Customer Reviews

Live & In Living Color

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I first heard this as an LP back in 1975 sitting in the living room with a guitarist friend. We both sat there in awe of the incredible musicianship. You can listen to this album 20 times and on the 21st time you will hear something new. The album is full of standout performances: the horns, the tight vocals, incredible solos and arrangements. And the rhythm section had some of the the best players alive.

For those who don't know it, David Garabaldi is considered one of THE most influential drummers alive. His style of playing really created the funk/ fusion genre. I heard Francis Rocco Prestia credit Garabaldi for helping to shape his bass playing style. With Bruce Conte on guitar, Prestia on Bass, and the incredible Chester Thompson on keyboards they comprised the tightest rhythm section on the planet. I have played this album for my son's friends who think they can play some music. They all stand there shaking their heads in total disbelief. Get this album. You won't be disappointed.

The first Tower Of Power recording this reveiwer ever
listened to is still the best! One of the tightest Soul bands
to ever hit the stage proved their virtuoso chops with a fan-
tastic concert.
TOP was always known for having the "best horn section in
the business (to quote Paul Shaffer of Letterman fame)", but
the rhythm section has to get its props, too.
Arranger/trumpeter Greg Adams has a great solo on "What Is
Hip?", using his microphone as a mute, and lead trumpeter Mic
Gillette shows off his steely trumpet sound on the intro to
"You're Still a Young Man". Guitarist Bruce Conte thrills con-
stantly and his vocal on "Sparkling in the Sand" makes one won-
der why he wasn't featured more often as a singer.
The 23-plus minute "Knock Yourself Out" features a very
long but very inventive Lenny Pickett tenor solo, plus shorter
solos by the rest of the horns, including guest trumpeter Bill
Lamb. Organist Chester Thompson essays a funky solo using his
Clavinet and the ARP string synthesizer, backed by Conte, bassist extraordinaire Francis Rocco Prestia and one of the
best funk drummers, David Garibaldi.
This CD is a fine introduction to the sound of Tower Of
Power.

To put it lightly, this has to be one of the most devastating funk albums of all time. Changes in tempo and mood, played with feeling and groove. This album should be mandatory for every American, it should be given to each citizen on their 18th birthday! Presidential debates should include cut-by-cut commentary on what the politicials feel about this album.

Every once in a while, one gets the opportunity to hear theperfect music compilation or album. Some examplesare,"Thriller" by Micheal Jackson, "Round One" by the Stylistics, "Upfront" by David Sanborn, and "Frampton Come Alive" by Peter Frampton. The Frampton Album is ESPECIALLY rare because the music records live performances, not one that can be readily enhanced or filtered through studio manipulation. In fact, this was the best "Live" album I ever heard. Until now. "Live and In Living Color" has a short play list. Yet after listening, you will feel you've been at a stone cold, fully satisfying funk-o-rama. This was the 2nd best version of the band in its long history. (The best version features Brent Byars (congas) and Lenny Williams on vocals.) I was blessed in the mid 70's to see the #1 version of TOP here in St. Louis, opening for Sly & the Family Stone. They performed their monster track "Knock Yourself Out" at the end of their 45 minute set. It took over an hour to quiet the crowd, they were so pumped. So when I found that this track was on "Live and In Living Color", I jumped to get it (on 8-track). Hubert Tubbs had replaced Lenny Williams as lead vocalist, and I found him servicable on his initial debut on "Drop It In the Slot". Brent Byers, I was told, had left due to illness, but I was pleased that the rest of the band was still intact. When I heard the track, I couldn't believe how tight this configuration had become. Hubert had learned how to embrace the funky, detailed rythym and chord progressions of the rest of the band, and really made the songs his own. It usually takes 2 listens before I form opinions, but the first 4 songs told me that this was the purchase to make. But when the 22 minute version of "Knock Yoursef Out" finished. I was floored, literally drained from re-living my intial experience with that song. Yes, to capture magic is rare. To have it bottled is nearly impossible. Get this CD, if you want to have lightning in a bottle in your collection.

1. Live and in Living Color- Great 10 min. sax solo in Knock Yourself Out by Lenny Pickett (the guy from Saturday Night Live)
2. Soul Vaccination:Live- Tower is one of the best live bands around.
3. Bump City- 2nd Album,You got to Funkifize,Down to the Nightclub.
4. Tower of Power- self titled 3rd album, What is Hip?
5. Back to Oakland- Squib Cakes, AWESOME INSTRUMENTAL!!!
6. Urban Renewal- Lenny Williams shows his soul with Willing to Learn
7. East Bay Grease- 1st Album, Knock Yourself Out is my favorite song
8. T.O.P.-Tower's comeback album, Soul with a Capitol S
9. In the Slot- Great instrumentals, Greg Adams shows his genius
10.Rhythm & Buisness- So I got to Groove, cool song
11.Souled Out- Listen to Diggin' on James Brown
12.Monster on a Leash
13.Oakland Zone
14.Direct
15.Power
16.Ain't nothin stoppin us now
17.We came to play
18.Back On the streets

Y'see I didn't think I liked funk. No, make that, I DON'T like funk, as churned out today, but this is something different. The drummer is crazy, that sax player is crazy, that bass player is even better than crazy, and best of all, not a space invader machine in sight (Or sound...).

It doesn't matter what kind of music you think you like, you owe it to yourself to at least listen to this album. Trust me. You have never heard anything quite like it.

This CD is AWESOME! Tower of power is the best live band. I've seen them live, and they are awesome. Lenny Pickett's 10 minute solo is amazing! I think this is Tower of Power's best CD.

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. Even this live album sounds better than the US CD, which is just an old, LP-EQ'd master transfered to CD, as are all of the TOP WB albums.

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.

When I first heard this cd in 1991, I was on a road trip with a bunch of my college friends. It quickly became a staple of my traveling cd collection for the car and continues to be there even today. I would tend to disagree with the gentleman from St. Louis that said this was the 2nd best TOP lineup ever, putting the lineup from "Tower Of Power" to "Urban Renewal" at the top. I would reverse those since this particular cd and "In the Slot" are my #1 and #2 favorite TOP discs (the Lenny Williams-led discs being 3, 4, and 5 respectively.) This reminds me a lot of Billy Joel's "Songs In The Attic" in that it is material that while sounding adequate in the studio(What Is Hip being the exception), just ABSOLUTELY BURNS live. From the opening sounds of "Down To The Nightclub" to the raw force of the AMAZING TOP horn section in their greatest lineup ever in "You're Still A Young Man." The version of "What Is Hip" is faster and every bit as fantastic as the studio version on the aforementioned "Tower of Power." While I do enjoy the version of "Sparkling In The Sand" with the fabulous trumpet work of Mic Gillete, I almost wish they would've put something different on this album, maybe "Soul Vaccination" or "On The Serious Side." I'm not complaining though. They definately save the best for last with the 23:07 version of "Knock Yourself Out." Lenny Pickett comes in with an amazing sax solo that makes you feel as if you've gone 15 rounds with the heavyweight champ of the world only to have the organ/bass pedal solo by Chester Thompson say "Uh uh, you got one more round to go." The key to the whole band are the anchors: Rocco Prestia on bass, and David Garibaldi on drums. Its great to see that these two are back in good health (Prestia) and in the band (Garibaldi) If you only buy one TOP cd....buy this one first and you'll be hooked forever.

This is what live albums should be. Tower of Power seems to be one of the few bands that are as good (or in TOP's case) better live than in the studio. This album is a brilliant mix of energy and absolutely tight playing, and the songs are some of the best the band recorded.

This has been and remains my favorite Tower of Power (actually, it is one of my all-time favorite albums, period).

I have yet to play this album for someone and not get them hooked on TOP.