INTERVIEW
Mark Knopfler ’s Guitar Heroes is the all-star charity project featuring an array of legenda r y players – and the final record i ng by Jeff Beck. One fa mous na me who played his part is Steve Lukather of Toto. “It was an honour,” he says. “And a lot of fun.”
When Mark nop er’s Guitar eroes was hailed as a landmark in rock music history , it was no exaggeration. The former Dire Straits leader has pulled together an astonishing line-up of famous players to appear on a charity single in aid of noble causes including Teenage Cancer Trust and Teen Cancer America. Going ome (ThemeFromLocal ero), a song written by nop er and originally released back in 19 3, has been reworked as an extended showcase in which he is joined by legendary guitarists including David Gilmour, ric Clapton, Pete Townshend, Brian May, Slash, Steve ai, Ronnie Wood and Joe Walsh. Poignantly, it also features the last ever recorded work of guitar icon and innovator Je Beck.
And elsewhere, layered within nop er’s six-string tapestry, is longtime Toto man and general session legend Steve Lukather, who was more than happy to lend his licks. Are you kidding me Luke tells TG. To be a part of something like this, which is so cool, and to be on this with all those cool players for such a great cause it’s an honour. I just wanted to be a part of it.
In his typically Southern Californian way, Luke breaks down the experience as only he can. It was special to be a part of something so great, he says. I hope it raises millions of dollars for the cause because it’s a really good one. I don’t know Mark personally, but he’s very into philanthropic work, as we’ve seen with him auctioning o all his guitars. I can relate to getting to the point where you have a warehouse full of sh t and you say, Why ’ I’m at a stage where I want to give back and just be thankful for what I’ve got. I’m into simplicity now. So, it’s very easy to want to be a part of it…
So how did you end up involved with this project?
SL: It’s funny, because Iwas very attered to get the call. I was immediately into it and said, ‘ eah, let’s do it!’ They basically reached out to me out of the blue, which had me saying, ‘Wow’, as they already had so many people involved. Imade ero demands and just did what I did. It was a lot of fun.
Once you dug in, what were your initial thoughts regarding what you were hearing?
The biggest thing was that I didn’t want to put much input into it other than trying to nd something cool to play.
I hadn’t heard the full track at rst, so I wasn’t sure what they were gonna keep, but my initial thought was something like, ‘Man, this is suc
