Guitarist Steve Lukather’s discography is lengthy and weighty. A co-founder, singer and songwriter with the band Toto, he also played thousands of other artists’ sessions, including Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Boz Scaggs’ Down Two Then Left and classic albums by everyone from Barbara Streisand to Earth, Wind & Fire.
For more than a dozen years, Lukather has been the lead guitarist in Ringo Starr and the All Starr Band. And, he says, it’s the gig that has probably meant the most to him.
Ringo and the All Starrs return to the BayCare Sound Saturday.
“He’s one of my closest friends – over the last 13 years, we’ve gotten really tight,” the California-based musician tells the Catalyst. “He’s very much the big brother I never had. He’s a beautiful soul.”
The former Beatle, who’ll turn 85 next month, began the All Starrs project as a touring vehicle in the late 1980s. The game plan, which hasn’t changed dramatically since those early days, was to pepper the group with “name” players who can support Ringo, and sing their own recognizable hits during the show.
Lukather sang lead on “Rosanna,” one of Toto’s million-selling songs.
The current band also includes Colin Hay (Men at Work, guitar), Hamish Stuart (Average White Band, bass), studio pros Greg Bissonette (drums), Warren Ham (saxophone) and Buck Johnson (keyboards), substituting for longtime All-Starr Edgar Winter, who’s busy making a record.
Only Bissonette has been in the All-Starr lineup long than Lukather.
Starr, of course, also plays drums in the band. “I can’t speak for Ringo, but what I can say is, he likes this group of people,” Lukather explains. “He feels comfortable; he doesn’t have to be ‘Oh my God, it’s Ringo in the room,’ you know what I mean? Because when you’ve been famous like that for over 60 years, it’s a little unnerving when people lose their minds.
“Those four guys, they changed everything. That’s a different level of fame. Way different.
“He’s the warmest guy I’ve ever met. A lovely guy, a family guy. He just loves to play music. He doesn’t have to do any of this – he just loves to be in the band. And we do things the way he likes it.”
There are a few new songs in the set for this tour, including a tune from Starr’s recently-released country album, Look Up.
“The band is loose,” offers Lukather. “My band Toto, we get a lot more detailed with everything. This is like ‘Throw out the rulebook and let’s do it a little different.’
“I love playing everybody else’s music more than my own, believe me. I love this team; this is like my vacation gig. When I’m working with Toto, I’m the manager, I’m the front guy, I gotta deal with all the stuff. Which is great in a different way, but this is like ‘Let’s go out and have fun for three weeks.’ And that’s what it always is.”
The travel, he admits, can get tiring, no matter the project.
“Toto just got back from Dubai. That was a 17-hour flight. You’re going to have to give your underwear to the Smithsonian after that.”
Toto’s summer tour, with Men at Work and Christopher Cross, will bring the group to the Mid-Florida Credit Union Amphitheatre July 19.
Lukather was 6 years old when the Beatles first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, in 1964. “And that was it. I said ‘I want to be George.’ I wanted to make that sound he was making. It changed my life.”
Twenty years later, as Toto was skyrocketing, he was tapped by Paul McCartney to record songs for his Give My Regards to Broad Street album. Lukather even appears in the film of the same name.
Lukather and George Harrison became jamming and hangout pals in the 1990s.
On the All-Starr tours, everyone travels together. Everyone takes meals together – up to a point. “No, he doesn’t go out and hang out with us every night, he can’t,” says Lukather. “It’s too much! People lose their minds when they see one of the Beatles. He can’t go down the street any more than Paul McCartney.”
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