Tower of Power is an American R&B and

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 ...

based band and

horn section A horn section is a group of musicians playing horns. In an orchestra or concert band, it refers to the musicians who play the "French" horn, and in a British-style brass band it is the tenor horn players. In many popular music genres, the te ...

, originating in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, that has been performing since 1968. There have been a number of lead vocalists, the best-known being

Lenny Williams Leonard Charles Williams (born February 16, 1945)"Biography by Alex Henderson"
AllMus ...

, who fronted the band between early 1973 and late 1974, the period of their greatest commercial success. They have had eight songs on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100; their highest-charting songs include "You're Still a Young Man", "

So Very Hard to Go "So Very Hard to Go" is a torch song performed by American rhythm and blues band Tower of Power, issued as the second single from their eponymous third album. It was produced by the band and written by band members Emilio Castillo and Stephen Ku ...

", "What Is Hip?", and "Don't Change Horses (in the Middle of a Stream)".

History

In the summer of 1968, tenor saxophonist/vocalist

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 ...

met Stephen "Doc" Kupka, who played baritone sax. Castillo had played in several bands, but Castillo's father told his son to "hire that guy" after a home audition. Within months the group, then known as The Motowns, began playing various gigs around

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

and

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

, their soul sound appealing to both minority and counterculture listeners. Castillo wanted to play Bill Graham's Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, but he realized he would never get in with a name like The Motowns. The band agreed on Tower of Power and the name stuck. By 1970, the now renamed Tower of Power—now including

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

/arranger Greg Adams, first trumpet

Mic Gillette Mic Gillette (May 7, 1951 – January 17, 2016) was an American brass player, born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area's East Bay. He is best known for being a member of the bands; Tower of Power, Cold Blood, and The Sons of Champlin. He pl ...

, first saxophone Skip Mesquite, Francis "Rocco" Prestia on bass, Willie Fulton on guitar, and drummer David Garibaldi—signed a recording contract with Bill Graham's

San Francisco Records San Francisco Records is a record label originally based in San Francisco, California, United States, and founded by music promoter Bill Graham and music producer David Rubinson in 1969 and was distributed by Atlantic Records. Since 2010 San Fr ...

and released their first album, ''

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 ...

''. Rufus Miller performed most of the lead vocals on this debut album. The group was first introduced to the San Francisco Bay area by radio station KSAN, which played a variety of artists such as Cold Blood,

Eric Mercury Eric Alexander Mercury (28 June 1944 – 14 March 2022) was a Canadian singer who was a member of soul group The Soul Searchers during the 1960s. He later made waves in 1969 with his ''Electric Black Man'' album. He had two hits, the first on ...

, and

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

. Augmented by percussionist/conga/bongo player Brent Byars, Tower of Power was released from their San Francisco label contract and moved to

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. Rick Stevens replaced Rufus Miller as lead singer on 1972's ''

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 ...

,'' which gave the band their first national exposure. This album included the hit single "You're Still a Young Man", which peaked at #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was Stevens' pinnacle vocal performance before leaving the band. Emilio Castillo, who co-wrote the tune with Stephen Kupka, told Songfacts that the song was based on a true story about him and a former girlfriend who was six years his senior. ''Tower of Power'', released in the spring of 1973, was the third album for the band. It featured soul singer

Lenny Williams Leonard Charles Williams (born February 16, 1945)"Biography by Alex Henderson"
AllMus ...

on lead vocals and

Lenny Pickett Lenny Pickett (born April 10, 1954) is an American saxophonist and musical director of the ''Saturday Night Live'' band. From 1973 to 1981 he was a member of Tower of Power. He is known for his skill in the altissimo register (executed by using ...

on lead tenor saxophone. Bruce Conte replaced guitarist Willie Fulton and keyboardist Chester D.Thompson also joined the band during the recording of the album. The album spawned their most-successful single "

". 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?" 1974's ''

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 ...

'' spawned another hit, "Don't Change Horses (in the Middle of a Stream)", that reached #26 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Time Will Tell", which charted at #69. The funk-jazz classic instrumental "Squib Cakes" also came from this album. On ''Urban Renewal'' (1974), the band moved more toward

than soul; however, they continued recording ballads as well. Williams left the band in late 1974, and was replaced as vocalist by

Hubert Tubbs Hubert Tubbs is an American vocalist, singer, and songwriter of soul, funk, and gospel and has cooperated with a number of music acts. His debut introduction was as a lead vocalist for the band Tower of Power (also known as TOP), an American R& ...

. Though the band remained popular, their days of chart radio airplay declined. During the late 1970s they briefly tried recording disco-sounding material. On January 12, 2017, long-time drummer David Garibaldi and bassist Marc Van Wageningen were hit by a train as they walked across tracks before a performance in Oakland. They both survived the accident. According to their manager, Jeremy Westby, they were both “responsive and being treated at a local hospital”. They fully recovered and returned to the active lineup later that year.

Collaborations

Tower's horn section appeared on a number of other artists' recordings, including

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

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David Sanborn David William Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album ''Taking Off'' in 1 ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

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, Labelle,

Huey Lewis Hugh Anthony Cregg III (born July 5, 1950), known professionally as Huey Lewis, is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. Lewis sings lead and plays harmonica for his band, Huey Lewis and the News, in addition to writing or co-writing many o ...

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Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer Boats * Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...

and

Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and producer known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasi ...

. The horn section also recorded with bassist

Larry Graham Larry Graham Jr. (born August 14, 1946) is an American bassist and baritone singer, both with the psychedelic soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station. In 1980, he released the single "O ...

Graham Central Station Graham Central Station was an American funk band named after founder Larry Graham (formerly of Sly and the Family Stone). The name is a pun on New York City's Grand Central Terminal, often colloquially called Grand Central Station. History O ...

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(on his '' Foreigner Suite''),

Luis Miguel Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri (born 19 April 1970) is a Puerto Rican-born Mexican singer, often referred to as ''El Sol de México'' (The Sun of Mexico), which is the nickname his mother gave him as a child—"mi sol". Luis Miguel has sung in mu ...

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, R.A.D. (Rose Ann Dimalanta),

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(two songs on their album '' Hoist'' ), Toto,

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, and Sam The, among many other acts. The song "So Very Hard To Go" was featured on the soundtracks of the 2002 film '' City of God'', and Will Ferrell's 2008 film ''

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''.

Members

Current members * Emilio "Mimi" Castillo – tenor saxophone, backing and lead vocals *Stephen "Doc" Kupka – baritone saxophone, backing vocals * David Garibaldi – drums, percussion, backing vocals *Roger Smith – keyboards, backing vocals *Adolfo Acosta – trumpet, flugelhorn, backing vocals *Tom E. Politzer – tenor, alto and baritone saxophones, clarinet, flute, backing vocals *Jerry Cortez – guitar, sitar, backing vocals *Marc van Wageningen – bass *Mike Bogart – trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone, backing vocals *Mike Jerel – lead vocals, occasional keyboards, occasional trumpet

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilations

* 1974: ''Funkland'' * 1999: ''What Is Hip? The Tower of Power Anthology'' * 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 and Other Hits''

Singles

Videos and DVDs

* 1986: ''Credit'' (the band's first music video, released to promote ''Power'') * 2003: ''Tower of Power in Concert'' (1998, Live at Ohne Filter, just after the return of David Garibaldi) * 2007: ''Live from Leverkusen'' (recorded in November 2005) * 2011: ''40th Anniversary (Live)'' (recorded in 2009) * 2020: ''Look In My Eyes'' (the band's first music video in over 30 years, released to promote ''Step Up'') Note: Over the decades, there have been many televised performances of Tower of Power, several of which can be found o
YouTube
In 2011,

Time Life Time Life, with sister subsidiaries StarVista Live and Lifestyle Products Group, a holding of Direct Holdings Global LLC, is an American production company and direct marketer conglomerate, that is known for selling books, music, video/DVD, ...

released TOP's November 10, 1973 ''

Soul Train ''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. It aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. Across its 35-year history the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists. The series w ...

'' performance of "What is Hip?" on the CD ''The Best of Soul Train Live''.