Monday, December 26, 2011

Soul Music Celebration. Facebook Page

Here is link to my Joseph Greget's Soul Music Celebration Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Joseph-Gregets-Soul-Musicelebration/250421621678377


Links to videos, photos, and stories on 60's Soul, Blues, Soul Jazz, Beach, Outlaw Country, Country and more!

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Here Was a Man by Johnny Cash

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6So5hJ95WA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Here was a man a man who was born in a small village the son of a peasant woman
He grew up in another small village
Until he reached the age of thirty he worked as a carpenter
Then for three years he was a traveling minister
But he never traveled more than two hundred miles from where he was born
And where he did go he usually walked
He never held political office he never wrote a book never bought a home
Never had a family he never went to college and he never set foot inside a big city
Yes here was a man
Though he never did one on the things usually associated with greatness
He had no credentials but himself he had nothing to do with this world
Except through the devine purpose that brought him to this world
While he was still a young man the tide of popular opinion turned against him
Most of his friends ran away one of them denied him
One of them betrayed him and turned him over to his enemies
Then he went through the mockery of a trial
And was nailed to a cross between two thieves
And even while he was dying his executioners gambled
For the only piece of property that he had in this world
And that was his robe his purple robe
When he was dead he was taken down from the cross
And laid in a borrowed grave provided by compassionate friends
More than nineteen centuries have come and gone
And today he's a centerpiece of the human race
Our leader in the column to human destiny
I think I'm well within the mark when I say that all of the armies that ever marched All of the navies that ever sailed the seas
All of the legislative bodies that ever sat and all of the kings that ever reigned
All of them put together have not affected the life of man on this earth
So powerfully as that one solitary life
Here was a man (joy to the world the Lord is come)

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Howard Tate Retrospective by Funky16Corners Blog

http://funky16corners.lunarpages.net/?p=2053

Howard Tate 1939 – 2011

By , December 3, 2011 11:22 pm
Example
Mr Howard Tate
Example
Listen/Download – Howard Tate – Get It While You Can
Greetings all.
It bums me out to have to pass on the news that one of the great soul singers of the 60s, and the man behind one of my personal Top 5 soul 45s, the mighty Howard Tate has passed away at the age of 72.
Though I’d settled in for the night, I knew that it behooved me to get my ass out of bed and pay tribute to a man who’s voice has touched me so deeply.
I have yet to get details on the circumstances of his passing, but suffice to say Howard Tate had it all, lost it all and got a fair amount of it back before he left this earth.
‘Get It While You Can’ is an epic soul record which has appeared in this space at least three times, including (sadly) to mark the passing of Jerry Ragovoy earlier this year.
It is a record that hit me in the heart the first time I heard it and every single time after.
Howard Tate made a lot of great music during his career, but none of it comes close to the power of ‘Get It While You Can’.
The article below was originally posted back in 2005 when this blog was barely a year old.
Dig it, and remember how great Howard Tate was.
Peace
Larry
Example
Howard Tate in the early 70s
Originally posted 10/25/05
To say that the 1960’s was a golden age for music (especially soul music) isn’t exactly breaking new ground.
The 60’s were a turbulent time…blah, blah, blahhhhh.… That said, there was so much great soul music being made back then, that much of it has been forgotten (if it was ever noticed in the first place). It certainly doesn’t help that the heart of this “golden age” was almost 40 years ago, meaning that most of the people that experienced it first hand have forgotten, moved on, or sadly REALLY moved on (i.e. expired…). Sure, there are lots of folks like me (and my ilk…) who jump up and down, waving our hands like a bunch of kooks trying to get people to remember, but aside from the curious few (which is – don’t get me wrong – far better than the curious “none”), spontaneous stampedes created by a newfound upswell in soul music fandom are few and far between (if not completely non-existent…).
I am also reminded – frequently – that as obscure as my tastes are (and they are obscure with a certain populist seasoning added), the world of record collector-dom is filled with people who’s focus is much more laser-like than mine, drilling ever deeper into the dark labyrinth of forgotten/neglected vinyl. As long as their purpose is to eventually share the information and music they excavate, more power to them. These kinds of things work like ripples on a pond. Even if the first impact/discovery is visible to an isolated group of collectors/specialists, the ripples spread, and with enough momentum, and enough popular appeal built in (on account of some things are obscure and forgotten for a good reason…) the obscurities will reach a much larger audience.
It would be unfair to list Howard Tate among those “lost” artists. Though it seems likely that were you to stop 100 people on the sidewalk, 99 (or more) of them wouldn’t know Howard Tate from Larry Tate, he actually had a long career making quality records for a relatively major label, some of which hit the charts, and as a result shouldn’t be counted with the Chicken Shack Johnson’s of the world.
Howard Tate, a singer of undeniable talent had the extremely good fortune to catch the ear of songwriter/producer Jerry Ragovoy. With songs and guidance from Ragavoy, and the backing of the Verve label (albeit not the best label for a soul singer), Tate laid down a string of powerful – and ultimately influential – singles and an LP for Verve between 1964 and 1968. The combination of Tate’s adaptable voice, and Ragavoy’s pop savvy (and fantastic songs) made for musical dynamite.
As I just mentioned Tate’s recordings were influential, and it’s entirely likely that you’ve heard today’s selection before (if not his version). ‘Get It While You Can’ became (along with other Ragavoy gems like ‘Cry Baby’, a hit for Garnett Mimms with whom Tate sang in the Gainors) a signature number for Janis Joplin.
Now, I’ve gone on record in the past as saying some rather uncharitable things about Janis, especially when it comes to her renderings of songs that I (and a lot of other folks) consider to be soul/R&B classics. While my estimation of Ms. Joplin’s talents may have been harsh, I think that if you line her covers up against the originals by Garnett Mimms, Etta James and Howard Tate (among others), the end result would not be favorable for her. While there’s certainly something to be said for an artist like Joplin’s value as a “popularizer” of lesser-known material, I’d be willing to bet that the number of people that went out and dug up Howard Tate records because they heard Janis sing ‘Get It While You Can’, is actually quite small (as they often are in these situations).
Example

Howard Tate after his comeback

To take it to an even more basic level, I’d posit that Tate’s version is so good as to be definitive, and as a result any attempt to recreate that magic is wasted. I’m willing to admit that that statement is kind of unfair, but that’s my gut feeling every time I hear someone making hay off of a substandard reworking of a brilliant original (which seems to be the modus opperandi for the majority of the “product” generated by the entertainment industry, especially Hollywood these days). There are certainly exceptions to the rule even where the songs of Howard Tate are concerned, specifically the covers of ‘Stop’ by L’il Bob & The Lollipops and…get ready….here it comes….the epic reworking by the James Gang (you weren’t expecting that, right??? No one expects the James Gang!!!).
So, despite the fact that Howard Tate managed to graze the Top 50 a few times, his impact on the world of music was largely an artistic triumph and a commercial failure. ‘Get It While You Can’ is one of the great, shoulda/coulda/woulda stories of it’s day. When you add up all the talent involved, and the incredible performance (I’d rate it alongside great soul ballad tours de force like Otis Redding’s ‘Try a Little Tenderness’ and James Carr’s ‘Dark End of the Street’), the end result should have been a huge hit, well remembered by one and all and dragged out perennially as an example of all that was great about 60’s soul.
Unfortunately, the calculus of popularity being what it is, ‘Get It While You Can’ is a favorite of soul fans and record collectors and not too many others. The arrangement by Ragavoy is a testament to the value of understatement. Opening with quiet piano triplets, Tate comes in with a deep, gospel-inflected vocal, which builds into the anthemic (albeit brief) chorus. With the successive verses, the horns and guitar come aboard and the “build” becomes more powerful each time. Tate’s vocal soars like a beam of light from the Amen Corner, with the line ‘Don’t turn your back on love’ standing as a shining example of how amazing the fusion of gospel and rhythm & blues could be in the right hands. A lot of this has to do with the lyric by Mort Shuman, which is a simple, yet eloquent classic. Whether or not Shuman was tapping into the zeitgeist when he wrote -
“In this world, where people are fighting with each other. Nobody to care on, not even your own brother.”
– or was simply laying down a soulful tale of woe (with a word to the wise in the chorus), his words, as delivered by the mighty Tate hit home.
Following his tenure with Verve, Howard Tate recorded 45s for Lloyd Price’s Turntable label, Epic, and an LP for Atlantic (also done in tandem with Ragovoy). After 1974 Tate didn’t record for more than 25 years. He was reunited with Jerry Ragavoy in 2001 for the critically well received LP ‘Comeback’ and is touring and recording today. His Verve and Atlantic sides are available as reissues

R.I.P. Howard Tate article in No Depression website

http://www.nodepression.com/profiles/blogs/r-i-p-howard-tate-soul-man

R.I.P. Howard Tate -- Soul Man
Posted by swt on December 10, 2011 at 1:00am

Soul singer Howard Tate died last week at the age of 72 following a bout with cancer.

I loved the man's music.

I'm not sure what it was back in the summer of 1975 that led me to buy that LP by a soul singer I'd never heard before in the bargain bin of some Albuquerque discount store. The singer's cool pompadour probably had something to do with it. And the 79-cent price tag sealed the deal.

But I bought that album by Howard Tate and it quickly became a favorite. At the time I didn't even realize that this was original version of Janis Joplin's swan song, "Get it While You Can." There was no copyright date, so I mistakenly assumed he was covering Janis.

There were some songs I associated with B.B. King — “Every Day I Have the Blues, ” “How Blue Can You Get?” and “Ain’t Nobody Home” as well as other electric blues like the song “Part Time Lover.”

But the basic sound was horn-driven, gospel-rooted soul. The Georgia-born, Philadelphia-raised singer had more in common with Sam Cooke than B.B. There were funny tunes like “How Come My Bulldog Don’t Bark” and “Look at Granny Run Run." And there were powerful soul-on-fire pleas like “I Learned It All the Hard Way” and the title song.
The primary songwriter, as well as producer, was Jerry Ragovoy, whose songwriting credits include the classic tunes “Time Is on My Side” and “Piece of My Heart” as well as “Get It While You Can.” (Ragovoy died earlier this year.)

Around the same time I discovered Tate in the cut-out bin, Tate had said goodbye to the music industry and was about to embark on a decades-long descent into the shadows.

Here's what I wrote about that in my review of his 2003 comeback album Rediscovered:


Frustrated with his lack of success, Tate turned to selling insurance for a living about that time. For years none of his old friends in the music industry knew what had happened to him. Ragovoy tried to locate Tate in the early ’80s because European promoters wanted to book him.
As recently as 1995, a CD reissue of Get It While You Can put it this way: “Sometime in the 1970s, he disappeared into legend.”
Disappeared into hell is more like it. Tragedy struck the Tate family in 1976. There was a fire at his home, and his 13-year-old daughter was killed.
A few years later he was divorced and, in his own words, “started hanging out with the wrong crowd.” Years of drugs, drink and destitution followed.
Those hellish years continued until 1994, when Tate found religion. Eventually he started his own ministry in Philadelphia, The Gift of the Cross Church.
It wasn’t until 2001 that Howard Tate was rediscovered. Ron Kennedy, one of Harold Melvin’s Blue Notes, saw Tate at a supermarket in New Jersey. Seems that a local DJ, Phil Casden, inspired by the CD release of Get It While You Can, had periodically been asking listeners to help find Tate. This fortunate encounter led to the new album. Tate hooked up with Casden and reunited with Ragovoy, and the Internet helped spread the good news.

So Howard got his comeback. He never became a household word like Otis Redding or Wilson Pickett, he  made some fine records in his final years. I'll play some of those on a tribute Sunday on Terrell's Sound World

My Rock n Roll Music CD Collection

Adams, Bryan
  • So Far So Good
Adams, Ryan
  • Follow the Lights
  • Jacksonville City Nights
Allman, Gregg
  • Searching for Simplicity
  • Low Country Blues
 Band, The
  • The Last Waltz
  • Greatest Hits
 Beach Boys, The
  • Sounds of Summer
  • Pet Sounds
 Beatles, The
  • Live at the BBC
  • Please Please Me
  • Number Ones
  • Complete Box Set Mono
Black, Frank
  • Honeycomb
  • Fast Man Raider Man
 Bo Deans
  • Joe Dirt Car
 Bolton, Michael
  • Greatest Hits 1985-1995
 Bon Jovi
  • One Wild Night Live 1985 to 2001
  • This Left Feels Right
  • Lost Highway
Botti, Chris
  • Chris Botti in Boston
Boyle, Susan
  • I Dreamed a Dream
Bramblett, Randall
  • Now It's Tomorrow
Brickman, Jim
  • Greatest Hits
  • The Very Best of Jim Brickman
Broussard, Marc
  • SOS: Save Our Soul
  • Keep Coming Back
Byrds, The
  • Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Carey, Mariah
  • The Ballads
Chicago
  • Greatest Hits 1982-1989
Clapton, Eric
  • Timepieces: The Best of Eric Clapton
  • The Cream of Clapton
  • Riding With The King (with BB King)
Clemons, Clarence
  • Live in Asbury Park
Cocker, Joe
  • Greatest Love Songs
Connick, Harry Jr
  • In Concert On Broadway
  • 30
Costello, Elvis
  • Painted From Memory (with Burt Bacharach)
Crow, Sheryl
  • 100 Miles from Memphis
Def Leppard
  • Greatest Hits Vault: 1980-1995
De Graw, Gavin
  • Chariot
Diamond, Neil
  • Tennessee Moon
  • The Best of the Movie Album
  • Hot August Night Live in NYC
  • Dreams
  • 12 Songs
  • Home Before Dark
Dion
  • Bronx in Blue
Dion, Celine
  • Taking Chances World Tour: The Concert
Dylan, Bob
  • 30th Anniversary Concert
  • The Essential Bob Dylan
  • Time Out of Mind
  • Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Volume 8 Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006
  • Together Through Life
  • Before the Flood (with The Band)
  • Nashville Skyline
  • Slow Train Coming
  • No Direction Home: The Soundtrack A Martin Scorsese Picture Bootleg Series Volume 7
Frankenreiter, Donovan
  • Donovan Frankenreiter
Fogerty, John
  • The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again
  • Premonition
Eels
  • Daises of the Galaxy
Eagles, The
  • Long Road Out of Eden
  • The Very Best of
  • Hell Freezes Over
  • Eagles Box Set
Everly Brothers, The
  • Walk Right Back: On Warner Brothers 1960-1969
Hawthorne, Mayer
  • A Strange Arrangement
Hawley, Richard
  • Lady's Bridge
Helm, Levon
  • Dirt Farmer
  • Live at the Palladium New Years Eve 1977 (with the RCO All Stars)
Henry, Joe
  • Civilians
Hiatt, John
  • Come Alive at the Budokan (with the Guilty Dogs)
  • Walk On
  • Master of Disaster
  • Same Old Man
  • The Open Road
  • Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns
Hoffland, Matt
  • Come Home
  • Fly
  • Stories and Prayers
  • Need
Holly, Buddy
  • Not Fade Away: Remembering Buddy Holly
  • Rock n Roll Collection Box Set (with Carl Perkins and Little Richard)
Hootie and the Blowfish
  • Cracked Rear View
Iglesias, Julio
  • Romantic Classics
Il Divo
  • An Evening with Il Divo Live in Barcelona
  • Il Divo
  • The Promise
Ingram, James
  • Forever More: Love Songs, Hits, and Duets
Isaak, Chris
  • The Memphis Sun Recordings (2 CD)
  • Live at the Fillmore
  • Forever Blue
  • Mr. Lucky
Iver, Bon
  • Bon Iver
  • For Emma, Forever Ago
Jackson, Michael
  • HIStory: Past, Present, and Future
Jenkins, Katherine
  • Sacred Arias
Joel, Billy
  • Greatest Hits Volume III
  • 2000 Years The Millenium Concert
  • Live at Shea Stadium
John, Elton
  • The Union (with Leon Russell)
  • One Night Only: The Greatest Hits
Johnson, Jack
  • In Between Dreams
Jones, Norah
  • Come Away With Me
Journey
  • Greatest Hits
Kid Rock
  • Born Free
Kooper, Al
  • Black Coffee
  • White Chocolate
  • Super Session
  • Fillmore East: The Lost Concert Tapes 12/13/68
Koz, Dave
  • Greatest Hits
Landreth, Sonny
  • From the Reach
LeBlanc, Dylan
  • Pauperville
Lewis, Jerry Lee (with Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash)
  • Class of '55 (with Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash
  • Old Time Religion: Rare Recordings of Jerry Lee Lewis in Church - Preachin, Shoutin, and Singin
  • Live at the Start Club Hamburg
  • The Definitive Collection
  • The London Session with Great Guest Artists
  • Last Man Standing The Duets
  • Mean Old Man
 Lindell, Eric
  • Gulf Coast Highway
Loggins, Kenny
  • The Greatest Hits
Low, Andy Fairweather
  • Sweet Soulful Music
Lowe, Nick
  • At My Age
  • The Convincer
  • The Old Magic
Mark, Richard
  • Greatest Hits
Mack, Lonnie
  • Memphis Wham
Malo, Raul
  • You're Only Lonely
  • Lucky One
Marley, Bob
  • Legend (Bob Marley with the Wailers)
Mathis, Johnny
  • Let it Be Me: Mathis in Nashville
Matthews, Dave
  • The Complete Weekend on the Rocks
  • Live at Folsom Field
  • DMB Live Trax Volume 8: Alpine Valley Music Theatre East Troy, WI August 7, 2004
  • Live at Radio City Music Hall (with Tim Reynolds)
  • Live at Luther College (with Time Reynolds)
Mayer, John
  • Where the Light is: Live in Los Angeles
  • Continuum
  • The Village Sessions
Medley, Bill
  • Damn Near Righteous
Mellencamp, John
  • Life, Death, Love and Freedom
  • Life, Death, Love, and Freedom Live Album
  • The Best That I Could Do: 1978-1988
  • No Better Than This
  • On The Rural Route 7609 (4 CD Box)

Orbison, Roy
  • Black and White Night Live
  • The Last Concert
  • The Soul of Rock n Roll
  • Sings Lonely and Blue
  • Mystery Girl 
Osborne, Joan
  • Pretty Little Stranger
Perkins, Carl
  • Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session (with Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and Dave Edmunds
Plant, Robert
  • Raising Sand (with Alison Krauss)
Presley, Elvis
  • The Complete Million Dollar Quartet (with Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash)
  • Great Country Songs
  • Elvis Country
  • Ultimate Gospel
  • Elvis by the Presleys
  • On Stage
  • From Elvis in Memphis
  • An Afternoon in the Garden
  • Moody Blue
  • 30 Number 1 Hits
  • From Nashville to Memphis The Essential 60's Masters
  • Elvis 75 Good Rockin Tonight
  • "I Believe" The Gospel Collection
Prine, John
  • In Spite of Ourselves
Raitt, Bonnie
  • Road Tested
Reed, Eli "Paperboy"
  • Come and Get It
Reo Speedwagon
  • The Hits
Richard, Zachary
  • Last Kiss
Scaggs, Boz
  • Come on Home
  • Some Change
  • Fade into Light
  • But Beautiful
  • Silk Degrees
Seger, Bob
  • Greatest Hits
  • Greatest Hits Double CD
Simon and Garfunkel
  • Live 1969
Skynyrd, Lynyrd
  • All Time Greatest Hits
Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes
  • The Best of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes
  • Into the Harbour
  • Better Days
  • 1978: Live in Boston
  • Jukebox (4 CD box)
Springsteen, Bruce
  • Tunnel of Love
  • Live in Dublin (with The Sessions Band)
  • Greatest Hits
  • The Promise
  • Live 1975-85 (with the E Street Band)
  • Magic
  • Devils and Dust
  • Working on a Dream
Stewart, Rod
  • If We Fall in Love Tonight
Stone, Joss
  • The Soul Sessions
Streisand, Barbara
  • Love is the Answer
  • One Night Only: Barbara Streisand and Quartet at the Village Vanguard
Taylor, James
  • One Man Band
Usher
  • My Way
Vandross, Luther
  • Dance With My Father
Wammack, Travis
  • Live Rock n Roll Party
Wilson, Brian
  • Brian Wilson Presents Smile
Webb, Jimmy
  • Live and at Large
      Yo You Ma and Friends
      • Songs of Joy and Peace
      Young, Neil
      • Prarie Wind
      • Greatest Hits
      Zucchero and Friends
      • Zucchero and Co

      Tuesday, December 6, 2011

      RIP Dobie Gray and Howard Tate

      Prayers and sympathy to the family and friends of Soul Legends Dobie Gray and Howard Tate.