atlantic Records and cut the album “Howard Tate” (1972). He cut one single for Epic. After that failed to chart, Tate worked the tough “chitlin' circuit” – black nightclubs across the US south – where he would be one of several singers on stage each night.
He eventually walked away from his career, angry he was not receiving royalties he thought he deserved, and he sold insurance in suburban Philadelphia for the Prudential.
Then tragedy struck. A daughter died in a fire, which started while Tate was asleep. He tried to save the 13-year-old, and had her in his arms but fell through the floor and was dragged out unconscious, by his son. The girl died. His marriage fell apart. He began drinking heavily, then became addicted to crack and ended up homeless in Camden, N.J.
“I got rid of my own records, and I didn’t listen to other people’s records because I didn’t want to flash back,” he told The Associated Press in 2003. Mr. Tate said he believed it was “a call from God” that brought him back to an industry he had “hated and despised so bad.”
At the Roskilde Festival in 2004, he sang "Love Will Keep You Warm" with Swan Lee. The song can be found on “Swan Lee - The Complete Collection (2007).”
In 2006, Shout! Factory released “Howard Tate Live,” recorded in Denmark in 2004. Working with producer, arranger and songwriter, Steve Weisberg, Tate recorded “A Portrait of Howard,” which was released in 2006 on the independent, Solid Ground label. It included compositions by Randy Newman, Nick Lowe, Lou Reed and Carla Bley, as well as songs written by Tate and Weisberg. In late 2007, Tate recorded “Blue Day” in Nashville with producer Jon Tiven, and this was released in 2008.
He is survived by three children.
Words SIMON REDLEY
