Tower of Power was very much in its prime in 1974, when the Bay Area outfit tore up the soul charts with the outstanding
Urban Renewal.
Lenny Williams, a passionate, wailing, gospel-influenced dynamo of a singer, had joined
Tower the previous year, and he worked out remarkably well; whether digging into tough funk or romantic ballads,
Williams is in top form. Funk doesn't get much more invigorating than horn-driven gems like "Maybe It'll Rub Off," "Give Me the Proof" and "Only So Much Oil in the Ground" (a commentary on the mid-'70s energy crisis), and soul ballads don't get much richer than "Willing to Learn" and "I Won't Leave Unless You Want Me To."
Tower (an influence on everyone from
L.T.D. to
the Average White Band) recorded a number of essential albums in the '70s, and
Urban Renewal is at the top of the list. ~ Alex Henderson