Tower of Power - Knock yourself out

[rawdonwaller]

Hubert Tubbs was vocalist on the Sacramento recording. He's been busy with several dance producers in Europe over the past decade or so. If interested, just search for him on Youtube. I love both Williams and Tubbs.

[spcman14]

lenny pickett is beast.

[TheKingKongBeat]

Thx for the upload! sooooooooo funky!

[multiplatinumbriz]

I fully agree. It is 25 minutes long, "He's LP, He's Lenny Pinkett!! that jam is epic. Lenny comes in with his solo and the band takes the dynamics down to a hush, 7 minutes later, lenny is just toggling one note with upper register harmonics. Then the drop out, he's still going. They come back in, then finally its chesters turn. Plays some haunted house clavinet shit, then plays some demonic sounding "scary gospel chords" Then whole band drops out and chester climaxes on the B3.

[whiteflag1000]

Full of power!

[rawdonwaller]

WHY OH WHY OH WHY can't someone with this footage (original reels or whatever) give it to some company (big or small) to get them cleaned up and released? I've been after a video for the audio of 'Live and in Living Colour' for 2 decades!

[bvirgo25]

EAST BAY GREASE! #1

[wonkavella]

totally diggng that emilo was tottally into lenny's solo.that put me in a good mood

[Knutorius]

2 people are deaf.

[BriansThing]

Vintage. Awesome.

[gjbsaxman94]

frickin lenny:)

[vette57]

Lenny was just 19. The same whole members came to Japan before David G left the band. My sister took me to the show when I was in Jr. High. But my eveil sis has used me as the decoy if policemen checks those under 18. And I was the perfect one to be the poor duck.

[BigErnie2100]

Can't believe Tower was 2nd billing to anybody by this time. Lenny Pickett kills me! Yeah!

[billytheweasel]

I watched them play when REO Soeedwagon was the headliner. You shoulda seen all the white kids standing on the seats screaming during Tower Of Power.

Then MANY just walked out during REO. They ried to get into it for a few songs, but...

[ewetoobie]

my HS band used to play this, but not that well (duh!). Fun stuff tho...

[nickmorgan19457]

I'm fairly sure this is the only time I've ever heard Emilio play by himself.

[Crazyegg1234]

could that audience be any whiter

[strikah]

@Crazyegg1234 lmao.....

[kristiedoyel]

♥ watching Lenny Pickett dancing! hilight of those shows, for sure! great times!

[mrpicky510]

My aunt dated Mick gillette back in the day TOP best horns in the biz. Look at the big man Lenny Pickett as a kid cutting a rug. Unbelievable! East bay pride!!!

[lowriderbandfan]

It's beyond me that there are seats at a Tower concert. Never use mine when I see them. Peace.

[FatherOfJoe]

I didn't think that crowd was ever going to wake up.

[mrpicky510]

Those guys all look like 70's Porno stars. But more seriously. No wonder Lenny picket became so famous, dude is only a kid there just killing it

[teerexable]

boy can that white boy funk that sax!!!!

[protocol66]

If you really want to knock yourself out, consider the fact that Lenny Pickett is NINETEEN YEARS OLD in this video. He was born in 1954. I agree, "Live In Living Color" is one of the most influential albums of the century.

[oforiperry]

Like the Temptaions of David Ruffin, this TOP crew was the best!

[DRWJD]

Lenny Pickett kicks ass!!!! The best sax player the Tower ever had!

[Marcus538]

the LP solo on the live and in living colour album must be one of the best all time including any Jazz player previously, I don't like comparing but I listen to a lot of music and when ever I get back to that album and solo its up there wit the best, some bands like TOP WAR and Donny Hathaway never really got as much recognition as they deserved but looking back they were best quality and in hind sight I think very influenctial if not directly but who they influenced

[MrVerncoleman]

@Marcus538 AMEN!

[MrVerncoleman]

@Marcus538 hey marcus, in my opinion live and in living color is one of the top 5 ALBUMS of ALL TIME! L.P. was a FREAK ON KNOCK YOURSELF OUT. IM LISTENING to it right now. a friend of mine turned me on to T.O.P. BACK 76. this was the only version of this song i had heard. THANK GOODNESS!

[lowriderbandfan]

@MrVerncoleman, I agree wholeheartedly! I have had the great fortune to have my LP of Live and In Living Color signed by all members of T.O.P. It's one of my treasures in life, framed and hanging on the wall. It pays to be a stalker. lol Love the Tower as well as my WAR music. Wish someone would upload Sparkling in the Sand. Peace and thanks for this, whatiiship73.

[999texmex]

THIS was THE horn line up that knocked me out !

Tight ? Ain't no tighter horn section , ever !

these guys are " young men " in this slice of time ....

Did not miss a Bay Area show since 1974 .....

[nickroeg]

Wasn't Rufus Miller TOP's original lead singer? Not as smooth as Williams but very funky and rough on "East Bay Grease" -- and this was that album's lead-off song.

[lowriderbandfan]

@sundl2112 WORD!!

[gasfreetech4]

Awsome: I saw this In Santa Monica Ca. Back In 1977.

[rayjr62]

@gasfreetech4 This was recorded in 1973, not 1977.

[r5t6y12]

The version of this song from the 1976 LIVE album from Sacramento California ( at the beginning of the recording the EMCEE says "Ladies and Gentlemen, Live from Sacramento California, the Tower Of Power) is the greatest version of this song EVER.

[sundvl2112]

Live and In Living Color.

One of the best albums EVER!!!

[lowriderbandfan]

@ sundvl2112 WORD!!

[dgsimone]

yeah, but I love Lenny Williams singing it too (although Hubert Tubbs did a pretty good job).

[marcusparks]

@r5t6y12 agreed! LP has the most furious sax solo I have ever heard on the album you are referencing. Brilliant stuff.

[tellthetruthg]

@r5t6y12 My Favorite Pickett blows a solo with out a breath for at least 2 minutes. It called Circular breathing blow out and at the same time breathing in has done by very few and as well as Pickett did it. Did he go to Berkeley High?

[riversidekidd]

@r5t6y12 I am a big TOP fan from way back, and I still have the live LP. Live and In Living color is a great LP, but the lead singer on the LP was Hubert Tubbs. My opinion Lenny Williams, Hubert Tubbs, and Elis Hall were the Best singers TOP ever had. I think this video was recorded in Santa Monica Ca, around 73 or 74, and its a Great clip with the original members.

[rawdonwaller]

@r5t6y12 Emphasis fail ;->

[brabon1]

does anyone realize how amazing this lineup is?

these guys are gods amongst all modern day musicians

[atty1chgo]

This clip is from ABC's "In Concert " 1973, which also featured Cheech and Chong.

[johnbambammorgan]

HOLY Shit!  Get Down!

[Datwizzler]

that hippie look's like jesus H CHRIST HE DOES LOOK LIKE DAVID GROHL

[Archiebell68]

I was a freshman at Westmore High when Greg Adams was a senior!

[samworskett]

Is Chester Thompson the same chester Thompson who was the drummer for Genesis?

[simes205]

No!

[jobailiff]

No, he's the same Chester Thompson who plays keyboards with Santana

[patrickwinslow]

King Super 20 Silversonic with a Berg Larsen metal mouthpiece - very highbaffle 140/0 ?

[Archiebell68]

East Bay Grease is the Funkiest album of all time!!

[56BUICKRiviera]

Back on the street again!

[barf23]

you damn skippy it is!

[Quiensabe3]

i love tower of power

[chinaSol]

Amazing band -wtf's with the audience sitting down?

Jazz audiences....

[lowriderbandfan]

@chinaSol, I don't get that either. Especially with the Tower. From the first note, it's on! How anyone can sit down to this funk is beyond me. Peace.

[mrbeans19]

The best line up!! Anyone got "Maybe it'll rub off" or "On the Serious Side" live? Please Post!! Thanks

[jumbosilverette]

Miss the Lennies -- Pickett and Williams. What a great time for TOP.

[ejber1]

Gotta love Lenny"s Super Bells

[PeterMayer]

I love East Bay Grease. 1970! They help set the tone for future funk bands. And Dave Garibaldi is one of the most funky, snappin' drummers I ever heard.

[1220amsoulradio]

Smokin, East Bay Grease. I grew up with the music from ToP and some of the cats from my area of Fresno.

[mozdickson]

can someone take out the super 8 projector click - I BEG YOU!!!!

[mozdickson]

Only one word describes this - COOKIN'

[kendidit7]

bring back the 70's!! These cats were true real professional musicians!!

[vargaso]

Classic lineup. Great stuff. Everything was better in the 70s.

[gittahfiend]

THE REAL TOWER !!!

[pithair1]

More Lenny Picket on Tenor , leader of the Satuday Live House Band

[klainski2]

Fabulous performance, even by their standards. They were click'n that night.

[74drums]

Tower of Power is the only band that still knows how to play this cool and really funky music like they always known!

[cdiaz55]

classic '70,s lineup! check out BB on conga's!

[californiaman2112]

Someone turn off the fucking film projector!

[Jkaneshige]

hah!  Thought they blew out my left speaker! heh

[temulterousbazoon]

wat a fuckin band

[66nova]

AMAZING. Nobody's feet can fly like Lenny's!!! Had to be there to appreciate it!  Ain't nothin better than Tower back in the day, and still diggin' on 'em today!!

[birddoggarton]

I dang near got into a fist fight with a drunk at the river this past summer.

He was claiming to be this huge music buff and was refering to the Waiting on Columbus album at the time as we had it cranked up. As yall know, TOP played on this live album. I think it was "all you can dream" where Lenny keeps going up and up and up and up .......

He argued that it was a synth.

He never would back down, and being the drunk that he was, He challenged me to a pushing match. What a Dick.

Short Story

[rayjr62]

Yeah, sounds like a dick to me. Lemme guess. . . San Leandro? Castro Valley? Oakland?

[birddoggarton]

He was from California.

He was visiting here in Tn.

The people he was visiting, Apologized over and over for him.

He tried to talk down to us HillBillys from Tn. all weekend long.

I just laughed it off, and chalked it up to him being a Johnson Head.

[rayjr62]

Yep, sounds like some real East Bay hospitality to me.

[Saxyman14]

It's tough to watch a kid like lenny on so many drugs he hardly knows where he is. Amusing, yes, but, still pretty crazy.

[LeDoc8]

whats Amusing is your assumption. I was at this show...I'm a friend of Mics...guess what.. Lenny was straight

[Saxyman14]

Mic told me he was always high.

[74drums]

That was the reason David Garibaldi left around 1979/80 due to all drugs.

[ringtalk3]

Lenny Pickett was only 17, maybe 18 here! Amazing performer still to this day!

[DmitriMironov]

i'm Crying :(((

I can't stand against this great filling!

[DmitriMironov]

No words! no words!

Amazing!

God bless you!

[gabrielpatricknava]

Whoa! Lenny had a King Super 20 sax

[spicginny]

It's so funny to see the audiences in the 1970's TOP videos. No one is up dancing. If you see a show today no one is sitting down, everyone is on their feet grooving and shaking their tailfeathers...

[Kendo745Li]

Lenny Pickett is the man.

[Mannyman50]

Kendo I fully agree with you. T.O.P Knock yourself out gotta love it

[mbarje]

WOW !!, that feels gooood, they did a road tour as warm up for Bo Diddley & CCR and the other musicians would listen to TOP but the idiots in the audience would stream out to the concession stands, I listened to TOP for 41 dates on that tour and never got tired.

[ferrariguy47]

Look at him dance, (Lol)!

[amazingeddie]

You know... TOP is such a darn funky band, but the fans usually can't dance for sh*t... they should have LP out in the audience giving dance lessons between his ritzy paying SNL gig...!!!

[stengel99]

Like all good recordings of live performances, this one REALLY makes you wish you were there to be part of the experience!

[extrasouth]

INCREDIBLE!!

[woody95124]

truely a classic....Lenny Picket & Lenny Williams were the best in that band.....

[TrevorKellum]

hell yeah!

[reesetee1]

I think Lenny was on something that night!!! HAMBONE?!?!!?

[atty1chgo]

This is from the ABC TV show "In Concert" (with George Carlin) from 1973. I haven't seen this since I watched it on TV 35 years ago. I have had this scratchy sounding cassette tape since then. Thank you so very much.

[potatodar]

i <3 LP...

reminds me of that sax playing guy who danced on america's got talent.

[Saxyman14]

Yeah, only TOP is not a disgrace to music.

[henpike]

Look and listen to LP. A MASTER ! This probably when Tower had their BEST line up. Band is on fire.

[1nessism]

i doubt that anyone could watch this entire 6 minutes and not be moving and shaking something by the time it is over!!!...high energy and musicianship!!!

[1nessism]

treasure!!!