Just released is The Gospel According To Luke — the memoir by Toto’s Steve Lukather. Unlike many of his peers, in addition to massive success with Toto, Lukather has spent decades as one of the most in-demand session guitarists of the rock era, playing sessions and shows for such legends as Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Michael Jackson, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Boz Scaggs, Joni Mitchell, Barbara Streisand, Peter Frampton, Miles Davis, Stevie Nicks, Hall & Oates, Diana Ross, Lionel Richie, Peter Criss, Warren Zevon, Aretha Franklin, Asia, Olivia Newton-John, Pat Travers, Rickie Lee Jones, Paul Rodgers, Leslie West, Earth, Wind, & Fire, Richard Marx, Sheena Easton, Edgar Winter, Chicago, Donna Summer, Don Felder, the Tubes, Dionne Warwick, George Benson, Don Henley — and many, many more.
According to the press release, “The book, (which was written with Paul Rees) reveals how Barbra Streisand bullied her producers, why not to invite Elton John to a party and the means by which Miles Davis could revive a dead dog. Lukather’s extraordinary tale will also encompass the dark side of the ‘American Dream’: from the crashing and burning of Michael Jackson to the death in 1992 of Toto drummer and West Coast legend Jeff Porcaro from a heart seizure at just 38. . . The book will include supporting quotes from such friends and contemporaries of Lukather’s as George Clooney, Eddie Van Halen, Ringo Starr and others.”
Steve Lukather, who’s currently on the road as part of Ringo Starr’s All Starr Band, told Pulse that Toto still wears the scars from the critical lashings they received from the rock press over the years: “There’s no other band like that, which is so funny why we get so much s*** from the mainstream rock press. Y’know, that hurt us, too. These guys just went for us, man: ‘The worst band ever,’ y’know – ‘fake musicians,’ y’know – ‘put together by corporations like Sony,’ or something like that, which was a bunch of lies. We were a high school band that could play well.”
Steve Lukather has a long history with the Beatles. Prior to becoming close friends with George Harrison in the early-’90s, Lukather and Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro played on several Paul McCartney sessions — including those for his Michael Jackson duet, “The Girl Is Mine” and the sessions for McCartney’s 1984 movie Give My Regards To Broad Street — in which he also appeared. Lukather recalled to Pulse the scene going into the Broadstreet sessions during the winter of 1982: “But in-between takes it was so funny, because someone comes up to me and Jeff between takes and says, ‘Whatever you do, don’t play any Beatles songs in front of Paul.’ And I’m going, ‘What the. . . are you crazy?’ I got Paul McC. . . .Paul McCartney’s here!’ So, the first thing I did was, like, play ‘Please Please Me’ and then Paul starts singing along, and I’m singing the Lennon part, and he starts laughing and telling stories. And the guy’s looking and staring me down. And then later on I said to Paul, ‘Man, I hope I didn’t piss you off, I just wanted to — I couldn’t help myself. I was told not to do that.’ He goes, ‘Who told you that?’ Y’know, like, ‘That’s crazy, I’m proud of my legacy.’”
Lukather will be performing in Chicago tomorrow night (Saturday, September 22nd) with Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band at the Chicago Theatre.
