{{notability|1=Music|date=May 2026}} {{short description|American singer and songwriter}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Fran Tate | background = | image = | caption = | birth_name = | alias = | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = {{death year|1997}} | death_place = | genre = {{flatlist| *Southern rock *swamp rock }} | occupation = {{hlist|Singer|songwriter|recording engineer}} | years_active = | label = | past_member_of = Little Feat | website = }} '''Fran Tate''' (also known as '''Fran Payne''', died 1997) was an American singer, songwriter and recording engineer.
==Biography== Tate was a backing singer and songwriter for the American rock band Little Feat and was the first wife of the band's keyboard player and vocalist Bill Payne.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rhino.com/article/talkin-with-bill-payne-of-little-feat|title=Talkin' With Bill Payne of Little Feat|website=Rhino}}</ref> The couple first met at the Blue Seas Recording Studio in Hunt Valley, Maryland when Tate came, with her friend Emmylou Harris, to provide backing vocals on the 1974 album ''Feats Don't Fail Me Now''. Bonnie Raitt also sang on the album.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/artsentertainment/the-blue-seas-saga/ |title=The Blue Seas Saga |first=Tony |last=Moss |date=July 31, 2010 |website=Baltimore Magazine |access-date=4 July 2025}}</ref>
Tate was the co-writer, alongside husband Payne, of the song "Day or Night", which first appeared on the 1975 ''The Last Record Album''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://phish.net/song/day-or-night/history|title=Day or Night History - Phish.net|website=phish.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/day-or-night-mt0044062694|title=Day or Night - Little Feat|via=www.allmusic.com}}</ref> They also collaborated on the song "Pleasin' Each Other" which was recorded by Bonnie Raitt for her 1975 album ''Home Plate''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2015/11/11/my-favorite-allen-toussaint-covers/|title=My Favorite Allen Toussaint Covers|date=November 11, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/home-plate-mw0000200385|title=Home Plate - Bonnie Raitt |via=www.allmusic.com}}</ref>
==Discography== === As vocalist === * 1974: Little Feat – ''Feats Don't Fail Me Now''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/feats-dont-fail-me-now-mw0000650420|title=Feats Don't Fail Me Now - Little Feat |via=www.allmusic.com}}</ref> * 1975: Robert Palmer – ''Pressure Drop''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/pressure-drop-mw0000651092|title=Pressure Drop - Robert Palmer |via=www.allmusic.com}}</ref> * 1975: Little Feat – ''The Last Record Album''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-last-record-album-mw0000651765|title=The Last Record Album - Little Feat |via=www.allmusic.com}}</ref> * 2000: Little Feat – ''Hotcakes & Outtakes''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.deaddisc.com/disc/Hotcakes_And_Outtakes.htm|title=Grateful Dead Family Discography: Hotcakes & Outtakes|website=www.deaddisc.com}}</ref> * 2014: Little Feat – ''Rad Gumbo: The Complete Warner Bros. Years 1971–1990''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/rad-gumbo-the-complete-warner-bros-years-1971-1990-mw0002614378|title=Rad Gumbo: The Complete Warner Bros. Years |via=www.allmusic.com}}</ref>
=== As engineer === * 1975: Emmylou Harris – ''Pieces of the Sky''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/pieces-of-the-sky-mw0000202953|title=Pieces of the Sky - Emmylou Harris |via=www.allmusic.com}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{AllMusic|id=fran-tate-mn0000185547}} * {{discogs artist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tate, Fran}} Category:1997 deaths Category:American women singers Category:20th-century American women
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