Tower of Power's IT'S CHRISTMAS [2024]

We're not feeling the Christmas spirit (yet) this year. We usually begin dabbling in the season's music just after Thanksgiving, playing favorites from Christmases past and wading through the stack of new acquisitions we've amassed. This year, we pre-ordered four holiday titles and made plans to write them up as we listened to them for the first time. So here we are; neither our head nor our heart is fully in the game, but we designed the artwork and downloaded the cover art, so we might as well do this.

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As fate would have it, today's album artist just performed in town the other night on one of the last stops of their Holidays and Hits Tour. Tower of Power (probably) played hits like "So Very Hard to Go," "Down to the Nightclub," "You're Still a Young Man," and "What Is Hip," along with (maybe) a handful of tracks from their 2024 holiday music release, It's Christmas. The title track was written back in the band's early seventies heyday by the only two original members still touring with the band, Emilio "Mimi" Castillo and Stephen "Doc" Kupka. Together with co-producer Joe Vannelli (yup, Gino's older brother), arranger Dave Eskridge, and ultimately convinced by their manager, the group recorded It's Christmas and sold the resulting six-song EP at their live shows. Between tours, they hopped back into the studio, recorded more songs, and released this 2024 version of the album, now boasting eleven tracks. 

01 The Christmas Song

02 This Christmas

03 A Very Special Christmas

04 Hark The Herald Angels Sing

05 It's Christmas (A Long Way From Home)

06 Silver Bells

07 O Holy Night

08 Santa Clause Is Coming To Town

09 Mary Did You Know

10 Maoz Tzur

11         Christmas Medley

               (O Christmas Tree, Christmas Time Is Here, What Child Is This)

The thing that really kept me from enjoying It's Christmas more (other than the emotional handicap mentioned at the start of this post) is the annoying vocals of one of the two distinct lead vocalists. One singer has a soulful gift; the other singer sounds like a whiny hybrid of Ceelo and Al Green only not in a good way. There are a couple of questionable arrangements ("Silver Bells" and "Mary Did You Know") that made the familiar songs sound odd to these ears. Bonus points for the traditional Hannukah song.

LISTEN