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FIRST EXPOSURE - 1972
I first heard TOP at a party in '72. A friend had just purchased "East
Bay Grease" and, especially since he was a drummer, he was very excited about
this new band. The rhythms, the horns--everything about them knocked me
out, especially the tune “Knock Yourself Out”. Immediately, my drummer
friend and I (we played in a local Top 40 bar band together) started emulating
the TOP grooves and inserting them in the “boring” pop songs we were playing
on the gig, much to the annoyance of the other less funk-inclined band
members. But, hey!—I was on the road to “funkdom” and it was all Tower’s
fault.
BACK TO OAKLAND - 1974
My first contact with the band was in '74 at a Seattle recording studio
formerly know as Kaye-Smith (owned at the time by actor/comedian Danny Kaye
and Lester Smith, owner of KJR radio station in Seattle). I was recording
with a local band and, down the hall, TOP was recording "Back to Oakland".
I first met Bruce Conte that day--he was in the lounge, trading guitar licks
with a local guitarist, Paul Anderson, from a band called Acapulco Gold
(they were also laying down tracks there). I introduced myself to Bruce and
listened for awhile. He and Paul were both burning; it seemed like they were
playing every lick they knew. I then wandered down the hall and peeked in on
Emilio, who was mixing background vocals for the song "Time Will Tell". He
was fully absorbed in the job at hand and didn’t notice me, so I stood there
for quite a spell, soaking it in. It was an exciting day for me, though,
little did I realize at the time, I was watching a little piece of history
being made. Nor did I realize that my future would include being friends
with TOP, writing songs with them and actually getting to tour with the
band.
Fortunately for me, Tower performed in Seattle a lot, playing mostly at
Parker's Ballroom (also known as The Aquarius Tavern in the '70's, then
Parker's Restaurant), but somehow, I never had a chance to see them live
until 1980-81. The first version I saw had Michael Jeffries on vocals, Vito
San Fillipo on bass, Mark Sanders on drums and I believe Willie Fulton had
rejoined the band by that time. I’m glad I got to see the band with Lenny
Pickett on lead tenor at least once, in his sequined tux doing his trademark
twirling dance. I can't remember if Chester Thompson was still with the band
(I think so) but the next year when I saw them, Dave Matthews was on B3 and
synthesizer.
WANNA SIT IN? - 1982
In 1982, after seeing my first live TOP show at Parker's the year before,
my band, The Reputations, was backing up a local female singer named
Bernadette Bascom (who, coincidentally had been the singer in that band
"Acapulco Gold"). We were hired to open for Tower at Parkers and I got real
excited about that because it meant that I could watch the boys up close and
personal and perhaps meet some of them. It was a two-night gig,
Friday/Saturday and, during the first number where I got a chance to
sing, I looked over and half of Tower was standing in the wings, watching me.
I was singing an old Blood, Sweat & Tears/ Al Kooper song called "I Love You
(More Than You'll Ever Know" (the Donny Hathaway version). After our set,
Doc and Emilio both came over to me and complimented me on my voice, which was
such a huge rush for me--I didn't come down until the next day. I was struck
by how nice everyone in the band was--they all made a point of coming over
to me & congratulating myself and the band on our performance--both nights!
By
this time, Chester
Thompson had left to join Santana and Dave Matthews was on keyboards, Willie
Fulton had rejoined the band on guitar. On Saturday night, Michael Jeffries
warned me that he might call me to the stage for their encore, which he did.
Unfortunately, it turned out to be "What Is Hip", which I didn't know the
lyrics to at the time, so I only sang the choruses and there was a lot of dead
air during the verses (Michael had drawn a blank trying to help me with the
verse lyrics--oops). This was my first embarrassing moment with Tower of
Power, but not the last time, for sure.
That weekend, Doc and I hit it off big time--the beginning of a friendship
that has lasted 20 years. We talked about music, listened to music and had a
blast. After that, whenever they came to town, he would call and come over to
hang. If I wasn't working, I would come to the show.
MEETING ROCCO - 1983
TOP came back to Seattle the next year, 1983,
and I had to work that night
but--I had a plan. A close friend of mine was having a 40th birthday party
after my gig got over and I was going over to join in an informal late-night
jam session. I had spoken to Doc and he said to come pick him up on my way to
the party--he had a surprise for me! The surprise was--Rocco! He was back in
the band and was coming to the party to hang out. They
got in the van and Doc turned to me and said "Timmy, I want you to meet my pal,
Francis Rocco Prestia, the original bass player in Tower of Power. The Rock
is BACK". Doc was obviously very
pleased that his buddy, The Rock, was back and we hung out all night, playing
and talking about music. Rocco was such a warm, open guy and we became pals
immediately, so then I had two great friends in the band.
It was daylight when I dropped them off at their hotel but we three were in
agreement..."A good time was had by all".
For the
next couple of years, whenever TOP was in town, I would engineer it for them
to show up at whatever local gig I had in Seattle after their show and have
as many members sit in with my band as possible, including Doc, Greg Adams,
Lee Thornburg (who had replaced Mic Gillette by this time) and whoever else
would come. We usually were at The Scarlet Tree, where my horn band The
Reputations was the house band. On one visit, Emilio and I went down to
Larry’s Greenfront, a bar in Pioneer Square and sat in with the band there.
He sang “You’re Gonna Need Me” by Albert King, an old slow blues that the
band had been doing on and off for years. He was great. I was beginning to
make real friendships with Doc, Emilio and Rocco and they were the nicest
cats, always very supportive of what I was doing and just regular guys.
Plus, they had great stories! I was having the time of my life.
BACK TO L.A. - 1985
In 1985, I moved back to Los Angeles, having lived there for
a year in 1974. I made a trip down in October of '84 to scope out the scene
and do some networking. As fortune would have it, Tower was performing at
The Palomino in North Hollywood, a notorious country & western bar that
would mix musical genres and had great national acts frequently. It doesn't
exist anymore but you can see it if you rent the Clint Eastwood movie "Every
Which Way But Loose". I called Doc and Rocco and arranged to come see them
at the gig. Blues singer/ guitarist Kal David, whom I remembered from a band
called The Fabulous Rhinestones, was opening for them and I struck up a
relationship with Kal that night that I still treasure today. Tower had just
lost their latest singer (Ellis Hall) but the band
was on fire as usual. At a party after
the gig, Emilio was lamenting to me the loss of Ellis as lead vocalist and I
couldn't help but wish I could see and hear this talented man that Mimi
respected so much. I couldn't have known then that I'd get that chance &
then some.
I went back to
Seattle and started making preparations to move in the summer, September to be
exact. As soon as I got to town, I called Doc and Rocco, hooking up for
another show at The Palomino. This time, Ellis was back and I immediately
heard what Emilio was talking about when he said Ellis was the best they
ever had. The guy was burnin', singing, dancing, playing keys, guitar, bass
and drums--and-- completely blind. Emilio would lead him up the stage, turn
him loose and the fireworks would begin!
TOWER RHYTHM SECTION, HUEY LEWIS, THE “POWER ALBUM & THEM CHANGES – 1985-86
Emilio has referred to this period in the band’s history as the dark
period—they couldn’t get signed to any kind of deal, there were personnel
changes, drug problems, health problems and legal problems. The same was true
for myself & a lot of the musicians we knew—kind of a combination of popular
music in general taking a sharp left turn & our lifestyles catching up with
us. That being said, there were still some great things that happened for
the band and I was privileged enough to be a part of some of it.
Although the band wasn’t signed, they
still wrote and recorded--some cool tunes came out of this period, a few of
which finally surfaced on the “Dinosaur Tracks” CD. “Credit”, “Move You
Lose” & a personal favorite of mine, “Can’t You Feel It?”, written and
arranged by Chester Thompson, are excellent examples of that music. Also, a
song that Emilio wrote with a mutual friend, David Woodford, came out of
that period called “Way Low to the Ground”. Sax player Mark Russo left
somewhere in here and was replaced with Richard Elliott. Guitarist Danny
Jacob from Sheena Easton’s band replaced Willie Fulton. The band still
continued to work and tour some, just not enough to pay everybody’s bills.
The horns were getting a fair amount of recording work and they began to
tour with Huey Lewis & the News. To try and keep morale and earnings up for
the rhythm section, Rocco starting booking the
rhythm section in nightclubs around the L.A. area, calling it Tower Rhythm
Section or TRS.
Ellis
Hall was back in the band and served as lead singer and keyboardist—tearing
it up! Rocco was on bass, Willie Fulton on guitar and Mark Craney had
replaced Mick Mestek on drums, later to be replaced by a very young Steve
Monreal. The band was augmented by a young player named Mitch Riley on sax
and a luscious black woman named Johnnie Fiore on vocals. They played every
Monday at Josephina’s in Sherman Oaks and I was there every week to sit
in—it was part Tower, part jam session. To help bolster the business at the
club, when the horns were in town, they would come down and play for free
and it would be an actual Tower show but, for business reasons, they
couldn’t advertise it as Tower of Power. That meant that it was a special
treat for anyone who showed up, unaware that they were getting the Full
Deal. Occasionally, someone of repute would come in and sit in with the
band, which might be good or not-so-good. I remember one night when Bruce
Willis came in. He was starring in the TV show “Moonlighting” at the time
and also making records with a local backup band called “The Heaters”. He
wanted to sit in on harmonica and sing a couple of songs and was pacing
around the club. Rocco, who wasn’t easily impressed with “stardom” didn’t
want him to play and the more insistent Bruce became, the more adamant Rocco
was that he wouldn’t let him. And so it was that Bruce and his entourage
stormed out of Josephina’s, never to return (at least on a Monday night).
Ellis left TOP necessitating replacement of both lead singer and keyboardist
for TRS as well. Rocco installed me as the male lead singer and a young
player named Paul (can't remember his last name) on keys. Also, when Willie
Fulton left Tower, he left TRS too and was replaced by a guitarist named
Gary Cambria and then Danny Jacob, Zeke Zirngiebel and finally, Carmen
Grillo. During this time, the band finally snagged a deal with a foreign
label to make “TOP”, later released in the states on Cypress Records as
“Power’ and began recording at The Complex. I got to go with Doc to the
studio a few times to watch the album being recorded. It seemed like things
were finally in an up-swing for the fellas. This album later spawned a music
video for the song “Credit’, although personnel changes by that time had new
members lip-syncing parts that had been recorded by previous members.
KEEP YOUR
MONSTER ON A LEASH - 1991
So the
horns were in full swing, touring with Huey Lewis and getting some good
exposure for TOP. Huey even started performing one of their tunes, “It’s as
Simple as That”, and ended up recording and releasing it (I forget which
album it’s on). The horns were also doing his records. At the time, I would
get together and write songs with Doc when he was in town and we started on
a song I had been working on. It was little more than a short chord
progression and guitar riff—I was trying to write something “Toweresque”.
Doc liked it and came up with a working title “What a Way to Make a Buck”.
It was going to be an expose’ of sorts, a rant about the music business and
how hard it was for musicians—something I could relate to. Well, we got
started on it and he called me one day and said “Timmy—change of plans! I
just got a new hook from Skip (Van Winkl—a B3 player friend of ours who made
some records as “Teagarden & Van Winkle”). It’s gonna be called “You’ve Got
to Keep Your Monster on a Leash”! I said okay and we started pounding it
out, little by little, we got it done but it still needed a bridge. The next
time the horns went out with Huey, Doc came back and called me—“Huey wrote a
bridge for us. It’s perfect! He’s gonna record our song on his next album!”
Wow, I
thought. I just wrote a song with TOP and Huey Lewis is going to release it
on his next record—here we go! Doc did an interview with the San Francisco
Chronicle and announced that Huey would record “Monster on a Leash—there it
was in print!
Well, as things in this business often do, that fell apart and I was
disappointed to learn that our song got bumped (music politics) by a song
co-written with an old band mate of Huey’s from the Bay Area band, Clover.
The song was titled “Bobo Tempo”. I was crushed. Ironically, a few years
later, I started seeing an L.A. chiropractor named Dr. John Ciambotti—a
fellow bass player who has played with Elvis Costello, Dylan, Lucinda
Williams and, yes, Clover with Huey Lewis. As it turns out, my chiropractor
was the co-writer on the song that bumped my song off the Huey album—Bobo
Tempo!!! Oy vey!
Meanwhile, after the TOP album "Power" came and went with not much notice,
Ellis Hall left again--this time, for good. Emilio didn’t replace him but
worked dates without keyboards and with himself up front. Around this time,
I auditioned for Tower as lead singer. I took my lunch hour off from a day
gig I was doing and went by the rehearsal studio. I sang 3 songs, one of
which I recall was "So Very Hard to Go". Everyone was nice, of course--they
were all my friends. But then, Emilio, with a chuckle, says "Well, I guess
we know you'll never be the singer for Tower of Power". I was crushed! What
a mean way to say "You didn't get the gig". Later that night, I was over at
Rocco's when Emilio came by and apologized, saying he hadn't meant it the
way it sounded--only that he didn't think my voice was right for the band. I
was still disappointed but over the years, I've come to understand that it's
probably the hardest chair in that band--Tower chews up lead singers and
spits them out. It was probably a blessing in disguise. Besides, I've gotten
to sing with the band on many occasions and it's always been an honor and a
lot of fun.
Guitarist Danny Jacob left, replaced by my former band mate Zeke Zirngiebel,
who had played with some diverse artists like Warren Zevon and Nina Hagen.
Zeke did a good job for them but wasn’t quite the soulmeister they were
looking for so his tenure was short. He did appear in the video they made
for “Credit” however. The band was just treading water at this point but
they did have one memorable gig that my friend Sal and I traveled to The Bay
to see—TOP opening for Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble for New Years
Eve at the Oakland Armory. That was an especially memorable night because
organist Chester Thompson, who had left the band for a new career with
Santana, was Tower’s special guest star that night. It was refreshing to
hear the band with B3 once again and really special because I had never
heard the band with Chester before. Smokin’—it was a great night!
When Josephina’s closed down unexpectedly, TRS simply moved down Ventura
Blvd. (following our friend the bartender, who would get a job at the next
bar and immediately install the TRS jam night). It was the Ventura
Shuffle--Josie’s, Sasch, Ten Pesos and The Coconut Teaser in LA. We also
played some dates in Benicia, San Diego & Newport Beach. Ultimately, after
Emilio made wholesale personnel changes in TOP, Rocco laid TRS to rest. The
new Tower added all relatively young players, Carmen Grillo from Rita
Coolidge’s band on guitar and vocals, Russ McKinnon on drums, Nick Milo on
keyboards, Steve Grove (now smooth jazz artist Euge Groove) on saxophone and
Tom Bowes on lead vocals. With new, young blood in the band, Tower was
poised to sign a new record deal with Sony/Epic, which turned into a 7 or 8
record deal, beginning with…yes, their first Sony album featured the song
that Doc and I wrote, “Monster on a Leash”, as the title cut. TOP’s career, as
well as my own, was back on track. My song was sung by trumpeter, Lee
Thornburg, who was a founding member of the band I’ve been with since
1992—Jack Mack & the Heart Attack. I was verrry excited!
At the same time, Rocco wanted to continue with our TRS vibe playing around
LA, so we resurrected TRS as “Flexx”. This new band featured our buddy Sal
Polcino, who was a co-writer on 4 songs on Rocco’s “Everybody on the Bus”
CD, on guitar, Tom McMorran from Tom Scott’s band on keyboards, tenor
saxophonist Dave McLaurin and a drummer
who ultimately joined TOP some years later, Herman Matthews. This was a much
more powerful, musically adept and funky band than TRS—we really slammed and
went on extended jams. Picking right up where we left off, we continued down
Ventura Blvd, playing at Bangers, Catch 21 and Something’s Fishy (a sushi
joint). The only problem was, everybody in the band was so busy playing and
touring with other projects, it became a real nightmare trying to sub out
band members, even with a pretty good book of charts to fall back on.
Eventually, Flexx was retired as well. Years later (2001), Rocco and I tried
it one more time with “Hip Street”, named for an instrumental written by
Chester Thompson which appeared on the Urban Renewal album. This band again
had Tom McMorran on keys, as well as former and latest TOP addition, Bruce
Conte, on guitar. Fun while it lasted.
I’ll always be proud that a song I
started writing as a TOP-style tune ended up as
the title cut on a Tower of Power album, a song I still receive royalties
for. I encourage all TOP fans to purchase several copies of Monster on a
Leash and download it off the Internet often. I need the money!
:o)
TO BE CONTINUED...
THE SKUNK, THE GOOSE & BRUCE
ROCCO’S BABY BOY—MY FIRST T.O.P. GIG
COMING SOON!
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