Eric Quincy Tate - EQT (1975) (GRC GA-10015) (24-bit 96kHZ vinyl rip)

Eric Quincy Tate - EQT
Vinyl rip in 24-bit / 96kHZ [and redbook] FLAC + artwork
851 MB / 243 MB | magnet + mega | Swamp / Blues / Soul / Rock
Final release from the storied southern outfit

Eric Quincy Tate made its third release in 1975 on GRC Records in Atlanta, produced by Sonny Limbo and EQT.




The GRC release was a split release; the (A) side of the LP was studio recorded and the (B) side was recorded live at the Chattahoochee River Raft Race. The live side captured EQT in their natural state, spontaneous and loaded with energy. During the GRC period, Tommy Carlisle had taken a leave from the band and Wayne "Bear" Sauls took over as the primary guitarist.

The founding members of Eric Quincy Tate are Tommy Carlisle and Donnie McCormick. Tommy and Donnie met in 1963 when Tommy joined Donnie's band "The Kings." The band had several regional hits cutting for the Jox label in San Antonio, Texas. Tommy, Donnie, and two other members of "The Kings" served two years in The United States Navy aboard the aircraft carrier USS Essex #9 from 1966-1968. While doing their tour of duty, the band performed at venues in England, Norway, Holland, Germany, Italy, Southern France, Sicily and on the Mediterranean island of Malta. Upon completion of duty in 1968, Tommy and Donnie returned to Corpus Christi, Texas and formed the band "Eric Quincy Tate." "Eric Quincy Tate" was Donnie's creation and is derived from three different sources according to Donnie: "ERIC" (Eric Burdon); "QUINCY" for Quincy, Massachusetts; "TATE" was the surname of a naval comrade on board Donnie's ship.

While playing in Texas, EQT made a strong impression on songwriter/artist/producer Tony Joe White. White played an important role in getting the band heard by Capricorn Records in Macon, GA. Demos were recorded at Capricorn which caught the ear of legendary Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler. In late 1969 EQT inked a management deal with Phil Walden. They recorded their first album for Cotillion Records (subsidiary of Atlantic Records) with producers Tony Joe White, Jerry Wexler and Tom Dowd. The band then moved their base from South Texas to Memphis, TN. In 1970, their first album titled "Eric Quincy Tate" was released on Cotillion. The band moved to Atlanta, GA that same year.

In the early 1970s, EQT performed free concerts in Piedmont Park in Atlanta with The Allman Brothers Band. EQT also performed with, among others, Little Walter, Ted Nugent, B.B. King (whom Tommy loaned an amplifier to at a concert in New York City in '73), Johnny Winter, Wet Willie, Dr. John, Tony Joe White, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Papa John Creach, REO Speedwagon and YES. In 1972 EQT's second album "Drinking Man's Friend" was released on the Capricorn label with producer Paul Hornsby (Marshall Tucker Band - Charlie Daniels Band).

HISTORY: Eric Quincy Tate were not a person, they were a band -- a quartet of down-and-dirty swamp rockers, Naval reservists stationed in Quincy, MA, but based down South, playing regularly in Texas where they were discovered by Tony Joe White, who shared a similar taste for blues, R&B, and soul. White helped get them signed to Capricorn and produced their self-titled 1971 debut, which sank into collector cult status not too long after its release and remained there until Rhino Handmade reissued it in 2006. Upon that reissue, the record was revealed as a real lost gem, something that could hold its own with Tony Joe White's own classic Monument albums, of which it's very reminiscent. Like Tony Joe, Eric Quincy Tate is pure swamp pop, mixing up soul, blues, country, and rock & roll into a dynamite concoction of thick, funky roots rock. EQT could really play, which makes the fact that they didn't play on their debut all the stranger. When EQT entered the studio, the quartet found the Dixie Flyers -- the name of engineer Stan Kesler's studio band at the Sounds of Memphis studio -- all set up, ready to play. Only vocalist/drummer Donnie McCormack and guitarist Tommy Carlisle, EQT's two songwriters, were allowed to play on the album, with the Memphis Horns added later as overdubs. According to Bill DeYoung's liner notes to the 2006 Handmade reissue, nobody remembers who made the decision to use the Dixie Flyers as the core band -- Tony Joe White and Jerry Wexler share producing credits with Tom Dowd, who worked on the final bit of the record -- and the decision to use studio pros is a bit odd, as the three demos, alternate takes, and unreleased cuts featured on the reissue showcase a gritty Southern rock & roll band, one that was looser and funkier than the one that finished record, but all the more appealing because of it. The Eric Quincy Tate reissue is also graced with the presence of none other than Duane Allman, who happened to be in the studio as a guest of Wexler, so he played some impromptu slide on the demo for "Goin' Down," unveiled here for the first time. It's not just Allman who gives the demos a dirtier, bluesier feel: without the overdubs of the horns and the tight attack of the Dixie Flyers, this is lean, hard rhythmic rock instead of the punched-up soul of the finished album. Not that there's anything wrong with the original Eric Quincy Tate as an album -- far from it, really. McCormack and Carlisle were fine songwriters with an ear for blending soul, blues, and rock so there were no borders between the styles, and the Dixie Flyers helped give the music an assured momentum that made it more commercial in 1971, even if the album went nowhere on the charts. Despite its lack of success, Eric Quincy Tate has aged very well -- the songs sound like buried gems and the music itself is the kind of deeply rooted roots rock that sustains its appeal, even increases it, upon repeated plays. Thankfully, Rhino Handmade put this back into circulation -- perhaps as a limited edition that went out of print quickly, but it helped spread the word and whet the appetite for the group's other two, equally forgotten albums.

tracks:
A1 Honky Tonk Man 3:15
A2 No Rollin' Boogie 4:49
A3 Food, Phone, Gas And Lodging 2:35
A4 Chattahoochee Coochee Man 2:12
A5 Wide Open 3:51
B1 Intro 0:25
B2 Drivin' Wheel 6:15
B3 Big Boss Jam 15:15

credits:
Bass – David Cantonwine
Drums – Donnie McCormick*
Guitar – Wayne "Bear" Sauls*
Keyboards, Harmonica – Joseph Rogers
Mastered By – Milan Bogdan

Matrix / Runout (Side 1): 4979GA100155 MR Sound Pit Δ20005 (1) Milan MON
Matrix / Runout (Side 2): 4979GA100155 MR Sound Pit Δ20005-X Milan MON

transfer: April 9, 2013
Record Doctor RCM
Audio-Technica AT33EV
Sota Sapphire w/ Eminent Technology Tonearm 2 (ET-2)
Cardas 4×33 cryo-treated tonearm wire loom w/ rhodium 1877phono clips and plugs
Tube Box SE II w/NOS Telefunken ECC83
TC Electronic Impact Twin ACD
Sound Studio [capture 24-bit/96kHZ]
Amadeus Pro [Analyze, split tracks, verify waveform, no clipping]
Izotope RX2 [manual de-clicking, dither and resample for redbook]
xACT [sbe correction, encoding to flac + ffp, tagging]

I am pretty sure I discovered these guys from Zinhof quite a few years ago, he only posts CD rips, but he finds some cool stuff. That put me on the hunt for the real LPs! If I sense the interest, I might consider ripping the 2nd album, and I have a line on a copy of the first LP too, not so easy to find! I do have the Rhino Handmade CD mentioned above, with the Duane Allman demo track (which you can get on the 7CD Skydog collection too) and some other great stuff with James Dickinson and the Dixie Flyers, pretty cool group, wish I could have seen them back in the day...