The story is almost a cliche: A great African-American artist records hit songs,
never gets paid and ends up on the streets, broke and disgusted.
But for 1960s Philadelphia soul singer Howard Tate, whose voice influenced Janis
Joplin, Elvis Costello, Jimi Hendrix and rappers Brand Nubian, among others, there
is a happy ending.
Tate, who swore he'd never go near the record industry again, has produced a strong
new album, ``Rediscovered,'' which will be released in two months. And he is touring
again, with stops this week in Santa Cruz and San Francisco.
At the unlikely age of 64, his voice is strong, and his funkified, tight band
is the real deal, the kind of soul-drenched music you can hardly hear live anywhere
anymore.
``I haven't heard this kind of singing with a free horn section since Otis Redding,''
says Bill Welch, producer of the Santa Cruz Blues Festival, who booked Tate into
Moe's Alley. ``You can bet every musician in the area who isn't working is going
to turn out to hear this.''
When Costello was exploring American music early in his career, one of the first
albums he discovered was by Tate. Last fall, Costello took time off his own tour
to introduce Tate's appearance at the San Francisco Blues Festival and then stood
on the side of the stage, watching with glee.
Tate's two albums, 1966's ``Get It While You Can'' and 1974's ``Howard Tate,''
were the kind of esoteric stuff that eccentric European record lovers latched onto
-- like the folks portrayed in Nick Hornby's book ``High Fidelity.'' He inspired
Web sites and a cult following.
And it was the European connection that brought him back to the music industry
fold.
Tate quit the business in the '70s, after one of his business associates, Harold
Logan, was killed outside a New York City nightclub.
``I never thought I'd come back,'' says Tate, by phone. ``I was very disgusted
with the whole business. I never got paid. Not a dime. I made a lot of records. I
sold a lot, but I couldn't even get reimbursed for my $20 train fare to New York.''
Tate's strongest work was his collaboration with songwriter and producer Jerry
Ragovoy, who wrote the classic rock hits ``Piece of My Heart'' and ``Time Is on My
Side.''
Together they produced ``Get It While You Can,'' which later became a signature
for Joplin; ``Stop,'' which was covered by Hendrix; ``Ain't Nobody Home,'' covered
by B.B. King; and ``Look at Granny Run Run,'' covered by Ry Cooder and sampled by
Brand Nubian.
They had a falling out, but Ragovoy was haunted by his work with Tate, whose disappearance
was so complete that the liner notes for a 1995 reissue of his Verve sessions stated
that the soul singer was probably dead.
In fact, his life took on the characteristics of two songs he had written earlier:
``Learned It All the Hard Way'' and ``The Bitter End.''
Tate worked for a time as a securities dealer with Prudential, but a house fire
that killed his 13-year-old daughter and a divorce led him to the streets.
``I started drinking and hanging with the wrong people, and one thing leads to
another. Drinking led to marijuana joints and cocaine. I wasn't just on my knees.
My face was on the ground.''
Eventually, he had a wake-up call, when God talked to him ``as clearly as this
phone call,'' and got him to sober up. In 1994, he had the call again. This time,
he was told to preach and help others who had hit bottom.
He became a pastor at Philadelphia's Gift of the Cross Church.
``I was scared to death,'' he recalls. ``I didn't want to be a preacher. But God
said, `You'll preach, or else.' I said, `Well I better get busy.' ''
Meanwhile, unknown to him, he had a devoted following in Europe, people who treasured
his albums. A reissue there sparked a search for him, which led to Philadelphia disc
jockey Phil Casden. The blues and soul aficionado regularly made announcements on
his show, asking for help locating Tate.
Chance encounter
On New Year's Day 2001, a former singer with Harold and the Blue Notes, Ron Kennedy,
who had heard the pleas, ran into Tate at a supermarket and called the disc jockey.
In miraculous hours, and with much thanks to Internet connections, Tate's phone
began ringing with offers around the world asking him to record and reuniting him
with Ragovoy.
``It was happening so fast, I didn't know what to do,'' he says.
Members of his church didn't support his return to the secular world, but his
big benefactor did.
``When I prayed, God told me, `I gave you that voice. You never went to music
school. You wonder now if you should sing secular or gospel? There is a beauty in
all music. It's the life you live more than what comes out of your mouth. Just remember
to keep my name out front.' ''
Charity project
His goal now is to record and tour and raise $5 million for a rehabilitation center
at his Philadelphia church.
His performances are exuberant and highly praised.
``I feel so privileged to be one of the last of that great soul review from the
'60s and '70s to be around and in good health and to be able to come back,'' he says.
``Just tell the people out there that I'm going to give the best I can give. They
deserve the best.''
Tate plays 9 p.m. Saturday at Moe's Alley (831) 479-1854 in Santa Cruz and at
8 p.m. Sunday at Slim's in San Francisco.
Also playing
Rockabilly with Deke Dickerson, Plant 51 Friday. Fusion with Dixie Dregs
at the Catalyst on Friday, Slim's on Saturday and Icon on Sunday. Alt rock with
the Riddlin' Kids at Campbell's Gaslighter Theater on Tuesday. Also on the
bill Home Grown, All American Rejects and Flashlight Brown.
Rock 'n' roll marathon
Local friends of Flight 93 victim Mark Bingham, who graduated from Los Gatos High
School, are running the Suzuki Rock 'N Roll Marathon in San Diego on June 1. They
are meeting at 9 a.m. Sunday at the Sports Basement in San Francisco. For more information,
go to www.team bingham.org .