Tower of Power – In The Slot

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Tower of Power – In The Slot
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Artist……………: Tower of Power
Album…………….: In The Slot
Genre…………….: Funk
Source……………: CD
Year……………..: 1975
Ripper……………: Exact Audio Copy (Secure mode) &
Codec…………….: Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC)
Version…………..: reference libFLAC 1.2.1 20070917
Quality…………..: Lossless, (avg. compression: 56 %)
Channels………….: Stereo / 44100 HZ / 16 Bit
Tags……………..: VorbisComment
Information……….:

Ripped by…………: AJ Productions on 10/21/2010
Posted by…………: AJ Productions on 10/21/2010
News Server……….:
News Group(s)……..:

Included………….: NFO, SFV, PLS, M3U, LOG, CUE
Covers……………: Front

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Tracklisting
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1. (00:03:26) Tower of Power – Just Enough and Too Much
2. (00:03:08) Tower of Power – Treat Me Like Your Man
3. (00:03:14) Tower of Power – If I Play My Cards Right
4. (00:05:14) Tower of Power – As Surely As I Stand Here
5. (00:00:16) Tower of Power – Fanfare: Matanuska
6. (00:02:54) Tower of Power – On the Serious Side
7. (00:06:45) Tower of Power – Ebony Jam
8. (00:03:12) Tower of Power – You’re So Wonderful, So Marvelous
9. (00:01:34) Tower of Power – Vuela Por Noche
10. (00:00:35) Tower of Power – Essence of Innocence
11. (00:04:57) Tower of Power – The Soul of a Child
12. (00:03:12) Tower of Power – Drop It in the Slot

Playing Time………: 00:38:27
Total Size………..: 220.51 MB

NFO generated on…..: 10/21/2010 2:50:51 PM

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by Bemby Jo Amazon.com

Sure, East Bay Grease is great because it’s the first TOP album ever
released…

Sure, Bump City is great because it gave us hits like You’re Still A Young Man
and Down To The Night Club…

Sure, the Lenny Williams-fronted albums–Tower Of Power, Back To Oakland,
and Urban Renewal– were TOP’s greatest commercial success and brought
us the greatest hits…

And sure, we got some fun songs from the late-1980s and 1990s TOP
lineups, including Credit, Soul With A Capital “S”, and Diggin’ On James
Brown…

But I don’t hear or read enough people discussing and hailing In The Slot as
among the greatest funk/soul albums of all-time–or at least TOP’s Top 2 or 3
ever!

The difference-maker for me on this album can be summed up in two words:
HUBERT TUBBS. He’s the TOP singer you probably forgot about because he
only recorded one studio album (this one) and one live (Live And In Living
Color). He didn’t have the buttery-smooth vocals that his predecessor, Lenny
Williams, had, but what he undoubtedly had was SOUL.

Current TOP frontman, Larry “LB” Braggs, was quoted as saying (on the TOP
official site):

“There have been a lot of lead singers over time in Tower, but I really count
only three – Rick Stevens, Lenny Williams and Hubert Tubbs; every other
singer tried to duplicate what they did…. Hubert…was a mix of both. He
didn’t have Lenny’s range but he had the grit of the soul era, so the band
didn’t lose a step.” (Source: […])

Now, about the album: there is NOT ONE BAD TRACK. It’s a shame Amazon
has run out of copies (as of July 20, 2010), but treat yourself to great music
and buy a copy from one of the sellers carrying it. This album has it all:
*Pop-friendly song: You’re So Wonderful, So Marvelous
*Ballad: As Surely As I Stand Here (TOP’s next best ballad after You’re Still A
Young Man)
*Instrumental: Ebony Jam (in some instances, even better than Squib Cakes)
*JUST PLAIN FUNKY: On The Serious Side and Drop It In The Slot (funkiest
TOP tracks on this album, the likes of which we won’t hear again until the
1990s after TOP’s somewhat “Dark Ages”)

by Jason Elias AMG

In the Slot came off a four-year string of classic singles and albums. As Bump
City era lead singer Rick Stevens exited, the phenomenal Lenny Williams
replaced him. With Williams, Tower of Power became a hit-making machine as
albums like Back to Oakland and Urban Renewal became R&B standards. In
the Slot marks the first album of vocalist Hubert Tubbs. he possessed a
throaty more muscular voice a few shades lower than his predecessor. While
it was serviceable, Tubbs’ voice didn’t have the same grace and agility as
Williams’. On the rollicking “Just Enough and Too Much” the difference is slight
and the track is one of the band’s most potent tracks. The ballads were
where the contrast is most striking. “As Surely As I Stand Here” and the “The
Soul of a Child” display not only a drop off in lyrical quality, but also the
clearest indication that the band did indeed miss Williams’ skill at making even
bromides ring. Oddly enough, the great and too brief B-side “Stroke ’75”
wasn’t included here. After many failed attempts, band and singer do end up
on the same page. On “Drop It in the Slot” and “On the Serious Side” the
groups’ trademark rhythm section and the horns come on stronger and match
Tubbs’ more volatile style. This effort in effect put an end to the string of
“classic” albums from the group. In The Slot, despite its enviable firepower,
finds the band missing Lenny Williams’ skill at putting all of the pieces
together.
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