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By Instrument - updated Friday, July 6, 2007
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VOCALISTS
Since its inception, in 1968, Tower of Power has had about a dozen lead singers. Some of the bad rap you may hear about the band is that they constantly change lead singers.
Not true! In fact, most of the singers have been with the band for stints of about five years. Lenny Williams, the singer for Tower's most prolific recording period, was a member for less than three years.
The vocal range of the singers has been very different, throughout different lineups of the band. Williams, with his silky high range, followed Rick Stevens, who had a gritty, lower range. Hubert Tubbs, who followed Williams, returned the band to a range more like that of Stevens. The next move, to Edward McGee, was to high notes, above those of Williams.
As the tenure of the band has continued, the hardest challenge for any performing lead singer, is to effectively sing vocals, designed for so many different singers and their unique talents.
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DRUMS & PERCUSSION
David Garibaldi is the gold standard for drummers in Tower of Power. Though David and Tower seemed to be made for each other, he came and left the band a couple of times.
In fact, though he rejoined the band, to stay, in 1999, it is easy to forget that his absence from the band covered 17 years.
A number of excellent drummers filled the chair during different periods. Probably the most memorable were David Bartlett, Ron E. Beck, and Herman Matthews.
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As with Garibaldi on drums, Tower fans have difficulty thinking of anyone but Francis 'Rocco' Prestia on bass.
However, Rocco took leave from the band for a number of years in 80's, before returning to stay.
In 2002, Rocco underwent life-saving transplant surgery and was absent for the better part of a year. Amazingly, Rocco was able to return to the band, and tours with them, now.
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Bruce Conte is the current guitarist and also was a band member for about a decade, during Tower's most active period (1972-82 approximately).
Conte was preceded by Willie Fulton, who had a second stint in the mid-1980's.
There have been other guitarists, with Tower, for short stints; however, Carmen Grillo and Jeff Tamelier each had tenure of about 10 years.
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It is sometimes forgotten that Tower of Power didn't have a fulltime keyboard player until its third album. That's when Chester Thompson came on board.
Emilio has referred to Chester as 'simply the best B3 player in the world.'
When Chester left to join Santana (he is with them to this day), it was a difficult task to fill his chair. A very young, Dave Mathews was the first to take on the challenge. More recently, Dave filled in for Roger Smith, on a European Tour.
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The tandem of Greg Adams and Mic Gillette set the pace for Tower of Power brass.
When Mic departed the band, the next player to have a long stint was Lee Thornburg.
There have been a plethora of excellent brass players filling those chairs.
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The most memorable early sax solo of Tower was probably on You've Got To Funkfize, by Skip Mesquite.
Following Skip, came the incomparable Lenny Pickett.
The lead tenor sax chair has been a launching pad for a number players, not the least of which is Richard Elliot.
The list goes on, but they are all good. Take your pick!
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