Soul Vaccination: Live [Live]

Tower Of Power | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 3, 1999)
• Original Release Date: August 3, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00000JQFW
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #95,254 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

From Jazziz

Recorded live in 1998 as Tower of Power celebrated its 30th anniversary, Soul Vaccination displays the band's strengths as well as its weaknesses. The strengths are many, starting with one of the finest horn sections in the business. After all their years together, the three saxes and two trumpets have achieved a blend that gives them the power of a much larger section, and yet they have a tightness that even a smaller horn section would be lucky to achieve. And with the recent return of original drummer David Garibaldi and with the continued presence of bassist Francis Rocco Prestia, the band benefits from one of the great funk/soul rhythm teams of all time. But much of the album lacks a sense of purpose. Rather than using the funky licks and syncopated grooves to bring out the meaning of the song itself - which is the true power behind the type of soul music to which Tower of Power aspires - songs such as "Soul With a Capital S," "Soul Vaccination," "You Got to Funkifize," "What Is Hip?," and "So I Got to Groove" are funk for the sake of funk. And as heartfelt as "Diggin' on James Brown" may be, it's the surface attitude without the inner essence of the Godfather of Soul. Much more successful are tracks such as "Down to the Night Club," where the music combines with the lyrics to create a sense of place, and the ballads "Willin' to Learn" and "You're Still a Young Man," in which the musicians serve the song's emotion.

REVIWER: Rick Mattingly, JAZZIZ Magazine Copyright © 2000, Milor Entertainment, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable!, November 23, 1999

By 

Eileen Grimes "Titanic Astrology author" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Soul Vaccination: Live (Audio CD)

The first time I got this CD on my car stereo and cranked it up, I ended up in the backseat. Words really do not describe the feelings I had hearing this CD for the first time. I was crying and laughing at the same time. This is a true gift from a group that has gotten better and better throughout the years. The quality of recording is unparalleled; the musicianship is first rate - I could go on and on. Its the best TOP CD of its kind. One of the other reviewers mentioned playing this CD on a good system. I found that to be true. The bass runs alone will shake the foundation of your house down. I have loved this band since their first album in 1971, and even more so now. God bless them, one and all, for giving us this music we can let ourselves go to!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tower of Power is ON FIRE!, May 1, 2001

By 

Michael Lloyd "Film Composer" (Santa Monica, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soul Vaccination: Live (Audio CD)

If you could only use one word to describe the way that Tower of Power plays music, what would it be? Words like funk, soul, and horns may come to mind. But the word that I would use to describe their playing have to be groove. But Tower of Power doesn't just groove, they groove hard, and their groove is really tight. And what better way than to experience their great groove music than at a live performance.

One of the really great things about this album are the fact that a lot of the original musicians from the group are back in the band. Emilio Castillo is on tenor saxophone and vocals as usual. Holding down the bottom is "Doc" Kupka on bari sax. And in the rhythm section are Francis Rocco Prestia on bass and David Garibaldi on drums. Just this core is great musicians makes this a great album from start to finish.

One great thing that Tower of Power can do really well is play up tempo groove tunes extremely tightly. Among the tunes like this include "Soul with a Capital `S', "Soul Vaccination," "Souled Out," "Down to the Nightclub," "What is Hip," and "So I Got to Groove." The great horn section, consisting of Castillo, Kupka, Norbert Stachel on solo Tenor Saxophone, and Jesse McGuire and Bill "Churchy" Churchville on trumpets, along with the great vocals of Brent Carter help to fuel the fire to this incredibly hot album. Stachel's tenor solos on this album are great, and show his incredible control of the altissimo register. On their up tempo groove tunes, it is impossible not to want to bop your head while listening to this music.

Tower also plays a pretty good number of medium tempo tunes that groove just as hard as the more up tempo tunes. Some of these include "Diggin' on James Brown," "To Say the Least You're the Most," "You Strike My Main Nerve," and "Can't You See." Both Jeff Tamelier on Guitar and Nick Milo on Keyboards play great on this album help support Rocco and Garibaldi in the rhythm. What is incredible about this album is that it doesn't matter what tempo the band is playing, its just as on fire with a ballad as it with the fast tunes. One of their slower groove tunes, "You Got to Funkifize," grooves just as hard or harder than the other tunes on the album.

The band also does a couple of slower ballads that are really fun to hear. These tunes are "Willin' to Learn" and "You're Still a Young Man." Carter's vocals bring a great deal of emotion and energy into these tunes, and then the horns are like the knockout punch. McGuire plays a beautiful trumpet solo on "Willin' to Learn" that totally sets the band on fire, and it takes a while to cool them down.

This may be the best Tower of Power album that they have put up to date. The entire thing is burning. Everyone's playing is great. The horn section couldn't be tighter. The rhythm section grooves really hard on every single tune. What is really incredible is the way that this recording managed to capture the fire of the live performance of the band. I think that a lot of the credit goes to Clarke Rigsby for his great mixing job on this album. If this doesn't make you want to see Tower of Power live, then I don't know what will. Five Stars.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly, one of TOP's best!, July 10, 2000

By 

Mike "scientist, musician, reader." (Cary, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soul Vaccination: Live (Audio CD)

If, like me, TOP doesn't seem right to you without Lenny Pickett, Chester Thompson, David Garibaldi and Francis Rocco Prestia, take heart! Garibaldi and Prestia anchor this outstanding TOP incarnation with their best playing ever. Lead singer Brent Carter is, as another reviewer so accuately put it, a combination of Lenny Williams and Hubert Tubbs. Great voice. Guitarist Jeff Tamelier sounds like a somewhat sharper Willie James Fulton. A perfect reminder of TOP's earliest glory days. The horn section is, of course, amazingly tight, and trumpet players Jesse McGuire and Churchy Churchville are very reliably stratospheric. Flawless execution. Naturally, sax player Lenny Pickett is missed, but Norbert Stachel cuts a couple of decent solos. If only Hammond organ genius Chester Thompson weren't spending so much time on Santana. I can only hope that someday his unique talents will make a return to TOP. Nevertheless, even if your favorite TOP albums are 25 years old, you can be confident buying this one. It has that "genuine" Tower of Power sound.