Soul4Real New Releases: Tommy Tate & The Staples

After a break of 3 months with no Soul4Real releases I´m excited to announce two new 7"s by Tommy Tate and The Staples. Liner notes by Finland's finest Heikki Suosalo and our very own Iu Adell. As usually, great remastering courtesy of Jorge Muñoz-Cobo (Circo Perrotti) and fantastic job by Jordi Duró on design/artwork duties.

Order now for 1st March: https://soul4real.es

𝗧𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗬 𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗘 (S4R33)

I Can´t Do Enough For You Baby / Hold On (To What We´ve Got)

Tommy was born in 1945 in Homestead, Florida, and after his first foray into music in a church choir, he launched his secular recording career in Jackson, Mississippi, working mostly with Tim Whitsett and his Imperial Showband in the latter half of the 1960s. After a short stint with the Nightingales, he signed with KoKo in 1971 and had six impressive singles released, followed by records on Sundance, Juana and Urgent Records.

“I Can’t Do Enough for You Baby” is a mellow and melodic slow-to-mid-tempo song that sounds almost inspirational, while “Hold On” is a beautiful waltz-time ballad which James Carr released on Atlantic in 1971. Both of these songs were cut as demos probably in 1969 after Tommy and Carson Whitsett had signed a deal to become staff writers with Malaco Records.

Tommy was a magnificent singer and songwriter, who never got the credit he deserved mainly because of poor business choices and unfortunate incidents throughout his career. However, he was a beautiful person, gentle and humble.

𝑯𝒆𝒊𝒌𝒌𝒊 𝑺𝒖𝒐𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒐

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗦 (S4R34)

Take This Love Of Mine / Precious, Precious

With the collapse of Stax Records, The Staple Singers signed with Warner Bros in 1975, leading to a brief and fruitful collaboration with Curtis Mayfield. Their first work, the OST ‘Let´s Do It Again’, became the Staples’ all-time best seller. Such was the success that the major decided that Mayfield would also produce their next work, ‘Pass It On’, in 1976.

Along with the group’s new sound and shift in lyrics, there also came a new image and a shortened name: The Staples. “Take This Love Of Mine” is a catchy two-stepper dancer, with a passionate and powerful vocal performance and uplifting chorus. “Precious, Precious” is an elegant and sophisticated ballad with less presence of arrangements but which is still incredibly moving and oozing quality. Both tracks, overlooked as singles, closed an album destined to consolidate the success of the new era.

Unfortunately, sales fell short of WB's expectations, leading to Curtis being removed from the production of the subsequent Staples records. Undoubtedly, one of their finest albums and a true favorite among soul fans.

𝑰𝒖 𝑨𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒍