Tower of Power after 50 years.
Bandleader credits faith, music for keeping iconic Oakland group going more than 50 years
Tower of Power unleashed its debut record, “East Bay Grease,” on the public back in 1970. A half-century later, the iconic East Bay soul-funkR&B troupe is still going strong. Recently we spoke with the band’s legendary bandleader-saxophonist Emilio Castillo from his home in Scottsdale, Arizona, catching up on both new developments and old times with the band responsible for such classic cuts as “You’re Still a Young Man,” “So Very Hard to Go,” “Don’t Change Horses (in the Middle of a Stream)” and, of course, “What Is Hip?” One notable recent development is that the group just released a new album, “Step Up,” which Castillo looks forward to supporting on the road once concerts get up and running again.
Q Hey, Emilio. Thanks for taking the time to chat today. Are you managing to stay busy during the coronavirus lockdown? A I feel like I’m busier now than I have ever been. For one, I’ve gotten besieged by interviews. You know, the new album is out and everything.
Q
And everybody wants to hear about it.
A
I also did a Q&A on Facebook recently. (Tower of Power drummer David) Garibaldi did one a couple of days ago. And Doc (saxophonist Stephen Kupka) is going to be doing one pretty soon. Yeah, staying busy.
Do you know the band Lettuce?
Q
The jam band?
A
Yeah, they contacted me. We have some dates with them at the end of year. We’ve got a new booking agency and they are booking us with all these younger acts, which is exactly what we wanted.
The drummer (of Lettuce) use to play with AWB (Average White Band) and I knew him. I didn’t know that Lettuce was his band. Well, he contacted me and said that they had this tune and would I consider writing the lyrics with Doc and putting some stuff on there.
I wrote the lyrics, and was about halfway through and got (input) from Doc finally, and dialed it in. I went to sing it — my recording engineer had time at the studio.
We got it mixed and we’re sending it over to them in a couple of days. It came out really good.
So, I’ve been busy.
Q
That’s good. There are a lot of musicians who are probably having a hard time staying busy during this COVID-19 pandemic.
A
Yeah, I wish I could go back to work (on the road). We had so many gigs. But they are going to reschedule everything.
The other thing, too, is that I am really strong with the church and I am also involved really strong in the recovery community. We do Zoom church on Sunday and we do Zoom midweek on Wednesdays. Then, we’ve been going to all these AA meetings online on Zoom. I went to one the other night in Panama. (Laughs)
Q
I’m doing church online myself. It’s definitely different. But I still need it
in my life — big time. A Yeah, me too. I can imagine it’s really weird for the pastors, though — sitting out there with no congregation, just looking in the camera. Q The band went a bunch of years without putting out a new studio record. And, now, you’ve released two in relatively rapid succession — “Soul Side of Town” in 2018 and this year’s “Step Up.” A We actually cut both of these records at the same time. So, we had this one in the can. We knew were going to put it out in 2020.
Q
And the reaction has been quite favorable.
A
We made the charts with the last record, “Soul Side of Town,” being No. 1 on the jazz charts and the R&B charts. Once again, right out of the box, (the new album was) No. 1 on the jazz charts and No. 5 on the R&B charts.
The record is just great. I have felt like I’ve had the best-kept secret for the last two years. I’ve wanted to play it for people. Just really proud of it, so, you know, you want people to hear it. I’m just listening to it every day in my car, just grooving.
Q
How do you stay motivated after being in the industry so long? You still sound super excited about making music.
A
The creativity thing — that really is the high. I got a little off track there
for 20 years, dabbled in drugs and alcohol. I thought it made me more creative. But, eventually, I just became a slave to it.
Once I got sober, I wondered how creative I would be. Soon, I wrote a song with Doc and I remember being so exhilarated. Just the whole creative process — not just writing, but taking the songs to the guys and rehearsing them, preparing for the studio, going in and producing a record, singing in the studio, playing live.
We’re wearing all these different hats. And they are all very creative hats. I love it all. I mean, I live for it. Q Besides the new record, the band has also put out its first music video in 30 years — for the song “Look in My Eyes.” A It was fun. I was a little nervous about it. I hadn’t done one in years. But it came out really good, so I was very pleased. Q The band released its debut album back in 1970. Did you ever think, back in the day, that you’d still be doing this 50 years later? A I was a young man. When we did “East Bay Grease,” I think I was 18 — just turned. I didn’t have a lot of vision. I didn’t think that way. I just loved the band.
My instrument has always been the band. I’m an ordinary sax player and ordinary keyboard player and an ordinary singer. But playing the band? I do that pretty good. That’s what I do. I’m a bandleader. That’s all I thought about.
I remember my idols in the East Bay was
this band called the Spiders. They were the tightest soul band I’ve ever seen. I wanted to be like them. They got a gig in Sacramento. And — this is how far my vision went — I thought, “If I could just get to Sacramento.” Q The early ’70s must have been a pretty exciting time, signing with Bill Graham’s record label and seeing the band’s career take off. A Absolutely. I remember waking up — I had a little radio next to my bed, back there in the hippie days. We had mattresses on the floor. Me and Doc were living in the same house and he was on the other side of the wall. I remember waking up in the morning and I just felt so good and I heard this sound and it was the flute from (Tower of Power’s) “Sparkling in the Sand” and they were playing it on KSAN radio. I was like, “Oh my God” — banging on the wall — “Doc, wake up, they are playing us, they are playing us!”
Q
What was it like working with Bill Graham?
A
It was great, man. We had a time there where we had a little fight with him and it was difficult. But we knew we had made a mistake and we tried to apologize. Eventually, it all got settled and, for years, he took really special care of us. He was a great friend. And I think he changed the music business single-handedly.
Q
Your second album was 1972’s “Bump City,” featuring vocalist Rick Stevens, who many unfortunately remember for being convicted on multiple murder charges. Did you have much contact with him while he was in prison?
A
I didn’t when he was in prison, because I didn’t really know him when he went to prison. Everybody thinks that he murdered those people while he was in the band. I had fired him for heroin addiction and it was four years later when he did those murders — he was all strung out and everything.
People use to contact me — people who supported him — and ask, “Could you write a letter for him?” How could I do that? I didn’t even know the person who did those crimes. Why would I now step up and go, “Oh, yeah, let him out?”
But when he did get out, we became very close. He had become a Christian. We would let him sit in with (the band).
He’d just call and we’d pray. Q Take me back to the night of Jan. 12, 2017, when Tower of Power bassist Marc Van Wageningen and drummer Dave Garibaldi were hit by an Amtrak train as they were crossing the street in Jack London Square to get to the band’s gig at Yoshi’s nightclub in Oakland. A I was at the gig, waiting for the show to start. It was almost showtime. And Marc and David were walking across the street and ...
That night, two trains were coming. They saw the (first) train and everybody was waiting for the train to clear. So, once they cleared, everybody moved forward — about seven people moved forward. But there was another train coming the opposite direction. But you couldn’t tell. It was a tragedy.
We had just done 10 shows (at Yoshi’s) and were planning to do the final two — 11 and 12 — that night when that happened. But they’ve recovered.
(Note: Both Van Wageningen and Garibaldi are still playing in the band.) Q So many longtime bands break up, get back together, only to break up and get back together again. Yet, Tower of Power has never done that dance. You’ve stayed together for more than a half-century. What do you credit that incredible longevity and continuity to? A God did it. I just showed up. I made every mistake known to man. I got sober in ’88, started a spiritual path, I said I was really interested in God and I sought him out wholeheartedly. Some years later, I came to Christ.
I make no bones about it: God did it. I just showed up.