The legendary horn band brings its tour to Meijer Gardens on Wednesday. The Local Spins interview with bandleader Emilio Castillo, who’s led the group for more than 50 years.
Still Regaling Fans: Emilio Castillo and his Tower of Power bandmates play Grand Rapids this week. (Courtesy Photo)
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Change is hard.
Emilio Castillo knows that from personal experience. The leader of Tower of Power, the horn-laden soul band performing at Meijer Gardens on Wednesday (June 11), has been dealing with it since founding the band back in 1968.
Popular tastes have come and gone, musical and other technologies have advanced with dizzying speed, and the music industry as a whole has undergone a sea change as digital recording and streaming have made releasing records almost a quaint relic of yesterday.
Then there’s the fact that a dizzying number of players have been members of the band – 70-plus at last count. While he’s learned to roll with the punches, Castillo insists he’d rather not deal with it. “I really don’t like change,” he says.
Of course, one thing hasn’t changed. It doesn’t matter who is out front, who else is in the horn section or playing keyboards, guitar or drums, the R&B band always sounds like Tower of Power. And no one else.
The Band: A timeless ensenbke, (Courtesy Photo)
“Tom Bowes, our former lead singer, said, ‘You guys could play the phone book, and it would still sound like Tower of Power,’” says Castillo.
Some tickets — $64 — are still available for the 7 p.m. Wednesday show, available online here.
Members of the group have guested on albums by Elton John, Little Feat, Huey Lewis & The News, Santana and countless others through the years. Tunes such as “So Very Hard To Go,” “Souled Out,” “What Is Hip?” and hits, near-hits and should-have-been-hits are scattered across more than two dozen recordings, with several live albums the band’s fans would consider essential.
Many groups are identified with the sound of a particular lead vocalist – think David Clayton-Thomas with Blood, Sweat and Tears, or Jon Anderson with Yes. But with Tower of Power, it’s been the swaggering horn section that has defined it to fans. Good thing too, as TOP has featured nearly 20 different lead singers since its recorded debut in 1970 (though a handful were only part-time leads who were primarily instrumentalists).
Castillo himself sings some leads, including one tour where the band couldn’t find a singer so he tookk on the role himself.
SOME NEWCOMERS ON BOARD BUT THE SAME SOULFUL VIRTUOSITY
TOP will showcase three newcomers at Wednesday’s show, starting out front with Jordan John, who replaced the outgoing Mike Jerel earlier this year. “He’s fabulous,” says Castillo without reservation. A multi-instrumentalist, John is the son of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bassist Prakash John (with Parliament Funkadelic), who played with the likes of Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Paul Shaffer, Mike Bloomfield and many others.
The younger John led his own band before joining TOP (which featured his father). He also plays drums, keyboards, guitar and bass, and Castillo says he intends to showcase John on some of those instruments as well as singing, as he did with predecessors like Jerel (trumpet) and Ray Greene (trombone).
Funky Trumpets: On tap Wednesday. (Courtesy Photo)
John is not the only new member. Founding drummer David Garibaldi, who may hold the record for most times in and out of the band, retired earlier this year. His place is being taken by newcomer Peter Antunes. Trumpeter Dave Richards got the call to step in when Mike Bogart, (who hails from Montague) left the band late last year after his second tour of duty.
No matter the revolving door, the band continues to demonstrate its virtuosity on soulful throw-downs, danceable funk and shimmering ballads alike. Castillo is bullish on the current iteration of the group: Only the best musicians trying out for the band make the cut. No matter the lineup or decade, it always sounds fresh.
The band’s instrumentation features a rhythm section plus three saxes and two trumpets. Castillo started playing tenor sax at 14, but switched to alto when he saw a local band he admired. “The lead singer played organ and alto. I did that all the way to ‘East Bay Grease.’”
It wasn’t until after the band’s debut album that he went back to tenor. “I wanted a bigger, fatter sound,” he says. “I’m not a soloist or a great technician. I’m an ensemble player.”
Doc Kupka (Courtesy Photo)
Asked his own favorite songs, Castillo’s choices are somewhat surprising. “I love the ballads. ‘Time Will Tell,’ ‘Willing to Learn,’ ‘Below Us, All the City Lights.’”
Among the up-tempo numbers, he cites one of the fans’ all-time favorites: “Only So Much Oil in the Ground.” “It’s complex but enjoyable to play.” He says the way it’s constructed, it just seems to roll off his horn.
The song was inspired in part by an oil spill in San Francisco Bay back in 1971, as well as an incident that his songwriting partner and co-founder Stephen “Doc” Kupka recalled from his youth. When Kupka was called into the principal’s office, he was asked if something was bothering him, and he responded, “Yes, what are we going to do when we run out of oil?”
“The lyrics are still pertinent today,” Castillo notes.
So what keeps Castillo and Kupka going, touring relentlessly in their 70s? Castillo credits his love of the music and the fact they survived the excesses of the music scene, cleaning up in the ’80s. “I got sober in 1988, Doc in 1989. My patented answer is God did it, we just keep showing up,” says Castillo.
What helps is that they both enjoy performing and the music they make. “We make the music we want,” Castillo says. “We learned a long time ago not to (embrace) trends.”
VIDEO: Tower of Power, “What is Hip?” (Live)
Filling the Stage: The Tower of Power (Courtesy Photo)
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