Spinning Wheel / Pick Up The Pieces as played by Tower of Funk and the Choosy Mothers Horns
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ย. 2024
- Here's another couple songs from the July 5th concert in Hilton Head.
Spinning Wheel has always been one of my fave Blood Sweat and Tears songs and because the ending is so crazy we decided to have some fun with it and segue into something funky. Hope you enjoy!
Tower of Funk is:
Bill Gwynne: bandleader/trombone/producer
Veronica Martini: lead vocals
Wayne Altman: drums/lead vocals
Charlie Curtis: keyboards
Joe Stopka: guitar
Dr. Karl Kimmell: bass
Fuzzy Davis: congas
The Choosy Mothers Horns:
Tracy Yarbrough: trumpet
Billy Howe: trumpet
Dave Skinner: alto sax
Leon Rivchun: tenor sax
Melvin Benjamin: baritone sax.
Bill Gwynne: trombone
Stuart Breed: live sound engineer
Trumpet player stole my heart. Guys, this is incredible!!!
I'm trying to remember the last time I heard of anyone covering BS&T. That's incredible. And the Pick up the Pieces version is as good as the original.
Yeah, these days that music is pretty adventurous and has some tricky spots. However, coming soon will be one of my favorite BS & T charts: Lucretia MacEvil!
check this one out from Leonid and Friendsth-cam.com/video/BIfJyFlc-lE/w-d-xo.html
Check out the Friends of Leonid. They are a group of musicians from Russia, who cover mostly Chicago, but cover BST and others. They have an incredible backstory as well.
We're adding Lucretia MacEvil next week!
The drummer, wow.
Yes! That's Wayne Altman,! I asked him "Wayne, how can you play drums and sing at the same time?" He told me, "Nobody told me it was hard..."!!!
These are the hippest and coolest old people playing and performing i have ever seen. As a sax player I hope I play as good as they are at their age. You all are a total inspiration and amazing. Keep it up.
LOL @ "old people"!!! I'm going with "experienced professional" these days! Glad you liked it.
The token female eye candy on the front row is NOT an old person!
@@genewilliams617 LOL!! and she's not a token either. She sang almost the entire 2nd half of our 2nd show in October and I've got a great video coming of her singing a Latin version of "Let's Stay Together"; should have that out in springtime.
"Not Dead Yet" monty python...LOL--- really nice stuff thanks. Trombone on the board as well.
@@leslieottaviano5749 "Don't be a baby, go for a ride on the cart!"
Hot stuff. I love that the drummer is playing barefoot. I like to play that way too. Rock on brothers!
Thank goodness for real music....
Wade, yes! Thanks for your comment and it's really is amazing what you could "get away with" in music back then and still be popular. That little cutesy ending would never fly today, unfortunately. I mean really, when do you get to use a "Toy Piano" patch on the keyboard! LOL
Love this. You guys are so good. Tight. Enjoyed this very much.
Glad you enjoyed! Check out our version of "Uptown Funk"; the band smokes it!
A great gathering and top flight versions of amazing sounds !!!! Thanks for sharing !!!!
Thanks Stefan, we try and pay attention to details; that's where all the fun is!
BS&T is one of my all-time faves, saw them 4 or 5 times. You guys ROCK!!!
Thanks GR, we try and do it right! As we were preparing for the show while digging in deep to the arrangements I was struck by how much you could "get away with" in that era and still be popular. So much less formulaic and you could really take some chances; sadly not anymore...
@@toweroffunkthechoosymother7828 I am a singer, and used to front a 14 piece band with a 5 piece horn section in Seattle. It was a blast...I'm jealous of you guys!
@@grene1955 Yeah, there's something about the large horn section that takes it to another level!
What kind of a two handed clap was that, Fire the audience. Now. This was an EXCELLENT performance. MORE MORE MORE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks man! Check out our other vids in TH-cam!
Dave (alto sax)
Thanks Marc, to be fair the audience wasn't really miked and it's always so windy at that venue (look at the way our shirts are blowing) and the mic on the wide-shot cam was just absolutely useless so the only audience sound I could get was to crank the hell out of the drum overheads and hope the drummer doesn't say anything 'off-color'... LOL
We have a number of videos up here on our channel, my favorite is Uptown Funk which you can find here: th-cam.com/video/nhdKBenhUbw/w-d-xo.html
Outstanding! Blood, Sweat and Tears De Ja Vu!
Thanks Paul, if anyone has the funk, it's YOU baby! LOL
Awesome performance. Two great hits. Trumpets & horn section amazing & tight. Would love to see ya in a live performance. Happy New Years! 2023
TJ, working on getting more gigs; if you're ever in Hilton Head look us up
I stopped in because I mis-read the title as Tower of Power and happily stayed to the end because it was 1) 2 great song choices and 2) so fascinatingly funky. Bravo!
Tony, our similar name to TOP is not by accident (and I hope if Emilio hears about us he's not going to be ticked) because we LOVE Tower Of Power. We have 4 TOP songs up on our channel here if you'd like to check them out.
never forget .. we old people did all this before you were born ... been there done that
True, I remember hearing all this ON THE RADIO! Can you imagine! We're adding Lucretia MacEvil next week.
The performance and the production was top notch. Drums sound awesome and so does everything else!!
Thanks! We multitracked both shows so you can really get good tones on everything.
Wonderful performance and a great compilation of 2 classic tracks
Thanks, Carsten. The ending of Spinning Wheel is so strange I just knew we had blast into something else; seemed like a pretty good segue idea so we went with it!
I had a feeling that was was going to be good as soon as i started the video. But it wasn't good. It was GREAT!! Phenom. Any of us old timers would kill to be in a band like this.
Man I was digging the AWB tune- so good and funky!
A classic of the era! And one of a very few instrumental tunes to be truly popular!
Every once in a while TH-cam suggests something awesome like this out of the blue. Way to blow those horns!
Thank you sooo much. This video has seen a SURGE of activity in the past week, Google must be deciding to send it out for some reason. If you like this try our rendition of Uptown Funk on our channel. Some of my best work.
Well played, from a fellow pro musician. Good to hear a little more jazz squeezed in. Good drumming too, tasteful without being over-intrusive; a rare treat.
Thanks Paul, this is my dream band down here in the Lowcountry of SC.
WASN'T ANY JAZZ ADDED, THAT'S THE SONG MR. PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN
@@harryballsacky I honestly have no idea what you're trying to say. Clarify?
@@harryballsacky exactly...he knows NOTHING
I love what you’re doing, everyone! One suggestion: give yourselves the credit musicians deserve and list your names and instruments in the notes. Looking forward to Lucretia McEvil!
Good point! I actually started doing that in the later videos. I'll go back and update all the opening comments on past videos.
Giging Trombone player here.
You guys are spot on!
Keep playing!!!
Thanks Don, really appreciate that. If you want to see a trombone nightmare play out in front of you, see our version of Uptown Funk posted here. I had to work out an alternate-position scheme from hell to even ATTEMPT that chart. Who knew that a 7th position E would change your life! Please subscribe...
Great work, keep it up!! I was in an 8-piece band with horns of a similar demographic that tried to be this good, so I applaud and salute you all.
Maurice, thanks so much. We love the challenge of doing it right, even if it makes it takes longer to get it right.
wow, and meci from Québec, Canada. super top
pickup the pieces, yall kicked ass 😃
Bob, thanks very much! We enjoy these shows so much!
Great performance. Hugs from Brazil.
Thanks so much; someday I will get down there; the music is amazing and such a great tradition you have with it.
@@toweroffunkthechoosymother7828 Brazil is a melting pot of rhythms. It will be a great experience for you.
Outstanding! 🎺👍
Thanks Wythe, love hearing from other players.
BRAVO,, EXCELLENT DRumming. Keep Going....................................
I know how hard it is to keep the brass in tune at a gig so kudos to you guys. André in Sydney
Thanks Andre, it's HOT in South Carolina in the summer and we now have a special tuning regimen that seems to help!
Two of my favorites back to back! Sign me up!
Really great playing.
That dude shredded the sax in Pick up the Pieces!!
Hey thanks, man! Love playing with the band! Check out my TH-cam channel for more stuff from me!
@@daveskinnersaxproject844 will do- thanks for the reply
Sounds great!
Thanks so much Steve, love hearing from people!
Very well done covers.
Totally bad azz!!! You guys are awesome
Best of the Beasts!!
All the BS & T stuff seems to have some little sneaky-hard thing in them, always to good effect but you don't notice it as the listener cause is's so well done!
Outstanding cover!
Thanks Dale, more BS & T to come!
Awesome! Do you cover Chicago?
@@dalezjc But of course! We do Make Me Smile, Saturday In the Park, Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is, 25 or 6 to 4 and Mongonucleosis.
Guys, that was groo-vey! Loved it! Thank you for sharing!
Patrick, Thank you very much!
Well, yes... that was pretty damn good... I was watching the trumpet player CLOSELY as I am CLOSE friends with the original members of BST. Lew Soloff was a dear friend of mine, Fred Lipsius is also a close family friend from the Bronx. And yes... you did hit those notes!! lol.. yes... and your alto player DID hit those Altissimo notes on PUTP... I'm a sax player and been playing these songs for decades.
Fred is a great educator; is he still teaching in NYC?
@@Osnosis - Fred retired about 3 years ago from Berkelee. He still lives in Boston with wife Setsuko. I talk to Fred every couple months… he is a conversationalist!! Talk for hours!!! Fred’s sax teacher was also my sax teacher… AND Stan Getz sax teacher!
@@avp0713 Joe Allard? Joe Viola? Got to take lessons from Billy Pierce and Jerry Bergonzi in Beantown back in the early 80’s.
@@Osnosis / Bill Sheiner….. I didn’t “enjoy” my lessons… he was a strict teacher… and maybe I was a little to young.
Yes, Lew was amazing, watched an interview with him the other day! Coming up soon we're going to do Lucretia MacEvil and that has his monumental trumpet solo at the end!
Great job, nice and tight!
Thanks T-Bone.! We work hard to "get it right"... More videos in the pipeline. Check out our version of Uptown Funk; some of our best work I think.
Very nice! 👏 👏
Thanks so much!
HELL YEAH !!!👏👏👏 way to GO nice job on these tunes sounds tight n right like the horns tight loud n bright you can here em. singing playing sitting doesn't matter as long. as he's having fun good vocals age it doesn't matter I rather hear well seasoned players than not excellent job on it 👌👌👌👌oh yeah maybe some covers of TOWER OF POWER would be nice played in your set's .👌👌👌👌👌
Len, check out our other posts on the channel. TOP covers we have up are: Down to the Nightclub, You're Still A Young Man, What Is Hip (3-song set), and Only So Much Oil In The Ground. We also play Attitude Dance but don't have a video of it up yet.
Great work, y'all!!!!!
What can't this group do?!? The horn section is fine as frog fur.. Dang...
Thanks Cronk. If it's got a good horn part, and everybody knows it, it's on the setlist!
Excellent cover !
Thanks doowop, great fun playing all this stuff!
Love watching your videos on TH-cam. I am a big TOP fan. Great job on these two classic songs. The large horn section is Kick Ass. To bad you guys don't travel to Reno/Tahoe. Guess a trip to Hilton Head is in order.
Randy, Thanks for that! We'd love to play out there but don't really tour as of yet. Love the Tahoe area tho, I grew up in SF Bay Area, and would go up there all the time to ski. Let me know when you're in town in Hilton Head!. Do check out "Santa Fe an the Fat City Horns:" here on TH-cam, and you could nip down to Vegas and catch them...
Fajna ekipa! Aż miło popatrzeć i posłuchać 👍🏻😋😆❤️😻💋
Bardzo dziękuję. To naprawdę fajny zespół, z którym się gra.
The Third age club band, great!
Meaning that when this came out originally we were a third of our current age?
@@toweroffunkthechoosymother7828Oh dear friends, how old is each of you right now? we are probably, contemporaries.
@@danielibarra0796 Most of us are in our 60s or 70s. I think Wayne is in his 50s. No freaking way I'm gonna tell you how old Veronica is, (you think i'm crazy???) LOL
@@toweroffunkthechoosymother7828 Ok. Dear friends, no problem at all, we are from the same "era" (and not exactly the era of dinosaurs). Greetings from this side of the planet.
Tight!
Your Bari player is SOLID!!!
Oh yeah... he's ALL IN for this band! LOL
Brilliant 🏴
Nice covers! Bravo 👏🏻👏🏻
Thank you Paul, appreciate your nice comment. Really love playing this music! If you haven't seen it, check out our recording of Uptown Funk. Some of our best work!
nice job!
❤❤❤❤❤ SMOKIN'! ❤❤❤❤❤
Fantastic
spot on versions.....
Mono, Thanks so much! We try and be true to the music to the best of our abilities. Is that FZ with a beret on your profile pic???
@@ChoosyMothersVideos, it is FZ. more of a newsboy cap.
@@monoped8437 Nice! I've been trying to see if there's some Zappa we could do like perhaps Cosmik Debris or something. FZ always made great use of the horns when he toured with them.
@@toweroffunkthechoosymother7828 that would be fun! maybe the grand wazoo/hot rats period?
@@monoped8437 Suggestions? Good for horns?
Sweet
Thanks Mr. B!
As long as you're on the green side of the lawn make it count. :)
Very well said, and an encouragement to all
Oh man LOVE your YT handle; know you must be an audio guy! Deep... Hopefully, the green side "will be a thing" for a while!
@@toweroffunkthechoosymother7828 Day at a time.
BS&T during their heyday were considered a jazz-rock band. It is interesting soul bands embraced their repertoire and did it very well.
El final de spinning wheel estuvo genialmente desafinado , fue una excelente broma .
Me alegro de que hayas disfrutado de ese poco de diversión, se suponía que iba a ser cómico y me alegro de que "lo entendieras"!
Stay funky guys man that sax player is fanfuckintastic!!!!
Glad you liked it!
Thank you so much man! That means a lot to me
Not bad for a bunch of folks in their 60's :-)
and 70s. Actually, Veronica is uh... "much younger" than the rest of us except for Wayne I think... LOL
Very nice.
Thanks! What a classic track this is.
tight
great!!!
Great job. Bobby Colomby was su h a beast in the originL BS&T. Sax solo on AWB a monster. Thanks guys.
Oh yeah, he was. But mostly I remember Bobby for being the guy who produced the first Jaco album!
One very small point... the camera angles really hid that terrific Baritone Saxophone player.... sure would have liked to see him more.....
The camera angles are somewhat decided in advance and really don't move during the performance since I'm busy playing the trombone and can't really see what's going on in any of them. The guys pretty much choose where they're going to stand and sometimes that's an obstructed view from one cam so was really more by chance that you couldn't see him in shots than design. He does have a few closeups in our version of Uptown Funk here on TH-cam. But I did make sure you could hear him, because bari sax is great!
Butta Baby!!
Welcome to the band, Detroit! Check out our other vids!
Thanks so much Ray!
Well done!!!
Nice.
This is really good stuff. But someone tell that young lady MORE COWBELL!
Bobby Columby would be impressed.
That is high praise! Thanks so much. He was definitely the "musician's producer' I think. Made the first Jaco album...
Better is not possible, I think so Tow
Thanks so much Rem. We love playing this stuff..
Don't you love that baritone sax ?
Great! Only minus,…the drummer/singers voice is okay, but hearing David Clayton-Thomas in my head, instead. The whole danged thing is good! Bass line is fantastic!!
you know I think most of the listeners hear DCT when they hear this one. Check out "You're Still A Young Man", I think Wayne really brings it on that!
CHOOSY MOTHERS CHOOSE JIF
OK, I know you're about our age! LOL Or perhaps they choose funk, but just are too modest to say so.
They have a horn section. Everything is better with a horn section.
I've got nothing to add!
Where / what is the venue?
That is the new (as of a couple years ago) "Lowcountry Celebration Park" on Hilton Head Island; it's managed by the Island Rec Center.
I think all us old guys peed a lil at 6:02 when th sax player hit that note. Great job guys!!
Haha! So did the sax player!
Dave (the sax player 😎)
This was the opening song in the nite clup 1975
✨✨👏👏🎶🎶
Funk it out!!!
More CowBell!
We're trying to figure out how to play some Salsa with this instrumentation, there will be a TON more cowbell then!
This is live?? You guys rock the boat!¡!
Wojtek, thanks for your interest and your nice comments. The guys in the band work hard to get things right. Tracy is playing the solo from the record as played by Lew Soloff back in the day! Please check out our version of Uptown Funk; it's a very demanding arrangement played well by the band!
kool
Darryl, thanks so much!
You folks didn't list the Bassist on the credits! Band is on Point!!
you guys sound very good........but you should do your own solo's !!!
Fair point! I’m the sax guy, so next time! Thank you!
First time I heard this song Tom jones was singing it the 70’s
Is that a Carl Thompson or Peter Hilton Bass with J pickups? The Band sounds really good!!
Marvin Stamm solo
Every source I've looked at says it's Lew Soloff who was also the original trumpet player in the band. Love Marvin though, worked with him once at school and he was a great guy and a great player; very complimentary.
How much did the girl playing cowbell make that day???
More cowbell!
LOL! "Bruce? I find Gene's cowbell playing... 'distracting'..." This would be one of those tunes where cowbell is prominent at the beginning! Unfortunately, I don't have a shot of Veronica playing it so people are going to think the hi-hat actually can make a cowbell sound! hilarious...
I have a problem with singing drummers. This clip exemplifies my point. The guy's good, for sure. But you cannot give your complete, soulful undivided attention to a lyric supported by a full, rich vocal performance while sitting down and playing a drum kit.
I respectfully disagree.
Sez you!
Tell Don Henley...
What about Phil Collins?
It was our first gig ever, I'm THRILLED to have him in the group! Wayne is a very hard worker to learn this stuff and memorize lyrics and melody as well.
The trumpet player gets an A for effort but if you’re going to tackle the most iconic jazz-rock/horn-rock trumpet solo ever, you really need to nail it. There were too many missed or out of tune notes. For people who know and adore the original Lew Soloff solo, this was a bit painful.
Great performance. I feel bad for these guys' kids and grandkids. Realizing they are less cool than their parents/grandparents ...
Haha! Love your comments! .. tho my kids may disagree 😎)
LOL, now THERE's some good perspective! Thanks
The lady needs more to do.
Agreed, she has a lot more songs now and was featured on the October 11th show. Only have a few of those videos up so far.
Oh dear - that trumpet solo… - Good work on PITP though.
Great band, but need better vocalist, just saying,,☹️
OK, I'll fire them all, you available? Should only take 6-10 rehearsals, we each got $100 for the gig... Geez...
@@toweroffunkthechoosymother7828 Look,when you put material out on TH-cam,your gonna get criticized,you can go with it or ignore it,every comments not going to be favorable,actually you were a little hard on me for a comment of needing better vocals,which would make your band better
Remember, this is a local band, and the budget is minimal so they may not be able to afford a separate vocalist. And how many can sing like David Clayton Thomas anyway? Give ‘em a break.
@@country4193 OK point taken, If we had David Clayton Thomas singing this the band would sound better. He or anyone of hundreds of really world-class singers could sing the shit outta this. Personally, I think Wayne is a really good singer, and he totally brought it on "You're Still A Young Man" (soulful ballad also uploaded here) and the fact that he can DO that while playing the drums (also really well) is really pretty amazing I gotta say. Also, consider that this is a live recording, there is no vocal overdubbing; what you're hearing he had ONE SHOT at doing-which is the nature of live performance after all. Also consider, this was our very first gig, EVER. He had never sung this song in public before, and the band had never performed the song before.
Now as professional entertainers, we're supposed to get up there and make it look easy, fun and well... ENTERTAINING! And I guess we did a decent enough job at that even though inside my head, I'm worried about a million different things like, are we going to screw up the transition to double-time jazz for the trumpet solo, are people going to not get rhythmically turned around when we go to that cutesy end section where you have the alternating bars of 6/8 to 9/8 time signatures that alternate from heavy orchestration to light (will it be comical as intended or a cluster?) or will the transition to Pick Up the Pieces go like we talked about in rehearsal. As the leader, it's my responsibility to cue people when certain things are supposed to happen, play my own part, monitor the recording, provide 12 different in-ear monitor mixes for each player, sing background vocals where appropriate, talk to the audience etc. and make it look like we're having fun (which we were).
Now you had the opportunity to listen to us go thru all this and enjoy it, or not. If not, you had the option to listen instead to one of the 100 billion other posts on TH-cam but you deemed it necessary to involve yourself with the band's HR department. I'm going to "peel back the curtain" on the amount of effort it takes to get something like this together, not because I want to bust your chops (although honestly, I do), but because there are perhaps people out there that might find it interesting to see behind the scenes and perhaps think twice about posting a random, insulting comment about somebody who doesn't deserve it. You want to talk about personnel, so let's talk about personnel.
It is DAMN HARD to find people around here (Hilton Head is NOT a major music market that has layers and layers of players you can call) that could even attempt to play music this difficult, and commit to show up for multiple unpaid rehearsals spanning many months (first rehearsal was late February, the first actual gig was in July). Some of the guys live in nearby cities so they actually PAID to rehearse by driving an hour each way, or in the bari sax player's case 2 hours each way! And if that weren't hard enough, you have to find people who can get along with each other without any weird trips. You're probably familiar with the 'diva stories' you hear in the press, Taylor Swift or Lady Gaga this or that, but I can assure you, that kind of behavior is NOT isolated to the upper echelons of the industry, it's freaking everywhere. One person like this in the organization can wreck a band in a heartbeat so you have to find people who are committed to playing THIS MUSIC, because IT'S GREAT, and will hang in there, even when things seem to be dragging out.
Secondly, when you see people playing this kind of stuff, it's not an accident. It's not like, "well, we WANTED to play Brick House but this came out instead". That means that everything I do with the band is planned, purposeful, and well-executed. What makes you think that I would let somebody sing a tune like that if I didn't think they were right for it? We've got four lead singers in the band after all. So when you insult him, you insult me too.
I'm also nearly $4000 in the red on this project. We had to buy arrangements (hundreds of dollars), then I spent 200-300 unpaid hours going thru them, sometimes rewriting all the horn parts to make them playable. Each one of these videos takes between 10-30 hours of work to make them sound and look as good as they do. I own 9 HD cameras, it's a 27-track multitrack recording that has to be mixed down, all cameras have to be time-synchronized, final audio laid in underneath, made into one file you can upload here. I had to spend $500 on new vocal mics that wouldn't pick up so much drums on stage, in-ear monitors and a headphone amp for them, website fees, promotional posters and all the other little expenses.
We made $100 each for that show. Months of hard work. It was 90+ degrees and windy as all get out that day. And we had a great time! Why do we do it? WE LOVE PLAYING THIS MUSIC and we want to do it honestly, with respect to the composers and performers of the era, and keep it alive for a generation that has never heard a vocal that wasn't AutoTuned in their entire lives.
So the next time you feel like leaving a negative comment about someone's performance in a video, stop; consider for a minute what they've got invested and how much effort they've gone to, to provide you with free entertainment. I personally stand by everything I post here; if I don't think it's good enough, then you're not going to see it.
My 2 cents
Bill Gwynne
Bandleader/Producer
Tower of Funk and the Choosy Mothers Horns
@@HQBergeron Really, a simple comment and l get letter
Guys, lose the music stands and LEARN the MUSIC. No thumbs up till then.
If this isn't a performance, what is it?
@@dalinejones Well, acting involves moving around, doesn't it? It involves the physical interaction between actors. So a staged reading is something radically different from that, though, of course, it has its own charm. A musical performance is different. If all you had were the audio of this performance, could you tell that they're reading their parts? (You still get "all" the music. The difference is not as great as that between a fully-staged play, a staged reading, or a reading at home in the privacy of your library.) High-level professional musicians in symphony orchestras usually don't play from memory, though the soloists very often do. (Difference between classical and popular music?) I get your point, though. The performance we're talking about here looks a bit artificial and school-concert like....
Always a turd in the punch bowl.
Did your parents punish you a lot when you were little?
Then you definitely shouldn’t go to a symphony!
Agreed. Easy to memorize…
Old guys rule!!!! 🤘😎
Mark, Thanks!!! Yeah, we all remember when this stuff came out NEW! Fascinating to look back 50 years and see what different 'time' it was musically back then...