Jeff Porcaro
February 1, 2015 1:50 AM Subscribe
“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.” — AllMusic
Despite his untimely death at age 38 Jeff played on a remarkable number of recordings in his life as a session drummer, and as a founding member appears on all of Toto's albums. Songs that feature his drumming include:
Despite his untimely death at age 38 Jeff played on a remarkable number of recordings in his life as a session drummer, and as a founding member appears on all of Toto's albums. Songs that feature his drumming include:
- 'Everyone's Gone To the Movies' by Steely Dan , recorded when he was just 20 years old. (Previously)
- 'Lowdown' by Boz Scaggs
- 'Dirty Laundry' by Don Henley
- 'I Love L.A.' by Randy Newman
- 'Beat It' by Michael Jackson
Dirty Laundry is one of my favorite (actually probably my only favorite) DH song and now I know why.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:12 AM on February 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:12 AM on February 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
And Dirty Lowdown is in the running for funkiest song ever. It's not top 10, but it's close. The guy had a heavy heavy left hand, that's my theory. Just, "THWBAP!" every snare hit sounds like it's a gunshot. But then the hi hat is like feathers.
Oh actually if you watch him playing it live he's using his right on the snare. Makes sense why it's so punchy.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:17 AM on February 1, 2015 [4 favorites]
Oh actually if you watch him playing it live he's using his right on the snare. Makes sense why it's so punchy.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:17 AM on February 1, 2015 [4 favorites]
Here's Pocaro doing an instructional video on his hi hat technique.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:24 AM on February 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:24 AM on February 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
Man, Jeff Porcaro had such a great feel. Probably my favorite session drummer after Steve Gadd. For awhile, I was trying to get my hands on every album the two of them ever worked on. But that is just too many albums. Fun fact: every track on Michael McDonald's album If That's What It Takes features either Porcaro or Gadd on drums. Porcaro played on I Keep Forgettin. My favorite part of that song is the little bass-drum embellishment he plays at the very end of the track.
posted by crLLC at 5:37 AM on February 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by crLLC at 5:37 AM on February 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
And here's Porcaro explaining how he built his "Roseanna" half-time shuffle out of
- the Purdie Shuffle (previously) — specifically his "Babylon Sisters" version,
- Bohnam's "Fool in the Rain" groove, and
- Bo Diddley's 3/2 clave.
> "THWBAP!" every snare hit sounds like it's a gunshot.
That's the gated snare audio effect, a staple of 80s pop (Phil Collins in particular, but hundreds of trend-following record labels have used it to ruin thousands of could-have-been-great small-time rock records). I wouldn't be surprised if Pocaro played the snare with his left hand on the recording but had to switch to the right hand in performance to match the impact.
posted by ardgedee at 6:02 AM on February 1, 2015 [3 favorites]
That's the gated snare audio effect, a staple of 80s pop (Phil Collins in particular, but hundreds of trend-following record labels have used it to ruin thousands of could-have-been-great small-time rock records). I wouldn't be surprised if Pocaro played the snare with his left hand on the recording but had to switch to the right hand in performance to match the impact.
posted by ardgedee at 6:02 AM on February 1, 2015 [3 favorites]
If you love Porcaro, you would also love Bernard Purdie.
The legendary Purdie Shuffle
Bernard Purdie performance
The list of performances that Purdie played on is even more impressive than Porcaro's discography- which is one of the most impressive in all of pop music.
posted by gen at 7:04 AM on February 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
The legendary Purdie Shuffle
Bernard Purdie performance
The list of performances that Purdie played on is even more impressive than Porcaro's discography- which is one of the most impressive in all of pop music.
posted by gen at 7:04 AM on February 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
Drove out west in '79 with a tape of Larry Carlton's first album that never left the stereo. Porcaro's drumwork was terrific and responsible for two speeding tickets.
posted by hal9k at 9:46 AM on February 1, 2015
posted by hal9k at 9:46 AM on February 1, 2015
Classic piece of white boy funk that I've always loved, turns out he touched this too.
posted by turntraitor at 9:50 AM on February 1, 2015
posted by turntraitor at 9:50 AM on February 1, 2015
Around the time Toto was preparing to record their first album, the entire Porcaro clan teamed up with ABBA guitarist Janne Schaffer on a nice little fusion album called Earmeal. Apparently, Janne had asked for Jeff, but then they needed a bassist and his brother happened to be around, and how about some additional keyboards and percussion...
(for a shorter sample, this track is one of the standouts, and has seen some sampling since, for obvious reasons.)
During the sessions, the Porcaros were playing around with some early ideas for a new song. Schaffer liked what he heard, and back in Sweden he used something very similar when arranging what would become Sweden's 1979 Eurovision entry for his friend Ted Gärdestad, written before but first publicly performed after Toto's first album, which led to a bunch of media accusations (which Jeff said was bullshit, because the idea wasn't that original) and one of Sweden's worst Eurovision placings...
posted by effbot at 10:12 AM on February 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
(for a shorter sample, this track is one of the standouts, and has seen some sampling since, for obvious reasons.)
During the sessions, the Porcaros were playing around with some early ideas for a new song. Schaffer liked what he heard, and back in Sweden he used something very similar when arranging what would become Sweden's 1979 Eurovision entry for his friend Ted Gärdestad, written before but first publicly performed after Toto's first album, which led to a bunch of media accusations (which Jeff said was bullshit, because the idea wasn't that original) and one of Sweden's worst Eurovision placings...
posted by effbot at 10:12 AM on February 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
Ah, the "Lowdown" beat, which was such a favorite of a radio boss of mine that he had me record a three-minute 'loop' of it to use as a music bed for some spoken-word 'bits' he did. 1977 music editing at radio stations involved audio tape, scotch tape and single-edged razor blades and the fact that I made something out of that which still sounded good without causing me profuse bleeding was one of the proudest achievements of my dubious radio career. "Silk Degrees" is still one of my all-time favorite albums (as well as a couple of the Dan's), and Porcaro's involvement motivated me to follow Toto well past the point they fell out of my 'favorites' list.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:36 PM on February 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:36 PM on February 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
Thanks for an enjoyable afternoon spent in the early 80s. Also, Bobby Kimball has got to be one of the least likely lead singer "rock stars" ever.
posted by Slothrup at 1:43 PM on February 1, 2015
posted by Slothrup at 1:43 PM on February 1, 2015
for a shorter sample, this track is one of the standouts, and has seen some sampling since, for obvious reasons.)
What are the obvious reasons? I listened to the whole thing, and I can see no reason, obvious or other, to sample it.
posted by thelonius at 2:20 PM on February 1, 2015
What are the obvious reasons? I listened to the whole thing, and I can see no reason, obvious or other, to sample it.
posted by thelonius at 2:20 PM on February 1, 2015
This is less tonally appropriate than on last week's Steely Dan FPP but there are two great Toto episodes of Yacht Rock:
Rosanna
Human Nature
posted by creade at 10:07 PM on February 1, 2015
Rosanna
Human Nature
posted by creade at 10:07 PM on February 1, 2015
What are the obvious reasons? I listened to the whole thing, and I can see no reason, obvious or other, to sample it.
Long stretches of drums and bass, or just rhythm section grooves (importantly, with no vocals) make for excellent sampling material. You sample that groove and can put other stuff on top of it easily. It's probably only "obvious" to people who are familiar with creating sampled music.
posted by readyfreddy at 1:23 AM on February 2, 2015
Long stretches of drums and bass, or just rhythm section grooves (importantly, with no vocals) make for excellent sampling material. You sample that groove and can put other stuff on top of it easily. It's probably only "obvious" to people who are familiar with creating sampled music.
posted by readyfreddy at 1:23 AM on February 2, 2015
Thanks. What I said was too harsh. I mean, the drums sound great, and I can see sampling them.
By "obvious" I thought there was something about that particular song that made it sample-worthy. Wouldn't the whole album be pretty much good for that?
posted by thelonius at 3:25 AM on February 2, 2015
By "obvious" I thought there was something about that particular song that made it sample-worthy. Wouldn't the whole album be pretty much good for that?
posted by thelonius at 3:25 AM on February 2, 2015
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