East Bay Grease

East Bay Grease
Studio album by
Tower of Power
Released1970
StudioMercury Recording Studios, San Francisco
GenreSoul, R&B
Length41:35
LabelSan Francisco/Atlantic
ProducerDavid Rubinson
Tower of Power chronology
East Bay Grease
(1970) 		Bump City
(1972)
Singles from East Bay Grease
  1. "Back on the Streets Again/Sparkling in the Sand"
    Released: 1970

East Bay Grease is the debut album by the soul and funk group Tower of Power, released in 1970.[1] The band was one of the early music groups to be signed by Bill Graham's Fillmore Records, which released the LP.[2][3]

The album shows the band at an early stage of development, trying out several lead singers including Rick Stevens who soon left the band (1972) because of heavy drug abuse.[4] In a retrospective review, music historian Rickey Vincent said the album contained "sloppy and raggedy horn-heavy R&B."[5] Drummer David Garibaldi later said that his playing style was undisciplined during this time, that the album showed his "rough edges". He began private drum lessons with a Bay Area drum teacher named Chuck Brown, and polished his technique in time for the improvements to be heard on 1973's Tower of Power album.[6]

The album was released on CD in 1992 by Rhino Records.

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [7]
  1. ^ Godbey, Matthew (2016-10-26). "Stage & Screen: "The Beauty Queen of Leenane" a not-so-lovely plot". Post and Courier. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  2. ^ Hall, J.T. (2016-11-16). "Tower of Power Gets Funky In Verona". Syracuse New Times. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  3. ^ "Tower of Power Founder and Trumpeter Mic Gillette Dead at 64". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  4. ^ Lentz III, Harris M. (2018). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2017. McFarland. p. 375–376. ISBN 9781476633183.
  5. ^ Vincent, Rickey (2014). Funk: The Music, The People, and The Rhythm of The One. St. Martin's Publishing Group. p. 333. ISBN 9781466884526.
  6. ^ Payne, Jim (2010). The Great Drummers R&B Funk & Soul. Mel Bay Publications. p. 214. ISBN 9781609745820.
  7. ^ Wynn, Ron. East Bay Grease at AllMusic. Retrieved 26 June 2007.