Customer Reviews

Get It While You Can: Legendary Sessions

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

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.

All you need to know is "Ain't Nobody Home" is one of the all-time SOUL Records of the 1960's! This alone is worth the price of this "now" CD.

Growing up in the 50's & 60's, there was so much to be influenced by musically. In the Soul category, if nothing else by Howard Tate was noteworthy, "Ain't Nobody Home" was the epitome of what the greatest Soul Sounds were all about. And if you listened to Soul Radio, 1966 was arguably its best year in the 60's! Some may argue 1967 was better but some of '67's best tunes hit the airwaves in late '66.

Altogether, you had, "Try A Little Tenderness" by Otis, "Are You Lonely For Me Baby" by Freddie Scott, "I'm Walking Out On You" by Reuben Wright, "Reach Out I'll Be There" by The 4 Tops, "Wait A Minute" by Tim Tam & The Turn-Ons, and "Ain't Nobody Home" by Howard Tate. Yeah, it didn't stop there, there were hundreds of thousands tunes in that mighty year, but these were 'some of' my favorites Soul tunes that year. Yeah, 1967 was the year Otis and Freddie made the aforementioned hits popular, but it was late in 1966 when those songs hit the airwaves on Soul Radio. Of course, this is by no means intended to disrespect the very early '60's. I absolutely admired everything Soul-wise leading up to 1966.

"Look At Granny Run" is great [B+], his follow-up hit, but all you really, really need here is "Ain't Nobody Home" [A+++]! If you have to pay $100, it's worth it!

BTW, I got this CD back in the early 90's on Mercury, I wanted a cleaner version of "Ain't Nobody Home" that badly! I would've paid whatever the price tag.

I also still have the original 45rpm on Verve Records from 1966; scratches and all. ;)

The music fan's one star comments made me say some thing about this . His interview in the recent Rolling Stone mag was amazing. I haven't heard his new recordings but these classics recordings are the finest either side of James Carr and Otis Redding. one of the songs My Bulldog Won't Bark was co-written with Sam Bell by the late great and creully underrated Lorriane Ellison,whom along with Linda Jones is the Maria Callas of soul.Anyway every track is a gem and this is a classic desert island disc.

Howard Tate was blessed with great songs (like the title track, which was later recorded by Janis Joplin), but equally or more important, he had the pipes and sensitivity to put them across as sweetly and intensely as the better-recognized masters of the era. Fans of Otis Redding and Al Green shouldn't miss Tate.

I just saw him at the 2002 San Francisco blues festival, (introduced by Elvis Costello, an avowed fan) and his range is amazing! He has a terrific grainy tenor voice, steeped in gospel and blues, and his clear falsetto swoops are not to be believed! Part Time Love, Look at Granny Run, Aint Nobody Home and Get It While You Can were all fabulous! The band was great also, particularly the horn section and the guitar player. And he's got a new album coming out soon! This man is on a talent level of Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding in the soul pantheon. Buy this cd and look for his new one.

Is this one already out of catalog? As you might know, Tate has come back from oblivion--he's played New York and New Orleans, and probably some other places I don't know about. He's reportedly recording again, in Georgia, with his producer/songwriter partner Jerry Ragovoy. This is great stuff and somewhat more ornate and sophisticated than Stax soul. There are times I don't like it as much as I did when I initially got this CD back in '96. Tate is a fine singer but in my darker moments I find him a little repetitious. His version of Johnny Taylor's "Part Time Love" is quite similar to Taylor's, and very good indeed. But the best stuff here is amazing. I hope I get to see him perform. Essential soul music.

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.