Emilio Castillo asked Stephen Kupka to join his fledgling band back in 1968. He says his dad called him into the house and said, “Hire this guy. He’s got something.” The two became the backbone of the funky soul band Tower of Power, writing many of their songs – “Knock Yourself Out,” “Social Lubrication,” “You Got to Funkifize,” “So Very Hard to Go,” “You’re Still a Young Man” and numerous others, sometimes collaborating with other members.
The horn section became as popular and well-known as Tower of Power itself, working with everyone from Bobby Caldwell to Huey Lewis, Little Feat to Elton John. Today, the group is still going strong, with original Tower of Power drummer David Garibaldi again onboard, though bassist Francis Rocco Prestia passed away earlier this year.
Today, Emilio Castillo shares the albums that shaped his career:
HOWARD TATE – GET IT WHILE YOU CAN (1967): It’s hard to pick only three albums that truly influenced me because there are so many, but Howard Tate’s album was a template for Tower of Power’s horn sound because the baritone sax was so prominent in the mix. Tower did live versions of “Baby I Love You” and “I Learned It All the Hard Way” when we first started out in the late ’60s, and they were always show stoppers for us. Howard’s vocals are off the chart!
CURTIS MAYFIELD AND THE IMPRESSIONS – THIS IS MY COUNTRY (1968): We were actually listening hard to this album when Doc Kupka and I first started writing songs, and the intro to our first national hit, “You’re Still a Young Man” was inspired by the trumpet intro on the song “My Woman’s Love.” We also worked up a live version of “You Want Somebody Else” to play when we opened for Curtis at Winterland, which was one of Lenny William’s first gigs. We dug it because it’s in 3/4 time.
THE SPINNERS – SPINNERS (1973): This album, produced by Thom Bell, was a personal favorite of mine when I first stared producing Tower of Power’s albums. I was producing Back to Oakland in Seattle, and I’d listen as I was going to sleep each night and also the moment I awoke in the morning, studying the production over and over. The way the background vocals were arranged still inspires me today. The strings and carefully crafted rhythm arrangements influenced the way I’ve produced Tower of Power for the last 50 years.
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