As my old buddy John puts it, "It's too bad that Jerry Ragovoy doesn't do more producing." I couldn't agree more because his track record is nothing short of excellent. He produced an incredible, now out-of-print United Artists album by the dynamic Garnett Mimms (highlighted by the showstopper "Cry Baby") and Lor-raine Ellison's vibrant "Stay With Me," for Loma records. Ragovoy also was the mastermind behind Howard Tate's first album for Verve a while back (entitled Get It While You Can) that, while impressive, was as overlooked as "Stay With Me" proved to be.

This is Tate's first album for Atlantic and, fortunately, they had the foresight to lure Ragovoy from his recent television-commercial circuit back into the studio. He's still writing fine tunes as well–of the 12 songs on this disc, nine were authored or co-authored by Ragovoy. Most of them hover around the three-minute mark although he extends himself admirably on "It's Your Move."

Which brings us down to Howard Tate's voice, a blend of insinuating gospel-style and an earnest, Otis Redding-oriented, sense of motion that never fails to make the material all his own. Both his rhythmical rendition of Dylan's "Girl of the North Country" and the Band's "Jemima Surrender" offer heady glimpses of Tate's scope. Ragovoy's sense of production, very similar to Bert Berns' work with Solomon Burke, pivots around relaxed yet steadily reinforced rhythms–with alert, freewheeling horn or back-up vocal "chants" accenting the choruses. The result is a stress on the singer's unique vocal characteristics and intrinsic dynamism–all bolstered by the tide-like motions of the arrangement. "It's Your Move" is a good example of this "motion" and sensitive inter-play between Tate's voice and Ragovoy's talents. "Move" opens with the bass and guitar setting up the pace that Tate slides into with ease ("Didn' I bring you up to where you are/Now look at you baby, you're a movie star ...") as do the horns that riff energetically behind Tate's alternately frenzied/falsetto reading of the lyrics. Behind-the-beat drumming, spasmodic guitar "fills" and the inclusion of a stabilizing organ line further accentuate Tate's vocal style.

The more laid-back "The Bitter End" (authored by Tate) is a piano-based statement of loss and frustration that succinctly reveals Tate's gospel-accented attack, with a Joe Tex-like rap also in evidence. Throughout, the melancholic mood is subtly delineated by the piano and guitar weavings, while Tate mixes the conversational with the lyrical in his vocal stance. At times, Ragovoy also makes excellent use of an unidentified chorus to highlight Tate's sentiments–heard to full advantage on "Keep Cool (Don't Be A Fool)" and "Strugglin'"–and to allow him the mobility to get into his Ted Taylor-like falsetto wail. "She's A Burglar" and "When I Was A Young Man" are perfectly realized contemporary soul efforts.

To sum up, Howard Tate is a master of the intense, often frenetic soul tune–comparable to Bobby Bland, Ted Taylor or Johnny Taylor. Tate can move with ease from an ecstatic wail to a tortured moan and is a virtuoso at the type of "situational," often bordering on the conversational, tunes that Ragovoy allows Tate all the room to move in that he requires–the arrangements never get in the way of Tate's assertive, creative vocal. A major album. (RS 108)

GARY VON TERSCH