Fifty years in, Emilio Castillo still can’t quite believe people keep pointing it out. “People are always coming up, ‘that’s amazing.’ Yeah, I’m more amazed than you,” he shrugs. Tower of Power weren’t supposed to be the band that survived five decades of changing fashions, multiple singers, and enough sideline gigs to fill a jukebox. They were supposed to be just another Oakland soul outfit called The Motowns, chasing dances and weddings in cheap suits. “We knew we’d never get in the Fillmore with the name The Motowns,” Castillo laughs. “So we changed it. Tower of Power.”
This was 1968, the year the critics decided soul “splintered” into funk and blue-eyed soul. Castillo didn’t notice. “We didn’t think about that stuff. We just had a passion for soul music and for making it our own way. We liked to mess with the rhythm, put the horns up front, have quirky backgrounds, and a great lead singer. That was our concept.”
The concept happened to land in Bill Graham’s San Francisco. Castillo remembers watching the Fillmore crowds get their ears “tweaked” by Graham’s genre-mixing bills. “He’d put Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Sam and Dave with the Grateful Dead, then Eddie Palmieri and Otis Redding with Big Brother and the Holding Company. He exposed all these open-minded people who were already seeking open-mindedness, largely chemical,” he smirks. “And pretty soon everybody was listening to all different types of music with an open ear. That’s the time we came up in. It was a great time to be in the Bay Area.”
Tower of Power’s horn section soon became the ultimate rental unit. Elton John? Check. Aerosmith? Sure. Pure Prairie League? Why not. Public Image Ltd? Wait, what? “Yeah, it was just a session. We might’ve done it in New York,” Castillo recalls casually, like playing with Johnny Rotten is no weirder than playing with Neil Diamond. “A lot of people think we know these people and hung out. Sometimes they’re there, other times it’s just the producer and engineer and our horn section.”
The secret weapon was Greg Adams, the horn arranger who knew how to crash into a song without suffocating it. “He had a way of arranging that when the horns were in, you really noticed it. Not just covering guitar lines. He’d figure out a place in the song where we’d just go—” Castillo makes the sound of a wall exploding. “One big fall. Then the guitars would be featured again. So when you heard us, it was really clear. That’s why people called—they wanted the Tower of Power horn sound on their rock and roll.”
Now it’s 2018, and the band is celebrating 50 years with Soul Side of Town, their first album in nearly a decade. And unlike most legacy bands scrambling to prove relevance, Tower of Power overshot. “We recorded 28 songs. By the end, we had two completed albums,” Castillo says, still a little giddy. “We’ve always been slow. My whole career I’ve had record companies breathing down my neck, ‘We need a record.’ Now we’ve got two.”
The title isn’t just branding—it’s autobiography. “That’s where we’re from. I grew up in Detroit, then Oakland. There’s always an area of town with the barbecue joints and the after-hours clubs. Every city has one. That’s what I wrote the song about.”
Castillo is especially fond of “Butter Fried,” a track that nearly got away. “Our keyboard player Roger Smith wrote it. Originally it was really laid back. Joe Vannelli came in and said, ‘This needs more energy.’ We sped it up, rearranged, did a bunch of different stuff. You’re right—it’s just high energy and great musicianship.”
The wild card was singer Marcus Scott, who joined mid-record after Ray Greene decamped to Santana. “By God’s grace Marcus came out of the scene. Possibly the finest singer that’s ever sung Tower of Power,” Castillo says without hesitation. “He’s just turned 33. I look at him and think, man, I was a mess at his age.”
The 50th anniversary shows added to the spectacle, pulling back alumni like Chester Thompson and Lenny Pickett, plus violins, extra singers, and even Tony Lindsay from Santana. “We got a great alumni here,” Castillo beams. “They all really enjoyed their tenure. Some had to go do other stuff, and we were blessed with more great players. So now we’re putting together the DVD and live CD. We’re really proud of it.”
Castillo isn’t a man for false modesty—he knows Tower of Power carved out something unique and durable. But ask him about fifty years, and he still shakes his head. “It’s amazing. I’m more amazed than you.”
Listen to the interview above and then check out some tracks below!
