tower of power- self titled

[Linas]

I love this album from 1973. I have always loved soul and r&b, but if i like this album, what else can you recommend that will be equally satisfying.

[bassteban]

Dunno if you'll feel the same as me, but I also like Stuff. There's really nothing like TOP, though.

[Linas]

oh yea... i got at least 3 stuff LPs. Great stuff! (no punn intended), gadd put together a great group of musicians.

[JimK]

Originally Posted by Linas

I have always loved soul and r&b...

Soul + R&B is pretty much 60's/early '70s era Motown.

Soul + R&B = early AWB. In particular, the "White Album" & Cut The Cake.

...something more "current"?
Maybe The Brand New Heavies.


Stuff is cool.
The Live In Montreux DVD is very good...those guys played on a ton of sessions back in the day. Really, how many notes does it take before you know it's Richard Tee on the piano?
A favourite album of mine from that time frame is Tom Scott's New York Connection...Eric Gale, Gadd, & Tee are all over that thing...and Gale plays some nasty bass on the 1st track.


If you're looking for specific tunes with a hot rhythm section, horns, & 'soulful' vocals...check out "Free" by Chicago (Chicago III).
...or "What's This World Coming To" from Chicago VI.. Even Rocco, in a recent Bass Player interview, said this tune had that TOP bump.

[tmax]

Get yourself some Otis Redding man. Duck Dunn.

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally Posted by JimK

Soul + R&B is pretty much 60's/early '70s era Motown.

Soul + R&B = early AWB. In particular, the "White Album" & Cut The Cake.

...something more "current"?
Maybe The Brand New Heavies.

I was going to say AWB - there's a great 2CD "best of" ...?

Average White Band for those 'younguns'!!

As to more modern - Jamiroquai's 1st album has some nice horn stuff - which sounds like the "classic" :

Stevie Wonder "Songs in the Key of Life" !!

I would also add more modern Incognito - not the 80s Jazz/Funk - but around the time of 100 and Rising - nice horns and tunes...?

[JimK]

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

I was going to say AWB - there's a great 2CD "best of" ...?

Bah...I hate those "Best Of" albums. "They" never pick the "best" tunes. Why not just buy the tracks you want from iTunes?
Recently, I re-bought AWB's entire catalouge on those Edsel remastered 2-cd sets. Good stuff with nice liner notes.

As to more modern - Jamiroquai's 1st album has some nice horn stuff - which sounds like the "classic" :

Stevie Wonder "Songs in the Key of Life" !!

Agree.

[JimK]

FreeWorld is another band you may like if TOP is your thing.
http://www.amazon.com/FreeWorld/dp/B...2901712&sr=8-4

..and Liquid Soul.
http://www.amazon.com/Make-Some-Nois...2902290&sr=1-3

[jerry]

If you want something from that era but with a little different flavor check out Cold Blood & Ten Wheel Drive, funky horn bands fronted by great chick singers. For newer stuff I really dig what bassist Doug Johns is doing with horns.

[TheWoodShed]

I got Soul with a Capital "S" and love that CD. I am not a purveyor of soul music, but this is great stuff. The bass, of course, is outstanding but I really like the horns, and this is coming from someone whose main music love is metal.

Someone recommended Amy Whinehouse to me but when I listened to Back to Black I didn't like it.

If I were going to pursue soul, I think I would be looking at some classic James Brown and Aretha Franklin CD's.

Originally Posted by Linas

I love this album from 1973. I have always loved soul and r&b, but if i like this album, what else can you recommend that will be equally satisfying.

[JimK]

Originally Posted by jerry

If you want something from that era but with a little different flavor check out Cold Blood & Ten Wheel Drive, funky horn bands fronted by great chick singers.

Cold Blood!
...I was just checking Amazon & they have Cold Blood's live album linked with TOP's Great American Soul Book & East Bay Archive Vol 1 albums.
Cold Blood's Thriller! is very cool. The 1st track has some of that displaced Funk drum groove with the obligatory Funk guitar & a solid bass figure.

[JimK]

Originally Posted by TheWoodShed

If I were going to pursue soul, I think I would be looking at some classic James Brown and Aretha Franklin CD's.

Can't go wrong with Aretha & Chuck Rainey...or Jerry Jemmott.

In a similar vein-
Wilson Pickett...the album with "Hey Jude" & the Muscle Shoals backing band (w/ a very young Duane Allman).

Hard to deny these people paid their dues in a Church.

[deckard]

How about the previous TOP album "Bump City", with Rick Stevens on vocals (still their best vocalist, IMHO) and Skip Mesquite on sax.

Lots of great Rocco bass lines on that one...