Joe Porcaro is famous percussionist and arguably the "father" of Toto. Having encouraged all of his songs to play the drums at an early age, he is responsible for starting Jeff, Mike, and Steve down the path towards being the consummate musicians that they are.
Jeff on his father:
My dad was doing the Hartford Symphony and all of us, my other two brothers Mike and Steve, were taking lessons from him at the same time. We would go down with him on the weekends to the drum shop and he would find some free time from his regular students and give us lessons. (Downbeat 1977)
Since Jeff, Mike, and Steve Porcaro had to fight over the drumkit, Mike picked up the bass and Steve switched to playing piano and keyboards.
In an interview with the german magazine Sticks (1992), Mike Porcaro tells how his mother gave the Porcaro brothers their feeling for rhythm by patting their backs like a cymbal:
Yes, she did that with all of us, Jeff, Steven and myself. She has a very good ear for music and plays the German flute. She has a great feeling for rhythm. Maybe that's where we got our 'time feel' and not from our father, I don't know where it came from.
After dinner she would pat our backs with "ding daa de-ding daa". Jeff's godfather Enil Richards said that in Billboard. She did that with all of us, even our sister. Why has one person got a good 'time feel' and the other hasn't? Is it decided by the genes or is it a gift of God? I don't know, but it is interesting. You should think about that, drummers with baby's: give them some help! Get 'em started early!
Joe Porcaro has played on several of Toto's records, playing some percussion and the kalimba on
=> "Africa" as well.
Related Pages
Mike Porcaro
Jeff Porcaro
Steve Porcaro
Toto IV
