Copyright 2010-2011, 2013, 2016-2018 by Richard J. Ballard -- All Rights Reserved.
In the late 1970s Saint Louis had a Peaches record store, an entire supermarket building that had been converted to a vinyl LP store. During graduate school often I visited Peaches on Sunday afternoons, digging through the stacks and particularly through the cutout bins (the discount vinyl LPs priced three dollars each). On Peaches' great sound system I first heard Steely Dan's music, and I got most of my Steely Dan early vinyl LPs from the cutout bins for three dollars each. I played Steely Dan often enough that to save wear on the vinyl LPs I dubbed the albums onto reel-to-reel tape. Also I dubbed a 90-minute mix of my favorite Steely Dan selections onto reel-to-reel tape. The dubbing saved the vinyl LPs and the mix was good background music at conversational parties.
How do you describe Steely Dan and their music? Walter Becker (no longer with us) and Donald Fagen have been Steely Dan's continuing backbone from the very first. Early fans accepted that Becker and Fagen got together periodically with their studio musician friends to record a new album; the players changed from album to album. [Saint Louisian Michael McDonald (formerly of the Doobie Brothers, now a solo artist) is one musician whose bio mentions Steely Dan sessions.] IMO Steely Dan's music straddles both rock and jazz. Steely Dan's musical scoring lacks rock music's anxiety; complexity and sonorous precision is the name of Steely Dan's musical performance game. But Becker and Fagen are storytellers, and (like rock music) Steely Dan's lyrics hint about counterculture excitement: other people are living large in ways you don't understand. Steely Dan's complex precise musical scoring and their outlaw sophisticated lyrics were a heady brew for this engineering graduate student.
Musicians and graduate students age and mature. Still I enjoy Steely Dan's music, but still Steely Dan's lyrics make me wonder what I missed completely while traveling life's path.
You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker [1971]
In mid-1971 Donald Fagen and Walter Becker left the Jay and the Americans (e.g., This Magic Moment) backing band
to concentrate on the soundtrack for the Richard Pryor low-budget film You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It (Or You'll
Lose That Beat). It's a competent first effort; the music is fledgling Dan while the lyrics reflect college boy humor
instead of street sophistication. The sessions feature guitarist Denny Diaz who later participates in the Steely Dan
early albums.
Can't Buy A Thrill [1972]
Steely Dan's 1972 debut album features complex musical performance and somewhat cryptic lyrics.
I associate the lyrics (e.g., Kings and Change Of The Guard) with transition at
the Nixon administration's end, in the United States a period of Maya (a Hindu word
denoting transition). Several selections (Do It Again, Dirty Work and
Fire In The Hole) IMO allude to repeating or avoiding past mistakes, while
Reelin' In The Years IMO alludes both to historic damage control and also to future partnering
opportunities. And Saint Louisians IMO should find the selection Brooklyn (Owes The Charmer
Under Me) remarkable.
Every body is entitled to their own opinion, but some opinions carry more weight than other opinions. We don't need to decide now; let's Turn That Heartbeat Over Again and think about it (while the sand falls within the hourglass).
Countdown To Ecstasy [1973]
This 1973 album again features complex musical performance; I associate the cryptic lyrics
with the Memphis players. Under the guise of a novice talking to his guru Bodhisattva
(pronounced "bodies at TVA"), Bodhisattva depicts a naive new player (Come on
down!) eager to join The Life. When the new player runs out of cash
and credit but before the Razor Boy arrives to collect, the new player gambles his flash
(i.e., his gold jewelry aka Your Gold Teeth) trying to get well. And if all else
fails, player, we still have our bodies [Show Biz Kids (Get the picture?), My Old School
and Pearl Of The Quarter.] 'Coarse, older players have fewer options: time to find a
faraway barony (a small pond) and become King Of The World.]
Player, don't you fret; this album's music is sew good that you'll never miss those marry golds. And if you tire of music, player, then slip a cassette into the VCR and watch The Firm starring Tom Cruise and Gene Hackman. (Player, you don't look like a reeder; other wise I'd recommend the details in author John Grisham's book.)
YouTube video:
Watch a Steely Dan 1973 performance of
My Old School.
Pretzel Logic [1974]
This album's lyrics deal with street life and the lyrics are less cryptic than in previous albums.
[Keyboardist / singer Michael McDonald (who later joined The Doobie Brothers) sang mostly
backup vocals on this album.] With less than thirty-five minutes total play time, composer
Donald Fagen allowed no repeating refrains but expanded his range, including orchestral
accompaniment in some passages; this tuneful album's musical scoring remains complex and precise.
The opening selection, Rikki Don't Lose That Number, IMO depicts an about-to-be-jailed
player whose envious friends likely will strip and wreck his pad; the song councils Rekey,
Don't Lose That (Address) Number! The selection Any Major Dude Will Tell You
IMO councils an underage runaway that drug bad trip (or pregnancy?) minor problems can be resolved;
don't make any unwise commitments. Charlie Freak IMO depicts the aftermath of Frank Zappa's
Freak Out! and teaches the street value of dependable three hots and a cot. The
selection Pretzel Logic IMO suggests that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and suggests
that a road trip long separation can reunite a female player with her apathetic local former lover.
IMO Saint Louisians should find East St. Louis Toodle-Oo with its Scott Joplinish ragtime piano
remarkable; IMO some Saint Louisians will find two other Pretzel Logic selections remarkable.
Katy Lied [1975]
Katy Lied is another short album (just over thirty-five minutes), but the music (featuring
guitar, piano and saxophone solos) is so good that nobody complains. We never learn Katy's lie
but Katy probably took all the money; this album's selections deal primarily with financial meltdown
and surviving interesting times. Black Friday discusses living through the stock market's
collapse (1986's junk bond collapse merely was a dry run). Bad Sneakers are on the lam;
while Daddy Don't Live In That New York City No More calls end of play,
cashed out in a bar friendless awaiting Doctor Wu's (or anybody's) rescue. In the mean time
Rose Darling, Everyone's Gone To The Movies, Your Gold Teeth II,
Chain Lightning and Throw Back The Little Ones all deal with small fish; in the end
we're all fish and Any World (Whirled?) [That I'm Welcome To] is better than swimming in
a barrel.
The Royal Scam [1976]
The Royal Scam is a showcase of guitar virtuosity, studded with wonderful guitar solos
while light, nimble bass guitar underlies the entire performance. The lyrics are a mixed (disordered?)
bag without an apparent unifying theme: Kid Charlemagne depicts the glamour and the paranoia
of the 1970s San Francisco drug scene and The Caves Of Altamira wall graffiti tells us that
the meet identifiers are your Green Earrings while your contact will wear The Fez.
But somebody talked, things happened and things did not happen, somebody else has been sitting in
my easy chair and you ran away to your Haitian Divorce. Those Boston boys
walked into a trap; you know The Royal Scam. Damn girl, now we're both gonna hang around
until you tell me Everything You Did. Later, Don't Take Me Alive musically expresses
a tower sniper's anguish, while Sign In Stranger depicts reinventing yourself
(and highlights Donald Fagen's keyboard wizardry).
Aja [1977]
Steely Dan projects instrumental large ensemble jazz sound with the addition of brass and prominent
saxophone in Aja. I can lose myself following the Aja bass line; artful percussion
and precise walking bass guitar structure each track. The lyrics depict The Life in California,
living large amidst elegant beauty (with an occasional complication). In
Black Cow you react badly when your new girlfriend arrives at your place accompanied by
her protective lesbian street friend, and you miss your friend Peg who went Hollywood, but
no madder 'cause later in the evening you can count on your San Francisco Chinatown friend Aja.
Deacon Blues depicts a musician and aspiring player; always I visualize a Doctor Johnny Fever
character (WKRP In Cincinatti) staging his last big play. And when the play ends, lucky players
go Home At Last to party with their hometown friends (I Got The News) while awaiting
other friends' arrival (Josie).
Gaucho [1980]
Steely Dan's Gaucho is a lyrical masterpiece; depending upon your age and your mood the
masterpiece is funny or it is sour. The lyrics depict player midlife crisis in Los Angeles.
Don't lose the music while you're enjoying the lyrics; the Dan maintain their instrumental large
ensemble sound (adding vocal backup in some passages) and the music is full of guitar, bass guitar
and saxophone play. Hey Nineteen and Babylon Sisters set the stage: pal, unless you
wanted to make a beautifully immaculate impression at a client business dinner, what would you
do and what would you say on a paid escort date? [And in the (a-hem) mean time, My Rival
is flashing his wares and is stealing your clients.] Time Out Of Mind, pal, you better
watch your cash and credit. You know the Glamour Profession; would you pay a quarter
(mortgage your crib) just to shine the silver bowl* (play professional)? Prosperity and
laughter walk hand in hand; pal, when the money runs out the fun walks away. The title
selection Gaucho is the flip side of Aja's Black Cow: pal, your boyfriend
has brought a new street friend to your crib and he's just your size. Gaucho finishes with
Third World Man: somebody got lost between the post-Vietnam military and the real world,
but I'm making new friends and I'll get better real soon now.
The Nightfly by Donald Fagen [1982]
Donald Fagen's solo debut album leans toward competent ensemble jazz instead of rock;
Fagen's extensive keyboard solos and Walter Becker's guitar are notably missing.
The Nightfly theme is adolescent fantasies during the Kennedy years. I.G.Y.
optimistically predicts the US Northeast Corridor joining Continental culture via a
New York to Paris undersea passenger railway. New Frontier lays out an adolescent's
fantasies about equipping the backyard fallout shelter. The Nightfly pictures a
Baton Rouge jazz station DJ fantasy. The Goodbye Look dramatizes an expatriate's
ending in Cuba, and Walk Between The Raindrops glosses over Miami's ending when
the Cuban Missile Crisis goes horribly wrong. The lyrics and music are pure Donald Fagen,
but somehow I visualize lyricist / musician Warren Zevon smiling in the background.
Sun Mountain [1986]
Sun Mountain is a personality CD that adds new pieces to the Dan's puzzle. The album's
early 1970s demo performances [after Becker and Fagen left the Jay and the Americans
(e.g., This Magic Moment) backing band] are rough compared to their studio albums but
the recordings and the lyrics are clear. The title selection Sun Mountain tells of
awakening and of broadened personal perspective. Many of the selections feature composer
Donald Fagen at the keyboard or at the piano singing solo (e.g., You Go Where I Go
and Charlie Freak); guitarist Walter Becker joins in on other selections [e.g.,
Brain Tap Shuffle (don't be shocked) and Mock Turtle Song (don't get shook)];
and the album includes a fully orchestrated Any Major Dude Will Tell You both preceded
and followed by a version of The Caves Of Altamira. Saint Louisians IMO should find the
selection Brooklyn [Owes The Charmer Under Me] (and perhaps three other selections)
remarkable.
roaring of the lamb [1993]
This 1993 Spain imported CD is another Steely Dan personality CD. Its selections and style
partially overlap with the earlier Steely Dan Sun Mountain
CD and reflect Becker and Fagen's early 1970s efforts after leaving the Jay and the Americans
(e.g., This Magic Moment) backing band. Donald Fagen's piano, keyboard and vocals occupy
center stage throughout these small ensemble early performances. roaring of the lamb
IMO comparatively has superior audio quality and is upbeat (lighter alternatives replace some
of Sun Mountain's heavier lyrical selections). roaring of the lamb's lyrical
recording is remarkably clear, making Oh, Wow It's You and The Caves Of Altamira
a pleasure to hear.
Kamakiriad by Donald Fagen [1993]
Kamakiriad is a jazz / dance (no disco) easy listening album; the performances remind me
of a good dance ensemble. (Notice the trombone solos in Teahouse On The Tracks.) Walter Becker
produced the album and played bass / solo guitar.
The Kamakiriad liner notes explain that the CD's eight selections depict a futuristic road trip: In Trans-Island Skyway the narrator / vocalist takes delivery of his new Kamakiri steam-powered dream car (complete with self-contained vegetable garden) and the road trip begins. The next six selections depict road trip adventures; IMO the selections' precise rhythms well depict happy motoring in a tuned clockwork vehicle. But midway through On The Dunes the road trip clearly is running out of steam, and the travelers stop at Teahouse On The Tracks to ponder if they should continue their road trip or should return to ... all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
FWIW, Kamakiriad's steam-powered futuristic road trip theme reminds me of science fiction author John Brunner's 1972 novel The Stardroppers depicting steam-powered cars, and depicting a cultish fad centered around personal appliances for eavesdropping on star conversations. Then cultists publicly begin popping out of existence, and ...
Citizen Steely Dan: 1972-1980 [1993]
A headstart for your Steely Dan collection, this 4 music CD boxed set contains all the selections
from Steely Dan's first seven albums: Can't Buy A Thrill, Countdown To Ecstasy,
Pretzel Logic, Katy Lied, The Royal Scam, Aja and Gaucho plus
an extensive descriptive booklet. FWIW, IMO Saint Louisians will find the second Citizen Steely Dan
CD especially enjoyable.
11 Tracks Of Whack by Walter Becker [1994]
11 Tracks of Whack has 12 selections and is more lyrical than instrumental; IMO the style
reflects Walter Becker's memories of 1960s collegiate coffeehouses. The album's theme is a
college boy among working class dunces (Hat Too Flat) stalled along life's path, mired in
disillusionment (This Moody Bastard) along with reappraisal whacks at former lovers and
friends (Book Of Liars, Hard Up Case). The album ends with noncritical love for
a child (Little Kawai).
Alive In America [1995]
I was in Saint Louis's GIANT! premier high fidelity store inquiring about an equipment upgrade.
There was music on the store system; it obviously was live and I said Who's playing Steely Dan's
music? The salesman said Steely Dan's back! and I said I gotta get that. After
business I walked out to my car shaking my head and thinking I'm out of touch.
Alive In America contains recordings from Steely Dan's 1993/1994 concert tour: the return of Steely Dan. I have read reviews saying Ho hum, the same old arrangements; it's not as good as the studio albums. Most of the Alive In America selections appear in the first seven albums (exception: Book Of Liars first appears on Walter Becker's 11 Tracks Of Whack) and the live arrangements are less complex than the studio arrangements. I'm not going to replow old ground, but IMO somebody else does not understand the difference between live music and studio music.
A gentleman never tells, but I have sat with a live audience through retake after retake because some body couldn't get it right. And I've performed as an amateur; I know about stage fright. The studio is nice and safe: if you screw up you can retake. Alive In America is a live album and IMO nobody should expect live fidelity to match studio fidelity, but here everything is tight, right and out of sight: nobody got hung up with stage fright. Steely Dan really can play; it's not virtual reality from a high tech studio.
Stepping off my soapbox, if somebody wanted a one CD introduction to the Dan, I'd tell them to get Alive In America. It's a live sampler, but if you like the live album you'll like the studio albums even better.
members edition [1998]
This 1998 Holland import music CD's content overlaps both Sun Mountain (earlier)
and roaring of the lamb (earlier), but the Becker and Fagen early performaces
include full instrumental ensemble and the selections include tunes that I have not found elsewhere:
Come back baby; Don't let me in; Old regime; Soul ram; I can't function and
Let George do it. The CD selections are digitized from original analog tapes and have wonderful clarity;
IMO these are studio performaces for an album that improving musical fortunes abandoned. members edition
is enjoyable listening that IMO most people would prefer to the personality CDs Sun Mountain and
roaring of the lamb.
Android Warehouse by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen [1999]
The Legends Collection by Steely Dan [2001]
The 1999 English import Android Warehouse and the 2001 USA release The Legends Collection
contain the same selections. IMO this two CD set is a personality album having the theme finding more than
you expect when you cross the tracks for your post-dissolution new social life. The selections'
musical complexities range from the singing piano player to full ensemble studio sessions. What will
you find at the Android Warehouse?
Two Against Nature [2000]
Two Against Nature marked Steely Dan's return to the studio by winning the 2001 Grammy Award
for Album of the Year. The album follows the Kamakiriad path with a large ensemble playing
jazz / pop solid music. The album's lyrical theme whirls around my next career:
the title selection Two Against Nature depicts running society's gauntlet
similar to The Good Life experienced by Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie. Here life is a series
of transitions (What A Shame About Me and Cousin Dupree both accompanied by Memphis
guitar picking) with Hollywood just over the next hill (Gaslighting Abbie, What A Shame
About Me and West Of Hollywood) but that hill is steep and sweaty (Jack Of Steam).
Two Against Nature is guaranteed to re-energize you the next time you are disappointed by
the newspaper want ads.
everything must go [2003]
everything must go features large ensemble jazz / pop solid music studded with guitar and
saxophone hot solos, an underlying percussive strong heartbeat and synthesized flourishes. Experience
dictates perception; IMO the album's lyrical theme is divorce / dissolution. (When the going
gets tough, the tough go shopping.) The opening selection The Last Mall (hot guitar)
depicts that pre-dissolution frantic shopping trip before your credit rating nosedives, while the
title selection everything must go (hot saxophone) is a partnership going-out-of-business.
Things I Miss The Most (guitar counterpoint) is post-dissolution reminiscence, while
Lunch With Gina (synthesizer and hot guitar) depicts those awkward post-dissolution meetings.
Slang Of Ages features Walter Becker playing Randy Newman (singing Randy Newman style), while
Green Book (synthesizer with guitar counterpoint) finds new friends and Pixeleen's
Japanese anime photographs lean bodies. I don't understand the Godwhacker lyrics, but IMO
God will smile when he hears that clean blues harp and that hot guitar play. FWIW, I prefer this album
to the Grammy Award winning Two Against Nature.
Morph The Cat by Donald Fagen [2006]
Listening to any Steely Dan album is a two-track process, enjoying the instrumental arrangements while
struggling to understand the lyrical themes. Donald Fagen's Morph The Cat is no exception; the
arrangements are remarkable and the music is enjoyable, while the lyrics deserve serious thought.
Fagen's arrangements demand a sound system with bass good reproduction; tinny speakers will leave the listener rattled. The selections are filled with wonderful counterplay: the guitar and the saxophone in H Gang; the blues harp (harmonica) and the bass in Mary Shut The Garden Door; and the guitar and the trumpet in The Great Pagoda Of Funn are remarkable. With Security Joan Donald Fagen IMO illuminated beautifully a page from musician Groove Holmes' playbook, and What I Do IMO achieves the sonic perfection that normally I associate with certain organ and choral ecclesiastical music compositions.
Fagen's lyrics IMO express dismay with the post-9/11 security renaissance and its effect upon urban daily life (an echo of a sentiment expressed by Washington DC's former mayor). Security Joan depicts over reaction to check-in security problems on international flights. H Gang depicts the DEA taking their security expanded roadshow to the boonies. Mary Shut The Garden Door and The Great Pagoda Of Funn express a desire for a reliable permanent partner; and to cocoon comfortably in one's own residence, away from first responders' overenthusiasm. And the CD cover photo depicts Donald Fagen staring out the window at post-9/11 Manhattan's skyline, IMO while remembering the events of his friend Walter Becker's 1980 summer of chaos. IMO Donald Fagen is thinking I'll take a cat nap; this too shall pass.
Circus Money by Walter Becker [2008]
My Circus Money first impression is 21st Century clean capable jazz with puzzling
lyrics. During repeat plays I enjoy the jazz while I decode Walter Becker's lyrics.
Circus Money is about cruising: Our pockets are flush with money and we're going to the circus! Walter Becker's vocals capably project a somewhat jaded cruiser playing against a teasing breathy female chorus. And the recorded lyrics sometimes differ subtly from the booklet's published lyrics.
Both Donald Fagen (absent here) and Walter Becker have reputations for precise studio performances. Circus Money is no exception with good keyboards, guitar and percussion evident everywhere. Throughout the album Becker employs reggae motifs to realize forward moving jazz melodies. Calliope keyboards reinforce the circus motif in Selfish Gene and Darkling Down. The album features tenor sax solos in Door Number Two, Bob Is Not Your Uncle Anymore, Paging Audrey and Circus Money; solo bass clarinet in God's Eye View; and solo baritone sax in Three Picture Deal.
IMO the best approach to Circus Money is to skip the lyrical analysis and just enjoy the play.
Sunken Condos by Donald Fagen [2012]
I have been unable to warm to this album. As always Donald Fagen's composing / arranging
is complex sonorous precision, but (excluding a hint in the selection Good Stuff)
this album's lyrics lack Steely Dan's sarcastic social world view (found, for example,
in Fagen's 2006 solo album Morph The Cat.) I regard Sunken Condos
as energetic background music.
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