Tower of Power is an American R&B and funk band and horn section, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing since 1968. The band has had a number of lead vocalists, the best-known being Lenny Williams, 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; Within months the group, then known as The Motowns, began playing various gigs around Oakland and Berkeley, attracting audiences from minority and counterculture communities.

In order to play Bill Graham's Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, the band changed its name to Tower of Power, which then stuck.

By 1970, the renamed band—now including trumpet/arranger Greg Adams, first trumpet Mic Gillette, 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 and released their first album, East Bay Grease. Rufus Miller performed most of the lead vocals on this debut album. 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. 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 on lead vocals and Lenny 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 the Billboard Hot 100,

On Urban Renewal (1974), the band moved more toward funk than soul; however, they continued recording ballads as well. Williams left the band in late 1974, and was replaced as vocalist by Hubert Tubbs. The band's airplay on chart radio declined. During the late 1970s they briefly tried recording disco-sounding material. 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, Aaron Neville, Aerosmith, Bonnie Raitt, David Sanborn, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Labelle, Huey Lewis, Little Feat, Heart, Michelle Shocked, Paula Abdul, Santana, Masayoshi Takanaka, and Stevie Nicks. Lyle Lovett, Poison, Phish (two songs on their album Hoist), Toto, Pharoahe Monch, Ned Doheny, and the Brothers Johnson among many other acts. and Will Ferrell's 2008 film Semi-Pro.

Members

Current members

  • Emilio "Mimi" Castillo – tenor saxophone, backing and lead vocals
  • Stephen "Doc" Kupka – baritone saxophone, 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
  • Dave Richards – trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone, backing vocals
  • Pete Antunes – drums, percussion
  • Jordan John – lead vocals
  • Mike Jerel – keyboards, backing vocals

Discography

Studio albums

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Album

! colspan="3"| Chart positions

! rowspan="2"| Certifications

|-

! width="40"|<small>US Pop</small><br>

| –

| –

| –

|

|-

| 2023

| align="left"| It's Christmas

| –

| –

| –

|

|-

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center; font-size:9pt;"| "–" denotes releases that did not chart.

|}

Live albums

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Album

! colspan="3"| Chart positions

|-

! width="40"|<small>US Pop</small><br>

! width="40"| <small>US R&B</small><br>

! width="40"| <small>CAN</small><br>

|-

| rowspan="1"|1971

| "Back on the Streets Again"

|align="center"| –

|align="center"| –

|align="center"| –

| rowspan="1"|East Bay Grease

|-

| rowspan="2"|1972

| "You're Still a Young Man"

|align="center"| 29

|align="center"| 24

|align="center"| 30

| rowspan="2"|Bump City

|-

| "Down to the Nightclub"

|align="center"| 66

|align="center"| –

|align="center"| –

|-

| rowspan="2"|1973

| "So Very Hard to Go"

|align="center"| 17

|align="center"| 11

|align="center"| 36

| rowspan="3"|Tower of Power

|-

| "This Time It's Real"

|align="center"| 65

|align="center"| 27

|align="center"| –

|-

| rowspan="4"|1974

| "What Is Hip?"

|align="center"| 91

|align="center"| 39

|align="center"| –

|-

| "Time Will Tell"

|align="center"| 69

|align="center"| 27

|align="center"| 75

| rowspan="2"|Back to Oakland

|-

| "Don't Change Horses (In the Middle of a Stream)"

|align="center"| 26

|align="center"| 22

|align="center"| 59

|-

| "Only So Much Oil in the Ground"

|align="center"| –

|align="center"| 85

|align="center"| –

|rowspan="2"|Urban Renewal

|-

| rowspan="3"|1975

| "Willing to Learn"

|align="center"| –

|align="center"| 77

|align="center"| –

|-

| "You're So Wonderful, So Marvelous"

|align="center"| –

|align="center"| 57

|align="center"| –

|rowspan="2"|In the Slot

|-

| "Treat Me Like Your Man"

|align="center"| –

|align="center"| –

|align="center"| –

|-

| rowspan="2"|1976

| "You Ought to Be Havin' Fun"

|align="center"| 68

|align="center"| 62

|align="center"| –

|rowspan="2"|Ain't Nothin' Stoppin' Us Now

|-

| "Ain't Nothin' Stoppin' Us Now"

|align="center"| –

|align="center"| 95

|align="center"| –

|-

| rowspan="2"|1978

| "Lovin' You Is Gonna See Me Thru"

|align="center"| –

|align="center"| 98

|align="center"| –

|rowspan="2"|We Came to Play!

|-

| "We Came to Play"

|align="center"| –

|align="center"| –

|align="center"| –

|-

| rowspan="2"|1979

| "Rock Baby"

|align="center"| –

|align="center"| 61

|align="center"| –

|rowspan="2"|Back on the Streets

|-

| "In Due Time"

|align="center"| –

|align="center"| –

|align="center"| –

|-

| colspan="7" style="text-align:center; font-size:9pt;"| "–" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

|}

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 on YouTube. In 2011, Time Life released TOP's November 10, 1973 Soul Train performance of "What is Hip?" on the CD The Best of Soul Train Live.

See also

  • Lenny Williams

References

  • Emilio Castillo NAMM Oral History Program Interview (2005)
  • Doc Kupka NAMM Oral History Program Interview (2005)
  • David Garibaldi NAMM Oral History Program Interview (2013)
  • Rocco Prestia NAMM Oral History Program Interview (2013)