Bobby Kimball - Toto Interview

The past year has been a busy time for Toto. Firstly they released the excellent 'Falling In Between' album via Frontiers in February 2005 and then took of on tour to promote the album, including a show at London's Hammersmith Apollo. Now they are heading back to the UK for a further three shows in March. HardRockHouse caught up with vocalist Bobby Kimball for a chat to find out more about the past, present and future for Toto and Bobby himself....

Bobby firstly to start the interview off, would you care to introduce yourself and the other members of Toto to the readers of HardRockHouse?

BK - Hello Doug. The members of Toto are: Simon Phillips-Drums, Steve Lukather-Guitar/Vocals, Greg Phillinganes-Keyboards/Vocals, Mike Porcaro-Bass and of course Bobby Kimball-Vocals

Bobby Kimball

As a vocalist, who has influenced you over the years?

I would have to put Ray Charles first in that list of people, as he was my very first influence in music. I knew what I wanted to do with my life the very first time I heard Ray sing. Now, I happen to be taking vocal lessons from Ray’s vocal teacher, Seth Riggs. Ray respected Seth a lot, and they were long time friends.

I have many other influences though. Avery few in a long list are Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Wilson Pickett, Sam Cooke, Robert Plant, Mick Jagger, Three Dog Night,…..etc. There are far too many to mention here, but you see where some of my roots are.

To many people Toto are perhaps the archetypal AOR band, but how you would describe Toto's music?

BK - As Herbie Hancock told us,……”Toto is just a Jazz band that’s looking to get paid”. I couldn’t agree more, but we have so many different kinds of music infused into this band, it’s very difficult to pigeon-hole us into one arena. When we play Rock, it’s one of the best Rock bands ever,…..when we play Jazz, same case. We can play almost any form of music and come out of it with the very best of them. Let’s suffice it to say that we’ve created a variety of music platforms for the band, and our fans enjoy them all. This is why we show up and play to a very diverse demographic in our audience that stretches from about 15 years old to 65 years old. This is quite an accomplishment for us, and we do appreciate everyone sharing our music with their Grandkids. Just like the CD title track, “Falling in Between”, we’re not classified into one kind of music, we play all formats, and there’s a little something for everyone.

Toto released their debut album in 1978, I 'm aware that the other members of the band were all session musicians prior to this, however I'm unaware of your background. Did you record any material before Toto and how did you join the band ?

I came from Louisiana in 1974 to sing with a band that was formed from “Three Dog Night” after the singers left the band. It was called S.S. Fools. We released one album on Columbia Records and did one tour. The groundwork behind that band was laid a bit faulty, so it didn’t progress very well. However, it was a very good band. You can check it out at: www.myspace.com/ssfools

My daughter does the My Space page for the CD. It was really a fun band, but I guess the most important element for me was that it was the conduit through which I met Jeff Porcaro and David Paich. They were at several of our rehearsals, and there, sitting on the floor about 3 feet from me was the drummer from Steely Dan, and the main writer and brainchild of the “Silk Degrees” album. I could have been knocked over with a feather I was so amazed.

After meeting with, and being asked to become the singer with Toto, I began a 2 year, non-stop background vocal session march along with Michael McDonald, Bill Champlin, and Tom Kelly. We were the main vocalists to call if you needed great background vocals. We were very fast, and seldom even needed a producer there to get things done. After that period, Toto became far too busy for me to continue doing backgrounds, so it was mostly touring time for me from then on.

Simon Phillips Steve Lukather

'Hold The Line' was a smash hit "out of the box". Did the success of the song surprise you, and what did feel like to hear your voice on the radio?

BK - On the very first day of the release of “Hold The Line”, I had my alarm-clock radio set to noon. We had been in the studio working late, and I had my black-out curtains blocking all light coming into the room. When the alarm went off, I heard “Hold The Line”, and I thought it was my drummer friend from Louisiana (who was staying with me for a while) playing one of the remix cassettes I had brought home. However, indeed it was on the radio the very first day of the release. I was scrambling around trying to find the phone to call David Paich and the rest of the guys to let them know we were on. I had been listening to it so much in the studio, but it was fascinating it hear it coming off the radio. Quite the thrill after so much work. I found myself walking around supermarkets listening to our songs playing over the systems there, and I wanted to jump up and say, “Hey, that’s Toto on the radio here”. I guess after so much effort, it’s a natural reaction. I’ve become a bit more subdued these days. I still love to hear our music out there though.

The bands next album Hydra feature the classic track "White Sister", what was your input to that track?

BK - Without mentioning the obvious vocal input, I co-wrote the lyrics with David Paich. This song is one of my favorites to play live, and it’s very taxing to perform correctly.

Moving on to your third album, "Turn Back", which features another personal favourite, "English Eyes". As an Englishman I've always wondered what your take on the lyric was?

BK - After touring in England, there were many episodes of coming into contact with the beautiful ladies in the UK. Need I say more on that subject?

The bands fourth album, appropriately enough entitled "IV", was the most successful thanks to the massive hits, "Roseanna" and "Africa", Although casual readers will be familiar with these songs, do you have any favourites from that album?

BK - I would have to say “Make Believe” and “Waiting For Your Love” are two of my personal favorites from Toto IV. Make Believe is like a ‘70’s love song, and it’s got a certain swing to it that makes me love it. “Waiting For Your Love” is sort of a Hip-Hop song I wrote most of (David Paich contributed a little to it as well) and it’s a personal message to someone I cared deeply for. Very fun song to play/sing.

After the recording of the bands fifth album, "Isolation", and before it' was ever released, you left the band. Was this of your own free will and is there any chance that the recordings of the song featuring you lead vocals might at some point see the light of day, as part of a fan club release or box set, now that you have rejoined the band?

BK - I guess you could say I had about as much choice in the matter as a canon-ball has of leaving the canon after the fuse is lit. I was really asked to leave by the members of the band. It was surely a hard decision for them, but I was out of control at the time, and it more than likely saved my life. I was doing some pretty bad things to myself then, but getting fired from something you really love is a great attention-getter. After the enlightenment stage, I feel much better now, and I was probably the happiest guy on Earth when asked to come back and join my friends in Toto.

Hopefully, the tracks we have with my vocals from the Isolation CD will someday see the light of day. I can’t say when, but we’ve toyed with the idea of putting them out on our latest venture into the media world called www.totonetwork.com. I think it would be the perfect platform to release it on. It’s a subscriber-based network, and we now have several thousand fans using it to communicate directly with the band. They sign up for a subscription, and we give them all of our “inside information” about the band. It’s a great spot for us to really let the fans know and hear the very roots of the band and how things work on a daily basis.

Greg Phillinganes Mike Pocaro

After leaving Toto I believe you relocated to Germany, what attracted you over to Europe?

BK - I left for Germany to work with Frank Farian (of Millie Vanillie Fame). He’s a very big producer in Germany and now, world-wide. I think he has a “Broadway-esque” show going in London as we speak. He offered me a place on his personal project CD he was working on at that time. This is also where I met Simon Phillips, because he played drums on part of this CD called “Far Corporation”. I lived in Germany 5 or 6 years, but I still have many great friends there. I kept an apartment there even after I left, so I guess you could say it’s closer to 10 years of residence in Germany. My Grandfather was born in Frankfurt, so I have some deep roots there. I’m not sure this is the reason, but I feel a strong connection with that country to this very day.

Talking of "Far Corporation", a band who hit the Top 10 in the UK with their version of Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven", did you have any input to the album and were you ever able to tour with the band?

BK - I had absolutely no input as far as the choice of songs being recorded. Frank is very set in his ways about control of his projects, but that didn’t really matter to me. I had fun working with him, and it kept me alive in the fashion to which I was accustomed.

We didn’t really tour, but we did several TV Shows with that CD. Steve Lukather and David Paich are also on that CD. They didn’t come out and do the TV shows, but performed quite well on the CD. I remember Luke’s comment when he found out he would be playing on “Stairway To Heaven”. He said,….”You guys really have some balls to be covering a song like this”. I always thought that was funny,….but true.

OK, let talk about your first solo CD, 'Rise'. it always intrigued me that the bulk of the tracks were re-recording of songs from the debut Unruly Child album. What was the reasoning behind choosing those particular numbers?

BK - That’s true. I fell in love with that band when I first heard them. My friend Bruce Gowdy (guitars for Unruly Child) was the co-producer on that CD. They had sort of a bad run with sales on that CD, and I thought the tracks would be perfect to reproduce on my solo CD. It was great fun and I have a lot of respect for the players/singer in UC. Bruce did a fine job on his parts, and Mark Free proved that he is a world-class vocalist. Nice person as well.

In 1998 Toto celebrated 20 years as group and released the XX album. "Going Home", from that album, is simply a stunning track. When was this recorded and were you invited to rejoin the band at that time?

BK - I actually recorded “Goin’ Home” long before it’s release. It was a song written by Joseph Williams and David Paich. I was asked to fly back from a concert I had just done in Germany to record the vocals. Joseph was there and we did the backing vocal together. When I went to hear the final mixes, there was someone I had never met at the studio. Come to find out, it was Jean Michelle Byron. I had talked with the band members about coming back at that time, and everyone had agreed that we were going to make it happen. However, I think Columbia/Sony had other plans for Toto. They made a promise to the band that if they hired Byron, they would put a huge push behind the band. Things didn’t work out as planned, and “Goin’ Home” was shelved and Byron was hired to sing. My heart sank at this news, but I only wished the guys the best of everything, even as hurt as I was. Byron didn’t work out and the band very soon got the picture. Luke handled the vocals for a while, and then in 1998, they asked if I would be interested in coming back and doing a short tour along with Joseph Williams. I told them I would be happy to do this. We did about 5 dates in Europe, and what a great time we had. Soon after that, I was asked to do the “Mindfields” CD with Toto.

So next up, in 1999, was your second solo album, All I Ever Needed", Having never heard the CD (not for want of trying!) I was wondering if you could describe the music for me?

BK - This was a great CD, but I had made a very bad choice of partners for doing that one. It seems the money made from the CD disappeared into thin air. It’s more ballad oriented, and I do love to sing ballads (not my forte with Toto). I do plan to re-release it soon with some really nice new cuts to make it even more interesting. I’ll remove a few cuts, and replace them with what I feel is some better music, and new textures for the CD.

You mentioned "Mindfields" earlier. After seventeen years apart from Toto, what difference did you find on returning to the band and how involved were you in the making of the album?

BK - The obvious difference was in the drum section. Simon Phillips had replaced Jeff Porcaro. The band had a totally different feel, but it was new and exciting. Simon and Jeff are totally different kinds of drummers, so it gave the band a unique difference. It was like being in a totally different band, but just a great as ever.

I wrote a lot on the Mindfields CD, and was totally involved in the vocal performances. Simon was the mastermind behind the sounds and mixes on that CD, and I was truly amazed at his talent behind the mixing desk. He has real genius in that position.

If memory serves you also recorded a live album, "Livefields" from the accompanying tour?

BK - In a word,………”Yes”

Where was the album actually recorded and what are your memories of that show?

BK - This is a compilation of several concerts, so it would be hard to answer that question.

Next up was the covers covers album, "Through The Looking Glass", released in 2003. How did the idea for that CD come about?

BK - Before we did that CD, we were on tour down in New Orleans playing at the House of Blues there. David Paich started playing “House of the Rising Sun” during our sound check, and we all fell into it. As our 25th anniversary was fast approaching, we decided that getting a CD out there would be a great idea. Since we didn’t have songs written for a CD, we decided to compile a list of song which influenced us in our learning process to become musicians, and later, a band. The hardest part of this process was scaling down the long list of songs we had to chose from. There must have been at least 250 songs we brought to the table.

Toto

2006 saw the release of my album of the year, namely "Falling In Between" In my review I thought that the three song cycle, King Of The World", "Hooked" and "Simple Life" together very much told a story. Is this what you were aiming to achieve with those songs?

BK - I totally agree. “King of the World” has roots in the Enron affair that crushed so many lives financially and made billionaires of some huge crooks, while Hooked is a perfect example of people being addicted to that sort of action of “the love of money to a fault”. “Simple Life” is all about just wanting to be on the other side of all of this kind of action, and live, love, and be happy. They’ve very connected.

So, of the new songs, do you have any which you love playing live?

BK - I would have to say the title track “Falling In Between” & “King of the World” are two of my favorites to perform.

Speaking of live performances, Toto return to Europe for the third leg Of the 'Falling In Between" tour in March 2007. Of particular interest is the Newcastle gig, as this my home town. What sort of show can the fans expect? Do you have a support band or is it just an evening with Toto?

BK - I can tell you that we’ll be doing all of the hit songs, but little beyond that. We’re doing a new set, I would have to kill you if I told ya. We like for the set list to be a surprise the first night. I’m not sure if we’ll have a support band, as we seldom do.

Is the is first time that you will have played in Newcastle?

BK - To my knowledge. It is my first time there.

Once the tour is done, what's next for Bobby Kimball and for Toto?

BK - We’re planning some big surprises for the 30th Anniversary Tour/DVD/Reunion with most former members. As for me, I will be releasing a new solo CD Jason Scheff (Chicago) are now working on.

And finally, the standard HardRockHouse question. Is there anything further you would like to mention that we haven't covered so far?

BK - I workin’ on it……………………….

Many thanks to Bobby for taking the time to speak to HardRockHouse. As mention Toto are playing three UK dates in March 2007:

March 12th 2007 - Bristol Colston Hall
March 13th 2007 - Newcastle City Hall
March 14th 2007 - Manchester Carling Apollo

You can find out more about Toto by visiting the following websites