Get It While You Can: The Legendary Sessions

Howard Tate

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 20, 1995)
• Original Release Date: June 20, 1995
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B000001EDH
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #140,843 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This album is the goods., April 29, 2004

By	Rob G. (Indianapolis, IN United States) - See all my reviews

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.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rhythm & BLUES (emphasis on Blues) at its best, May 13, 2005

By	John Engstrom "wino" (Dublin, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a legitimate 5 star rating, November 10, 1999

By	"[e-mail]" (Oakley, KS USA) - See all my reviews

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.