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Biography
Infobox musical artist|name = Jeff Porcaro|image = Jeff Porcaro Toto Fahrenheit World Tour 1986.jpg|caption = Porcaro in 1986|image_size =|background = non_vocal_instrumentalist|birth_name = Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro|alias =|birth_date = birth date|1954|4|1|mf=y|birth_place = Hartford, Connecticut |death_date = death date and age|1992|8|5|1954|4|1|death_place = Los Angeles , California |instrument = Drum kit|Drums , Percussion instrument|percussion |genre = Hard rock , pop rock , Arena rock|AOR , progressive rock , jazz , jazz fusion cite web|url= http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search? q=cache:wpoXw2fssI8J:www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp%3Fpid%3D7979442+jeff+porcaro+stan+getz& cd=1& hl=en& ct=clnk& gl=us& client=firefox-a& source=www.google.com |title=Stan Getz - Apasionado CD Album |publisher=Webcache.googleusercontent.com |date= |accessdate=2011-10-24cite web|url= http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search? q=cache:zleoJiNCBtUJ:www.sheffieldlab.com/sheffield.pl%3Fcategory%3Djazz+jeff+porcaro+jazz& cd=29& hl=en& ct=clnk& gl=us& client=firefox-a& source=www.google.com |title=The Sheffield Catalog // Sheffield Lab Audiophile Recordings & #124; The reference standard for musical and sonic excellence |publisher=Webcache.googleusercontent.com |date=2011-10-09 |accessdate=2011-10-24|occupation = Musician , songwriter , Record producer|producer |years_active = 1971–1992|label =|associated_acts = Toto (band)|Toto , Sonny and Cher , Steely Dan , Boz Scaggs , Clover (band)|Clover |website = Jeffrey Thomas "Jeff" Porcaro (April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an United States|American Session musician|session drummer and a founding member of the Grammy Award winning band Toto (band)|Toto . Porcaro was one of the most recorded drummers in history,cite web|url= http://www.freedrumlessons.com/drummers/jeff-porcaro.php |title=Freedrumlessons.com |publisher=Freedrumlessons.com |date= |accessdate=2010-12-09 working on hundreds of albums and thousands of sessions.cite web|last=Ruhlmann |first=William |url=Allmusic|class=artist |id=jeff-porcaro-p112306/biography |pure_url=yes |title=Jeff Porcaro |publisher=AllMusic |date= |accessdate=2011-10-24 While already an established studio player in the 1970s, he shot to prominence in the US as the drummer on the Steely Dan album Katy Lied . Allmusic has characterized him as "arguably the most highly regarded studio drummer in rock from the mid-'70s to the early '90s", further stating that "It is no exaggeration to say that the sound of mainstream pop/rock drumming in the 1980s was, to a large extent, the sound of Jeff Porcaro."
Biography
Personal life
Porcaro was born in Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford , Connecticut , the eldest son of Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles session percussionist Joe Porcaro . His brothers Steve Porcaro|Steve and Mike Porcaro|Mike are both still active session musicians. Porcaro was raised in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles and attended Grant High School (Los Angeles)|Ulysses S. Grant High School .
On October 22, 1983, Porcaro married Susan Norris, a Los Angeles television newscaster. They had three sons, Christopher Joseph (born July 3, 1984), MilesEdwin Crawford (born June 12, 1986), and Nico Hendrix (born December 26, 1991).
Career
Porcaro began playing at the age of seven. Lessons came from his father Joe Porcaro , followed by further studies with Bob Zimmitti and Richie Lepore.
When he was seventeen, Porcaro got his first professional gig playing in Sonny and Cher 's touring band. During his 20s, he played on hundreds of albums,cite web|url= http://www.toto99.com/disco/jeffdisco.shtml |title=Jeff Porcaro's official discography |publisher=Toto99.com |date= |accessdate=2010-12-09 including several for Steely Dan. He toured with Boz Scaggs , before co-founding Toto with his brother Steve Porcaro|Steve and childhood friends Steve Lukather and David Paich .
Besides his work with Toto, he also performed as a session musician with artists such as Paul McCartney , Dire Straits , Willy DeVille , Jackson Browne , Donald Fagen , Steely Dan , Rickie Lee Jones , Michael Jackson , Go West (band)|Go West , Nik Kershaw , Love and Money (band)|Love and Money , Paul Simon , Don Henley , Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna , Airplay , Al Jarreau , George Benson , the Manhattan Transfer , America (band)|America , Peter Frampton , the Bee Gees , Tom Scott (musician)|Tom Scott , Michael McDonald (singer)|Michael McDonald , AmyHolland , Joe Cocker , Stan Getz , Sérgio Mendes , Lee Ritenour , Christopher Cross , James Newton-Howard , Timothy B. Schmit , Joe Walsh , Jim Messina (musician)|Jim Messina , Poco , Exile , the Four Tops , Barbra Streisand , Diana Ross , Natalie Cole , Les Dudek , Warren Zevon , Bonnie Raitt , David Gilmour , Roger Waters , Pink Floyd , Roger Hodgson , Paul Anka , Eric Carmen , Eric Clapton , Miles Davis , Bruce Springsteen , Elton John , Tommy Bolin , LarryCarlton , Mari Iijima and Seals & Crofts .
Richard Marx dedicated the song "One Man" to him and said Porcaro was the best drummer he had ever worked with.cite web|url= http://www.geocities.jp/jeffsstamp/diskfile/rfile/rimarx4a.html |title=liner notes "Paid vacation", see quote about "One man" |publisher=Geocities.jp |date= |accessdate=2010-12-09
Michael Jackson made a dedication to Porcaro in the liner notes for his 1995 album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I . Porcaro had contributed drums to four songs on Jackson's Thriller (album)|Thriller album (" The Girl Is Mine ", " Beat It ", " Human Nature (Michael Jackson song)|Human Nature ", and "The Lady In My Life"), as well as playing on the Dangerous (Michael Jackson album)|Dangerous album hit " Heal the World ".
He also played drums on 10cc 's ...Meanwhile (1992). On the 1993 10cc Alive album, recorded after his death, the band dedicated "The Night That the Stars Didn't Show" to him.
Death
Porcaro died on August 5, 1992 at the age of 38. The rock star fell ill after spraying insecticide in the yard of his Hidden Hills home and died that evening at Humana Hospital-West Hills. According to the LA Times Report, The Los Angeles County Coroner's office lists the cause of death to be a heart attack from the hardening of the arteries caused by cocaine use, not from an allergic reaction to the pesticides as presumed (and stated by Toto in the band's official history) immediately after his death.cite news|url= http://articles.latimes.com/1992-09-04/local/me-6355_1_jeff-porcaro|title=Drummer's Death Linked to Cocaine, Coroner Says : Autopsy: Report finds no evidence to support earlier belief that Toto's Jeff Porcaro died of an allergic reaction to a pesticide|author=Julie Tamaki|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=September 4, 1992cite web|url= http://www.toto99.com/band/history/history4.shtml |title=Official TOTO Website - Band History |publisher=Toto99.com |date=1992-08-05 |accessdate=2011-10-24
Porcaro's funeral, attended by an estimated 1,500 people (friends, family, colleagues and fans), was held on August 10 in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)|Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery , where he was buried. The Jeff Porcaro Memorial Fund was established to benefit the music and art departments of Grant High School (Los Angeles, California)|Grant High School in Los Angeles, where he was a student in the early 1970s. A memorial concert took place at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles on December 14, 1992 with an all-star lineup that included Boz Scaggs , Donald Fagen , Don Henley , Michael McDonald (singer)|Michael McDonald , George Harrison , David Crosby , Eddie Van Halen , and the members of Toto. The proceeds of the concert were used to establish an educational trust fund for Porcaro's sons.
Michael Jackson - Thriller (album)|Thriller (1982), Dangerous (Michael Jackson album)|Dangerous (1991) - "Beat It", "Human Nature", "The Girl is Mine", "The Lady in my Life", "Heal the World"
David Gilmour - About Face (album)|About Face (1984)
Michael McDonald (singer)|Michael McDonald - '' If That's What It Takes (Michael McDonald album)|If That's What It Takes (1982) - No Lookin' Back (1985) - "Take It To Heart" (1990)
Eric Clapton - Behind the Sun (Eric Clapton album)|Behind the Sun (1985) - Forever Man
Les Dudek - Les Dudek Debut (1976), Say No More (1977), Ghost Town Parade (1978), Deeper Shades Of Blues , (1995), Freestyle (2000)
See also
Rosanna shuffle
References
reflist
External links
http://www.toto99.com/jeff/tribute.shtml Official Toto website section dedicated to Porcaro
http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Jeff_Porcaro.html Porcaro page at Drummerworld
Toto|state=plainSteely DanGrammy Award for Record of the Year 1980sGrammy Award for Album of the Year 1980s Persondata|NAME=Porcaro, Jeff |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= |SHORT DESCRIPTION=American drummer |DATE OF BIRTH=April 1, 1954 |PLACE OF BIRTH= Hartford, Connecticut , United States |DATE OF DEATH=August 5, 1992 |PLACE OF DEATH= Los Angeles , California , United States
DEFAULTSORT:Porcaro, Jeff Category:1954 births Category:1992 deaths Category:People from Hartford, Connecticut Category:People from South Windsor, Connecticut Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Category:American Roman Catholics Category:Steely Dan members Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:American rock drummers Category:American jazz drummers Category:American session musicians Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American musicians of Italian descent Category:Toto (band) members
