Tower of Power | |
|---|---|
 Tower of Power,Oakland, CA, June 2nd, 2018 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Oakland,California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1968–present |
| Labels | |
| Members |
|
| Past members | seepast members |
| Website | www |
Tower of Power is an AmericanR&B andfunk band andhorn section, originating inOakland, California, that has been performing since 1968.[1] The band has had a number of lead vocalists, the best-known beingLenny Williams, who fronted the band between early 1973 and late 1974, the period of their greatest commercial success. They have had eight songs on theBillboard Hot 100;[2] their highest-charting songs include "You're Still a Young Man", "So Very Hard to Go", "What Is Hip?", and "Don't Change Horses (in the Middle of a Stream)".[3][4]
In the summer of 1968, tenor saxophonist/vocalistEmilio Castillo met Stephen "Doc" Kupka, who played baritone sax. Castillo had played in several bands, and hired Kupka after a home audition on the advice of his father.[5] Within months the group, then known asThe Motowns, began playing various gigs aroundOakland andBerkeley, attracting audiences from minority and counterculture communities.[3][6]
In order to playBill Graham'sFillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, the band changed its name to Tower of Power, which then stuck.[6][7]
By 1970, the renamed band—now includingtrumpet/arranger Greg Adams, first trumpetMic Gillette, first saxophone Skip Mesquite,Francis "Rocco" Prestia on bass, Willie Fulton on guitar, and drummerDavid Garibaldi—signed a recording contract with Bill Graham'sSan Francisco Records and released their first album,East Bay Grease. Rufus Miller performed most of the lead vocals on this debut album.[3] The group was first introduced to the San Francisco Bay area by radio stationKSAN, which played a variety of artists such asCold Blood,Eric Mercury, andMarvin Gaye.
Augmented by percussionist/conga/bongo player Brent Byars, Tower of Power was released from their San Francisco label contract and moved toWarner Bros. Records. Rick Stevens replaced Rufus Miller as lead singer on 1972'sBump City, which gave the band their first national exposure.[8] This album included the hit single "You're Still a Young Man", which peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was Stevens' pinnacle vocal performance before leaving the band.[4] 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.[9]
Tower of Power, released in the spring of 1973, was the third album for the band. It featured soul singerLenny Williams on lead vocals andLenny Pickett 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 "So Very Hard to Go". Although the single peaked at No. 17 on theBillboard Hot 100,[4] it was included in the Top 10 in the surveys of many West Coast Top 40 radio stations, placed No. 1 on several of them. The album also charted two other singles on the Billboard Hot 100, "This Time It's Real" and "What Is Hip?"[3]
1974'sBack to Oakland spawned the hit single "Don't Change Horses (in the Middle of a Stream)", which reached No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Time Will Tell", which charted at No. 69.[4] The funk-jazz instrumental "Squib Cakes" also came from this album.[10]
OnUrban Renewal (1974), the band moved more towardfunk than soul; however, they continued recording ballads as well. Williams left the band in late 1974, and was replaced as vocalist byHubert Tubbs. The band's airplay on chart radio declined. During the late 1970s they briefly tried recording disco-sounding material.[3]
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.[2] They both survived the accident. According to their manager, Jeremy Westby, they were both "responsive and being treated at a local hospital".[2] They fully recovered and returned to the active lineup later that year.
Tower's horn section appeared on a number of other artists' recordings, includingOtis Redding,Aaron Neville,Aerosmith,Bonnie Raitt,David Sanborn,Eric Clapton,Elton John,Labelle,Huey Lewis,Little Feat,Heart,Michelle Shocked,Paula Abdul,Santana andStevie Nicks.[3]
The horn section also recorded with bassistLarry Graham'sGraham Central Station,Grateful Dead,Carlos Santana,Journey,Elkie Brooks,Cat Stevens (on hisForeigner Suite),Luis Miguel,Linda Lewis,R.A.D. (Rose Ann Dimalanta),Jermaine Jackson,John Lee Hooker,Helen Reddy,Rufus,Rod Stewart,Jefferson Starship,Mickey Hart,Heart,Damn Yankees,Frankie Valli,Spyro Gyra,KMFDM,[11]Lyle Lovett,Poison,Phish (two songs on their albumHoist),[12]Toto,Pharoahe Monch,Ned Doheny, and theBrothers Johnson among many other acts.[2][3]
The song "So Very Hard To Go" was featured on the soundtracks of the 2002 filmCity of God,[13] and Will Ferrell's 2008 filmSemi-Pro.
Current members
| Year | Album | Chart positions | Certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Pop [14] | US R&B [14] | US Jazz [14] | |||
| 1970 | East Bay Grease | 106 | – | – | |
| 1972 | Bump City | 85 | 16 | – | |
| 1973 | Tower of Power | 15 | 11 | – |
|
| 1974 | Back to Oakland | 26 | 13 | – | |
| 1975 | Urban Renewal | 22 | 19 | – | |
| In the Slot | 67 | 29 | – | ||
| 1976 | Ain't Nothin' Stoppin' Us Now | 42 | 25 | – | |
| 1978 | We Came to Play! | 89 | 33 | – | |
| 1979 | Back on the Streets | 106 | 28 | – | |
| 1981 | Direct | – | – | – | |
| 1987 | Power(US version ofTOP album) | – | – | – | |
| 1991 | Monster on a Leash | – | – | 19 | |
| 1993 | T.O.P. | – | 92 | – | |
| 1995 | Souled Out | – | – | 7 | |
| 1997 | Rhythm & Business | – | – | – | |
| 1999 | Dinosaur Tracks(recorded 1980–1983) | – | – | – | |
| 2003 | Oakland Zone | – | – | – | |
| 2009 | The Great American Soulbook | – | – | 3 | |
| 2018 | Soul Side of Town | – | – | – | |
| 2020 | Step Up[15] | – | – | – | |
| 2023 | It's Christmas | – | – | – | |
| "–" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||||
| Year | Album | Chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Pop [14] | US R&B [14] | US Jazz [14] | |||
| 1976 | Live and in Living Color | 99 | 29 | – | |
| 1999 | Soul Vaccination: Tower of Power Live | – | – | 8 | |
| 2008 | The East Bay Archive Volume 1(recorded April 1973 at K-K-K-Katy's, Boston, MA) | – | – | – | |
| 2011 | 40th Anniversary: The Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco | – | – | 6 | |
| 2013 | Hipper Than Hip: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow (Live on the Air & In the Studio 1974)[15] | – | – | – | |
| 2021 | 50 Years of Funk & Soul - Live at the Fox Theater Oakland CA - June 2018 | – | – | – | |
| "–" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||||
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [16] | US R&B [14] | CAN | ||||
| 1971 | "Back on the Streets Again" | – | – | – | East Bay Grease | |
| 1972 | "You're Still a Young Man" | 29 | 24 | 30 | Bump City | |
| "Down to the Nightclub" | 66 | – | – | |||
| 1973 | "So Very Hard to Go" | 17 | 11 | 36 | Tower of Power | |
| "This Time It's Real" | 65 | 27 | – | |||
| 1974 | "What Is Hip?" | 91 | 39 | – | ||
| "Time Will Tell" | 69 | 27 | 75 | Back to Oakland | ||
| "Don't Change Horses (In the Middle of a Stream)" | 26 | 22 | 59 | |||
| "Only So Much Oil in the Ground" | – | 85 | – | Urban Renewal | ||
| 1975 | "Willing to Learn" | – | 77 | – | ||
| "You're So Wonderful, So Marvelous" | – | 57 | – | In the Slot | ||
| "Treat Me Like Your Man" | – | – | – | |||
| 1976 | "You Ought to Be Havin' Fun" | 68 | 62 | – | Ain't Nothin' Stoppin' Us Now | |
| "Ain't Nothin' Stoppin' Us Now" | – | 95 | – | |||
| 1978 | "Lovin' You Is Gonna See Me Thru" | – | 98 | – | We Came to Play! | |
| "We Came to Play" | – | – | – | |||
| 1979 | "Rock Baby" | – | 61 | – | Back on the Streets | |
| "In Due Time" | – | – | – | |||
| "–" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | ||||||
Note: Over the decades, there have been many televised performances of Tower of Power, several of which can be found onYouTube. In 2011,Time Life released TOP's November 10, 1973Soul Train performance of "What is Hip?" on the CDThe Best of Soul Train Live.[18][19]
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| National | |
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| Other | |
