Johnny Pate
Encyclopedia
Johnny Pate is a jazz
bassist who late became a music arranger
/producer
, and a leading figure in Chicago soul
as well as pop
/R&B music
.
Pate learned to play piano
and tuba
as a child, and later picked up the bass
and learned arranging while serving in the Army
.
in the 1940s, in 1951 Pate was recording on Chess Records
with Eddie South
and his Orchestra, credited on bass and arrangements. This was also the first of a series of Chess recordings on which Pate collaborated with saxophonist Eddie Johnson
. In the 1950s he was also a resident arranger for Red Saunders
' house band at the Club DeLisa
.
Johnny Pate's trio recorded for a number of local Chicago labels like Gig and Talisman. For the Cincinnati based Federal Records
, the Johnny Pate Quintet had a hit with "Swinging Shepherd Blues," which reached number 17 on Billboard
s R&B chart in spring 1958.
One of the last albums on which Pate played bass was James Moody
’s 1958 album Last Train from Overbrook, released on the Chess
subsidiary, Argo Records
.
Pate did the arrangements for B.B. King's album Live at the Regal
in November 1964.
producer/A&R director Carl Davis
to write arrangements for the label. Davis had had previous hits with artists such as Walter Jackson
, Major Lance
, Ted Taylor
and The Opals.
Pate, Curtis Mayfield
and The Impressions first teamed in January 1963 recording the ballad "Sad Sad Girl and Boy," which mid-charted in Cashbox magazine's charts. The following single, "It's All Right," stayed at number one R&B for two weeks and hit number four pop in fall 1963; it was followed by "Talking about My Baby," "I'm So Proud," "Keep on Pushing". The Keep on Pushing
LP peaked at number eight pop in fall 1964. Pate produced and recorded most of their hits at Universal Recording Studios in Chicago.
Their success led the group's label, ABC-Paramount
, to open a Chicago office on 14th and Michigan and appoint Pate as A&R director in 1964. One of the acts he signed, the Marvelows
, had a number seven R&B hit with "I Do". "I Do" was followed by another hit with "In the Morning."
Other acts signed to ABC-Paramount through the Chicago branch were the Trends, the Kittens, and former Vee-Jay Records
star Betty Everett
. He also did the arrangements for Major Lance
's Monkey Time.
In 1968, Pate began doing arrangements for Curtis Mayfield's Curtom
label. Leaving in 1972, he worked on numerous recordings including the horn arrangements for the Bobby Bland and B.B. King Together Again...Live
(1976), and the 1978 album Words and Music
by Lonette McKee
on Warner Bros. Records
. Pate also made soundtracks for films including Shaft in Africa
.
In 2006, TNC Records released an 80th birthday tribute album
. His song "Shaft in Africa", was sampled
by producer Just Blaze
, for the Jay-Z
single "Show Me What You Got
". It was later sampled by producer K-Def
for Diddy
's "We Gon' Make It" featuring Jack Knight
.
's album Movin' Wes
, released in 1965 and re-released in 1981.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
bassist who late became a music arranger
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
/producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, and a leading figure in Chicago soul
Chicago soul
Chicago soul is a style of soul music that arose during the 1960s in Chicago. Along with Detroit, the home of Motown, and Memphis, with its hard-edged, gritty performers , Chicago and the Chicago soul style helped spur the album-oriented soul revolution of the early 1970s.The sound of Chicago...
as well as pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
/R&B music
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
.
Pate learned to play piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
as a child, and later picked up the bass
Bass (instrument)
Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...
and learned arranging while serving in the Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
.
The Jazz Era
Following stints with Coleridge Davis and Stuff SmithStuff Smith
Hezekiah Leroy Gordon Smith , better known as Stuff Smith, was a jazz violinist. He is known well for the song "If You're a Viper".-Biography:...
in the 1940s, in 1951 Pate was recording on Chess Records
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
with Eddie South
Eddie South
Eddie South was an American jazz violinist.-Biography:South was a classical violin prodigy who switched to jazz because of limited opportunities for African-American musicians, and started his career playing in vaudeville and jazz orchestras with Freddie Keppard, Jimmy Wade, Charles Elgar, and...
and his Orchestra, credited on bass and arrangements. This was also the first of a series of Chess recordings on which Pate collaborated with saxophonist Eddie Johnson
Eddie Johnson (musician)
Edwin Lawrence "Eddie" Johnson was an American jazz and blues tenor saxophonist. He was born in Napoleonville, Louisiana, United States....
. In the 1950s he was also a resident arranger for Red Saunders
Red Saunders (musician)
Theodore Dudley "Red" Saunders was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He also played vibraphone and timpani....
' house band at the Club DeLisa
Club DeLisa
The Club DeLisa, also written Delisa or De Lisa, at State Street and Garfield Avenue, on the South Side, was an important nightclub and music venue in Chicago....
.
Johnny Pate's trio recorded for a number of local Chicago labels like Gig and Talisman. For the Cincinnati based Federal Records
Federal Records
Federal Records was an American record label founded in 1950 as a subsidiary of Syd Nathan's King Records and based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was run by famed record producer Ralph Bass and was mainly devoted to Rhythm & Blues releases. But also hillbilly and rockabilly recordings were released,...
, the Johnny Pate Quintet had a hit with "Swinging Shepherd Blues," which reached number 17 on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s R&B chart in spring 1958.
One of the last albums on which Pate played bass was James Moody
James Moody (saxophonist)
James Moody was an American jazz saxophone and flute player. He was best known for his hit "Moody's Mood for Love," an improvisation based on "I'm in the Mood for Love"; in performance, he often improvised vocals for the tune.-Biography:James Moody was born in Savannah, Georgia...
’s 1958 album Last Train from Overbrook, released on the Chess
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
subsidiary, Argo Records
Argo Records
Argo Records was started in December of 1955 to accommodate some of the rapidly growing recording activity at Chess Records. Originally the label was called Marterry, but bandleader Ralph Marterie objected, and within a couple of months the imprint was renamed Argo.Initially, Argo offered a...
.
Pate did the arrangements for B.B. King's album Live at the Regal
Live at the Regal
Live at the Regal is a 1965 live album by blues guitarist and singer B.B. King. It was recorded on November 21, 1964 at the Regal Theater in Chicago. The album is widely heralded as one of the greatest blues albums ever recorded and is #141 on Rolling Stone Magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All...
in November 1964.
The Impressions era
In the early 1960s, Pate was hired by OKeh RecordsOkeh Records
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
producer/A&R director Carl Davis
Carl Davis (record producer)
Carl H. Davis is an American record producer and music executive, who was particularly active in Chicago in the 1960s and 1970s when he was responsible for hit R&B records by Gene Chandler, Major Lance, Jackie Wilson, The Chi-Lites, Barbara Acklin, Tyrone Davis and others.-Life and career:He was...
to write arrangements for the label. Davis had had previous hits with artists such as Walter Jackson
Walter Jackson
Walter "Red" Jackson was a professional ice hockey player who played 84 games in the National Hockey League. He played with the Boston Bruins and New York Americans. He was born in Instock, England, but moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba as a boy.- References :...
, Major Lance
Major Lance
Major Lance was an American R&B singer. After a number of US hits in the 1960s, including "The Monkey Time" and "Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um", he became an iconic figure in Britain in the 1970s among followers of Northern soul.-Life:Major Lance was born in Winterville, Mississippi...
, Ted Taylor
Ted Taylor
Theodore Brewster Taylor , was a Mexican-born, American theoretical physicist and prominent nuclear weapon designer who later in life became a nuclear disarmament advocate.- Early life:...
and The Opals.
Pate, Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
and The Impressions first teamed in January 1963 recording the ballad "Sad Sad Girl and Boy," which mid-charted in Cashbox magazine's charts. The following single, "It's All Right," stayed at number one R&B for two weeks and hit number four pop in fall 1963; it was followed by "Talking about My Baby," "I'm So Proud," "Keep on Pushing". The Keep on Pushing
Keep on Pushing
Keep on Pushing is an album and song by the American soul music group The Impressions. It was the biggest album of their career, reaching the Top 10 on the Billboard Pop Album chart...
LP peaked at number eight pop in fall 1964. Pate produced and recorded most of their hits at Universal Recording Studios in Chicago.
Their success led the group's label, ABC-Paramount
ABC Records
ABC Records was an American record label, founded in New York City in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records. It originated as the main popular music label operated the Am-Par Record Corporation, the music subsidiary of the American Broadcasting Company . ABC-Paramount Records' first president was Samuel H....
, to open a Chicago office on 14th and Michigan and appoint Pate as A&R director in 1964. One of the acts he signed, the Marvelows
The Marvelows
The Marvelows were an American soul group from Chicago. After contacting Johnny Pate, the group signed with ABC Records and recorded four sides: "A Friend", "My Heart", "Hey Hey Baby", and "I Do". The last of the four was released as a single and became a U.S. hit, peaking at #7 on the Black...
, had a number seven R&B hit with "I Do". "I Do" was followed by another hit with "In the Morning."
Other acts signed to ABC-Paramount through the Chicago branch were the Trends, the Kittens, and former Vee-Jay Records
Vee-Jay Records
Vee-Jay Records is a record label founded in the 1950s, specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. It was owned and operated by African Americans.-History:...
star Betty Everett
Betty Everett
Betty Everett was an African-American soul singer and pianist, best known for her biggest hit single, the million-selling "The Shoop Shoop Song ".-Early career:...
. He also did the arrangements for Major Lance
Major Lance
Major Lance was an American R&B singer. After a number of US hits in the 1960s, including "The Monkey Time" and "Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um", he became an iconic figure in Britain in the 1970s among followers of Northern soul.-Life:Major Lance was born in Winterville, Mississippi...
's Monkey Time.
In 1968, Pate began doing arrangements for Curtis Mayfield's Curtom
Curtom Records
Curtom Records was a record label started by Curtis Mayfield of The Impressions along with Impressions associate Eddie Thomas in 1968 although the name was used as early as 1963. The labels name was a combination of Mayfields first name and Thomas' surname...
label. Leaving in 1972, he worked on numerous recordings including the horn arrangements for the Bobby Bland and B.B. King Together Again...Live
Bobby Bland and B.B. King Together Again...Live
Bobby Bland and B. B. King Together Again...Live is a live album recorded in 1976 at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles, California by Bobby Bland and B. B...
(1976), and the 1978 album Words and Music
Words and Music
Words and Music may refer to:*Words and Music , a 1929 musical film directed by James Tinling*Words & Music, a 1931 musical short film starring Ruth Etting...
by Lonette McKee
Lonette McKee
Lonette McKee is an American film and television actress, music composer/producer/songwriter, screenwriter and director.-Biography:...
on Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
. Pate also made soundtracks for films including Shaft in Africa
Shaft in Africa
Shaft in Africa, released in 1973, is the third film in the blaxploitation trilogy of films that starred actor Richard Roundtree as John Shaft. John Guillermin directed and Stirling Silliphant did the screenplay. The cost went up to $2,142, 000, but the gross fell to $1,458,000...
.
In 2006, TNC Records released an 80th birthday tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
. His song "Shaft in Africa", was sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
by producer Just Blaze
Just Blaze
Justin Smith, better known as Just Blaze, is an American hip hop music producer from Paterson, New Jersey. Blaze is also the CEO of Fort Knocks Entertainment. He is most well known for producing Jay-Z songs on the albums The Blueprint, The Blueprint 2, and The Black Album. He is also known for...
, for the Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
single "Show Me What You Got
Show Me What You Got
For the song by Powerman 5000, see Show Me What You Got "Show Me What You Got" is a single by rap artist Jay-Z from his album Kingdom Come.-Song information:...
". It was later sampled by producer K-Def
K-Def
K-Def is an American, New Jersey based, hip hop producer/DJ who has been actively involved in the music industry since the early 1990s. He has recently produced music for artists such as Ghostface Killah and Puff Daddy...
for Diddy
Sean Combs
Sean John Combs , also known by his stage names Diddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He has won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and his clothing line earned a Council of Fashion Designers of America award. He was originally...
's "We Gon' Make It" featuring Jack Knight
Jack Knight
Jack Knight is the name of:*Jack Knight, US Airmail Pilot, airline builder*Jack Knight , American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball*Jack L...
.
Other Works
Pate was also the arranger and conductor for Wes MontgomeryWes Montgomery
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others, including Pat Martino, George Benson, Russell Malone, Emily...
's album Movin' Wes
Movin' Wes
Movin' Wes is an album by American jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery, released in 1964. It reached number 18 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart in 1967, his second album to reach the charts following the success of his later release Bumpin.-History:...
, released in 1965 and re-released in 1981.