Jeff Porcaro
Jeff Porcaro | |
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Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
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Years active | 1971–1992 |
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Jeff Porcaro's signature |
Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (/pɔːrˈkɑːroʊ/;[1] April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for being the co-founder and drummer of the rock band Toto but is one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working on hundreds of albums and thousands of sessions.[2][3] While already an established studio player in the 1970s, he came to prominence in the United States as the drummer on the Steely Dan album Katy Lied.
AllMusic has characterized him as "arguably the most highly regarded studio drummer in rock from the mid-'70s to the early '90s" and says that "it is no exaggeration to say that the sound of mainstream pop/rock drumming in the 1980s was, to a large extent, the sound of Jeff Porcaro."[3] He was posthumously inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1993.[4]
Early life
Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro was born on April 1, 1954, in Hartford, Connecticut, the eldest son of Los Angeles session percussionist[5] Joe Porcaro (1930–2020) and his wife, Eileen. His younger brother Mike was a successful bassist and was a member of the band Toto. Younger brother Steve is still a studio musician and also was a member of Toto. Porcaro was raised in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles and attended Ulysses S. Grant High School. Jeff's youngest sibling was sister Joleen, born in 1960.
Career
Porcaro began playing drums at the age of seven. Lessons came from his father
Besides his work with Toto, he was also a highly sought session musician. Porcaro collaborated with many of the biggest names in music, including
Richard Marx dedicated the song "One Man" to him and said Porcaro was the best drummer he had ever worked with.[9] Michael Jackson made a dedication to Porcaro in the liner notes for his 1995 album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I.
Personal life and death
On October 22, 1983, Porcaro married Susan Norris, a Los Angeles television broadcaster at KABC-TV. Together, they had three sons: Christopher Joseph (1984), Miles Edwin Crawford (1986–2017) and Nico Hendrix (1991).
Porcaro died at Humana Hospital-West Hills on the evening of August 5, 1992, at the age of 38 after falling ill while spraying
Porcaro's tombstone was inscribed with the following epitaph, comprising lyrics from the Kingdom of Desire track "Wings of Time": "Our love doesn't end here; it lives forever on the Wings of Time."
Legacy
The Jeff Porcaro Memorial Fund was established to benefit the music and art departments of
Discography
With Toto
- Toto (1978)
- Hydra (1979)
- Turn Back(1981)
- Toto IV (1982)
- Isolation (1984)
- Dune [original soundtrack] (1984)
- "Olympic Games 1984 Theme" [original soundtrack] (1984)
- Fahrenheit (1986)
- The Seventh One (1988)
- Past to Present 1977 - 1990(1990)
- Kingdom of Desire (1992, released posthumously and dedicated to Jeff's memory)
- Toto XX (1998)
- Greatest Hits Live...and More(DVD with behind the scenes footage and interviews)
- Old Is New (2018, posthumous appearance)
With other artists
- Jack Daugherty – The Class of Nineteen Hundred and Seventy One (1971)
- (1976)
- Joe Cocker – I Can Stand a Little Rain (1974); Civilized Man (1984)
- FM movie soundtrack album); Gaucho(1980) - "Gaucho"
- Thank You For Being a Friend
- Tommy Bolin – Teaser (1975) - "The Grind", "Homeward Strut", "Dreamer", "Teaser"
- Les Dudek – Les Dudek (1976)
- Three Dog Night - American Pastime (1976)
- Jackson Browne – The Pretender (1976)
- Leo Sayer – Endless Flight (1976) - "When I Need You"; Thunder in My Heart (1977); Leo Sayer (1978); World Radio (1982); Have You Ever Been in Love (1983)
- Down Two Then Left (1977); Middle Man (1980); "Look What You've Done to Me" (1980, featured in the movie Urban Cowboy); "Miss Sun" (1980, released as a single, then included on the compilation Hits!); Other Roads(1988)
- John Sebastian – Welcome Back (1976)
- Carly Simon – "Nobody Does It Better" (1977)
- Eric Carmen – Boats Against the Current (1977) - "She Did It", "Boats Against the Current", "Love Is All That Matters"
- Valerie Carter – Just a Stone's Throw Away (1977); Wild Child (1978)
- Lisa Dal Bello – Lisa Dal Bello (1977)
- Alan O'Day - Undercover Angel (1977)
- Hall & Oates – Beauty on a Back Street (1977)
- Rit(1981)
- Diana Ross – Baby It's Me (1977); Ross (1983)
- Colin Blunstone – Never Even Thought (1978)
- Larry Carlton – Larry Carlton (1978); Sleepwalk (1981); Friends (1983)
- Allen Toussaint – Motion (1978)
- As Frenéticas - Dancin' Days (1978)
- Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow"
- The Manhattan Transfer - Pastiche (1978); Extensions (1979) - "Birdland", "Twilight Zone / Twilight Tone"; Bodies and Souls (1983); The Offbeat of Avenues (1991) - "Confide in Me"
- Warren Zevon – Excitable Boy (1978) - "Nighttime in the Switching Yard"; Mr. Bad Example (1991)
- Ruben Blades – Nothing but the Truth(1988)
- Thistles(1978)
- Jerry Williams – Gone (1978)
- Al Stewart – Time Passages (1978) - "Valentina Way"
- Marc Jordan - Mannequin (1978)
- The Pointer Sisters - Energy (1978)
- Linda Evans - "You Control Me" (1979)
- Rickie Lee Jones – Rickie Lee Jones (1979); The Magazine (1984)
- Janne Schaffer – Earmeal (1979)
- Lowell George – Thanks, I'll Eat It Here (1979)
- Flyer – Send a Little Love My Way (1979)
- Bill Hughes – Dream Master (1979)
- Pink Floyd – The Wall (1979) - "Mother"
- Aretha Franklin – Aretha (1980); Love All the Hurt Away (1981)
- Klaatu – Endangered Species (1980)
- Mariya Takeuchi – Miss M (1980)
- The Brothers Johnson – Winners (1981)
- Bill Champlin - Runaway (1981) - "Without You"
- Peter Frampton – Breaking All the Rules (1981)
- Bee Gees – Living Eyes (1981)
- Char – U.S.J (1981)
- Christopher Cross – "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" (1981); Another Page (1983); Rendezvous (1992)
- Randy Crawford – Secret Combination (1981); Windsong (1982); Nightline (1983)
- Al Jarreau – Breakin' Away (1981) - "Breakin' Away"; Girls Know How (1982, soundtrack for movie Night Shift); Jarreau (1983) - "Mornin'", "Step by Step", "Black and Blues"
- Amii Ozaki – Hot Baby (1981)
- Greg Lake – Greg Lake (1981)
- Allies(1983)
- Eye to Eye – Eye to Eye (1982)
- The Girl is Mine", "Beat It", "Human Nature", "The Lady in My Life"; Dangerous (1991) - "Heal the World"
- Donna Summer – Donna Summer (1982) - "Protection"
- Elton John – Jump Up! (1982)
- Melissa Manchester – Hey Ricky (1982) - "You Should Hear How She Talks About You"
- Donald Fagen – The Nightfly (1982)
- Lite Me Up(1982)
- Don Henley – I Can't Stand Still (1982) - "Dirty Laundry"; The End of the Innocence (1989) - "New York Minute"
- (1990)
- The Imperials – Stand By The Power (1982)
- George Benson – In Your Eyes (1983) - "Lady Love Me (One More Time)"
- James Newton Howard – James Newton Howard and Friends (1983)[13]
- Lionel Richie – Can't Slow Down (1983) - "Running with the Night"; Louder Than Words (1996) - "The Climbing"
- Train in the Distance"
- Randy Newman – Trouble in Paradise (1983) - "I Love L.A."
- Russ Taff – Walls of Glass (1983) - "Walls of Glass", "Jeremiah", "Inside Look"; Russ Taft (1987) - "I Still Believe"
- Chicago – Chicago 17 (1984) - "Stay the Night"
- David Gilmour – About Face (1984)
- (1989) - ''Midnight Rendezvous
- Paul McCartney – Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984) - "Silly Love Songs"
- Joe Walsh – The Confessor (1985)
- Eric Clapton – Behind the Sun (1985) - "See What Love Can Do", "Forever Man"
- Peter Cetera – Solitude/Solitaire (1986)
- Earth, Wind & Fire – Touch the World (1987) - ''You and I'', ''Every Now and Then''
- Fra Lippo Lippi - Light and Shade (1987)
- Roger Hodgson – Hai Hai (1987)
- David Benoit – Freedom at Midnight (1987); Shadows (1991)
- Jon Anderson – In the City of Angels (1988)
- Busca Una Mujer(1988)
- Love and Money – Strange Kind of Love (1988)
- Patti Austin – The Real Me (1988); Love Is Gonna Getcha (1990)
- In a Sentimental Mood(1989)
- Nik Kershaw – The Works (1989) - "Walkabout"
- Poco – Legacy (1989)
- Clair Marlo – Let It Go (1989)
- Celine Dion – Have a Heart (1989)
- Natalie Cole – Good to Be Back (1989) - ''The Rest Of The Night'', "Miss You Like Crazy", ''Gonna Make You Mine'', "Starting Over Again"
- Benny Hester - Perfect (1989)
- material girl
- Los Lobotomys – Los Lobotomys (1989)
- Jude Cole – A View from 3rd Street (1990) - "Time for Letting Go", "Compared to Nothing"; Start the Car (1992) - "Open Road", "Tell The Truth"
- Sandi Patty – "Another Time...Another Place" (1990)
- Bruce Springsteen – "Viva Las Vegas" (1990, included in the collective album The Last Temptation of Elvis and featured in the movie Honeymoon in Vegas); Human Touch (1992)
- Fahed Mitre – Toda la Verdad (1990)
- Twenty Mondays – The Twist Inside (1990)
- Bryan Duncan – Anonymous Confessions of a Lunatic Friend (1990)
- Emily Remler – This Is Me (1990)
- Cher – Mermaids (1990) - "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)"; Love Hurts (1991) - "Could've Been You"
- Michael Bolton – Time, Love & Tenderness (1991) - "When a Man Loves a Woman"
- Planet of New Orleans")
- Rush Street (1991); Paid Vacation(1994) - "One Man"
- Bonnie Raitt – Luck of the Draw (1991)
- Rod Stewart – Vagabond Heart (1991) - "The Motown Song"
- Curtis Stigers – Curtis Stigers (1991)
- Ricky Gianco – E' rock & roll (1991)
- Paul Brady – Trick or Treat (1991)
- B-52s – Good Stuff(1992)
- Go West – Indian Summer (1992)
- 10cc – ...Meanwhile (1992); Woman In Love (1992); Welcome To Paradise (1992)
- Sergio Mendes – Brasileiro(1992)
- Bruce Springsteen – Human Touch (1992) - "Human Touch"
- Roger Waters – Amused to Death (1992) - "It's a Miracle"
- Paul Young – The Crossing (1993)
- David Crosby – Thousand Roads (1993)
- Patti Scialfa – Rumble Doll (1993) - "Come Tomorrow", "Talk to Me Like the Rain"
- Steve Porcaro – Someday/Somehow (2016) - "Back to You"
See also
Book
The book It's About Time: Jeff Porcaro - The Man And His Music, a new biography written by Robyn Flans, was released on September 1, 2020. Foreword by Jim Keltner.
References
- YouTube
- ^ "Freedrumlessons.com". Freeodrumlessons.com. Retrieved December 9, 2010.
- ^ a b Ruhlmann, William. "Jeff Porcaro". AllMusic. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
- ^ "Modern Drummer's Readers Poll Archive, 1979–2014". Modern Drummer. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
- ^ "Joe Porcaro Percussionista Made in Italy". Il Volo Srl Editore. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
- ^ "Jeff Porcaro Throwback Thursday from the MI Vault". Musicians Institute. Archived from the original on November 13, 2021. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
- ^ "Jeff Porcaro's official discography". Toto99.com. Retrieved December 9, 2010.
- ^ Nate Brown. "Jeff Porcaro – Rosanna Shuffle". OnlineDrummer.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
- ^ "liner notes "Paid vacation", see quote about "One man"". Geocities.jp. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved December 9, 2010.
- ^ Tamaki, Julie (September 4, 1992). "Drummer's Death Linked to Cocaine, Coroner Says: Autopsy: Report finds no evidence to support earlier belief that Toto's Jeff Porcaro died of an allergic reaction to a pesticide". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Band History". toto99.com. Toto. August 5, 1992. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
- ^ a b "The tragic real life story of Toto". grunge.com. August 22, 2019.
- ^ "James Newton Howard & Friends". Sheffieldlab.com. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
External links
- Tribute site with complete discography of sessions.
- Official Toto website section dedicated to Porcaro
- Porcaro page at Drummerworld
- 2013 Audio Interview with Steve Lukather talking about Jeff Porcaro from the I'd Hit That podcast Archived April 22, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
- Jeffporcaro.net
- Jeff Porcaro discography at Discogs
- Jeff Porcaro at IMDb