Cate Bros. (album)

Cate Bros.
Studio album by
Released1975[1]
GenreRock
Length39:17
LabelAsylum
ProducerSteve Cropper
Cate Brothers chronology
Come Back Home
(1972)
Cate Bros.
(1975)
In One Eye and Out the Other
(1976)
Singles from Cate Bros.
  1. "Union Man"
    Released: 1975
  2. "Can't Change My Heart"
    Released: 1975

Cate Bros. is the third studio album by the Fayetteville musicians the Cate Brothers, released in 1975 by Asylum Records.[1] It spawned the hit "Union Man",[2] which peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week of February 7, 1976. and is the highest-charting single they released.[3]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStar[4]
The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular MusicStarStarStar[1]

Bruce Eder of AllMusic notes that "the record does equal ["Time for Us"] and then some, alternately bursting out with some amazingly funky white soul and haunting balladry in equal measures", believing that "There's not a weak point on the record", highlighting "Can't Change My Heart", "Always Waiting" and "When Love Comes", three songs that the brothers wrote for Huey P. Meaux, closing by saying that "The rest of the record isn't far behind, and the harmonies on "Easy Way Out" are almost worth the price of admission; and the augmentation by Terry Cagle plus [Brooks] Hunnicutt, [Maxine] Willard, and [Julia] Tillman puts the latter track and "Lady Luck" over the top in the vocal department."[4] In Rolling Stone, Bud Scoppa wrote that "You can hear the bar-band experience on every track: the Cates waste no time in getting to the point, and there are plenty of rhythmic gut-grabbers, melodic twists and witty punctuations to hold you once they've got you", adding that "None of the ten songs (all Cate collaborations) are utterly pretty or utterly throbbing; rather they're combinations of the two" and "There's not a dud on the album and the performances match the material (although the band – now a foursome with the addition of drummer/singer Cagle and bassist/singer Albert Singleton – sounds even better onstage, churning with an urgency that belies the players' poker faces", concluding by writing that "Cate Bros. is an uncomplicated, captivating album from the best Southern band to come out of the woods in 1975".[5]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Time for Us"3:52
2."Union Man"4:48
3."Standin' on a Mountain Top"4:16
4."Always Waiting"3:11
5."When Love Comes"3:53
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."I Just Wanna Sing"4:46
2."I Can't Change My Heart"2:48
3."Easy Way Out"3:53
4."Lady Luck"3:53
5."Livin' on Dreams"3:43
Total length:39:17

Personnel

According to the liner notes:[6]

Charts

Album

Chart (1976) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[7]158

Singles

"Union Man"

Chart (1976) Peak
position
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[8]28
US Billboard Hot 100[3]24
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[9]96

"Can't Change My Heart"

Chart (1976) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[3]91

References

  1. 1 2 3 Larkin, Colin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise ed.). Virgin Books. p. 240. ISBN 1-85227-745-9.
  2. ↑ Kinder, Kevin (2020-02-19). "More than 50 years into career, Cate Brothers still hitting the high notes". Fayetteville Flyer. Retrieved 2026-01-01.
  3. 1 2 3 "Cate Bros. Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  4. 1 2 Eder, Bruce. "The Cate Brothers: Review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2026-01-01.
  5. ↑ Scoppa, Bud (January 29, 1976). "The Cate Brothers: Cate Brothers". Rolling Stone – via Rock's Backpages.
  6. ↑ Cate Bros (liner notes). Cate Brothers. Asylum Records. 1975.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  7. ↑ "Cate Bros. Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Cate Bros. – Union Man". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Cate Bros. Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved January 1, 2026.