Customer Reviews

The East Bay Archive Volume I

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The East Bay Archive Volume 1, is the first in a series of concerts, rehearsals and jams from "back in the day". This release was recorded on April 23, 1973 and is a "LIVE" club performance digitized from a cassette tape. The cassette recorder was running from an area close to the house sound board. It's not a "board mix", nor is it a "webcast"...the recordings are from my private collection, and I can guarantee that this was not downloaded from any bit torrent...there was no internet then folks! Very few people have heard this stuff, and there are no copies floating around. The sound quality is what one can expect from the technology of the day. There's a little tape hiss, and at times, the lead vocal is too far down in the mix, but for the most part, everything can be heard. Also, I think this must be listened to from a historical perspective...Lenny Williams and Chester Thompson had joined the band only 4 months before, and the "Tower of Power" recording was about to be released. We were a bunch of young guys discovering our "powers. There are 2 CD's because we played 2 sets, and there was too much good playing to put on one CD. Don't buy this if you're expecting a mixed studio product...this is raw..."garage" all the way. If you don't mind an imperfect recording, then it can be enjoyed in the context in which it's presented...a snapshot of our musical history. See you down the road...!!! - DG

DG pulls no punches in his review: this isn't an audiophile recording. What it is will leave you breathless if you really give it a chance. This is my all-time favorite lineup of the band with Lenny Williams on lead vocals (although there have been very few less than stellar lineups in this magnificent band's history). The performances here are tighter and IMHO better than "Live And In Living Color," although that is another classic that belongs in everyone's collection, too.

As Mr Garabaldi said "Don't buy this if you're expecting a mixed studio product...this is raw..."garage" all the way"
The point is it really doesn't matter we have a window into early Tower of Power and just this should be enough and lets not forget that this from a personal collection. We should be grateful for it or it could be languishing in a cupboard somewhere waiting to be found. Come on guys!!!!
5 stars whatever the audio quality!

I just read DG's comments on The Easy Bay Archive tracks and I just wanted to thank him for releasing his recordings. In spite of the imperfect sound quality...what a great way to document TOP's journey to
become one of the most phenomenal groups ever!!!! I was 15 yrs old when
I saw TOP (this is my favorite TOP lineup btw) live at a club in Baltimore in 1974 and was forever changed by the experience. The club was packed with people of all ages and races, they were all extremely excited and moved by the fabulous musicianship & pure joy that is TOP!!! Studio performances are key but the true measure of a great band is the live performance and TOP still brings the house down in person. Love the cd. Happy 40th!!

David's explanation is dead on. The recording quality is marginal at best, which is why I give it 3 stars. Once you get past that, the performances are quite stunning. Any ToP fan, especially those who grew up with this stuff is the 70s, will appreciate this offering.

First, it's amazing that this recording even exists at all. It's a blessing that it was released so that Tower of Power fans can enjoy an incredible live recording from the band's truly formative years. An earlier reviewer complained that the audio sounded like a 1970's cassette recording. It IS a cassette recording from the 1970's, courtesy of Tower of Power's drummer extraordinare David Garibaldi, who apparently amassed quite a collection of his own "bootlegs" of the band's rehearsals and concerts over the years on both cassette and reel-to-reel audio tape. The 2 CD set is from a concert at a tiny nightclub in Boston called K-K-K-Katy's on April 23, 1973. This is actually a live version of a "Greatest Hits" collection BEFORE the songs were even commercially released. The band's classic "Tower of Power" LP was released just about a month after this nightclub recording was made. For Tower of Power fans, it's a time travel experience smack dab into one of its most creative periods. Lenny Williams and Chester Thompson had only recently joined the band, and you can tell by his comments before and after songs that Lenny was just getting comfortable with the material and his role in the band. Yes, the audio isn't the greatest but David Garibaldi has already explained that here in two different posts. The club sounds like it only had about fifty people in it, and you can hear people's conversations, glasses tinkling, etc. from the audience during the show. As I already said, the songs they played that night were mostly unknown then. When Tower of Power plays these same songs today, their legendarily devoted fans go crazy but on this night in Boston, the audience gave them a warm reception but certainly not any standing ovations. Lenny's announcements from the stage as he introduced the songs are great to hear, and he also occasionally promoted the release of their "new album" in a month. You can also hear him say things like "Stick around for the second set" or "We're going to be here all week" (during their five night engagement). You also hear somebody (maybe a stage manager) admonish someone in the audience who was ringing a bell to knock it off because it was disrupting the music! Because this group lineup included Brent Byars on percussion, you hear congas and a tambourine, which is absent from later Tower of Power releases. Die hard fans will catch different phrasings in these songs over the years and subtle variations as the music evolved. Some songs, like "Don't change horses" are much slower than the studio releases or other live recordings, but most of the music is done at the original tempo. A couple of very, very minor gripes. Disc One fades in with the Chester Thompson composition "Check it out" (which sounds a lot like "Squib Cakes" from a much later recording. And CD #1 ends with a high energy and quite spirited version of "Knock Yourself Out" fading out, which kind of bothered me a little. CD #2 similarly begins with "Main Nerve" fading in, instead of starting from the beginning. I'm guessing that the tape was started late (which would explain the fading in) and the recorder may have run out of tape during "Knock yourself out" (which would explain the need to fade it out.) Garibaldi and the rest of the band released this special CD in conjunction with Tower of Power's 40th anniversary. Can anybody think of any other bands that are still going strong after 40-years? I can't. To wrap up: this isn't a perfect audio recording, but it's a real gem.

The brass is hot, the rhythm section is tight. The band is in the pocket for this live gig in the wild funkin' 70's.
Recording quality is not great, not bad.
The crowd is diggin it, adding to the energy.
If you don't start moving to this you may be dead.

I've been following TOP from the time I heard the last notes of 'You're Still A Young Man' back in the day. I was lucky enough to FINALLY see my idols in '75 with basically this line up. Whenever they come anywhere close, I'm gone, as are most serious musicians I know of. I've been a professional drummer for 40 plus years and after reading the reviews I was really expecting something terrible (this was a cassette player in '73 - 'You Do The Math'). Baby, are you cats spoiled or what? To have THIS kind of history of THIS BAND......this is like finding a 'lost gospel' or something!!! Ya'll need to figure out 'What Is Hip' because it just fell in your lap, like buried treasure, and you're crying - I need to know 'What's Your Trip?' cause i tell you, 'You Strike My Main Nerve'......ya'll just got a Major 'Soul Vaccination' and didn't even appreciate it....Just take yo-self 'Down to The Nightclub' and see if you can find some music LIKE THIS!!! 'Mama Said Knock You Out' and if someone can't do it, then you need to 'Knock U Own Self Out!' And, when you wake up, you 'Better Get Yo' Feet Back On The Ground' because 'I Got to Groove' to some funky 'Oakland Stroke' - a groove and stroke rarely found these days.

thank you David Garibaldi for producing this gem, from an era of popular music which is never coming back - the TOP band which recorded those storied half-dozen WB albums in the early-mid '70s. We appreciate it, are clicking the 'Add to cart' button and please, want more.

I have heard _much_ worse cassette recordings (soundboards, and otherwise) from this era. A clean and realistic document; vocals and harmonies sound fine, as does the bass & drums. No it isn't a multitrack live album and can't capture what the studio sessions did of the horns & rhythm ensemble... but the group's music will have your body shakin' and feet back on the ground, stompin'. Miss at your own risk - this 2 CD treasure takes its rightful place alongside Tower of Power, Back to Oakland and the catalog classics.

Tower of Power are one of the most dynamic groups with more funk than you can shake a stick at.That being written I must say that What is Hip,Night Club,Still A Young Man are all here PERFORMED BY THE ORIGINAL BAND......"BUT" the sound quality is poor and hollow especially the vocals.It is what it is.......