Charlie Fite (April 10, 1940 – May 3, 2016) – I'm So Glad (1965)
The original member of Frank Howard and the Commanders sang on this superb R&B jam, written by Billy Cox who backed it along with Jimi Hendrix.
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Charlie Fite was an original member of the Nashville R&B vocal group Frank Howard and the Commanders, who in 1965 recorded a single backed by Jimi Hendrix. They later appeared several times on the nationally televised The !!! Beat soul music TV show that ran for one season in 1966.
Charles Howard Fite III was born in Nashville, Tennessee. He worked at a downtown department store around 1960 along with Joe Holder, Wallace Simpson, and Frank Howard. They started singing in an unnamed vocal group together, but Holder and Simpson left and in 1961 Fite and Howard formed a trio with Hershel Carter called Frank Howard and the Commanders.
The new group secured a regular gig at Club Stealaway, run by former Chess promoter Bill “Hoss” Allen. He later produced their first single, the heartbreak tale “Just Like Him” b/w “I Married An Angel,” recorded in late 1964 and released early the next year on Allen’s Hermitage label.
In the summer of 1965, Jimi Hendrix’s friend and bassist Billy Cox (who would later play with a post-Experience Hendrix and Buddy Miles in Band of Gypsys) brought two songs he had written to Howard. They went into the studio with Allen to record them.
Hendrix was on guitar, Cox on bass, Freeman Brown on drums, and horns were led by Harrison Callaway. It’s unclear whether Johnny Jones also played guitar on the session, but what is known is that Allen turned Jimi’s microphone down several times during the superb upbeat jam “I’m So Glad” to “cut him in and out” of the mix, because he felt Hendrix was embellishing the simple rhythm he was supposed to be playing.
Its B-side was the heartfelt “I’m Sorry For You,” which Hendrix and Cox also played on. Original copies of the single today sell for hundreds of dollars on Discogs.
The group appeared several times on the short-lived soul music TV show The !!! Beat, a pre-cursor to Soul Train that was hosted by Allen and aired nationally for one season in 1966 before being cancelled. In one appearance, they performed “I’m Sorry For You.”
In January, they had sung backing vocals for Little Milton when he came on one of the season’s first shows to perform his #1 R&B hit “We're Gonna Make It” (1965). During other appearances they also performed “Just Like Him” (aka “It Didn’t Work Out”), and “I’m So Glad.”
One of their most energetic moments on the show was when they covered “Shotgun” by Junior Walker & the All Stars, and showed off some super funky dance moves that would have made James Brown (May 3, 1933 - December 25, 2006) proud.
Rest in Power, Charlie Fite.
Further info:
“Celebrate the Life of Jefferson Street R&B Commander Charlie Fite,” Nashville Scene, May 10, 2016.
“The Story of Frank Howard and the Commanders,” by E. Mark Windle, A Nickel And A Nail, October 26, 2018.
#soul #funk #JimiHendrix #BillyCox #FrankHoward #CharlieFite