 |
Tiran Porter | |
|---|---|
 Porter with The Doobie Brothers in 1974. | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Tiran Calvin Porter |
| Born | September 26, 1948 Los Angeles, California United States |
| Genres | Rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Bass guitar, guitar, vocals |
| Labels | Warner Bros. Records |
Tiran Calvin Porter (born September 26, 1948) is an American bass and guitar player, vocalist and composer, best known as a member of The Doobie Brothers from 1972 to 1980 and 1987 to 1992.
Born in Los Angeles, California, Porter graduated from Leuzinger High School in Lawndale, California in 1966. He was playing in LA in a garage band called Six Penny Opera when he got the call to come up and play with the Doobie Bros. [1]
He rose to fame as a member of the Doobie Brothers, replacing bassist Dave Shogren on their second album Toulouse Street in 1972. [2]
His vocals were mostly restricted to the background in the studio, although he wrote and sang "For Someone Special" (a tribute to ill bandleader Tom Johnston) on the album Takin' It To The Streets (1976) and the creatively syncopated "Need A Lady" on the album Livin' On The Fault Line (1977). In concert, Porter usually performed lead vocals on one or two songs.[ citation needed ]
Porter left the Doobies in 1980, citing frustration with the hectic and constant touring schedule. His replacement was session man Willie Weeks, later famous for his collaboration with Michael Jackson and other Quincy Jones protégés. After guesting onstage with his former bandmates briefly during the 1982 farewell tour, he rejoined the Doobies in 1987. Porter played on Cycles (1989), whose title was taken from an unused song he wrote, [3] and Brotherhood (1991). Neither album featured a Porter composition or lead vocal, and his bass is often buried in the mix. After five years of touring in support of Cycles and Brotherhood, Porter finally quit the Doobies for good in 1992. He was reportedly still frustrated with constant touring and the band's preference for recording familiar sounding material instead of his own, more diverse compositions.
Porter released a self-produced solo album, Playing to an Empty House, in 1995. It is a mix of rock, progressive, and jazz spotlighting Porter on all of the instruments and vocals. The album features jazz solos and little or no bass guitar, focusing instead on lead guitar and sequenced keyboards.
More recently, Porter played bass with singer-songwriter Keith Greeninger from Santa Cruz, California, Beatles tribute band White Album Ensemble, [4] Stormin' Norman and the Cyclones, [5] and Moby Grape during its occasional reunions.[ citation needed ]
In 2020, Porter was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Doobie Brothers. [6]
Porter's most notable contributions to the Doobie Brothers' sound were his busy and punchy bass lines; his distinctive tone permeates all of the band's classic compositions and hits.
His early technique, with rich chordal attack, was based mostly on his picking style, favoring the guitar pick over fingerstyle playing. The hit title track from Takin' It to the Streets , which prominently features Porter's thundering, picked notes, is a prime example of this technique. More recently, even performing the old repertoire with the Doobies, Porter has been playing new, custom-made instruments almost exclusively finger style. [7]
Often pictured with a Alembic or Gibson basses during the seventies (usually with a Thunderbird or Ripper bass and earlier with an EB-0L), Porter played Fender instruments, most notably the Fender Jazz Bass, along with BC Rich Eagles and Mockingbirds (Minute by Minute video) and Rickenbackers.[ citation needed ]
The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success during the 1970s, the group's current lineup consists of founding members Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons, alongside Michael McDonald and John McFee, and touring musicians including John Cowan, Marc Russo (saxophones), Ed Toth (drums), and Marc Quiñones (percussion). Other long-serving members of the band include guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter (1974–1979), bassist Tiran Porter and drummers John Hartman, Michael Hossack, and Keith Knudsen.
Charles Thomas Johnston is an American musician. He is a guitarist and vocalist, known principally as a founder, guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter for the rock group the Doobie Brothers, as well as for his own solo career. He has played off and on with the Doobie Brothers for 50 years, in several styles. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Doobie Brothers in 2020.
What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits is the fourth studio album by American rock band the Doobie Brothers. The album was released on February 1, 1974, by Warner Bros. Records.
Takin' It to the Streets is the sixth studio album by American rock band The Doobie Brothers. The album was released on March 19, 1976, by Warner Bros. Records. It was the first to feature Michael McDonald on lead vocals.
Livin' on the Fault Line is the seventh studio album by the American rock band The Doobie Brothers. The album was released on August 19, 1977, by Warner Bros. Records. It is one of the few Doobie Brothers albums of the 1970s which did not produce a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Still, the album received modest critical acclaim. Tom Johnston left the band early in the sessions. He is listed as part of the band but appears on little or none of the actual album: he wrote and sang five songs during the sessions for the album, but they were not included on the final release. Much of this consistently mellow album has a jazz tinge, and the influences of R&B are palpable throughout. The track "Little Darling " is a remake of the Marvin Gaye 1966 hit.
Cycles is the tenth studio album by American rock band The Doobie Brothers. The album was released on May 17, 1989, by Capitol Records.
Brotherhood is the eleventh studio album by American rock band The Doobie Brothers. The album was released on April 15, 1991, by Capitol Records. It was their second and final album for Capitol. It also marked the final appearances on a Doobie Brothers album by bassist Tiran Porter and original drummer John Hartman.
Best of The Doobies is the first greatest hits album by the Doobie Brothers. The album has material from Toulouse Street through Takin' It to the Streets, and is also a diamond record. The album was released by Warner Bros. Records on October 29, 1976, and has been re-released numerous times.
Michael Joseph Hossack was an American drummer for the rock band The Doobie Brothers.
John McFee is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist, and long-time member of The Doobie Brothers.
John Hartman was an American drummer who was a co-founder and original drummer of the Doobie Brothers. At the band's inception, Hartman was the sole drummer. However, in late 1971, the group added drummer Michael Hossack, and the dual-drummer formation remained until 2016 when Ed Toth became the band's sole drummer. Hossack was replaced in 1973 by Keith Knudsen.
Keith A. Knudsen was an American rock drummer, vocalist, and songwriter. Knudsen was best known as a drummer and vocalist for The Doobie Brothers. In addition, he founded the band Southern Pacific with fellow Doobie Brother John McFee. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Doobie Brothers in 2020.
"China Grove" is a song by American rock band the Doobie Brothers, released in 1973 on their third studio album, The Captain and Me. It was written and sung by the band's original lead singer and songwriter Tom Johnston. The song reached number 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100. While there is a real place named China Grove in Texas, Johnston's lyrics about the community are fictional. The song spent eight weeks in the Top 40.
"Jesus Is Just Alright" is a gospel song written by American singer Art Reynolds and first recorded by Reynolds' group, The Art Reynolds Singers, for their 1966 album, Tellin' It Like It Is.
"Minute by Minute" is a song written by Michael McDonald and Lester Abrams originally released by The Doobie Brothers on their 1978 album Minute by Minute. The single was released in April 1979, debuted at number 67 on 5 May 1979, and reached number 14 on 23–30 June 1979 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Song of the Year, but lost out to The Doobie Brothers' own "What a Fool Believes". "Minute by Minute" did win a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus at the 22nd Annual Grammy Awards.
"It Keeps You Runnin'" is a song by the American rock band The Doobie Brothers. The song was written by band member Michael McDonald, and served as the third single from their sixth studio album Takin' It to the Streets (1976). It was also covered by Carly Simon the same year and released as the lead single from her sixth studio album Another Passenger.
"Echoes of Love" is a song by the American rock band The Doobie Brothers. The song was written by band member Patrick Simmons in collaboration with Willie Mitchell and Earl Randle. This song served as the second single from their seventh studio album Livin' on the Fault Line.
Listen to the Music: The Very Best of the Doobie Brothers is a compilation album by American rock band the Doobie Brothers, released in 1993. The album has 19 tracks, including a remix version of "Long Train Runnin'". The album reached at number 10 on the ARIA Charts and also peaked at number 19 on the Official New Zealand Music Chart.
"Wheels of Fortune" is a song written by Patrick Simmons, Jeff Baxter and John Hartman. It was first released by the Doobie Brothers on their 1976 album Takin' It to the Streets. It was also released as the second single from the album.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Bass Player Magazine; accessed December 31, 2015.