Rocco Prestia
Francis Rocco Prestia Jr. (March 7, 1951 – September 29, 2020) was an American bassist, best known for his contributions with the funk band Tower of Power.
Also recorded as Francis "Rocco" Prestia · Francis Rocco Prestia Jr. · Francis Prestia
Rocco Prestia
Brett Valentine · CC BY 2.0
- Name
- Rocco Prestia
- Birth Name
- Francis Rocco Prestia Jr.
- Born
- 7 March 1951
- Birthplace
- Sonora, California, U.S.
- Died
- 29 September 2020
- Place of death
- Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
- Occupation
- Musician
- Nationality
- United States
- Fields
- funk · soul
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Documentary connections
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q1346915 · wikipedia · Rocco Prestia
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
The documentary record
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Institutions cited
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Not stated by the sources cited: nationality
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Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Rocco Prestia • Birth Name — Francis Rocco Prestia Jr. • Born — 7 March 1951 • Birthplace — Sonora, California, U.S. • Died — 29 September 2020 • Place of death — Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. • Instrument — Electric bass • Genre — Smooth jazz, jazz-funk, funk, rhythm and blues • Occupation — Musician • Years Active — 1970–2020 • Past Member Of — Tower of Power
Documentary record
Rocco Prestia appears in the authority records of the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek as a bassist and musician (7 March 1951 – 29 September 2020). Rocco Prestia was born in Sonora, California. (7 March 1951) and died in Las Vegas, Nevada. (29 September 2020).
Biography
Biography
Born in Sonora, California, Prestia started playing electric guitar as an adolescent. When he auditioned for Emilio Castillo's band, Tower of Power, Castillo persuaded him to switch to electric bass. Prestia contributed to the band for the next three decades, before he became seriously ill in 2001. His fans and friends created a foundation in order to help pay the artist's medical costs. On December 5, 2014, Prestia underwent successful liver transplant surgery. Rocco is survived by the loves of his life, Julian Francis Rocco Prestia and Alicia-Lyn JoAnn Prestia.
Equipment
Equipment
Prestia's primary instruments were his Fender Precision basses (a purple transparent American Deluxe and a natural ash-bodied short-lived signature model with a reverse split pickup and a 2-band EQ). He later maintained an association with the Conklin company that provided him a custom built four-string instrument, one of the few in the company's catalog. In January 2013, ESP Guitars announced that Prestia had joined their roster of endorsing artists. The company made reference to the introduction of their LTD RB series on May 22, 2014.
Death
Death
Prestia died on September 29, 2020, at age 69, in a Las Vegas hospice.
As leader
As leader
• Everybody on the Bus! (1999)
With Tower of Power
With Tower of Power
• East Bay Grease (1970) • Bump City (1972) • Tower of Power (1973) • Back to Oakland (1974) • Urban Renewal (1975) • In The Slot (1975) • Live and in Living Color (1976) • Ain't Nothin' Stoppin' Us Now (1976) • Power (1987) • Monster on a Leash (1991) • T.O.P. (1993) • Souled Out (1995) • Rhythm & Business (1997) • Direct Plus (1997) • Soul Vaccination Live (1999) • Dinosaur Tracks (2000) • Oakland Zone (2003) • The Great American Soul Book (2009) • Soul Side of Town (2018) • Step Up (2020)
With Other Artists
With Other Artists
• Carmen Grillo, Both Sides Of The Coin (1996) • Bruce Conte, Right From My Heart (1997) (bass on "Thump") • Yoichi Murata, Hook Up (1999) (bass on "Positive Sign", "When You Leave (And I...)", "Carry On") • Gov't Mule, The Deep End, Volume 2 (2002) (bass on "What Is Hip?")
Videography
Videography
• Fingerstyle Funk (1993) • Francis Rocco Prestia: Live at Bass Day (1998)
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Sonora.
Birth place
Las Vegas.
Death place
Technique and influences
Prestia was a master of fingerstyle funk bass playing. His technique made heavy use of left hand muting. He muted his strings lightly to create a thick percussive sound while maintaining pitch clarity. He also frequently incorporated ghost notes to fill empty space. His characteristic sound, in combination with a highly rhythmic approach to bass lines, makes Prestia's sound unmistakable. Along with James Jamerson, Stanley Clarke, Anthony Jackson and Alphonso Johnson, Prestia belonged to a generation of musicians that fostered a revolution on the electric bass—inspiring the innovative work of Jaco Pastorius in the mid-1970s. Prestia's influential style can be heard on classic Tower of Power tracks such as the 1973 hit "What is Hip". Prestia cited James Jamerson and the different musicians who worked for James Brown (particularly Bootsy Collins) as his main influences.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Rocco Prestia”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1346915: Rocco Prestia
General reference · Wikidata
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Rocco Prestia, revision 1369779003 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Parsons, Eric. Simply Rocco. Bass Musician. 12–22. 9 February 2015.
- 2.Rocco Prestia Biography. Tower of Power.
- 3.Barrett, John. The 20 Most Underrated Bass Guitarists. Paste. 12 October 2011. 1540-3106.
- 4.Rocco Revisits the Prophets of Soul. Bass Player. February 2009. 1050-785X.
- 5.Forte, Dan. The Power of Tower. Vintage Guitar. January 2009. 1067-2605.
- 6.Rocco Prestia Joins ESP Artist Roster. Bass Player. 11 January 2013. 1050-785X.
- 7.Johnson, Kevin. ESP Introduces LTD RB Series Design with Rocco Prestia. No Treble. 22 March 2014.
- 8.Bienstock, Richard. Legendary Tower of Power bassist Rocco Prestia dies aged 69. Guitar World. 2020-09-30.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 21 August 2026.
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