Tower of Power - Back to Oakland
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Free Music Notes for Back to Oakland
Free Music Review: SUPERIOR-SOUNDING JAPAN 2008 REMASTER NOW AVAILABLE
Hit: 5 Stars
In 2008, WEA Japan released the entire WB Tower Of Power catalog in remastered form. All of the albums benefit from new mastering, and are worthwhile acquisitions for fans.
I found all of the remastered material to be superior to the Rhino 2CD "What Is Hip?" 1999 compilation set, except, surprisingly, for the material from the 3rd album, which sounds better on the Rhino.
Amazon does a haphazard job of stocking these remasters, so you may have to seek them from Japan-based retailers. Also, Amazon's prices are at least a third higher than buying direct from Japan, although shipping costs will cut into that percentage.
Here are the links for the `08 remasters:
East Bay Grease
Bump City
Tower Of Power
Back To Oakland
Urban Renewal
In The Slot
Live And In Living Color
Again, it's sad that American consumers have to obtain better sounding CD's from another country. WEA, and now WMG, have long maintained a corporate policy of not upgrading their catalog under the "they're-gonna-buy-it-anyway-so-why-waste-profits" philosophy, no matter that rival Sony has made a lucative business model out of remastering nearly the entire Columbia records catalog. Although this internal policy was mandated by the WEA regimes of the past, Edgar Bronfman, the current WMG chief, has maintained the status quo.
So, Tower Of Power now joins fellow WEA artists Jackson Browne, Ry Cooder, The Doobie Brothers, Tower Of Power, Neil Young, Van Dyke Parks, Little Feat, Van Morrison, America, Annie Haslam, Everything But The Girl, Roberta Flack, Todd Rundgren, Cold Blood and Paul Butterfield, just to name a few, whose catalogs either partially or wholly exist in better audio in Japan than here in the U.S.
It's a pathetic and frustrating situation.
Free Music Review: Tight and Intense
Hit: 5 Stars
I still have my vinyl copy of this one which I picked up when it first came out. I had met a guy from Oakland when I was in the service and he told me that if you own a good stereo, it was nothin if you didn't have the tower playing on it. I had never heard of TOP prior to that conversation, so I went out and bought this one. Man, what a ton of bricks this album/CD is! Unique for it's time and timeless to this day. Hard punching big sound and what a voice Lenny Williams had back then especially on this one and Urban Renewal. I think they had the tightest, machine-like horn section on the planet with arrangements that took them to the moon. I went through a complete phase of TOP fanatisism, and special ordered Bump City, East Bay Grease and all their albums which were hard to find at the time. I saw them live back in the seventies while Williams was still with them and will never forget the experience. If you like funky jazz with fast, tight, searing horns - this is for you. Free Music Review: Masters of Funk
Hit: 5 Stars
I purchased this because I'm avid admirer of the drumming of David Garibaldi. Had the original release on vinyl. Just a personal opinion but to me Squib Cakes is the funkiest drumming ever recorded! Even today as they tour, TOP still has it! Funky then, funky today. Free Music Review: older, not better
Hit: 3 Stars
Recently I purchased a CD of TOP recorded in '98 at the Fillmore. Great audio, so I decided to look at their earlier stuff. This particular CD reflects the poor recording techniques of the '70s and there are too many ballads on here for my taste. 'Squib Cakes' is my favorite as it's strictly instrumental. A remastered version of this would be appreciated.Free Music Review: East Bay... All The Way
Hit: 4 Stars
What can I tell you about some of my homeboys... from the Bay. You gotta be ready for variety when you listen to ToP, because normal and ordinary is not them. They mix rock with soul with jazz with anything and everything else that sounds good. One of my favorites.