How Blue Can You Get? - Howard Tate, Feather, Jane
Stop
Get It While You Can
Baby I Love You
I Learned It All the Hard Way - Howard Tate, Bell, Sam
Sweet Love Child
Every Day I Have the Blues - Howard Tate, Chatman, Peter
How Come My Bulldog Don't Bark - Howard Tate, Chatman, Peter
Look at Granny Run Run
Half a Man - Howard Tate, Elgin, Bob
Shoot 'Em All Down
Give Me Some Courage [#]
Night Owl
I'm Your Servant - Howard Tate, Lewis, Jimmy [Soul]
The greatest soul singer ever to fall below '60s pop radar, Howard Tate remains a tantalizing cipher remembered only through explosive cover versions of his late '60s singles by a blue-chip array of fans including Janis Jo... more »plin, B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, and Ry Cooder. Tate's original versions were even better: his ecstatic falsetto, sinuous tenor releases, and gruff asides placed him in a category of R&B vocal stylists as lofty as his stratospheric pompadour. But the Macon-born, Philadelphia-raised former doo-wopper eluded broader acclaim despite a string of powerful performances that just dented the charts. As produced by R&B stalwart Jerry Ragovoy, Tate's sessions mixed emotive standouts, including "Ain't Nobody Home," "Stop," "Get It While You Can," and "Look at Granny Run Run," with shrewd soul updates of electric blues classics like "How Blue Can You Get" and King's signature tune, "Everyday I Have the Blues." The singer's vein-popping performances are matched by rock-solid arrangements and production, well served in this overdue anthology. As for Tate, he disappeared into legend in the early '70s, making this mother lode of deathless soul all the more valuable. --Sam Sutherland« less
The greatest soul singer ever to fall below '60s pop radar, Howard Tate remains a tantalizing cipher remembered only through explosive cover versions of his late '60s singles by a blue-chip array of fans including Janis Joplin, B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, and Ry Cooder. Tate's original versions were even better: his ecstatic falsetto, sinuous tenor releases, and gruff asides placed him in a category of R&B vocal stylists as lofty as his stratospheric pompadour. But the Macon-born, Philadelphia-raised former doo-wopper eluded broader acclaim despite a string of powerful performances that just dented the charts. As produced by R&B stalwart Jerry Ragovoy, Tate's sessions mixed emotive standouts, including "Ain't Nobody Home," "Stop," "Get It While You Can," and "Look at Granny Run Run," with shrewd soul updates of electric blues classics like "How Blue Can You Get" and King's signature tune, "Everyday I Have the Blues." The singer's vein-popping performances are matched by rock-solid arrangements and production, well served in this overdue anthology. As for Tate, he disappeared into legend in the early '70s, making this mother lode of deathless soul all the more valuable. --Sam Sutherland
Rob G. | Indianapolis, IN United States | 04/30/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"No less than Otis Redding declared this the bible of Southern Soul. Who are we to argue?BTW, Hip-O Select is reissuing this. $20. On their website."
Rhythm & BLUES (emphasis on Blues) at its best
John Engstrom | Dublin, CA | 05/13/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"First of all, the new CD version, put out by Hip-O, can be purchased for a reasonable price. You also get some alternate versions of a few songs as a bonus. The cover is blue and maroon in stead of black and grey.
The CD itself is awesome. The general public may have never heard of Howard Tate, but those in the music business did. Songs from this album were covered by the creme de la creme of Blues and Blues-Rock: Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Ry Cooder, Al Kooper & Mike Bloomfield, and B.B. King. In other words, the songs are in themselves great, but with Howard Tate's smooth and soaring vocals, there is a whole new dimension of soul in these songs that is missing from the more famous covers.
Buy this CD (but don't pay the $65+++ that people are charging for it). If you like blues, soul, R&B, or any of the artists named above, you won't be disappointed."
A legitimate 5 star rating
gordon@ruraltel.net | 11/10/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The thing about this customer review thing is that usually the reviewer (customer) is extremely biased, one way or the other. I was first exposed to Howard Tate on the Rhino 'Beg,Scream & Shout' soul collection. When I heard 'Stop' for the first time, I did. I stopped everything and listened. It blew me away. I immediately checked to see if their was anything available by this guy, not really expecting to find anything. I found this, and let me tell you, if any album deserves 5 stars, it's this one. The songs, the musicianship, the production, and most of all, the singing will all take your breath away. I love Stax, I love Otis, but Otis never had the pipes, or songwriting or production values that is contained within these bitstreams. And that is the truth. Of course, who is going to read this? But if you somehow stumble across this review and even like soul a little bit, buy this, it will convert you into a soul fanatic. It's that good. From the first song to the last. No kidding."
Don't Get It While You Can!!!
gordon@ruraltel.net | 11/11/2003
(1 out of 5 stars)
"One star. Not for Howard Tate, who is a terrific singer. But for the dismal production quality of this CD, which sounds like it was recorded in a hollow drum and comes with cheapo two page liner notes with some of the songs out of order. All of which makes it so surprising that Get It While You Can, which has only been out of print six years, is listed here for around $140. PLEEEEZEEE! Sounds like someone really is trying to get it while they can--from your wallet. You deserve better. So best to wait until this great session is rereleased with all the care it is due. Which should be soon because Howard Tate has been rediscovered, right? For the time being, why not console yourself with some of Mr. Tate's early 70's recordings or check out some other great criminally overlooked soul singers from the 60's? Like Don Covay (Mercy Mercy on Razor & Tie - now out of print, too! But listing used on Amazon for $40. Get it while you can! Mick Jagger got his copy... forty years ago), James Carr (Complete Goldwax Singles), Ruby Johnson (I'll Run Your Hurt Away - Simply Amazing! At least 10 GREAT songs on this CD), Solomon Burke (Home In Your Heart - Double CD Box), Irma Thomas (Greatest Hits CD with Ruler Of My Heart on it or Something Good CD - alas, out of print, too), Ann Peebles (The Hi Years), Johnnie Taylor (Anything from STAX years), Clarence Carter (Snatching It Back), Mabel John (Stay Out Of The Kitchen), Percy Sledge (It Tears Me Up /CD with That's The Way I Want To Live My Life Baby), Fontella Bass, Tyrone Davis (Greatest Hits), Rufus Thomas (The Memphis Train), Carla Thomas (Hidden Gems), Bobby Womack (The Boby Womack Collection), Little Milton (Chess Years), Bobby Bland (CD with Back In The Same Old Bag on it), Jerry Butler (Never Gonna Give You Up), Deon Jackson (Love Makes The World Go Round), Brenton Wood (I Think You've Got Your Fools Mixed Up), David Ruffin, Dee Dee Warwick, Freddie Scott, O.V Wright, Johnny Adams, Darrell Banks, Five Stairsteps, The Manhattans, Archie Bell & The Drells. Mighty Sam, Joe Simon, Joe Tex. Arthur Connelly, Eddie Floyd, Etc."
The holy grail of soul
musician | antarctica | 11/28/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Anybody looking to dicover the rich inner core of 60's Soul need look no further than Howard Tate. He's not just amazing, he's vocally astounding at the same level that Sam Cooke was astounding as a young gospel singer with The Soul Stirrers and he rules the same emotional ground that vocalists like O.V. Wright, Aretha, and Wilson Pickett have commanded so effectively. The legendary sidemen on these tracks and the impeccable, writing, arrangements, and performances contained here arguably represent the pinnacle of 60's Soul. Like bluesman Robert Johnson, Howard Tate put out a small body of work of monumental quality known and recognized by a small and fiercely loyal cult following and then mysteriously vanished, commercial success having evaded him throughout his career. If there's any justice in Pop Music, he will eventually be recognized and elevated to the ranks of the premier Soul and R&B artists of his era. He easily equals and often surpasses them all. Just buy it. You won't be sorry."