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Eric Quincy Tate, "Drinking Man's Friend," a Look Back to '72

It’s really sad that  Eric Quincy Tate never really received the acclaim they so richly deserved. From their stellar albums to their smoking concerts and gigs in Piedmont Park with The Allman Brothers Band, it truly seemed as though EQT were next in line for the throne. But as history would have it, they were lost in the shuffle to some extent. However, there are still countless masses who recall the hey day of the band, and will continue to sing their praises until the day they die.

As history has it, the boys’ careers took a mighty leap forward in the late sixties while playing shows out in Texas. They managed to get heard by noted songwriter/artist/producer Tony Joe White, who took them under his wing. White helped the band record a set of demos at Capricorn in Macon which very much impressed Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler. In late 1969 EQT signed a management deal with Phil Walden.

They released their debut album Eric Quincy Tate on Cotillion Records (a subsidiary of Atlantic Records) with producers Tony Joe White, Jerry Wexler and Tom Dowd, before relocating their base of operations from  South Texas to Memphis, Tennessee. In 1970, they made a final move to Atlanta.

In 1972,  EQT's second album Drinking Man's Friend was released on the Capricorn label with producer Paul Hornsby, best known for his work with The Marshall Tucker Band and The Charlie Daniels Band.  The band included: Joe Rogers (keyboards, Harp),David Cantonwine (Bass), Tommy Carlisle (Guitars) Donnie McCormick (Drums/vocals). (With additional percussion and hand clapping from Johnny Sandlin, Mary C. Lane, Bill Stewart and someone called Jeanne.)

Drinking Man’s Friend is nothing short of excellent. Opening with John Mayall’s “Brown Sugar,” you can tell from the beginning that EQT, while certainly in the same league with The Allmans, marched to the beat of their own drummer. Donnie McCormick, as a matter of fact, who was not only an amazing drummer, but also an equally amazing singer.

Joe Rogers turned out some of the very best B-3 work these old ears have ever heard, opening “Things (I Think I’ll Find)” with a Southern fried funk that just grows on you like kudzu.  It’s an amazing six minute, fifty-one second ride, written by Tommy Carlisle. In fact, other than the Mayall tune, all of the songs on this release are credited to Carlisle.

“Whiskey Woman Blues” gets down and dirty, and stands alongside The ABB’s “Whipping Post” in my personal book of Southern blues classics.

“Another Sunshine Song,” wrapped in Dobro, is reminiscent of the best Delaney & Bonnie track, and “Can’t Get Home from Your Party” sounds like the earliest Elton John, that is, if Elton had been born and raised in the South. I’m not sure if Rogers or Hornsby played the piano, but whoever did, it sure is nice.

“Texas Sand” is another instant EQT classic, and a fitting tribute to their old stomping ground, and “Suzie B. Dunn” is another great track, beyond compare. It is just EQT doing what they did. And doing it so well.

Drinking Man’s Friend is stellar from top to bottom. Eight tracks jam packed with Southern rock goodness. Better than a BBQ sandwich and a PBR. The CD reissue is available online. Buffalo says, “Check it out.”

Keep it Real. Keep it Southern.
Buffalo






   

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