Jeff Porcaro

[oliverlawford]

I really been into listening to the great jeff porcaro playing with Toto and have been really inspired by his amazing playing...

I was wondering if anyone could tell of other albums, bands, etc of which jeff has played with so i can further check him out and study his playing and hear the legend in action...

thx

Oli

[Aja]

Here's a link to his page at Drummerworld--lists who else he's played with:



http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Jeff_Porcaro.html

[Paul Quin]

The list is endless: Check out early Boz Scaggs ("Silk Degrees" I think - sometimes referred to as Toto's first album!). JP also played with Steely Dan on some great stuff. In particular, listen to the title track from "Gaucho." JP also played with Michael Mcdonald on some of his early solo albums. The groove on "I Keep Forgettin'" is about as in the pocket as you can get. I am sure you can fins a discography out there on the web somewhere. I am at work or I would do it for you!

Good luck hunting for the playing of quite simply one of the best ever!

Paul

[Dr Drums]

His half time shuffle is like the funnest beat i could ever play. he ownz.

Dirty Laundry by Don Henley has some tasty Porcaro playing too.

Dirty Laundry???!!!! Wow, I thought I was the biggest Pocaro fan ever, and I didn't know that (maybe because its the most commercially succesful tune of his I can think of).

The thing about Porcaro is you know IMMEDIATELY its him playing, or somebody who really idolizes his style. I didn't think of "I keep forgettin'", but now that I hear it in my head, yeah, definately Porcaro!

He plays on all the Toto albums up to the greatest hits cd (and his untimely death).

Many Bozz Skaggs cuts (Lito, being a great forgotten tune, and that definitive Porcaro shuffle sound).

He is on James Newton Howard and Friends (ca. 1985) considered one of the best sound engineering accomplishments of the time. The 'and Friends' part just refers to the guys from Toto, minus singing. If you watch movies you'll know James Newton Howard, he's one of the busiest Hollywood soundtrack guys ever.

Man, he's awesome. I got to play on his kit an 17 year old wannabee fledgling drummer in 1987 in a clinic in Seattle, WA.

I found this site too...tons of stuff, presumably everything he ever recorded:

Jeff Porcaro Discography


oops: EDIT...I guess Michael Jackson's Thriller would be the biggest commercial success...man so much good stuff his discography Bonnie Raitt Luck of the Draw..just awesome!

Check out Totos official website: www.toto99.com
Jeffs complete (if it exsits) is there. At: Memories of Jeff

[Mike T.]

He played on Jackson Browne's Pretender. I also believe Pocaro and his drum tech are credited with developing the modern drum rack for Pearl.

[cactusman]

what are some of your favorites of jeff porcaro's (r.i.p) works? i enjoy few of the Toto albums but i wanna hear some more stuff.

[cactusman]

i see that my failed attempt at a thread got moved to this one.

Whoa I don't know how I've only just seen this thread! Ok, some albums Jeff lovers should definitely own:

1) Randy Crawford, Secret Combination: a pretty cheesy album in places but has Jeff and Abe Laboriel throughout - 'You might need somebody' has an incredibly 'phat' shuffle groove.

2) Larry Carlton, Friends: again, Abe and Jeff. Bass and drums don't come much tighter. A very listenable 80's guitar album.

3) Dire Straits, On Every Street: 'Calling Elvis' features absolutely perfect rock drumming. You must hear this track!! The big single off the album was 'Heavy fuel'; crap song, great drumming, with a massive Jeff snare fill at the end.

4) TOTO, The Seventh One: features what I think is Jeff's best ever shuffle on the track 'These chains'. And a great Lukather solo at the end, but then every solo that guy plays is amazing.

5) TOTO, Kingdom of Desire: bad album, but the track 'How many times' has one of the greatest Jeff fills ever. You can hear it on Keith Kronin's 'Drum licks from hell' site - http://www.keithcronin.com/fromhell.html

6) It's already been mentioned but the Michael McDonald track 'I keep forgettin' is probably Jeff's finest moment.

And let's not forget Michael Jackson's 'Heal the world'...lmao :)

If you really want to see Jeff at his best though you've got to get the TOTO Live DVD, filmed in Paris in '92. Every time I watch it I'm flawed by his time; he never ever drags or speeds up, except for the odd deliberate moment in a fill. I've never heard a drummer who had such control over the tempo...possibly Jim Keltner, but he did it in a different way. I've always been a massive Jeff fan but my respect for him was brought to new levels when it was pointed out to me, or at least opined, when I was at LAMA that Jeff was the only drummer who never once dragged or sped up. Not even JR could claim that.

4) Word on both comments. That's a wonderful tune. As for Lukather, he's a mofo live. I've seen Toto a half dozen times now and I never leave disappointed.

5) Gypsy Train is a nice tune as well. It shows Porcaro's ability to play it heavy when need be.

Toto is one of those bands that is under-appreciated because the tunes that everyone hears on the radio (or in the elevator) are the commercial sell-out tunes that a band needs to write to get album sales (i.e. radio play). I get tired of the "Toto? You mean Africa? What a gay band." comments. Then you pull out a tune like "Dave's Gone Skiing" or "Jake to the Bone" and you get to hear the harder side of Toto.

Lukather to guitarists is Porcaro to drummers. Never overstated, always just the right playing for the song but when they let loose, look the F out.

Originally Posted by Womble

4) TOTO, The Seventh One: features what I think is Jeff's best ever shuffle on the track 'These chains'. And a great Lukather solo at the end, but then every solo that guy plays is amazing.

5) TOTO, Kingdom of Desire: bad album, but the track 'How many times' has one of the greatest Jeff fills ever. You can hear it on Keith Kronin's 'Drum licks from hell' site -

Right on! I'm always surprised and disappointed when I come across 'Who's your favourite guitarist?' type threads/surveys, because Lukather is never mentioned. The guy's a monster. I'm pretty sure he was also on 'I keep forgettin'', right? Ridiculous rhythm playing.

Mlehnertz, have you seen the Los Lobotomys DVD with Simon Phillips and David Garfield? It's most amusing, Philips obviously plays his arse off, Garfield seems to be completely whacked out on coke, but Luke holds it all down...his ability to play with taste, balls, and yet also restraint is very impressive. And on the TOTO live DVD I mentioned, Lukather does Little Wing as a tribute to Hendrix and Vaughn....for me it's the best guitar solo ever.

It's all because of Toto and the nasty reputation Toto has among mainstream music listeners.

What I love best about Lukather is that he's probably on a recording that everyone on here owns and doesn't realize it. His discography is absolutely huge. I think I'll put on "The Tubes" and listen to the tunes that Lukather wrote that got them on the map.

Hahaha, funny. The Lido Shuffle just came on. Oooooo, freaky!

(I have to get the recordings you recommend. I want the Larry Carlton thing he did too.)

Originally Posted by Womble

Right on! I'm always surprised and disappointed when I come across 'Who's your favourite guitarist?' type threads/surveys, because Lukather is never mentioned. The guy's a monster. I'm pretty sure he was also on 'I keep forgettin'', right? Ridiculous rhythm playing.

Mlehnertz, have you seen the Los Lobotomys DVD with Simon Phillips and David Garfield? It's most amusing, Philips obviously plays his arse off, Garfield seems to be completely whacked out on coke, but Luke holds it all down...his ability to play with taste, balls, and yet also restraint is very impressive. And on the TOTO live DVD I mentioned, Lukather does Little Wing as a tribute to Hendrix and Vaughn....for me it's the best guitar solo ever.

Great Jeff fan site:

http://jeffporcaro.blogspot.com/

Originally Posted by Womble

3) Dire Straits, On Every Street: 'Calling Elvis' features absolutely perfect rock drumming. You must hear this track!!

Wow, one of my favorite drumming tracks ever and one of my favorite drummers, and I never even knew it was Jeff on that track!!!!!!!!!!

That's the thing about great session drummers...they always astound you when you find out another song they've been on! This happens all the time to me with Steve Gadd and Jeff Porcaro.

Tut-tut Stu, do you not digest every word of my posts at the time I write them?

Calling Elvis is one of Jeff's all-time greatest performances. The first backbeat is one of the fattest things I've ever heard - just slightly delayed. It's moments like that that keep Jeff at the top of my list. I've never heard anyone else play with time to such effect, not even the other greatest groove players.

[T.Underhill]

I had no idea that was him on the Dire Straits tunes. I've always dug the drumwork and though I'm pretty amazed to learn this I'm not suprised its him because he's good like that.

Yes, and just in case you didn't see, it was him on Heavy Fuel as well.

Originally Posted by Womble

Tut-tut Stu, do you not digest every word of my posts at the time I write them?

I was busy moving from Texas to England at the time ;-)

[Robin]

Jeff rules! Definitely one of the best groovedrummers ever!

[shuffle]

Originally Posted by Womble

3) Dire Straits, On Every Street: 'Calling Elvis' features absolutely perfect rock drumming. You must hear this track!! The big single off the album was 'Heavy fuel'; crap song, great drumming, with a massive Jeff snare fill at the end.

Wow.. I own this record, and it's been years since I've listened to it. I just listened to "Calling Elvis". Thanks for openning my eyes on the drum part.

Originally Posted by shuffle

Thanks for openning my eyes on the drum part.

That's my pleasure. I bang on about Jeff so much that I figure I probably bore people to death, so it's nice to get some positive feedback.

[shuffle]

I've noticed that Manu Katche also plays on the "On every street" album

However, there are no indications in my booklet regarding which songs are played by Porcaro and which ones by Katche.

From previous posts in this thread, I see that Porcaro plays "Calling Elvis" and "Heavy Fuel"... Anybody knows about the other songs ?

Calling Elvis is very Jeff Porcaro, and not very Manu sounding for sure!

Originally Posted by shuffle

there are no indications in my booklet regarding which songs are played by Porcaro and which ones by Katche.

Yes, don't you just hate when they do that? It's the same with Madonna's Like a Prayer, it just tells you that JR, Jeff, and Jonathon Moffet played on the album. Thankfully, telling those 3 apart is very easy.

I'll have to listen to the other tracks on On Every Street and give you my best guesses.

Originally Posted by Womble

Yes, don't you just hate when they do that? It's the same with Madonna's Like a Prayer, it just tells you that JR, Jeff, and Jonathon Moffet played on the album. Thankfully, telling those 3 apart is very easy.

I'll have to listen to the other tracks on On Every Street and give you my best guesses.

I also hate when you buy downloaded music and get EVEN LESS in the lines of liner notes. Some bands are starting to include digital booklets, but I just wish they'd make an mp3 tag or whatever for band credits!

[Kevind]

Also might add that Jeff Porcaro played on Pink Floyd's The Wall including Pt. 2. If you listen to it you can definitley hear his sound. Apparently Nick Mason was off racing cars or something and was somewhat relieved that they had someone come in and do the album tracks for him.

Also played on Tommy Bolin's "Teaser" which is a great track.

[shuffle]

Originally Posted by Kevind

Also might add that Jeff Porcaro played on Pink Floyd's The Wall including Pt. 2.

You're sure about that ? I thought he only played on the song "Mother".

[Kevind]

Originally Posted by shuffle

You're sure about that ? I thought he only played on the song "Mother".

Yeah I'm pretty sure because I was pretty surprised by it at the time. I *think* it was in the MD issue from a few years but I did read a more detailed account as related by his drum tech but i'm trying to think where I read it. To correct myself though, I'm not sure he played on the full album, I thought he did a number of tracks, and I do believe it was he who was on "Another Brick in the Wall." "Mother" sounds about right too.

[intooder]

I couldn't agree more about Calling Elvis. One of the catchiest grooves ever. Some very tasteful ghost notes on that as well.

[RaincloudMusic]

Jeff also shows up BIGTIME for "Chicago" .... on "17", the first tune is all Jeff.

I thought for years that was Seraphine, but it was Porcaro on "Stay the Night".

Jeff also played for Contemporary Christian artist Sandi Patti on her record, "Another Time Another Place".

I've gotten the video that's posted up here... I'm NOT a drummer; my main thing is keyboards/vocals/flute ...but I'm learning from watching Jeff's segments on that tape.
I didn't complete MUS482 on kit; or even on concert snare. Arm injuries will do that.
But now that it's completely better; I'm gonna try again.

One of the things Jeff said is key. PHRASING. I was taught that on a rediculous level by my piano instructors --- anyway. He was an amazing musician; not just a time keeper. There was more than "metronome" to his playing. Just watching the video ---during the opening Jam, the smile never leaves his face. That's true joy there.
Loving what you do.

PS: "Creature Stomp" kicks; but they rolled credit and I couldn't SEE what he was doin'.
That sucked. ANYBODY got the title of the Opening jam those guys do on that thing?
It's my favorite thing on the entire video; he's all over EVERYWHERE> The guy had the lightest hands of anybody I've ever heard or seen. Phenominal.

Saturday he'd have been 52. Has it been that long since he left??? Good NIGHT.

Anywho; drummers aren't the only people affected by guys like Jeff. the influence was MUCh broader. I am one of those "non drummers" who absolutely LOVED hearing "Lido Shuffle" and the things he did on Bonnie Raitt's "Luck of the Draw" caused my jaw to drop.

I was sunbathing and filling out housing request forms on 9/05/02. I heard the news guy say "Porcaro" and "heart attack" and it didn't sink in until about two hours later that he'd gone. Shock. Like when I heard of Anthony Berger (Gospel pianist) passing away at the keyboard in February of this year. Absolute denial for a few hours.

Sheer, unadulteraed, God-Given "Groove". How else to explain what Gift??

I don't know if the hole he left in the industry has been filled...YET!

It's gonna take awhile.............


Theresa
B.M. Music Business 1996
Southern Mississippi

[RaincloudMusic]

He had a jazz background but could kick the crap outta the bass drum's batter side.
"Kingdom Of Desire" ranks as my #2 favorite record of TOTO stuff he ever did, "Wings of Time"....amazing. "Gypsy Train" just HAULS.....and "Kick down the Walls" ---sounds like Jeff might have tried it, ha ha.

I'm listening to the opening groove on the instructional video and amazed STILL at the way the guy's just FLYIN' around the kit. "Jake to the Bone" (from K.O.D.) is an amazing little thing.

"How Many Times" also on KOD is another smokin' thing.
"Look the F out" is correct. I told my sister tonight, "all OVER the place, this guy was---when he got a chance to really stretch out---LOOK out 'cause you never knew where he'd go next." His Hat work is STILL blowin' my mind.

Porcaro could go all finesse one minute and tear the top of your head off the next. I loved hearing him on KOD because this was not "typical" for TOTO and they'd really stretched things.
"Never Enough" REMAINS my favorite from the album (all time). I'm sitting here writing this, watching the instructional DVD and singing the groove for "How Many Times" all at once.
He and Mike had the FATTEST pocket groove on that record.
I sing with my family; all the time. (It's a Gospel thang). NOTHING like that.
You don't have to SAY a word----it just happens. Hungate/Porcaro rocked; but when Mike and Jeff got into ANYTHING; it just plain smoldered. KOD is prime example of that.


-just my observations/musician's opinions..... (everybody's got 'em. LOL).

T

Originally Posted by mlehnertz

4) Word on both comments. That's a wonderful tune. As for Lukather, he's a mofo live. I've seen Toto a half dozen times now and I never leave disappointed.

5) Gypsy Train is a nice tune as well. It shows Porcaro's ability to play it heavy when need be.

Toto is one of those bands that is under-appreciated because the tunes that everyone hears on the radio (or in the elevator) are the commercial sell-out tunes that a band needs to write to get album sales (i.e. radio play). I get tired of the "Toto? You mean Africa? What a gay band." comments. Then you pull out a tune like "Dave's Gone Skiing" or "Jake to the Bone" and you get to hear the harder side of Toto.

Lukather to guitarists is Porcaro to drummers. Never overstated, always just the right playing for the song but when they let loose, look the F out.

[doublestrokeroll]

Jeff was one of the best and most innovative drummers of his time, he was taken way too soon. His playing looked so effortless. Eric Clapton gained the reputation as "slowhand" because he would seemingly make notes you never saw his hands produce. Jeff was the same way.

[RaincloudMusic]

Originally Posted by doublestrokeroll

Jeff was one of the best and most innovative drummers of his time, he was taken way too soon. His playing looked so effortless. Eric Clapton gained the reputation as "slowhand" because he would seemingly make notes you never saw his hands produce. Jeff was the same way.

on the Hal Leonard thing, Jeff talked about how he ripped off Bonham for "Rosanna".

Listening to "Rosanna" as I type--- the ghost notes tha Bonham did....Jeff took to an entirely new and frightening level of "cool". I'll never 'get' that... I found out the title track/opening jam is "Corbit Van Brauer" and is a David Garfield composition (much as is Creature Stomp" at the end.

Once Porcaro got going on "Corbit..." the rack toms never stopped moving. Somewhere (I think in the Liner Notes for "Tribute to Jeff"), Keltner mentions this instructional and makes the statement that he (Keltner) could barely contain himself watching that--that Jeff's right wrist just floored him. If KELTNER said that about his best friend.... where's that leave the rest of us (beginners or otherwise?).

And the most hilarious thing on the entire DVD for me--is the Shuffle Example (the 2nd one); I fault MIKE PORCARO for that down-and-dirty, slinky groove that Jeff just ran with.
Quiet 601's for the first couple bars of that, and then Porcaro goes from all over the Ride --reaching over and just smacks the hats like "Wake up!!!!" And, man DID they.

He was known for the Shuffle groove he couldn't RUN from....but two other things about Jeff that will always be what I listen for as identifiers: That silky/sexy hi hat and a right foot from the Nether Regions..... all on his toes; I guess that came from (as he put it on the vid) "not being able to reach (Dad's) pedals". That 18x22" took the brunt of some classy footwork. It's a joy to watch that.... just to sit and say to myself, "Just remember, he played for a LONG. TIME goin' to get that good....this won't happen over night....Be patient!"

Jeff had decades of playing kit.... I'm just starting. I have to remember the difference is I've had 30 years on KEYS. Phrasing is still Phrasing and he makes that plainly evident
with the work on those toms during "Corbit Van Brauer" and a couple other things in the video. A blast to watch....and learn...and remember just what sort of Giant that guy was.

(And still is).
Thank GOD tape doesn't lie.

T

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pr3TynkVY...jeff%20porcaro

It's fun to see a young Jeff, before his technique became so beautifully refined and precise. He looks more like a rock drummer here than the studio master we all know so well.

The most musical drummer of all times. I cried the day he died.

[KR3]

JP is my favorite drummer of all time. I still play his video and still get plenty of ideas of of it.
Did you guys notice that he was using K's in the Stop Loving you video?

[beatsMcGee]

i love this guy's grooves!! he so fluid and smooth behind the kit

[samthebeat]

No one else makes me feel what I feel when I listen to him play. The thing is I dont even know what im feeling, i cant explain it, but I like it.