Tower of Power

Emilio Castillo doesn't feel like he's been leading Tower of Power for 50 years. But it does feel like the brassy group from the Bay Area has some miles on its mouthpieces. The group is celebrating its golden anniversary with the June 1 release of a new album, Soul Side of Town. And Tower of Power – which still includes original members Castillo, fellow saxophonist Stephen "Doc" Kupka, drummer David Garibaldi and bassist Francis "Rocco" Prestia – will also play a pair of 50th anniversary concerts on June 1-2 at the Fox Theatre in Oakland, Calif., which will be filmed for a documentary. Several former members, including keyboardist Chester Thompson and saxophonist Lenny Pickett, now leading the Saturday Night Live house band, will return for the shows.

50 Years of Funk & Soul: Live at the Fox Theater captures Tower of Power’s storied career with no-holds-barred victory lap concerts in Oakland, CA on June 1 & 2, 2018, performing their full spectrum of life-affirming funk and soul hits…

Stepping back from its 1979 disco foray, Tower of Power dropped out of sight for the better part of a decade, as internal strife and member changes ripped the band asunder and the Tower of Power Horns spent more time backing other musicians. Returning to the studio in 1986 with only Steve Fulton and Willie James Fulton held over from the earlier regime, the band recorded the shaky TOP LP (different from a similarly titled 1993 date). Initially released only in Sweden, the album was trimmed of two tracks, retitled Power, and racked in America the following year. But even the rejigging couldn't help what ultimately emerged as an uninspired and mediocre set, showcasing musicians who sounded like they really didn't care anymore. It was a feeling that was only reinforced by their fans – the album was the first to miss the charts since their 1970 debut.

Some key lineup changes: Lenny Pickett came on as first sax (replacing Skip Mesquite), Chester Thompson joined on keyboards, Lenny Williams replaced Stevens on vocals. (Bruce Conte replaced Willy Fulton on guitar, to less effect.) Not coincidentally, this was their first album to have a national impact. The tunes are split between top-notch propulsive funk ("What Is Hip?," "Soul Vaccination," "Get Yo' Feet Back On The Ground") and soppy pseudo-soul ballads ("Will I Ever Find A Love?," the Otis Redding homage "Both Sorry Over Nothin'"). The ballads get more album space, making the disc something of a wearying listen, and the horn section isn't nearly as inventive as the Horny Horns. But the funk tunes are so damn good nothing else matters.

TOWER OF POWER 'Dinosaur Tracks' is -believe it or not- a complete, fully-loaded, totally groove-filled PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED STUDIO ALBUM from 1983. Soulful ballads. Up-tempo swingfests. And a couple disco-twinged dance numbers (remember this was the early 1980s now, wasn't it?). All with that unique trademarked sound of the mighty TOWER OF POWER horn section. While one of these tracks snuck out awhile back to be used on a European -then later US- release and another was later re-recorded for a live album, this is THE VERY FIRST TIME ANYWHERE this ENTIRE studio album, just as TOWER OF POWER originally intended it to be, has appeared anywhere on Earth.

Tower of Power, the definitive horn-driven funk band, celebrates its 50th anniversary with Soul Side of Town. Founding tenor saxophonist and composer Emilio Castillo is still at the helm, along with original baritone sax player Stephen "Doc" Kupka and a team of ace musicians who bring an easy confidence to the album's 14 tracks, highlighted by the instrumental workout "Butter Fried" and the punchy "Do It With Soul."