Howard Tate (August 13, 1939 – December 2, 2011) – Ain't Got Nobody To Give It To (1974)

This heartbreaking song was written and produced by Tate's longtime producer Jerry Ragovoy who helped create most of his R&B hits.

Watch full video on Twitter.

View most updated version of this post on Substack.

Howard Tate was a singer/songwriter who recorded a string of moderate R&B hits in the 1960s, and may best be known for “Get It While You Can,” which was covered by Janis Joplin.

Born in Elberton, Georgia, Tate moved with his family to Philadelphia when he was a child. As a teenager he joined the Gainors, a gospel group that also featured singer Garnet Mimms.

Later, Mimms introduced Tate to producer Jerry Ragovoy, who helmed a series of hit R&B records with him in the late sixties, including “Ain’t Nobody Home,” one of his highest-charting records that hit #12 R&B in 1966. Janis Joplin recorded a cover of his heartfelt “Get It While You Can,” another song Ragovoy produced for him. It was released on her posthumous Pearl album in 1971.

According to former Grand Funk Railroad lead vocalist and guitarist Mark Farner, Tate was one of the singers who influenced their early development.

At the start of the seventies, Tate switched producers. But he reunited with Ragovoy in 1972 for his self-titled album released that year on Atlantic Records. In 1974, Ragovoy wrote, co-arranged and produced the heartbreaking song “Ain’t Got Nobody To Give It To” for Tate.

The song did not chart. It was his only single released on Epic Records, and one of the last he put out before retiring from the music industry later that decade. In 1976 he started his own short-lived label HT Records and issued his final two singles on it, both with the the bluesy jam “Pride” as their B-sides.

Sadly, Tate’s teenage daughter died in a tragic house fire in the eighties, and the blow led him to struggle with drug addiction for nearly a decade. In the mid-nineties he entered recovery, started counseling addicts, and became a preacher.

His music was rediscovered in the early 2000s. A DJ from Camden, New Jersey tracked down his whereabouts, which led to him performing for the first time since the seventies. Tate enjoyed a well-deserved, successful final act to his career that lasted until his death from leukemia in 2011.

#soul #JerryRagovoy #HowardTate