Steve Lukather’s Christmas turn back in the early aughts took everyone by surprise – including the Toto guitarist himself.
“Elliot Scheiner had put together a record label [Bop City Records], and they wanted me to be their first artist… and they specifically wanted me to do a Christmas record,” he tells Guitar World of his full-blown festive album, SantaMental.
“I was like, ‘A Christmas record? What the fuck makes you think I’m Santa Claus, man?’ I started laughing, going, ‘You gotta be kidding me!’”
13 years later, Lukather managed to secure the rights to the album and is re-releasing it just in time for the holidays in aid of charity.
What makes this album special for all the guitar heads out there is that it features a Rolodex of virtuosos that Lukather somehow managed to assemble – all for a Christmas album, no less.
“Larry [Carlton] is very, very special,” says Lukather. Carlton, who had worked with Lukather in the past, came onboard as the arranger for the Christmas album project.
“We were on that live record that we won a Grammy for [No Substitutions: Live in Osaka]. When I was a kid, everyone wanted to be Larry Carlton. He was one of the cats I looked up to.
“When me and Larry went on that tour, I got an hour every day before the show, where we’d sit in a room, and warm up. We’d be playing, and I’d get a little fucking guitar lesson from Carlton every night.”
Lukather most wanted to learn Carlton's approach to “chord melody stuff”. Understandable, considering his exceptionally tasty, liquid jazz-blues style.
“He was very gracious and kind, and spent time with me – and sometimes rolled his eyes – and showed me some things. And I’d go, ‘It’s Christmas time, so give me a Christmas song.’ We’d start messing around with that stuff, so I’ve gotta give him some credit for a lot of the cool shit, and I gave him an arranging credit.”
SantaMental also includes the six-string contributions of Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, Slash, and Michael Landau, as well as those of the then 14-year-old Trev Lukather.
The album is set to be re-released on November 7 and is currently available for pre-order.
