Tower of Power

JAK · Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 7:20 am Post subject: Tower of Power

I am not sure this needs to be in Reveille, but I figured better safe than sorry. Assuming someone has not ever heard Tower of Power, which album you would recommend they listen too? Which is the best Tower of Power album?

-James

[Moved from Reveille by Moderators]

dershem · Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 6:30 pm Post subject:

My favorite is "Urban Renewal", but I enjoy almost all of them ("back on the streets" and "Oakland zone" being the exceptions). Depends on what mood you're in.

And "Kick it up a step" from Doc Kupka's Strokeland Superband is also pretty good along those lines.
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houdini1313 · Veteran Member Joined: 24 Feb 2008 Posts: 360

I love TOP and have been listening for years. I may be a trumpet player, but the bari sax licks from Doc Kupka just kick some........

I don't think you can go wrong with anything, if you have not listened to TOP I would first recommend one of the Greatest Hits type albums (http://www.amazon.com/Very-Best-Tower-Power-Warner/dp/B00005LMXQ)

To get some of the old school TOP, and the amazing playing of Mic Gillette I would say "Back To Oakland". My personal favorite would have to be "Soul With A Capitol S"

H
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Trumpet1Ohio · Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:21 pm Post subject:

Well, we all have our favorites... I like the 2nd album...think it's just called "Tower of Power". It's the one that has "What is Hip" on it. The first album, too with "Your Still a Young Man", "Soul Vaccination" and "Down to the Nightclub". Trust me, you can't go wrong with these.

Played in a band in the 70s that did these tunes. Great stuff.
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gchun · Guest

I, too, love the self-titled album "Tower of Power" and next, "Live and in Living Color". I prefer the old "analog" albums that had that grittiness and grease to the sound. Most all of the albums are great, but I just love the earlier sound the best. Mic Giillete and Greg Adams defined the style and sound that so many of us are drawn to and try to emulate.

Garry

Bill Ortiz · Heavyweight Member Joined: 02 Jan 2007 Posts: 904

The album entitled "Tower Of Power" is the third LP, not the second. The first one was "East Bay Grease" w/ "Sparkling In The Sand" on it. The second one is "Bump City" followed by "Tower Of Power." My personal favorite is "Back To Oakland" but they are all great. My favorite era of the group is the band with Lenny Williams and the great Chester Thompson, although the present band is pretty slammin'-tpt players Adolfo Acosta and Mike Bogart are SUPURB trumpet players.
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Rich G · Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 3:31 am Post subject:

My favorite TOP album is "Back To Oakland" - still have the LP. The records sound better to me than the CD's (too sterile in comparison to the records).

qcm · Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 4:12 am Post subject:

My two favorites are "Urban Renewal" from the 70's and "Monster on a Leash" from the early 90's when Lee Thornburg was playing lead with TOP.

-Dave
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Yamahaguy · Heavyweight Member Joined: 09 Dec 2004 Posts: 3992

Monster on a Leash is my personal favorite

bobstrpt · New Member Joined: 13 Apr 2008 Posts: 6

monster on a leash with lee thornburg. Great tight sound

milesaheadmusic · New Member Joined: 16 Apr 2008 Posts: 5

Live In Living Color....Great Live Sound and Energy!

EBjazz · Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 11:26 am Post subject:

I'm with you Bill. Back To Oakland is a classic and it's in my deserted island five any day!!

Eb
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bilboinsa · Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:33 pm Post subject:

If you want a good value sampler, here's a good collection from them:
http://www.amazon.com/Very-Best-Tower-Power-Warner/dp/B00005LMXQ/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1208381507&sr=8-1
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JAK · Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 6:59 am Post subject: Thank You.

Thank you all for your input. I will probably be ordering some TOP tomorrow.

-James

Bill Ortiz · Heavyweight Member Joined: 02 Jan 2007 Posts: 904

Hi Eric-nice to see you on here-drop me an e-mail and let me know how you are doing :)

Bill
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EBjazz · Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 9:49 pm Post subject:

Hi Bill; Hop on over to the video forum and see my vid The Making Of Time Bomb.
You might recognize a couple of cats....

Eb
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supertrump · Regular Member Joined: 11 Aug 2005 Posts: 79

My personal fav's are T.O.P and the more recent Oakland Zone Cd. Great tight horns, amazing sound.

JAK · Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 2:36 am Post subject: Wow...

Three days ago my first Tower of Power album came; it's the Greatest Hits album that Doug linked to above. Right off the bat there we some songs that just dug right in. Then there were other songs that didn't really hit the mark, at least not at first. The more I listen to the CD the more I like it. Even the songs that I did not like at first, I find myself enjoying later. For me, TOP seems to be one of those things that I can't concentrate on listening too. If I do, I find myself saying things like "I love that song, but that one really doesn't move me."

There were a few times where I let it play while I was doing other things, then the next time I listened to it I found myself saying, "I love this song," at the start of almost every tune. I don't know how much sense I am making, but I guess for me I have to let it sink in on a subconscious level BEFORE I decide whether or not I like a song. This really should come as too much of a surprise when you look at the most of the music (aka crap) that my generation listens too.

My next album arrived today, but I am a little disappointed. It is a 2-disc anthology, but it is basically just the first album I bought with 14 songs added on. I was hoping to get 40 new songs. So far I have is a bunch of the older stuff, next I am going to try to find Monster on a Leash and some of the other newer stuff.

Before I joined TH, just over a month ago, I had never heard of TOP. Thank you for turning me on to TOP and thank you for all of your suggestions.

-James

EBjazz · Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:31 am Post subject:

I'm not a big fan of anthologies or greatest hits CDs. That being said, the thing about TOP is that the personal and songwriting changed over time.
If you really want to hear the best band (the classic TOP) and best songwriting by Emilio and Doc, then you should get Back To Oakland,Urban Renewal and Tower Of Power.
These represent the heyday and TOP at it's creative & funky peak.

Eb
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trickg · Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 9:48 am Post subject:

Don't get me wrong, the horns in Tower of Power are definitely hot, and who can deny Emilio's and Rocco's contributions? That being said, in my opinion the glue that binds that whole band together is David Garibaldi - pretty much anything by TOP that has him on the drums is for sure going to be funky.
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