Sax player Emilio Castillo and Tower of Power will perform March 16 at Brown County Music Center.
Emilio Castillo first had to laugh at the question: Did he ever dream he might still be touring and performing for appreciative audiences 56 years after he began with soul ensemble Tower of Power that he helped form?
The tenor sax player and vocalist then had to start with the very basics of the curious query.
“Honestly, when we began in of 1968 (in Oakland), I didn’t even know what touring was,” said the 73-year-old Castillo, speaking by phone in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where the band was scheduled to play just after a special “Soul Train” cruise. “I had a very limited scope.
“And my scope was this: I just dug having a band. I was just so into the band. And that was my key instrument.
“Because I’m not a great sax player. I’m not a great guitar player. I’m not a great keyboard player.
“But I definitely can do the band. And I’m definitely a band leader.”
Castillo brings those leadership skills to the 10-member Tower of Power performance March 16 at the Brown County Music Center in Nashville.
“It’s a high-energy show,” Castillo said. “A lot of great solos. A lot of great audience participation. It has kind of a James Br0wn/Prince/Sly and the Family Stone type of excitement.”
He offered a reminder that such excitement was inspired by such classic 1960s soul acts as Booker T and MGs, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and others. He thinks he can easily explain the band’s longevity in an industry in which many acts don’t last 56 weeks.
“I think that we have a very distinct signature — our very own voice, as it were,” Castillo said. “There’s a certain segment of the public that still really digs it.
“We know that we’re not as big as someone like Michael Jackson, obviously. But we have a great following worldwide.”
Make that a great following that includes the greats. In previous interviews, such as one with Billboard magazine, Castillo has recalled a time when the group was opening for Aretha Franklin in 1971 in San Francisco. As Castillo was waiting by the dressing room backstage, he came face to face with the legendary soul singer he idolized.
“Tower of Power,” Franklin said, meeting his gaze. “My favorite band.”
The group’s first hit was “You’re Still a Young Man” in 1972, followed by “So Very Hard to Go” and “What is Hip?”
They seem to remain what is hip. Look at the width and breadth of members’ impact.
Through the years, Tower of Power has collaborated with Elton John, Aerosmith, Bonnie Raitt, Little Feat, Santana, Paula Abdul, Heart and Huey Lewis & The News. In fact, it was Lewis’ band that gave the group a whole new life in the 1980s, allowing Tower of Power to serve as a chunk of the pop star’s backing ensemble. And the legacy continues.
“We still have the kind of fans raising their kids and their grandkids on our music,” Castillo said. “I realize that a lot of people call us a funk band.
“But really, I think that term kind of minimizes all the music that we play. Because soul music has funk, yes.
“But it also has beautiful, heart-wrenching ballads, it has medium-tempo love songs, and finger-snapping shuffles.
“And soul is music that moves you both emotionally and physically.”
And he feels that music should move the band to tour one area it inexplicably never has reached: South America. In recent years, tours have stretched to Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand. Plus, he wants to record with a few artists he still hasn’t yet had the chance to share a studio with, such as Sting.
“When I met him, he told me he had a Tower of Power clone band, before he ever was in The Police,” Castillo said. “But that session hasn’t happened yet.”
When he speaks of what sounds like storybook success, he regularly reminds interviewers that he is a passionate Christian who sometimes mentions his faith in concert in moments where it seems to fit.
“That’s the main thing in my life,” he said. “That’s the secret to any of my success. God did it. Not me.”
About the concert
Who: Soul group Tower of Power.
When: 8 p.m. March 16.
Where: Brown County Music Center, 200 Maple Leaf Drive, Nashville.
Tickets: browncountymusiccenter.com.
