Tower of Power was very much in its prime in 1974, when the Bay Area outfit tore up the soul charts with the outstanding Urban Renewal.
Lenny Williams, a passionate, wailing, gospel-influenced dynamo of a singer, had joined Tower the previous year, and he worked out remarkably well; whether digging into tough funk or romantic ballads, Williams is in top form.
Funk doesn't get much more invigorating than horn-driven gems like "Maybe It'll Rub Off," "Give Me the Proof" and "Only So Much Oil in the Ground" (a commentary on the mid-'70s energy crisis), and soul ballads don't get much richer than "Willing to Learn" and "I Won't Leave Unless You Want Me To." Tower (an influence on everyone from L.T.D.
to the Average White Band) recorded a number of essential albums in the '70s, and Urban Renewal is at the top of the list.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Only So Much Oil in the GroundEmilio Castillo, Stephen "Doc" Kupka | Tower of Power | Play | 03:48 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Come Back, BabyBruce Conte, Lenny Williams | Tower of Power | Play | 03:22 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | It's Not the CrimeEmilio Castillo, Stephen "Doc" Kupka | Tower of Power | Play | 01:47 | 4 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | I Won't Leave Unless You Want Me ToGreg Adams, Emilio Castillo, Stephen "Doc" Kupka | Tower of Power | Play | 03:33 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | Maybe It'll Rub OffEmilio Castillo, Stephen "Doc" Kupka, Chester Thompson | Tower of Power | Play | 03:16 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | (To Say the Least) You're the MostEmilio Castillo, Stephen "Doc" Kupka, Chester Thompson | Tower of Power | Play | 02:29 | 5 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | Willing to LearnEmilio Castillo, Stephen "Doc" Kupka | Tower of Power | Play | 04:38 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | Give Me the ProofDavid Bartlett | Tower of Power | Play | 02:35 | 5 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | It Can Never Be the SameEmilio Castillo, Bruce Conte, Stephen "Doc" Kupka | Tower of Power | Play | 04:44 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | I Believe in MyselfEmilio Castillo, Stephen "Doc" Kupka | Tower of Power | Play | 02:03 | 4 MB | 0 MB |
| 11 | Walkin' Up Hip StreetChester Thompson | Tower of Power | Play | 05:50 | 13 MB | 0 MB |
| 38 mins | 87 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greg Adams | Arranger, Composer, Conductor, Flugelhorn, String Arrangements, Trumpet |
| 2 | Bootche Anderson | Vocals (Background) |
| 3 | David Bartlett | Composer, Drums, Vocals |
| 4 | Emilio Castillo | Composer, Producer, Sax (Tenor), Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 5 | Alan Chinowsky | Engineer |
| 6 | Carter Collins | Congas |
| 7 | Bruce Conte | Composer, Guitar, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 8 | Tom Flye | Engineer |
| 9 | David Garibaldi | Drums |
| 10 | Mic Gillette | Trombone, Trumpet, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 11 | Barrie Goshko | Design |
| 12 | Lee Herschberg | Digital Mastering |
| 13 | Kalifornia Kurt Kinzel | Assistant Engineer |
| 14 | Stephen "Doc" Kupka | Composer, Sax (Baritone) |
| 15 | Lenny Pickett | Clarinet, Clarinet (Bass), Flute (Alto), Sax (Alto), Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor) |
| 16 | Francis "Rocco" Prestia | Bass |
| 17 | Marilyn Scott | Vocals (Background) |
| 18 | Bruce Steinberg | Art Direction, Cover Design, Design, Photography |
| 19 | Chester Thompson | Arranger, Bass Pedals, Clavinet, Composer, Organ, Piano, Synthesizer, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 20 | Tower of Power | Primary Artist, Producer |
| 21 | Gerald Vinci | Concert Master |
| 22 | Pepper Watkins | Vocals (Background) |
| 23 | Lenny Williams | Composer, Vocals |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |