Francis Rocco Prestia Jr. (March 7, 1951 – September 29, 2020) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

bassist, best known for his work with the

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

band

Tower of Power Tower of Power is an American R&B and funk based band and horn section, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing since 1968. There have been a number of lead vocalists, the best-known being Lenny Williams, who fronted the b ...

Biography

Born in

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, Prestia started playing

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

as an adolescent. When he auditioned for

Emilio Castillo Emilio Castillo (born September 24, 1950) is an American saxophone player and composer, best known as the founder of the band Tower of Power. Background In 1965, Emilio Castillo took to music after he and his brother Jack were caught stealing by ...

's band,

, Castillo persuaded him to switch to

electric bass The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck The ...

. Prestia worked with the band for the next three decades, before he became seriously ill in 2001. His fans and friends created a foundation in order to help pay the artist's medical costs. On December 5, 2014, Prestia underwent successful liver transplant surgery. Rocco is survived by the loves of his life, Julian Francis Rocco Prestia and Alicia-Lyn JoAnn Prestia.

Technique and influences

Prestia was a master of ''fingerstyle funk'', a technique in which he lightly muted the strings with his left hand to get a percussive sound, with the pitch remaining clear and accurate. That characteristic sound, in combination with a highly rhythmic approach to bass lines, makes Prestia's sound unmistakable. Along with

James Jamerson James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bass player. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases u ...

Stanley Clarke Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jaz ...

, Anthony Jackson and

Alphonso Johnson Alphonso Johnson (born February 2, 1951) is an American jazz bassist active since the early 1970s. Johnson was a member of the jazz fusion group Weather Report from 1973 to 1975, and has performed and recorded with numerous high-profile rock and ...

, Prestia belonged to a generation of musicians that fostered a revolution on the

—inspiring the innovative work of

Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz bass guitar, bassist, composer and producer. He recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader and was a member of Weather Report from 1 ...

in the mid-1970s. Prestia's influential style can be heard on classic

tracks such as the 1973 hit "What is Hip". Prestia cited

and the different musicians who worked for

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

(particularly

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and singer. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins established himself as one of the leading n ...

) as his main influences.

Equipment

Prestia's primary instruments were his

Fender Precision The Fender Precision Bass (often shortened to "P-Bass") is a model of electric bass guitar manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In its standard, post-1957 configuration, the Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stringed instrum ...

basses (a purple transparent American Deluxe and a natural ash-bodied short-lived signature model with a reverse split pickup and a 2-band EQ). He later maintained an association with the Conklin company that provided him a custom built four-string instrument, one of the few in the company's catalog. In January 2013,

ESP Guitars is a Japanese guitar manufacturer, primarily focused on the production of electric guitars and Bass guitar, basses. They are based in both Tokyo and Los Angeles, with distinct product lines for each market. ESP Company manufactures instruments ...

announced that Prestia had joined their roster of endorsing artists. The company made reference to the introduction of their LTD RB series on May 22, 2014.

Death

Prestia died on September 29, 2020, at age 69.

Discography

As leader

* ''Everybody on the Bus!'' (1999)

With Tower of Power

* ''

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

'' (1970) * ''

Bump City ''Bump City'' is the second album by the soul/funk group Tower of Power. The album cover is derived from a sketch by David Garibaldi. It's also their first album for Warner Bros. Records. With Rufus Miller now gone, Rick Stevens took the reins as ...

'' (1972) * ''

'' (1973) * ''

Back to Oakland ''Back to Oakland'' is the fourth album by Bay Area based band Tower of Power, released in early 1974 on Warner Bros. Records. It was voted by ''Modern Drummer'' magazine as one of the most important recordings for drummers to listen to. The c ...

'' (1974) * ''

Urban Renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...

'' (1975) * '' In The Slot'' (1975) * ''

Live and in Living Color ''Live and in Living Color'' is a 1976 live album by Tower of Power and is their last album on Warner Bros. Records. It features a few of their biggest hits and some gems from their first album ''East Bay Grease''. David Garibaldi left the ban ...

'' (1976) * ''

Ain't Nothin' Stoppin' Us Now ''Ain't Nothin' Stoppin' Us Now'' is an album by Tower of Power released in 1976, the band's first record on Columbia Records. Ron Beck takes up the drummers spot after David Garibaldi exited for a second time. This also would be the last albu ...

'' (1976) * ''

Power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

'' (1987) * ''

Monster on a Leash ''Monster on a Leash'' is an album by the American band Tower of Power, released in 1991. It peaked at No. 19 on ''Billboards Contemporary Jazz Albums chart. Production Huey Lewis cowrote "How Could This Happen to Me" and "Keep Your Monster on a L ...

'' (1991) * '' T.O.P.'' (1993) * ''

Souled Out Souled Out was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event promoted by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in January from 1997 through 2000. The 1997 and 1998 WCW Souled Out PPV events were held on Saturdays due to the Super Bowl played ...

'' (1995) * ''Rhythm & Business'' (1997) * ''Direct Plus'' (1997) * ''Soul Vaccination Live'' (1999) * ''Dinosaur Tracks'' (2000) * ''Oakland Zone'' (2003) * ''The Great American Soul Book'' (2009) * ''Soul Side of Town'' (2018) * '' Step Up'' (2020)

Videography

* ''Fingerstyle Funk'' (1993) * ''Francis Rocco Prestia: Live at Bass Day'' (1998)

References

External links

* * *
Rocco Prestia
at How to Play Bass
Rocco Prestia
NAMM Oral History Interview (2013) {{DEFAULTSORT:Prestia, Rocco 1951 births 2020 deaths People from Sonora, California American funk bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Guitarists from California American jazz bass guitarists Tower of Power members American people of Italian descent 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Jazz musicians from California