Bio - The Cate Brothers

Earl and Ernie Cate were born on December 26, 1942, in Fayetteville, Arkansas, a college town located in the northwest part of the state, about thirty miles east of the Oklahoma border and around twice that far south of the Missouri state line. They started their musical careers in their late teens and by the mid '60s, as the Del-Rays, were building a reputation in their hometown, location of the main campus of the University of Arkansas.
Beginning as a "cover" band, featuring Ernie on keyboards and vocals and Earl on guitar and vocals, the Cates started to work in original material into their sets by the late '60s and, by dint of tireless touring, they built a regional following in Arkansas as well as in such nearby states as Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas and Tennessee. Word of their popularity reached Huey Meaux, who dispatched Moody to take them into the studio.
Nine of these recordings made for Crazy Cajun appeared in 1977 on the album The Friendship Train (CCLP-1025). Though they represent the Cates’ first serious sessions, by the time of their release, the group was nationally known through their debut album for Asylum Records, an eponymously-titled record that yielded the hit single, "Union Man" early in 1976 (# 24 on the pop charts).
"Union Man" and a follow-up single, "Can't Change My Heart" (# 91) were both produced by Memphis legend Steve Cropper, famed as a member of the Bar-Kays and as co-writer of such soul classics as "Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay", "Knock On Wood", "Soul Man" and "In The Midnight Hour". Cropper enlisted such luminaries as Timothy B. Schmit, Nigel Olsson, Klaus Voorman and his Memphis mate Donald "Duck" Dunn to help out on that album, resulting in the Cate Brothers only charted longplayer.
Though their commercial success on a national scale began and ended with that first album, the Cates made three additional records for major labels, two more for Asylum and, in 1979, the Tom Dowd-produced “Fire On The Tracks” for Atlantic. Undaunted by their inability to remain in the national spotlight as headliners, Ernie and Earl continued to perform on a regional basis until 1981 when Levon Helm, a longtime friend from the same part of Arkansas, chose them to open shows for The Band. By the next year, Ernie, Earl and two of the Cates then sidemen joined forces to fill the long-departed Robbie Robertson slot and thus became members of The Band in time to tour the U.S., Canada and Japan in 1983 and 1984. Additional touring followed as support act for Crosby Stills & Nash in 1985.
Once back home the Cates returned to their roots to again play regionally, thrilling their followers in the midwest and south central states. They released a collection of singles on an EP produced by John Ware and issued on RSVP Records in 1989 but, due to the label's poor distribution and scant promotional resources, that project failed to regain the national spotlight for them. Once again they resumed making the regional rounds.
In 1992, the election of Bill Clinton as U.S. President again returned them to the national spotlight as they were featured performers at the 1993 Presidential Inaugural Ball Blue Jeans Bash party, along with what was then left of The Band, Bob Dylan, Dr. John, Stephen Stills and others. The group was invited back in 1997 to perform at a similar event to mark Clinton's second inauguration.
“Radioland”, the Cate Brothers first full-length album in sixteen years, was released by Blue Sun/Icehouse/Priority Records in 1995 but that effort also failed to earn them national exposure. Again, the lack of label support ultimately doomed that project to little more than regional exposure. Thus, The Cates again became a regional act.
In 1997 Ernie and Earl decided they had had enough of major and minor labels so they released their next album “Struck A Vein” themselves, using the proceeds to help augment their steady touring income. Then, in 1998, the brothers decided to document the live show which has, after all, been the basis for their enormous local and regional popularity. Thus, in January of 1999, they issued “Cate Brothers Live”, an effort that clearly shows why they have been able to remain together, retain their status as a major regional club attraction and make a living for well over thirty years. (Orders for those two records may be made through their website, found at http:://www.catebrothers.com).
Today, as we prepare to enter the New Millennium, Earl and Ernie Cate continue their musical journey that, since the late '60s, has delighted hundreds of thousands of show attendees and at least one U.S. President The tracks on this package present the cuts that began their musical odyssey, a tuneful trip that we all hope will continue for years to come.

~John Lomax III, January 1999