We’ve affected a lot of people’s lives and done a lot of work that we’re very proud of.
We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs and learned a lot along the way. “You can’t believe it? I’m the one that can’t believe it. “People come up to me all the time and say, ‘Wow man, 50 years! We can’t believe it,’” laughs Castillo. Tower’s window-rattling grooves and raucous party spirit has been a balm for the soul throughout their half-century existence, but the release of 50 Years of Funk & Soul: Live at the Fox Theater couldn’t arrive at a better time. Castillo says their love of the stage is the same today as it was back in 1968.ĥ0 years later, in 2018, they returned to Oakland to celebrate their landmark 50th anniversary. Bump City, their 1972 debut for the label, was a hit on both the Billboard 200 and the R&B Albums chart, and netted them the hits “You’re Still A Young Man” and “Down to The Nightclub.” The 70s were a boom period with radio classics like “So Very Hard to Go” and “What Is Hip?,” and the band continued to tour and record over the years. I told the guys that I was leaving for the holidays, and if nothing happened with this audition, I wasn’t coming back.” Fortunately, he did, and the rest as they say, is history.Įast Bay Grease defined their sound and landed them with Warner Brothers. We wrote the songs for East Bay Grease, and by November, we were at the end of our rope. Then, my parents moved to Detroit, and I was on my own, broke and hungry, and all I did was rehearse. One night, the ABC came in, and caught the trumpet player drinking, and the next thing we knew, a notice was out across the Bay Area that if they hired us again, clubs would lose their liquor license. “We had been playing nightclubs, and we had gotten busted for being underage. The Fillmore was a major goal, which came along at the right time. Doc then suggested that we start writing our own songs.” We grew our hair long, and started to be hippies, and changed our name. “We wanted to get into the Fillmore Auditorium and with a name like the Motowns, dressed in suits with razor cuts, we knew we’d never get in there. He came in the band, and we eventually changed our name to the Tower of Power.” The reason for the band name change was that they had a specific goal in mind. I met “Doc” Kupka back in 1968, and gave him an audition. “Rocco was the bass player, I was in there, and my brother was the drummer. Playing hits including, “What Is Hip?,” “You’re Still a Young Man,” “So Very Hard to Go,” and “You Ought to Be Having Fun.”įor over 50 years, Tower of Power has delivered the best in funk and soul music.“We were a Soul band called The Motowns.” recalls Emilio Castillo.
The scorching ecstasy of Tower of Power’s horn section leads the way as this legendary band continues to punch out the soul, funk, and R&B hits that have made them music legends for over 50 years.
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