Who’d have thought that when they came blasting out of Oakland in 1969, that one day the mighty, mighty Tower Of Power would one day release a Christmas album? Well, many years and many Yuletides down the line that’s just what they’ve done with the release of the unimaginatively titled ‘It’s Christmas’.
Band leader Emilio Castillo explains the logic: “Preparing the album and the was truly a labour of love. Every step of this project was meticulously thought through with the Tower of Power universe in mind. It’s our great pleasure to bring Christmas and holiday music – with a Tower of Power spin – into our fans’ homes for generations to come.”
We believe that the TOP lineup for the album consisted of the usual rhythm section and a five piece brass section which still features mainstays Castillo and Stephen Kupka and it’s that big, beefy brass sound that dominates the 11 tracker.
The repertoire is topped and tailed with two instrumentals. The opener is a jazzy, swinging rendition of ‘The Christmas Song’ while the closer is a seasonal medley – three tunes, ‘O Christmas Tree’, ‘Christmas Time Is Here’ and ‘What Child Is This’. In between you can enjoy 9 vocal cut that deliver covers of Christmas standards, seasonal carols and a sprinkling of original tunes.
The outstanding original is ‘It’s Christmas (A Long Way From Home)’ – a seasonal weepie with gritty soul vocal from either lead singer Mike Jerel or Castillo himself (he’s credited as one of the lead vocalists, but my copy doesn’t say which tracks he fronts!)
For the rest you can hear (again) things like ‘This Christmas’ and carols like ‘Hark The Herald Angels Sing’ and ‘O Holy Night’. The funkiest track is a take on ‘Santa Claus Is Coming To Town’ – this is given a sort of James Brown ‘Santa Goes Straight To The Ghetto’ treatment.
The cuckoo in this Yuletide nest is a take on the Hebrew song ‘Maoz Tzur’ (‘Rock Of Ages’) which is traditionally sung at the late November/early December Hanukkah festival – so it’s inclusion makes ecumenical sense.
The album comes in several iterations including a stand-alone red vinyl LP and a Limited-Edition red vinyl version that includes a 7″ vinyl inside featuring the ‘Maoz Tzur’ on the side A and the Christmas medley on the B side.
(BB) 3/5
