 In the early 1960s, Pate was hired by OKeh Records producer/A&R director Carl Davis to write arrangements for the label.Davis had had previous hits with artists such as Walter Jackson, Major Lance, Ted Taylor and The Opals.Pate, Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions first teamed in January 1963 recording the ballad "Sad Sad Girl and Boy," which mid-charted in "Cashbox" magazine's charts.