Great American Soulbook

Tower of Power

Produced by second tenor sax player and original member, Emilio Castillo and multi-Grammy award-winner George Duke, Tower of Power’s Great American Soulbook is loaded with R&B and soul classics and features special guests Huey Lewis, Sam Moore, Tom Jones and Joss Stone. And yeah, there’s also the crew crackerjack musicians who make up TOP, a band that’s been around four decades.

“You Met Your Match” with a great Stevie Wonder-like vocal from Larry Braggs opens the proceedings. With this tune, we are well on our way into that driving funk, bass-slapping, punching-horns TOP territory. Mr. Tight Pants himself, Tom Jones places his pipes alongside Braggs on the David Porter/Isaac Hayes penned “I Thank You” to create a fairly straight-ahead reading that doesn’t so much showcase Jones’ or Bragg’s voice as it does stays strictly in the pocket.

Joss Stone steps in, but “It Takes Two” doesn’t really take flight, though it’s a big and full production. Stone later takes on Marvin Gaye’s “(Heaven Must Have Sent) Your Precious Love,” a much better cut that utilizes the singer’s voice to maximum effect. Bragg sings “Me and Mrs. Jones,” but he’s got nothing on Billy Paul’s amazing original vocal.

Things kick up a notch on the James Brown tribute, “Star Time,” which comprises a four-song medley of “It’s A New Day,” “Mother Popcorn,” “There It Is” and “I Got The Feelin’.” Bragg is better suited to this six-minute amalgamation, while drummer David Garibaldi really shines by keeping it funky. How could you not love Sam Moore’s vocals on Otis Reddings’ “Mr. Pitiful,” a definite highlight. “Since You’ve Been Gone (Baby, Baby, Sweet Baby)” has some great backing vocals, piano and an overall nice groove that’s simple yet funky at the same time.

It’s really Huey Lewis who saves the day (not that there’s anything to save on this record) with his inspired, somewhat raspy vocal on “634-5789,” an Eddie Floyd/Steve Cropper classic that was covered by Otis Redding and made famous by Wilson Pickett. I would not venture to guess where Mr. “It’s Hip To Be Square” sits in this illustrious company of soul legends, but he does a masterful job making us forget his MTV-pop roots with this rendition.

Great American Soulbook is very much what you’d expect — perfectly executed with inspired vocals, maybe a few hiccups here and there and a couple too-safe arrangements. But overall, if you like your funk solid, this Tower of Power record is solid funky stuff.

~ Ralph Greco, Jr.

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