Blues club bash for singer

Donnie McCormick’s former bandmates plan to cover for him tonight at an Atlanta blues club. The southern rock and blues singer is too sick to make it to his 64th birthday tribute.

Members of McCormick’s band, Eric Quincy Tate, and about a dozen bands will honor the musician who has been a staple on Atlanta’s club scene for almost 40 years. McCormick, a drummer, singer and songwriter who lives in east Cobb, has heart problems and hasn’t performed since January. Music starts at 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Northside Tavern, 1058 Howell Mill Road. There is no cover charge. McCormick said the club has been like a second home.

“I’ll be there in spirit. I’m humbled,” he said. “I miss playing terribly.”

Eric Quincy Tate played on midtown Atlanta’s “strip,” a hippie gathering place on Peachtree Street, in the early 1970s. They jammed with the Allman Brothers in Piedmont Park and played with the Grateful Dead. Tony Joe White, the singer-songwriter who produced the band’s first album in 1969, said the group did southern rock before it was called southern rock.

“They were raw and funky and there was nothing like them. They had soul,” White said. “The only thing missing was a hit record.”

Lisa Love, director of the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in Macon, said McCormick and his band have been nominated for the hall of fame, but have not been inducted. “Donnie is one of many unsung heroes in Georgia who deserve this award,” Love said. When he sings, I am floored and speechless by his persona and talent.”

The band made six albums before splitting in the early 1980s. McCormick said they’ve stayed close through the years. Tommy Carlisle, co-founder of the band, lives not far from McCormick.

“Donnie is one of the best that’s ever been,” Carlisle said. “If James Brown is called the hardest working man in show business, Donnie is the other hardest working man in show business.”