Santamental

Santamental
Studio album by Steve Lukather
Released October 7, 2003
Recorded 17–24 June 2002 at The Steakhouse
Genre Jazz, Rock
Length 43:12
Label Bop City Records
Producer Steve Lukather
Elliot Scheiner
Steve Lukather chronology
No Substitutions: Live in Osaka
(2001)		 Santamental
(2003)		 Ever Changing Times
(2008)

Santamental is the fourth solo album from Steve Lukather.

History

When Lukather's record company, Bop City Records, approached him about recording a Christmas album, he quipped, "Why me? Do I look like Father Christmas to you mofos?" The company wanted him to do the record knowing he would approach the project with a unique angle and produce something different from the typical Christmas album. Lukather recruited keyboardist Jeff Babko and guitarist Larry Carlton, who Lukather had worked with previously, to help arrange the songs. The result was a challenge to Lukather, who had to be creative to turn the traditionally simple songs into something interesting for listeners.[1]

The musicians Lukather chose for Santamental, most of whom are hard rock veterans, lent a heavy feel to the album. Van Halen recorded guitar tracks for "Joy to the World" after not having been in the studio for some time but immediately made an impression on Lukather with his level of playing. Vai provided guitar work for "Carol of the Bells" along with Lukather's son Trevor, then 14 years old. Slash, who recorded his part in one take, played on the Lukather/Stan Lynch composition "Broken Heart for Christmas." Lukather spoke highly of Slash after the project, calling him the "Keith Richards of our generation." Famous session guitarist Michael Landau played on the song "Look Out You Angels,"[1] and there is a previously unreleased version of "Jingle Bells" sung by Sammy Davis, Jr.[2]

Track listing

All songs traditional arranged by Lukather/Babko except where noted

  1. "Joy to the World" - 3:07
  2. "Greensleaves" - 6:58
  3. "Jingle Bells" - 2:19
  4. "Carol of the Bells" - 4:42
  5. "Broken Heart for Christmas" - 4:09
  6. "Angels We Have Heard on High" - 4:55
  7. "Winter Wonderland" - 4:05
  8. "Look Out for Angels" - 5:19
  9. "Silent Night" - 4:33
  10. "Goodbye" - 0:47 (Virtual track, not on the record.)
  11. "The Christmas Song" (Traditional, arranged Lukather/Carlton.) - 2:16

Personnel

References

  1. 1 2 Gold, Jude (January 2001), "Christmas Carol in Peril", Guitar Player, 38 (1), pp. 85(3)
  2. ↑ "DH1, Image ink music output deal", Hollywood Reporter, 379 (35), p. 19, July 28, 2003
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/5/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.