BEST FUNK SOUL HORN SECTION ? TOWER OF POWER OAKLAND EAST BAY SAN FRANCISCO VINYL COMMUNITY
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- Опубликовано: 5 фев 2025
- I'M A BIG FAN GIRL OF THE SOUL FUNK BAND TOWER OF POWER . THEY ARE JUST AWESOME AND ARE STILL GOING STRONG. LOVE THESE GUYS!
#towerofpower #vinylcollecting #vinylcommunity #vinylhaul #vinylcollection #oldschoolmusic #funkmusic #soulmusic #towerofpower @towerofpower150 #oaktown #funk #retromusic
Here's the link to the NPR Tiny Desk Concert featuring TOWER OF POWER
• Tower of Power: NPR Mu...
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No doubt! Greatest horn section of all bands. The horn arrangements always been superb!!!
Very happy to hear you agree. Love the Average White Band too but I do think TOP pips them on the horn section front. Thanks for watching.
I took my roommate and his girlfriend to see them in the 1990's. They had never heard of them. To say they were "blown away" is an understatement. Instant fans.
That's fantastic. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Oaktown Funkification it is.
Quite! Thanks for stopping by.
Great vid. Awesome band. Still gigging now. Don t forget Cold Blood with Lydia Pence. Twins of bay area funk. Just saw her at Yoshis. Saw Tower of Power at Stern Grove.
Their horn section and arrangements are on tons of songs by other artists. Great band. Check out the first live from the archive album. Its a club show from the early 70s. It awesome. Cold Blood also have an early 70s archive live album that rocks.
Thanks for the heads up on the archive album and on Cold Blood with Lydia Pence! Thanks for watching and commenting.
Agreed. The two bands share Skip Mesquite and Mic Gillette, and Pense sounds like a more polished version of her friend Janis Joplin. Check out Cold Blood's cover of "Let me Down Easy," or "You Had to Know," written and produced by Donny Hathaway.
Check out Little Feat's 1978 album, "Waiting For Columbus". Especially the live track "Spanish Moon". This was recorded live at Lisner Auditorium, Washington D.C., August 8, 1977, and features the Tower Of Power horn section. I had a front row seat for this show and sat directly in front of the horns. Never forget it.
Oh wow. Wil check this out! Thanks for the heads up and watching the video.
I was fortunate to watch Tower of Power live before the COVID lockdown happened. TOP is an awesome live band. They performed many of their classic hits as well as Sparking in the Sand which Emilio Castillo said was a song they haven't performed in years. It was only by the request of the concert organizers that they decided to perform it. Most of the original members aren't there anymore but I got to see Emilio Castillo, "Doc" Kupka and the amazing drummer David Garibaldi perform. Unfortunately, Rocco Prestia wasn't there as he had poor health already at that time. On a side note, we do get to see Lenny Pickett (one of TOP's original members) on TV at the SNL Live band as the band leader and sax player.
Great to know there are lots of TOP fans still out there. Thanks for watching and commenting.
The liquor store is Tys liquor on
7 or 8th st and Broadway.
Thanks for the info and stopping by to watch the video.
I can't believe I didn't comment on this one before because I am a massive fan of TOP ! RM.. Great rundown of one of my all-time favorite bands in the land ! Cold Blood is, of course, amazing as well 😊
Thanks for checking out the video. Never mind me being an Oakland native, they're just so awesome aren't they?
Ahhh, so East Bay ! I thought SF for you, possibly. I bet you lived in the city, though.. Good job on bringing the heat of the mighty Tower of Power ! I met Emilio once.. Such a nice guy !
Yes. Lived and worked in SF before moving abroad. SF in the 80s and early 90s were just awesome!!!
SF was a lot of fun back then, we still visit, and my next stop will be Tunnel Records in the outer Sunset on Taraval.
Excellent video ! Enjoyed it very much.
A close friend of mine, who is very close with the founding band members, was told by Rocco, before his passing , that the picture location on the back of East Bay Grease was at Broadway and 9th, Oakland, Ca.
Thanks for your comment and glad you enjoyed the video. Great to know the location of where the photo was taken!
I have always enjoyed their music .
I only have the East Bay Grease , and Bump City ( my favourite ) albums in my collection .
You have inspired me to explore more of their LPs .
Thank you for the recommendations !
Hope you enjoy their other albums. Love those guys! Thank you for watching.
One of the members of the band... I forget if it was drummer or bassist, once owned the house next to mine on 'hippie hill' in Orinda
Very interesting. Had no idea there was a "Hippy Hill" in Orinda. Thanks for stopping by.
What separates TOP's horn section with the other great horn bands is their usage of staccato choppy lines, which is .. Total ear candy. Lenny Williams is the shizzz !
As a non-musician, great to know your take on ToP! Yep. Lenny is the shizzz!
I never tire of TOP.. " Too Much Oil In The Ground" and the whole Urban Renewal album from '75 .. Right after Back To Oakland is an essential record as well ! Going to Tahoe today..😎 Whoo hoo
Great videos. I love your voice. Thanks for the knowledge. Love this back. Best regards from Providence, RI
Thank you for your kind comment. First time someone has ever commented about my "dulcet" tones. :-)
wow, i am looking for this records my whole life... 😘 - i have many of them only on CD - Tower of Power is like EWF, AWB and the Crusaders...mega Bands....and also Down to the Bone
Couldn't agree more. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Excellent Dear keep up the great work !!!! the location off the back of the first album is Broadway and 9th oakland it's been renovated since but friends and I visited the site when we went out for their 50th ...
Many thanks for watching and commenting. Appreciate the information. Sounds like it wasn't far from Oakland Chinatown.
Yes! One of my favorite bands since I was a kid. “Knock yourself out wooooooo!!!”
Fantastic. Thanks for watching.
OK, so where has your show been all my life? Fantastic video! Enjoyed it, especially as someone with limited Tower Of Power experience. I do have Lenny's debut solo, but that's it. Keep doing what you're doing here! 😁
Many thanks for your kind comment.
@@retromusings anytime! Seriously, great to see more soul in the Vinyl Community. In case you haven't seen it, the VC "Today Show" is here: www.youtube.com/@rachelsghost . I sometimes go on live, but they go between 6am-930am every day. Stop by if you can!
I got the Back to Oakland album while I lived in CA. My wife and I adopted a child from there and we used to drive over a bridge to get there (don't know if it was that one on the cover). Anyway, as you may know there is a high density of African American people that live in Oakland, I guess that is what the record title is referencing. I really love the song called Squib Cakes. It always takes me back to the times we used to drive over to Oakland to visit the adoption agency. Happy memories. Thanks for showing these. I really should explore those other LPs by the band.
Hope you enjoy the other ToP lps. These guys are awesome.
And Lenny Williams...what can you say? The outstanding vocalist from all their lineups, with Larry Braggs a close second
such a great / important band.. i would love more TOP on vinyl! i only have urban renwal :/ & i had the first live record too (with the red cover) i should have kept it but a track on one side skipped so i gave it a way.. actualy funny i do have a few records where its just like.. 'tower of power horns' listed on records too as they were used for a lot of stuff back then... Saw their first record at a store last week but i couldnt really afford but what i was really looking for / recently discoverd was 'in the slot', cuz oh my god! theres some stuff on in the slot that really had my jaw on floor.. some of the drumming on it (on tracks like on the serious side etc)... i dont really have words... i know in your video you made note of singer changes but their main drummer david was in and out of band for a while there and it really makes a bit of a difference on some the records.. IF you by chance havent heard in the slot maybe give it listen if u get chance.. i wasnt aware that it had grooves like that! last thing ill say..i recently watched some TOP history too how they really struggled and practically disbanded in mid/late 80s (no label, funk etc wasnt "in" cuz 80s and new waves and stuff) but huey lewis saved them! which i thought was interesting. i forgot / didnt realize huey was so big in the 80s.. but was cool how huey as tower of powers founder said 'saved them'... also,, a werid TOP factoid sorta thing i didnt know about but they had a bass player on one record (we came to play) that ended up causing quite a stir in the news for un musical related things later on.. take care RM!
Hey thanks for all the information. I had no idea their horn section was used by other artists and Huey Lewis using TOP too. Fascinating. Didn't know either about their main drummer leaving and coming back to TOP too. Will check out "in the slot"? Really enjoy learning about other bands and artists. Many thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Where did you come from? Never seen you at any record shows.
I'm currently based in Europe. Thanks for stopping by and watching.
Do we ever get to know your first name!
Just call me "RM" :-)
@@retromusings okay, RM. A mystery it will remain. Have a good night.