Tommy Tate

Tommy Tate (b. September 29, 1944, in Homestead, FL USA) is a singer, drummer, and songwriter

Florida born, Mississippi raised Tommy Tate has been called "America's best kept secret" and "The greatest singer you've never heard". An almost cult like figure in Deep and Southern Soul circles, Tate started drumming and singing in small clubs in the Jackson, MS area.

Tate's break came when he joined the state's most popular band at the time, Tim Whitsett and The Imperial Show Band, an all White band that played Universities in the Southeastern United States and with several records released on major labels under their belt. After Tate joined up, the band successfully toured the United States and Canada.

In the 1960s, many records were pirated overseas unbeknownst to the artist. This was the case with several of Tim Whitsett's records. "Northern Soul" circles in Northern Britain specialized in discovering and playing rare Soul records. Whitsett's records are now high priced collectables, and of course some feature Tate, including "The Whole World Is The Same" (Musicor 1340), and the group's only cover released on record "Stand By Me" (Big Ten 1003).

Tate also recorded singles for Verve as "Tommy Yates" and for Atco as "Andy Chapman". Tate thought the latter was intended to be a demo and was unaware of the release.

In 1970, after the breakup of the band, Whitsett and Tate signed on as songwriters at Stax Records, and Tate roomed with legendary songsmith Mack Rice who suggested Tate as new lead singer of The Nightingales as Ollie Hoskins had left the group. The company issued two singles on the Tate led Nightingales.

Also during this, Tate was one of only two artists signed to Koko Records, which was distributed by Stax. Although he made the top 30 on the R&B charts with "School of Life" (Koko 2112), he became "the forgotten man" when label mate Luther Ingram scored big with "If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don't Wanna Be Right)". Tate's signing with Koko would prove to be disastrous as label head Johnny Baylor would have a virtual stranglehold on Tate's career for years to come.

Tate; however, did find a lot of success in the 1980s as one of the most productive songwriters for the Jackson based Malaco Records. Even legends Johnnie Taylor and Tate hero Bobby "Blue" Bland would copy Tate's phrasing and style on his songs including Taylor's "Everything's Out in the Open" and Bland's "Midnight Run" and "Get Your Money Where You Spend Your Time". Luther Ingram, Otis Clay, and Malaco's Little Milton have each recorded several Tommy Tate compositions.

He had two CDs issued exclusively in Japan in 1992 and 1996. These were preceded by the Tim Whitsett produced "Love Me Now" on Whitsett's Urgent! Records in 1990, Tate's only American album release. The set included songs from the pens of Carson Whitsett (four, including one co-written with former Stax artist Frederick Knight), "Sir"Mack Rice, and a cover of William Bell's "I Forgot to Be Your Lover", and received steady air play in the South.

In 2005, Grapevine released a CD entitled "Troubled Waters: Deep Soul from the Deep South". Two of the disc's highlights were Tim Whitsett's "Get It Over Anyway" and the Tate and Carson Whitsett collaboration "Hold On" (later recorded by James Carr) both performed by Tommy Tate.

External Links and References

* [http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/ttate.htm Soulful Kind of Music: T. Tate]
* [http://www.melingo.com/thesoulnet/ridley.htm America's Best Kept Secret]
* [http://www.soulexpress.net/tommytate_discography.htm The complete Tommy Tate discography at Soul Express]