Steve Lukather never holds back. His honesty and humor are always present in his interviews – which is why a recent AI-generated article has him looking to set the record straight.
“I read an interview I never did, which was culled by AI from several different articles,” Luke tells Guitar World. “The shittiest part was some fucking horrible clickbait thing saying I think all modern guitar players rely too much on technology. I never fucking said that.
“I want people to know that’s not how I feel. Some of the greatest guitar players of all time have come as of late. I’m a fan; I’m not an asshole. When I read that fucking clickbait thing, I was mortified.”
He emphasizes: “I have nothing but respect for my fellow guitar players, whatever the level of technique. The competition is staggering – that AI headline was bullshit.”
Are there any young players who have caught your eye recently?
“Tim Henson’s originality is insane. I would never have approached the guitar the way he does in a million years. And I love the fact that women have stepped up. It’s either you’re good at the guitar, or you’re not; sex has nothing to do with it. It’s exciting to see.
“Kids today start out learning Eruption as their first song – the first thing I ever learned how to play was an E chord! There’s quite a bit of difference in the entry-level of being a musician now, as opposed to 1964 when I was a single-digit kid who could play some Beatles songs.”
There seems to be a rise in reverence for session players like yourself. Why do you think that is?
“Man, we walked in every day, and we didn’t know what we were gonna do. They’d throw up a chart with some letter on it, a few rhythmic notations like a little road map, and we said, ‘Let’s play something.’ There was no rehearsal, no demos, just, ‘What are we doing today?’
“It was a very exciting time in my life, and we were all hungry to do that. We were studying this stuff in high school. People are not made of ones and zeros – we’re flesh and blood who sat in a wooden room doing takes until we got something.
“If we did an overdub, we had to do it in one or two takes because there was no room to do it any other way. It was the old school; maybe the young kids are hearing that when they come to see it live. If I make a mistake, it’s loud and wrong – and I do make them every night!”
Was there ever a time in the studio where you made a mistake with the solo but it ended up on the record?
“Yes! Hold the Line is a great example – that solo up until the three-part harmony at the end was one take. Where it goes into the three-part harmony is where I dicked it. There’s a room full of people and here’s the new kid in the band; there’s all this pressure on me. I ripped the first part of the solo normally, then I made a mistake and went, ‘Ah, fuck…’ But everybody was like, ‘That’s great, keep going!’
The Beatles were always in the room. Every record I ever made, somebody would say, ‘Give me a little Beatlesy thing, man’
What's your favorite Toto solo?
“There’s weird solos I’ve done that aren’t famous. I try not repeat myself, which is hard when you’ve done this for as long as I have. I don’t like playing the same licks for every solo.
“But there’s a song called 21st Century Blues on our last full-length album, Toto XIV, and it was a nice homage to Larry Carlton. I used to write Steely Dan-influenced songs for every one of my solo records because that was a big part of my life. I was heavily influenced by that level of quality, musicianship and craftsmanship.”
You’re heavily influenced by The Beatles too. What’s the most misunderstood element of Beatles guitar playing?
“That’s it’s not guitar playing, man – it’s composition. It’s the composition within the composition. Paul played a lot of the solos, which used to piss George off, but the thing is John, George, and Paul always found something incredibly memorable or hookish to play.
“As a session player, I remember referring to Beatles things when I was searching for parts on other songs. I’d go, ‘I need that sound from Fixing a Hole; that might work here.’ The Beatles were always in the room. Every record I ever made, somebody would say, ‘Give me a little Beatlesy thing, man.’
“Nobody walks away from a Beatles record going, ‘That’s the greatest guitar solo I’ve ever heard.’ You might walk away going, ‘That’s the most perfect guitar solo I’ve ever heard.’ But you’re not walking away ablaze by technique; you know what I mean?”
What was it like playing alongside George Harrison in the early ‘90s?
“I actually got to do it a couple of times. I met George a few days before we were doing a tribute to [Toto drummer] Jeff Porcaro after he tragically passed. I said, ‘Hey, man, I just wanted to say hi and thank you for my career.’ He turned out to be the nicest, funniest guy I’d ever hung out with.
“I know I was cracking him up, and we hit it off. I said, ‘You want to come down to the show? I’ll leave a couple of tickets for you,’ never in a million years thinking he’d take them. So, we’re sitting in the dressing room. The last thing we were going to do was A Little Help from My Friends – the Joe Cocker version, ironically – and I’m at the piano getting the vocal parts down.
“Somebody goes, ‘There’s somebody here to see you.’ I say, ‘Dude, right now? Really?’ They go, ‘I think you want to see him. This guy’s from Liverpool.’ I went, ‘No fucking way.’ The door opens up and George is standing there.
The only way I could tell what was happening with Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones was when Michael started dancing
“There were a lot of famous people in the room, but when a Beatle walks into a room, it’s a different vibe, man. It’s a different air. So I gave him my Les Paul – which, just by him holding it, increased its value by a million dollars! I know this because there’s pictures of George is playing it and I got it appraised. Not that I’d ever sell it. My son Trev, a great guitar player, will get it.”
Did you feel some of that same aura while working with Paul?
“Not the same aura – they’re all so unique people. The greatest people, man. You think the most famous people in the world would be assholes, but it’s not the case. They’ve got really great souls, man, and they’re fun to be around. The first time I got to play with Paul was when we did Thriller with Michael Jackson – I was thrilled to be there.”
What was that like?
“It was all cut live. Paul and Michael were in the studio singing live. So I was able to ask every geeky fucking Beatles question about the recordings while we were there for two weeks, having lunch and hanging out. They were just the nicest people.”
Speaking of Michael, Steve Stevens recently told Guitar World that Michael Jackson’s feedback to both him and Eddie Van Halen was that he ‘liked the high notes’. Did Michael give you similar instruction?
“I wasn’t doing solos, I was going parts, so it’s a different vibe. We were working on the middle section of Beat It, and we’d be going at it for 30 minutes, and I said, ‘We’ve got to change it up,’ so that was my addition to it. Michael liked that. The only way I could tell what was happening with Michael and Quincy Jones was when Michael started dancing!”
So most of his communication was non-verbal in your case?
“It was a pocket thing – if I was in the pocket, it was swinging, and he started dancing, and that was the take. If he was looking at me funny… it had to be how he wanted it to feel. But with the solos and the high notes, I could see how he would say that!”
This past fall, you played a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s Little Wing on Jeff Beck’s Strat. What was that like?
“Surreal – so much so that it threw me off completely. I played that guitar at his house many years ago, so you have to look at this from my point of view: here I am at the Hollywood Bowl in front of 16,000 people in my hometown, standing on the stage where Jeff Beck stood, where The Beatles stood, and where Jimi Hendrix stood, probably playing Little Wing too.
“This was toward the end of the set. I think Billy Gibbons had Jeff’s guitar then John Mayer had it [Joe Perry also planned to use Beck's Strat on Aerosmith’s cancelled tour - Ed], and they wanted me to do it. The whole moment freaked me out. You kind of get a brain fart from just being emotional about the actual reality of it.
“All these synapses in my brain hit at once, and it was just a very overwhelming emotion. I’m going to get to play it again in London, I think, in a couple of weeks. I’m not gonna do that song, but I’ll use that guitar to do something else.”
Who’s the best in the whole world? You can’t say. But who’s in the top five? Certainly Jeff Beck
What stuck out most about Jeff’s guitar?
“The reason it sounds so great is because of Jeff Beck, not because of the guitar. It’s a nice Strat, but if you put the thing in the stand, does it make any noise? No. Somebody’s gotta pick it up and play it. Believe me, you put 10 guys out with the same guitar and have them play the same blues lick, and it’s going to sound 10 different ways.
“So you realize that the magic that’s in that guitar is his sweat and his notes. It actually felt like a living thing. Sounds cheesy, right? Jeff was a very important person to me. We were friends and worked together on tours; he was my hero. Who’s the best in the whole world, man? You can’t say; it’s impossible. But who’s in the top five? Certainly Jeff Beck.”
Is it surreal to watch Jeff Beck’s guitars and gear being auctioned off?
“Yeah, especially since I played a lot of those guitars through the years. But I think it’s great for his wife Sandra – you know, she’s gonna get sorted out. Nobody was playing them and she wanted people who would actually play them. That’s why she wanted to take this particular Strat and pass it around to get other people’s love for it.
“I was honored to be one of those guys – and I get to do it again. I’m excited about that, even though I’m a Music Man guy through and through. In fact, I’ve got a new version coming out, the L5. But I’ll cherish the moment. We’re human beings; it’s very emotional for me.”
Can you give any insight into the upcoming L5?
“I always like to have new inspiration sonically and physically. There’s some different pickups in there that are really cool. And it’s got a relic’d thing that I wanted to try that. But I’m not reinventing the wheel; it’s pretty much the same guitar, but we try different little things.”
- Lukather is currently touring Europe with Toto.
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