Gotta give Lee Sklar his props!!

DWBass · #1 04-08-2008, 06:52 AM

I've been listening to The Toto-Live In Between (Live 2 cd set) and I can't believe this cat learned that whole 23 song set, note for note arrangements, in 5 days! He did a masterful job in covering for Mike Porcaro! One of their best recordings as well!

P.S. I love that song, "Pamela"

fullrangebass · #2 04-08-2008, 07:04 AM

I deeply respect Lee Sklar as well as Mike Porcaro (I own one bass from each; a Dingwall and a Status respectively

)

Sklar's tone is fantastic really and it blends superbly with the rest of the TOTO bandmembers' sound

DWBass · #3 04-08-2008, 08:03 AM

I thought Mike played a Peavey Cirrus? I assume he played a Status previously? How far back?

Lee played the h&!! outta this concert!

CraigG · #4 04-08-2008, 08:08 AM

Lee's a great player. However, I would suspect he was probably somewhat familiar with Toto and their songs prior to the 5 days before he was called to fill in.

DWBass · #5 04-08-2008, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CraigG

Lee's a great player. However, I would suspect he was probably somewhat familiar with Toto and their songs prior to the 4 days before he was called to fill in.

I figured that. I mean, I even knew 1/3 of the songs. But what was more amazing were the arrangements and transitions. Some bands have to rehearse for months. Of course, not Toto since they are all (or mostly) studio vets!

On another note...their lead singer always looks like he's about to explode when he sings! Is that the same guy from the early days? If so, his whole look has changed!

CraigG · #6 04-08-2008, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DWBass

On another note...their lead singer always looks like he's about to explode when he sings! Is that the same guy from the early days? If so, his whole look has changed!

Here's a pretty extensive history of Toto... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toto_%28band%29

DWBass · #7 04-08-2008, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CraigG

Here's a pretty extensive history of Toto... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toto_%28band%29

Thanks for the info. Very insightful. I gotta ask.....is that Kimball in the original Rosanna video? Or one of his replacements?

*Edit: Definitely Kimball in the Rosanna video. He still looks kinda the same as he did back then. It had to be another video I watched. I saw another vid with a guy with long blond hair and thinner. Same era though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Cb4JJpUMFo

WJGreer · #8 04-10-2008, 02:35 PM

Lee Sklar got a shout out in a recent issue of Esquire magazine. Something about "guys whose names you don't know that are totally responsible for the culture you live in" or something like that. It mentioned all of the hit records he's played on, oddly failed to mention the Sussudio video where most of us saw him for the first time, but was a largely respectful blurb.

DWBass · #9 04-10-2008, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WJGreer

Lee Sklar got a shout out in a recent issue of Esquire magazine. Something about "guys whose names you don't know that are totally responsible for the culture you live in" or something like that. It mentioned all of the hit records he's played on, oddly failed to mention the Sussudio video where most of us saw him for the first time, but was a largely respectful blurb.

Yeah, but did he actually play bass on that record? I thought it was all synth.

JimK · #10 04-11-2008, 04:49 AM

DW-
Sklar was doing a lotta work with Phil Collins at that time (albums, road band, etc).
I hear you about "Sussudio"...sounds like a synth although Sklar is seen throughout the video (he's doing an excellent job of mimicing the recorded line).

On a tangent-
Back when this tune was popular, Oteil Burbridge nailed the part/sound/vibe on his Fender Jazz.

DWBass · #11 04-11-2008, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimK

DW-
Sklar was doing a lotta work with Phil Collins at that time (albums, road band, etc).
I hear you about "Sussudio"...sounds like a synth although Sklar is seen throughout the video (he's doing an excellent job of mimicing the recorded line).

On a tangent-
Back when this tune was popular, Oteil Burbridge nailed the part/sound/vibe on his Fender Jazz.

I also have a live concert he did in London (simulcast on BBC Radio) somewhere and I don't know who the bassist was (Nathan East?, Sklar?) but he pretty much nailed it as well. On another note...the drummer played the wrong groove on "Two Hearts"!

4-string · #12 04-11-2008, 02:32 PM

Toto never sounded better, IMO.

Mcgiver69 · #13 04-11-2008, 02:58 PM

As a piece of trivia, the song Rosanna was written for Rosanna Arquette who was Steve Lukather's girlfriend at that time. Lucky B@#tard!

Redhotbassist · #14 04-12-2008, 05:49 AM

Just found this on wikipedia..

''Arquette briefly dated Toto member Steve Porcaro; the band's Grammy Award-winning single "Rosanna", the lead track on the album Toto IV, was named after her, but the song itself was not about her, according to writer David Paich. In a 1983 interview with Rolling Stone, Arquette said that she used to bring the band "juice and beer" at all hours of the night during their recording sessions''

Also huge props to Sklar on the live toto album, very tight and great feel.