Only So Much Oil In The Ground

Album: Urban Renewal (1975)
Charted: 102
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Tower Of Power founders Emilio Castillo and Stephen "Doc" Kupka wrote this song in response to a 1971 oil spill in the San Francisco Bay caused by two tankers colliding. Castillo and Kupka were still in high school, and it was big news.

    "It was one of the first oil spills ever," Castillo said in a Songfacts interview. "There were all these seagulls that were covered in oil and they were trying to rescue them. That's what spurred this conversation that Doc and I had. He was telling me that he got called into the principal's office when he was about eight years old. They were concerned about his behavior or something. The principal said, 'Stephen, is there anything troubling you?' And he looks at the guy and he says, 'Yes, there is. What are we going to do when we run out of oil?' And the principal says, 'Stephen, go back to class.'

    He was telling me this story and we were laughing about it, but we started to think about it: It can't last forever. What are we going to do? We should write a song about that. So we wrote this song, 'Only So Much Oil In The Ground.'"
  • Castillo considers this the hidden gem in the Tower Of Power catalog. It bubbled under at a lowly #102 when it was released as a single, but remained a live favorite and endures on many soul music playlists. "I thought it was the best recording I'd ever done," he said. "The best song I'd ever written, the best lyrics, the best rhythm, the best chords, the best solos, the best singing. Everything about it."
  • This song was pertinent in the '70s when an energy crisis caused an oil shortage, leading to long lines for gas.
  • According to Emilio Castillo, Sting is a big fan of this song. He says that when they met backstage at an Eric Clapton concert in the '80s, Sting said that he played the song in one of his pre-Police bands.

Comments: 3

  • Tk from Pacific Beach CaThe Union oil spill of 1969 in Santa Barbara was over 10,000X worse than the tanker collision. See for yourselves how much oil gushed out of the well, for how long.and how far it spread to Baja. It also dwarfed the Exxon Valdez in AK
  • AnonymousI'm just a few years younger (b. 1962) so I don't remember the SF oil spill, but I definitely remember the "energy crisis," and the gas lines. My older brother worked at a gas station during this time. My dad bought a diesel VW Rabbit to take advantage of the (then) significantly lower price of diesel and the 40mpg. The crisis in the 70s was the result of the OPEC Arab oil embargo, in response to the US support for Israel in their 1973 war. So it wasn't about running out of oil. It was entirely man made.
  • Dan Sibley7 from TexasI'm trying not to be picky, but weren't Castillo and Kupka kind of old to have been in high school at the time of the 1971 oil spill: Castillo would have been about 21 and Kupka would have been about 25. I guess it does not matter. I still love the song, and I'm not a "funk" fan.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Holly Knight ("The Best," "Love Is A Battlefield")

Holly Knight ("The Best," "Love Is A Battlefield")Songwriter Interviews

Holly Knight talks about some of the hit songs she wrote, including "The Warrior," "Never" and "The Best," and explains some songwriting philosophy, including how to think of a bridge.

Bryan Adams

Bryan AdamsSongwriter Interviews

What's the deal with "Summer of '69"? Bryan explains what the song is really about, and shares more of his songwriting insights.

90s Music Quiz 1

90s Music Quiz 1Music Quiz

First question: Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson appeared in videos for what artist?

Psychedelic Lyrics

Psychedelic LyricsMusic Quiz

Whoa man! Do you know which band came up with these cosmic lyrics?

Bill Withers

Bill WithersSongwriter Interviews

Soul music legend Bill Withers on how life experience and the company you keep leads to classic songs like "Lean On Me."

We Will Rock You (To Sleep): Pop Stars Who Recorded Kids' Albums

We Will Rock You (To Sleep): Pop Stars Who Recorded Kids' AlbumsSong Writing

With the rise of Kindie rock, more musicians are embracing their inner child with tunes for tots - here, we look at pop stars who recorded kids' albums.