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Title: Oakland, the Avenues..knock yrself out!
Review: The SF Bay Area has been typecasted as Hippie central. Nothin' but Airplane, Dead, Quicksilver, jams that last way tooooolong.So wrong!Tower of Power was bred and born from the streets of Oakland,step brother of Sly And Family Stone from Vallejo. The CA. funk that still resonates to this day.Late 60's, early 70's Nor. CA. bands were full of horn bands, Memphis/Stax influenced, i.e. Cold Blood w/ Lydia Pense, Mother Earth, and Loading Zone.Tower of Power had the best musicians, a shoutin' soul singer, and the charts that made them high above all the rest.This CD is their first. It is a template for Oakland funk; dirty horns, sweet harmony, and a bass that defines the Bay Bridge: tuff sturdy and don't mess w/ us.This CD has some drop off in the ballad, "Sparkling in the Sand", but so did the LP. The main hit hard hurray of "Knock Yrself Out", still kicks out.The LP is hard to find in good shape, it got played a lot. The CD is kinda hard to find..but worth it.
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