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Topic: Clarence 'Tater' Tate RIP |
Walter Stettner
From:
Vienna, Austria
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Posted 11 Nov 2007 12:15 pm |
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One of the legendary fiddle players who played with Bill Monroe is gone, he passed away on October 20. Found this on www.hillbilly-music.com
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Clarence "Tater" Tate, a versatile musician who contributed to recordings by Bill Monroe, Patty Loveless, Mac Wiseman and many others, died Wednesday at his home in Jonesborough, Tenn. He was 76 and was suffering from lung cancer.
"He could play any stringed instrument, and he was a tremendous musician," said fiddler and WSM-AM air personality Eddie Stubbs. "Tater understood what bluegrass music was all about, and he'd been playing the music almost since it began. He had a nearly 60-year career."
In recent years, Mr. Tate was serving as a fiddle instructor at East Tennessee State University, passing along some of the secrets of a hard-driving fiddle style that featured equal parts grit and elegance.
Mr. Tate's skills did not end with the fiddle, though. He also sang and played bass, mandolin, banjo and acoustic guitar. As part of Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys band, Mr. Tate often switched between fiddle and bass. On Loveless' "The Boys Are Back In Town" single, he played the sprightly bass part. He was also the last fiddle player in Lester Flatt's Nashville Grass band, working with the revered singer until Flatt's death in 1979.
Mac Wiseman, Wilma Lee Cooper, Carl Story, Jimmy Martin and many others used Mr. Tate in performances and on recordings. Politician and country music promoter Cas Walker gave Mr. Tate the nickname of "Tater," and Bill Monroe often excitedly introduced him as "Tater Tater Tater Tate!"
Mr. Tate lived in Nashville for a quarter-century, often working the Grand Ole Opry.
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Kind Regards, Walter
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www.lloydgreentribute.com |
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Stephen Gambrell
From:
Over there
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Posted 11 Nov 2007 2:18 pm
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| RIP, Tater. One of the good guys! |
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scott murray
From:
Asheville, NC
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Posted 11 Nov 2007 3:30 pm
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I'm pretty sure I saw him play bass and fiddle with Bill Monroe at least once or twice. He always seemed to be enjoying himself immensely. I've never seen footage of him where he wasn't smiling!
God bless you Tater.
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1965 Emmons S-10, 3x5 • Emmons LLIII D-10, 10x12 • JCH D-10, 10x12 • Beard MA-8 • Oahu Tonemaster |
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Clyde Mattocks
From:
Kinston, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 11 Nov 2007 9:20 pm
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Possibly of interest to steelers, Tater played with Hylo Brown around 1960 and delighted in doing the "Slowly" lick on the fiddle, using three strings.
Lots of his licks were steel influenced. The few times I was in his presence, he was a very friendly
person. There were times he seemed to be the glue holding the Monroe band together, especially on bass. |
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Stephen Gambrell
From:
Over there
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Posted 12 Nov 2007 1:54 am
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| Clyde Mattocks wrote: |
| There were times he seemed to be the glue holding the Monroe band together, especially on bass. |
I think so too, Clyde. Tater would play fiddle, if Bill was "between" fiddlers, play bass, sing a good bass in the Blue Grass Quartet---I think Monroe depended on him a lot, especially the last years. |
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