Welcome to the official Rick Stevens website.
Rick has been singing since the age of four, and started his professional singing career as a teenager. Rick's soulful vocals helped put the Bay Area band "Tower of Power" on the charts in the early 1970's, with such songs as "Sparkling in the Sand" and fan favorite "You're Still a Young Man".
Updates
Recent website updates:
- December 1, 2009: the "Links" page has been updated with links to websites/pages for John Scarpulla and Chester Thompson.
- November 4, 2009: the "Links" page has been updated with links to websites/pages for Brent Carter, Roger Smith, Norbert Stachel, Jesse McGuire, Nick Milo, Russ McKinnon and Steve Grove (Euge Groove).
- November 2, 2009: the "Links" page has been updated with links to websites/pages for Richard Elliot and Marc Russo.
- October 28, 2009: On the "Biography" page, the "After Tower of Power" section has been expanded with more details.
News
Rick denied parole -
On October 21, 2009 the California Board of Prison Terms denied Rick a parole date, giving him a "3-year" denial.
Rick's next parole hearing will be in 2012.
The Board of Prison Terms has hit a new low in their flimsy excuses for denying Rick parole. Rick said they were finding him "not suitable" because they decided that he had not researched his post-incarceration rehab program thoroughly enough. (Using rehab as a condition of parole is ridiculous in itself, as the board members know Rick has been clean for 33 years).
In their statement regarding Rick's supposed lack of research about the rehab program, the board members cited the fact that when they asked Rick how long he would be in the program, he replied that he did not know. One wonders how the board members could expect Rick to know how long he would be in a rehab program, as his stay would be variable, based on program staffers' perception of his readiness for discharge.
Another point the board kept coming back to during the 3-hour hearing was that they felt Rick had not done enough to reach out to the victim's families. Early in his incarceration Rick wrote letters to the families, apologizing for what he had done and expressing his great remorse and sorrow. What more they thought Rick could do was not made clear by the parole board.
Rick's family, friends and supporters are all shocked that the parole board gave Rick a 3-year denial, as at recent hearings they have been giving him 1-year denials. At the last couple of hearings, they've said "we just want you to do [this one more thing], come back in a year and we see no reason why you shouldn't get a parole date". At the 2008 hearing the board told Rick they wanted him to "firm up his parole plans" by getting more job offers - on top of the six offers he already had - and to get accepted into a post-incarceration rehab program, which he did, bringing to the hearing letters from two programs.
Rick has gone above and beyond to meet all the parole board's conditions, yet they continue to issue denials based on thin excuses - and despite the fact that the representative from the D.A.'s office once again said that they do not oppose parole for Rick.
This was a big blow, but Rick is not giving up - he said, "I'm not going to let them get me down!" Rick been down this road before, so he will carry on, and prepare for the next step in the continuing struggle to gain his freedom.
Rick says "thank you" for the support he has received, it means a lot, and gives him the strength to keep going.
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