Tower of Power is an American soul and funk based horn section and band, originating from Oakland, California. For over 40 years, [1] they have performed their own material, as well as provided support for some of the most original and impressive acts in the world.

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History

In the mid-1960s, 17-year-old tenor saxophonist Emilio Castillo moved from Detroit, Michigan to Fremont, California. He started a band called 'The Gotham City Crime Fighters' which evolved into 'The Motowns', specializing in soul music covers. During 1968, Castillo teamed up with baritone saxophonist Stephen Kupka (later dubbed 'The Funky Doctor'), bassist Francis 'Rocco' Prestia and trumpet/trombone player Mic Gillette. They moved to Oakland, and together they began writing and performing original material. One of their early influences was soul artist James Brown. They changed the band's name to 'Tower of Power' and began playing frequently in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In 1970, Tower of Power (by then including trumpeter/arranger Greg Adams, and drummer David Garibaldi) signed a recording contract with Bill Graham's San Francisco Records and released their first album, East Bay Grease . Augmented by percussionist/conga/bongo player Brent Byars, they moved to Warner Bros. Records and 1972's Bump City and 1973's Tower of Power , were breakout albums for the band. The former album included "You're Still a Young Man", which peaked at #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972. Emilio Castillo, who co-wrote "You're Still a Young Man", told Songfacts that the song was based on a true story concerning a former girlfriend who was six years older than him. ^[2]

Tower of Power , released in the spring of 1973, was the third album for the band. This has been the group's most successful album to date. It peaked at #15 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart and was RIAA certified as a gold record (for sales in excess of 500,000 copies). The album also spawned their most-successful single "So Very Hard To Go". Although the single peaked at #17 on the Billboard Hot 100, it landed in the Top 10 on the surveys of many West Coast Top 40 radio stations, hitting #1 on many of them. The album also charted two other singles on the Billboard Hot 100, "This Time It's Real" and "What Is Hip?" The latter is possibly their most enduring song.

1974's Back to Oakland spawned another hit, "Don't Change Horses (in the Middle of a Stream)", that reached #26 on the Billboard Hot 100, plus "Time Will Tell", which charted at #69.

On some of their releases in the mid-1970s, such as Urban Renewal (1974), the band moved more toward funk than soul; however, they continued recording ballads as well. After vocalist Lenny Williams moved on, the band's days of chart radio airplay declined. During the late 1970s they briefly tried recording disco-sounding material. Leader Emilio Castillo said in an interview that the band's brief foray into quasi-disco music was at the request of Columbia Records, who had the band under contract at the time.

Tower of Power still tours extensively today, though there have been many changes over the years. At least 60 musicians have toured or recorded with the band over its 40-plus-year existence. These include current Saturday Night Live musical director/saxophonist Lenny Pickett, drummer David Garibaldi, bassist Rocco Prestia, organ master Chester Thompson, saxophonists Richard Elliot and Euge Groove, and early guitarist Bruce Conte. Conte's cousin, BALCO founder Victor Conte, also played bass guitar in the band from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. Former lead vocalist Rick Stevens was sentenced to life in prison on three counts of first-degree murder for crimes committed after leaving the band. Rufus Miller performed most of the lead vocals on 'East Bay Grease'. Bruce Conte rejoined the band in 2006, replacing veteran guitarist Jeff Tamelier. He departed after slightly more than a year, citing personal recording projects and health issues. Following Conte as guitarist was Charles Spikes (while auditions for a permanent player were held), then Mark Harper.

Collaborations with other bands

Tower of Power has made guest appearances on other major recording solo artists' albums. They guested with Little Feat. In 1993 the band was featured on Luis Miguel's Aries , in a cover of "Attitude Dance" titled "Que Nivel de Mujer". Most recently, Tower of Power has been featured on Josh Groban's Awake , during an instrumental break in "Machine".

Horn section collaborations

The Tower of Power horn section has appeared on other artists' recordings, including a live performance with Little Feat in 1977 at the Rockpalast, on the song, "Rocket in my Pocket". The horns from Tower of Power also supported the Monkees, Santana, Elkie Brooks, Elton John, Linda Lewis, rad. (Rose Ann Dimalanta), John Lee Hooker, Rod Stewart, Jefferson Starship, Heart, Huey Lewis and the News, Spyro Gyra, Lyle Lovett, Poison, Phish, Toto, Pharoahe Monch, and Aerosmith. Tower's early song, 'So Very Hard To Go' was featured in the soundtrack of the 2002 film City of God, as well as Will Ferrell's Semi-Pro.

Recent work

Tower of Power has been recording and touring continuously since 1968, and the band maintains a very busy tour calendar. In 2008 they celebrated their 40th Anniversary with shows in San Mateo, California in August, and a huge show at the Fillmore in San Francisco on October 18, 2008. At that show many former band members appeared onstage, and the entire event was recorded for a DVD to be released in mid-2009.

Tower of Power has released 19 albums over the years (compilations and regional variations not included), the latest being 2009's homage to classic soul songs The Great American Soulbook .

Band members

Emilio Castillo

Emilio "Mimi" Castillo (born Sep 24 1950, Detroit, Michigan) is an American saxophone player and composer, best known as the founder of the band. After being caught stealing by his father who told him he could stay in his room until he thought of something to 'Keep him off the street'. Castillo chose music, taking lessons in saxophone, piano, and guitar, and also in music theory from one-time Dave Brubeck bass player Norman Bates. His first musical endeavor was as keyboard player in a British Invasion style group, 'The Gotham City Crimefighters' (see ). After seeing Bay Area soul band The Spyders, Castillo switched to saxophone and formed 'The Motowns' playing soul music covers.

After meeting baritone sax player Stephen "Doc" Kupka Castillo switched, on Kupka's suggestion, to performing original material and the band changed its name to 'Tower of Power'. Castillo has been with the band ever since, as leader and 2nd tenor saxophonist. He and Kupka are also responsible for writing many of the band's best-known songs.

Stephen Kupka

Stephen "Doc" Kupka (a.k.a. "The Funky Doctor") (born 25 Mar c.1946, in Berkeley, California United States) is an American baritone saxophone player and composer, best known as a founding member of the band.

In 1968 Kupka met Emilio Castillo and joined his soul music cover band 'The Motowns,' based in Oakland, California. Kupka convinced Castillo to start performing original songs, and they changed the band's name to 'Tower of Power'. Kupka has been with Tower of Power ever since, and is also responsible for co-writing (with Castillo) many of the band's best-known songs.

According to his bio on the Bump City site, the "Doc" plays a Yamaha YBS-62 baritone saxophone, Berg Larsen 130 facing metal mouthpiece, and Rico Plasticover 1.5 strength reeds. Kupka has also recorded with numerous other artists, including The B-52's, Chicago, Dan Fogelberg, Heart, Elton John, Huey Lewis and the News, Little Feat, and Bonnie Raitt.

In 1998, Kupka founded Strokeland Records along with Andy Ebon, CEO of Soul, as a platform for his own songwriting. Strokeland Records grew to include numerous other soul, jazz, and funk artists. ^{[3] [4] [5] [6]}

In 2006, Steve Finch took over as Director of Operations for Strokeland Records, as Kupka began work on two new releases: "Doc Goes Hollywood", a collection of his songs written in the "Great American Songbook" style; and "Bumped Up to First Class", a new collection of Kupka's classic soul songs in the early Tower of Power style.

Francis Prestia

Francis "Rocco" Prestia (born March 7, 1951 in Sonora, California) is an American musician, the bassist of the band and one of the most important figures in electric bass' history.

Prestia started playing electric guitar as an adolescent. When he auditioned for Emilio Castillo's band Tower of Power, Castillo persuaded him to switch to electric bass. Prestia remembers an "inmediate and incendiary" connection with the band's drummer, David Garibaldi, with whom he would establish one of the most original and influential rhythm sections of all time. The drummer's fast, nervous style blended perfectly with the bassist's dry, percussive approach. The resultant combination, along with the band's powerful horn section, defined the band's distinctive sound.

Prestia worked with the band for the next three decades, then he became seriously ill in 2001. His fans and friends created a foundation in order to help pay the artist's medical costs. In 2002 Prestia underwent successful liver transplant surgery and since then he has gradually resumed his professional activity.

David Garibaldi

David Garibaldi (born November 4, 1946 in Oakland, California) is the drummer of the band. He began playing drums in childhood while living near San Francisco, California.

In January 1998, David Garibaldi rejoined Tower of Power and continues touring with them. ^[7] He is also featured as a traps player on the Mickey Hart/Planet Drum album Supralingua .

Mic Gillette

Mic Gillette (born 1951) is an American brass player raised in northern California's East Bay area. He is famous for being a member of Tower of Power, Cold Blood, and The Sons of Champlin.

Greg Adams

Greg Adams is an American trumpet/flugelhorn player and music arranger, probably best known for his work with the band Tower of Power.

Adams grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and while attending Westmoor High School in Daly City he had already established a reputation as a musical prodigy. ^[8] He had made plans to attend the Berklee School of Music in Boston, but instead accepted an invitation to join Tower of Power for their first album, East Bay Grease (1970). He remained with the band for 25 years and was responsible for many of their distinctive horn arrangements, including "What Is Hip?" (1973) which earned him a Grammy Award nomination.

In 1995 Adams recorded his first solo album, Hidden Agenda (Epic), which reached #1 on the U.S. smooth jazz charts. His subsequent albums include Midnight Morning (Ripa, Blue Note) (2002), Firefly (215) (2004), and Cool To The Touch (Ripa) (2006).

Adams has recorded with and/or arranged for numerous other artists, including Chicago, Heart, Elton John, Huey Lewis and the News, Little Feat, Bonnie Raitt, and Carlos Santana. In 1989 he was nominated (with Paul Shaffer) for an Emmy Award for his arrangements for the Late Night with David Letterman 7th anniversary special.

Lenny Williams

Lenny Williams (born Leonard Charles Williams on February 6, 1945, in Little Rock, Arkansas) is an American singer known for his work in the R&B and soul music genres.

During the 1970s, he was the lead vocalist for Tower of Power. As a soloist, he made several hit recordings, including “Cause I Love You” (recorded on his solo album) and “So Very Hard To Go".

Lenny Pickett

Lenny Pickett (b. Las Cruces, New Mexico, April 10, 1954) is an American saxophonist, flutist, clarinetist, composer, arranger, music director and teacher. He was a member of the Tower of Power Horns from 1972 until 1981, and since 1985 has been the tenor saxophone soloist with the Saturday Night Live band. He has served as the Saturday Night Live band's musical director since 1995. He is known particularly for his skill in the altissimo register (executed by using a combination of embouchure control, air stream control, and alternate fingerings), which can be heard during the opening credits of each episode of Saturday Night Live .

Pickett grew up in Berkeley, California. after dropping out of high school in Berkeley, he is completely self-taught in the saxophone. While with the Tower of Power Horns, which he joined when he was 18 years old, he performed with Elton John and many other rhythm and blues and soul groups. He has also worked as a saxophonist and an arranger for artists including David Bowie, Talking Heads, and Laurie Anderson. As a composer, he has written for his group, the Borneo Horns, and has received a number of commissions to write works mixing classical and popular idioms for a variety of musical ensembles, including the New Century Saxophone Quartet, as well as music for theater and collaborations with dancers, poets and filmmakers.

He is a professor of jazz saxophone at New York University.

Discography

Studio albums

• 1970: East Bay Grease
• 1972: Bump City
• 1973: Tower of Power
• 1974: Back to Oakland
• 1974: Urban Renewal
• 1975: In The Slot
• 1976: Ain't Nothin' Stoppin' Us Now
• 1978: We Came to Play!
• 1979: Back on the Streets
• 1987: TOP (Only released in Europe)
• 1988: Power
• 1991: Monster on a Leash
• 1993: T.O.P.
• 1995: Souled Out
• 1997: Direct Plus
• 1997: Rhythm & Business
• 2003: Oakland Zone
• 2009: The Great American Soulbook

Live albums

• 1976: Live and in Living Color
• 1988: Direct
• 1997: Soul Vaccination: Live
• 2008: East Bay Archive Volume 1 (recorded at K-K-K-Katy's, Boston, MA; April 1973

Compilations

• 1974: Funkland
• 1999: Dinosaur Tracks
• 2001: The Very Best of Tower of Power: The Warner Years
• 2002: Soul With a Capital "S": The Best of Tower of Power
• 2003: Havin' Fun
• 2003: What is Hip & Other Hits
• 2006: What is Hip

Singles

• 1972: "You're Still a Young Man", No. 29 (The Billboard Hot 100)(R&B No. 24)
• 1972: "Down to the Nightclub", No. 66
• 1973: "So Very Hard to Go", No. 17 (R&B No. 11)
• 1973: "This Time It's Real", No. 65 (R&B No. 27)
• 1974: "What Is Hip?", No. 91 (R&B No. 39)
• 1974: "Time Will Tell", No. 69 (R&B No. 27)
• 1974: "Don't Change Horses (In the Middle of a Stream)", No. 26 (R&B No. 22)
• 1976: "You Ought To Be Havin' Fun", No. 68 (R&B No. 62)

Videos and DVDs

• 1986: Credit (The band's only music video, to date)
• 2003: Tower of Power in Concert (1998, Live at Ohne Filter, after return of Garibaldi)
• 2007: Live from Leverkusen (2005 November Show)

Note: Over the years, there also have been many Television performances of ToP aired though not released for sale. One worthy of mention took place in 1991, also part of the German TV live performance series 'Ohne Filter, Musik Pur', which included Tom Bowes and the other then-current members.

References

1. Tower of Power Home
2. You're Still a Young Man
3. Tower Of Power
4. Strokeland Records
5. Strokeland On Myspace
6. Doc Kupka on Tower of Power Fan Website
7. [1]
8. San Mateo County Genealogy - Westmoor High School, Faculty and Class of 1970