Produced by second tenor sax player and original member, Emilio Castillo and
multi-Grammy award-winner George Duke, Tower of Powerâs 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, thereâs
also the crew crackerjack musicians who make up TOP, a band thatâs been
around four decades.
âYou Met Your Matchâ 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 âI Thank Youâ to create a fairly straight-ahead reading
that doesnât so much showcase Jonesâ or Braggâs voice as it
does stays strictly in the pocket.
Joss Stone steps in, but âIt Takes Twoâ doesnât really take
flight, though itâs a big and full production. Stone later takes on Marvin
Gayeâs â(Heaven Must Have Sent) Your Precious Love,â a much
better cut that utilizes the singerâs voice to maximum effect. Bragg sings
âMe and Mrs. Jones,â but heâs got nothing on Billy Paulâs
amazing original vocal.
Things kick up a notch on the James Brown tribute, âStar Time,â
which comprises a four-song medley of âItâs A New Day,â âMother
Popcorn,â âThere It Isâ and âI Got The Feelinâ.â
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 Mooreâs
vocals on Otis Reddingsâ âMr. Pitiful,â a definite highlight.
âSince Youâve Been Gone (Baby, Baby, Sweet Baby)â has some
great backing vocals, piano and an overall nice groove thatâs simple yet
funky at the same time.
Itâs really Huey Lewis who saves the day (not that thereâs anything
to save on this record) with his inspired, somewhat raspy vocal on â634-5789,â
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. âItâs
Hip To Be Squareâ 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 youâd expect
â 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.