What Genre Is Tower Of Power??

You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians

Peter Martin

Best New Jazz, Reaction, Album Analysis, Live Music, Album, 194861, Music, Jazz Lessons, Fresh Spin Fridays, Album Breakdown, Music Analysis, Kid A Harmony Analysis, Jazz Education, Musical Life, Video Podcast, Isolated Stems, Track-by-track, Song Breakdown, Music Advice, Jazz Tutorials, Music Education, Album Deep Dive, Jazz Musicians React, Music Commentary, Jazz, Vocal Stems, Adam Maness, Tutorials, Jazz Courses, Musicians React, Peter Martin, Song Stems, Chords, Music Theory

4.9 • 770 Ratings

🗓️ 19 May 2025

⏱️ 70 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We hand the mic to Kirk Hamilton from the Strong Songs podcast to help us break down the groovy 1973 self-titled release: Tower of Power. We unpack what makes this Oakland funk outfit a generational institution – from David Garibaldi’s precision drum fills and Rocco Prestia’s machine-gun bass lines to what may be the tightest horn section of all time. We dig into standout tracks like “What Is Hip?” and “Soul Vaccination,” spotlight Lenny Pickett’s wild ascent from TOP to SNL, and detail some funny production quirks (like why the drums are panned hard left). It’s a full-course tour through funk, soul, and brass brilliance – with a healthy side of stank face.

Check out the Strong Songs podcast → https://strongsongspodcast.com/

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Adam Menace.
0:07.7	And you're listening to the You'll Hear at Podcasts.
0:10.4	Music Explored.
0:11.4	Brought to you today by Open Studio.
0:13.4	Go to Open StudioJadiojazz.com for, oh, your jazz lesson needs.
0:17.4	Absolutely.
0:18.4	What's up with some friends to start?
0:20.2	Yeah, a little bit friends. Getting blue already. Yeah, you know. How you doing? Pretty good, man. What's up? There's some friends to start. It's getting blue already.
0:21.5	Yeah, you know. How you doing?
0:23.2	Pretty good, man. How you doing?
0:24.1	Man, good. I'm excited about today's episode. Do you know what we're doing? Or do you just roll up in here and look at your nose at the last minute? I've been looking forward to this one. This is a little TOP, a little tower of power. I was weaned on some tower powers.
0:18.9	Were you?
0:19.4	Yeah.
0:20.0	So you think you're an expert on it?
0:21.3	No, I wouldn't say that.
0:22.8	Why?
0:23.2	Do we need an expert on it?
0:24.2	I think weaned on some tower of powers. Were you? Yeah. So you think you're an expert on it?
0:38.4	No, I wouldn't say that. Why? Do we need an expert on it? I think we may. I mean, this is great.
0:42.8	This is actually the Tower of Power, we're focusing on their self-titled album,
0:39.7	which was not their first album, but this is Tower of Power, Tower of Power.
0:42.6	This is when they really hit their stride, the self-title 1973 Tower of Power album. But I do think we need to bring in some reinforcements. Something, I mean, you're great. I'm pretty good. Something a little bit stronger? I don't know. Somebody that's stronger. Like, how much are you benching currently? I'm doing better, but I got a little shoulder in your wife. Is there a bench limit for this, some kind of minimum? Well, we just need somebody stronger. I don't know if you're familiar with the podcast Strong Songs. I love that show. There's a gentleman out of the West Coast, a little bit north of Tower of Power, about, I don't know, 6, 700 miles by the name of Kirk Hamilton. Could we get them on the line? Could we bring them into the pod? What's up, Kirk? That wasn't a forced intro at all. What's up, Kirk? I'm so happy to be here. Hello, and so excited to talk about Tower of Power with both of you. Yeah, I thought, you know, let's start off by just maybe telling our own stories with tower power because i mentioned
	...

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