THE CATES GANG
"WANTED"
1972
METROMEDIA
DOWNLOAD
1/We All Got To Help Each Other/2:37
2/God Gave Me A Woman/2:41
3/Song Man/2:25
4/Leavin' This Town/3:04
5/Lead Me Anywhere/2:39
6/When Will We Learn/2:17
7/I'll Take You Back Again/1:54
8/What's The Use In Lovin' You/2:33
9/I Made Up My Mind/2:41
10/Help Me Work It Out Again, Woman/2:23
11/If You Got The Time (I Got The Love)/2:15
Earl Cate /Guitar, Vocals
Ernie Cate /Keyboards, Vocals
Billy Wright /Bass
THE CATE BROTHERS
By Bill Wright
During the ’50s, a pair of twin brothers started playing at community events and gaining recognition around Northwest Arkansas. Earl and Ernie Cate were beginning a career that would eventually take them to other parts of the world.
They started playing bluegrass and other music that they had heard on the Grand Ole Opry, Louisiana Hayride and other popular radio shows. When the Everly Brothers rose to the top, the Cate brothers added Everly Brothers songs to their own repertoire.
Meanwhile, Lonnie Watson and his cousin Otis “Junior” Watson moved to Springdale from Newton County, bringing their musical experience to the area and eventually teamed with the two Cate brothers.
At first the group didn’t even have a name, but they started winning talent contests and performing talent shows as far away as the Arkansas State Fair in Little Rock.
In the late ’50s, the group added a drummer, and started playing more rock ’n’ roll and less music of other styles. They became known as the Delrays, a name taken from a Chevrolet.
The lineup of the Delrays in the early ’60s was Earl Cate on guitar, Ernie Cate on keyboard (mostly piano and organ), Lonnie Watson on bass, Randy Favorite on drums with frontman Ken Owens on lead vocals. The two Cate brothers contributed their own vocal style, and Watson also did some vocals.
The group played a lot of fraternity and school dances, as well as the Rockwood Club and venues in Joplin, Mo., Norman, Okla., and other towns.
In a few years the Delrays went through a few changes. Owens left to tend to academic duties, and the group added a sax player from time to time. One of those sax players was Gary Bien, who was active in many groups around the area. After Bien left the Delrays, Phil Rogers from New Orleans, was hired for sax duty.
In 1965, Watson graduated from college and left for a career in the corporate world. The band hired Gerald Golden to replace Watson on bass, and in late summer of ‘65, the Delrays became a touring band. Their tours included Canada, New Jersey, Florida and Georgia.
In early summer of 1966, Golden and Favorite left the Delrays to pursue other interests and the Cate brothers came home to Northwest Arkansas.
After a few weeks back home, the word got around that they were in the area, and club owners started getting in touch with them about performing at some of the local venues. With Bill Wright on bass, and McAllen Wolfe on drums, the Delrays were once again performing on the local scene.
Wolfe had already enlisted in the U.S. Navy, so he didn’t get to stick around for too long, before he had to embark on his tour of duty. Dan Kerlin handled drummer duties for a while, and then Levon Helm showed up and played as a Delray for a few months.
In late fall when Helm left to rejoin The Hawks, he introduced his nephew Terry Cagle to the band, and gave him a few introductory lessons about playing with a band. Cagle had barely played drums prior to this adventure, but he picked up where his Uncle Levon left off, and took the rhythm section to a new level.
By the end of 1966, the lineup was Earl Cate, guitar and vocals; Ernie Cate, organ, vocals and front man; Bill Wright, bass; and Terry Cagle, drums and vocals. This lineup lasted for nine years. The group first billed themselves as the Delrays, then later as the Cates Gang and finally became known as the Cate Brothers Band.
In 1970, as the Cates Gang, they released an album, “Wanted — The Cates Gang” on Metromedia label.
In 1975, Wright left to pursue other interests and the group hired Albert Singleton to replace him. Singleton stayed for about a year before moving on, and was replaced by Ron Eoff. In 1976 the Cate Brothers Band hit the charts with a single “Union Man.” This hit catapulted the group to the big time, and they remained there for quite a while. During that time, in addition to releasing several albums and appearing on national television, they toured America, Canada, Europe and Japan.
Through the decades, the Cate Brothers Band went through many personnel changes and last year retired from performing as a group on a regular basis. They still get together for an occasional gig, and Earl Cate and Terry Cagle are still active performers on the local scene — sometimes joining together at a gig, as well as working separately on other projects.