Original poster here again:

Well, Miracle on 34th Street, or maybe "Circle Place."

Cutting the tab did the trick and all works fine now. Thank you all.

All the "original outlets" here are "stick the wire in the hole" types
where the red, black and white wires are held by some sort of spring
"thing" in the outlet. The theory is that you stick a screwdriver in a
slot and the wires pop free -- but they don't

I can never get them out, so I always end up breaking the old wall
outlet apart to get the wires free.

I always replace with Seymour Pass 20 amp outlets that have a very
easy way to fasten the wires down. It involves a screw, but the wire
is crushed between plates, no wrapping around screws.

I'm curious about "Hey Bub's" solution. I did not see it until I had
already "broke the tab."

The reason I am curious is because breaking the tab was not all that
easy. The top half broke right off, but it took a lot of digging with
a galvanized nail, screwdriver etc. to break the other half of the
tab. It took me about 20 minutes. There has to be a better
way...maybe if I had needlenose "nippers," but I don't.

Anyway, thanks again all. Solution worked perfectly.

Tim