LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

One of the Bay Area’s most respected bands, Tower Of Power has been serving up formidable slabs of Latin-tinged funk for more than a quarter century. The interracial group racked up a number of hits for Warner Bros. in the ‘70s and ‘80s and also earned an enviable reputation as session players. There’s a reason artists as diverse as Elton John, Santana, Huey Lewis, and many more called upon the Tower Of Power horns to back them up - these guys are good.Tower Of Power’s Dinosaur Tracks is a complete, fully-loaded, totally groove-filled previously unreleased studio album from 1983. Soulful ballads. Up-tempo swingfests. And a couple disco-tinged dance numbers. All with that unique trademarked sound of the mighty Tower Of Power horn section. While one of these tracks snuck out awhile back to be used on a European -then later US- release and another was later re-recorded for a live album, this is the very first time anywhere this entire studio album, just as Tower Of Power originally intended it to be, has appeared anywhere. This 14 track compact disc also has a nifty booklet with a history of the creation of this album, as well as a track-by-track commentary from TOP leader Emilio Castillo.Tower Of Power has undergone many incarnations over the years. The band which you'll find on Dinosaur Tracks is:Emilio Castillo: 2nd Tenor Sax, Background Vocals Stephen "Doc" Kupka: Baritone Sax Greg Adams: 2nd Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Background Vocals Chester Thompson: Hammond B3 organ, Acoustic Piano, Synthesizer, Background Vocals Willie James Fulton: Guitar, Background Vocals Mic Gillette: Lead Trumpet, Trombone, Background Vocals Marc Russo: Alto & Lead Tenor Sax Michael Jeffries: Lead & Background Vocals Vito San Filippo: Bass Mark Sanders: Drums with Lenny Pickett: Lead Tenor Sax on "You Taught Me To Love" Victor Patterson: Drums on "You Taught Me To Love" Mastered from the original tapes under Tower Of Power's careful supervision, Dinosaur Tracks is one of those rare discoveries: a finished studio album from a outstanding band which, for a series of reasons almost amusing in retrospect, sat more-or-less unheard of and forgotten in a vault for seventeen years. Until now, that is.Dinosaur Tracks is available as an individually numbered limited edition of 10,000 copies.
TRACK LISTING Credit (4:03) You're Something Special (4:53) Why Do You Do My Heart Like That (3:35 ) Simple As That (4:34) Your Love Is Like A Little Rain (4:59) Move You Lose (4:20) I Think You'll Like It (4:55) Never Let Go Of Love (3:47) Got To Have Your Lovin' (3:30) I Want To Love You More (Than Words Will Ever Say) (5:10) Can't You Feel It? (4:47) You Took The "L" Out Of Love (4:29) You Taught Me To Love (4:13) That's Why I Sing (4:57)