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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 Soul, Southern Soul, and British
Northern Soul circles, Tommy started
drumming and singing in small clubs in the
Jackson, Mississippi area.
During the 1960s, he recorded singles for
ABC-Paramount,
Okeh, Verve, Swing,
Atco, Big Ten, and Musicor.
In 1970, legendary songsmith Mack Rice
recruited Tommy to sing lead on two Stax
singles by The Nightingales.
In 1971, Johnny Baylor signed Tommy to his
label, Koko Records, which was distributed
by Stax. Although Tommy brushed the R&B
charts a couple of times, his career stalled
when label mate Luther Ingram scored big
with “(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want
To Be Right.” Koko issued four Tate singles,
but Baylor valued him more as a songwriter
for Ingram. When Koko closed its doors, it
had an album in the can on Tommy that was
released in Japan and the UK many years
later.
In 1979,
Tommy
cut an
album
for Frederick Knight’s
Juana label
and Japan’s P-Vine Records released an
album of his demos and unreleased tracks. Sundance
issued a number of singles in
the 1980s, but Tommy had more success as a
songwriter for Malaco Records. Johnnie
Taylor scored with his beautiful
“Everything's Out in the Open,” and Bobby
Blue Bland charted with the catchy midtempos
“Midnight Run” and “Get Your Money Where You
Spend Your Time.”
Tommy recorded two albums for Urgent! in the
early 1990s. The first, “Good Medicine,” was
distributed by Atlanta’s Ichiban Records.
The album has long been out of print as
Ichiban went into bankruptcy over a decade
ago. That’s why LocoBop chose to re-release
“Good Medicine” to the world in 2008. |
