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All Times are Eastern (New York City) Time Zone.
Date: Fri, April 19, 2024, 18:58:53 ET
Posted by: moray eel, NY
Fagen’s New York Rock and Soul at high school.
https://youtu.be/6juqFChRoko?si=WyC9LkOsiLA4RYs9
m.e.
Date: Fri, April 19, 2024, 17:02:19 ET
Posted by: Brian, Oxford
Dan Belecher's remastered 1993 Mountain View CA video is affording me a great deal of pleasure. Great setlist, superb playing and Don still had some of that great voice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3uNhDxcYJg&
Date: Fri, April 19, 2024, 09:33:31 ET
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Date: Thurs, April 18, 2024, 19:16:26 ET
Posted by: The Dean, St. Augustine. It's Happy Hour
Probably not Dangential, bur RIP Dickey Betts.
Date: Wed, April 17, 2024, 22:33:18 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu, No art crime
I heard an interview on NPR, while driving back and forth to work, with St. Vincent/Annie... and she is a *massive* Steely Dan fan. St. Vincent's music, and especially the live performances are a different type of art. I recommend seeing them/her live. There are elements of Prince and Bowie in the highly orchestrated and choreographed live performance art. Something less parodied than Lady Gaga.
Annie Clark was really drawn to the ear candy music of Steely Dan glossing over narratives about a cadre of really seedy characters. Then she proceeded to *scat* the piano solo on Fire in the Hole, where Fagen is looking for the space between the notes.
That solo reminds me of how St Vincent approaches performing a song on stage. I've seen the Austin City Limits concert. A good portion was mesmerizing - because you're watching her and the band act out little plays. this may not be everybody's cup of tea.
I was watching the Huey Newton video from ACL, and it occurred to me: She's Josie!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I89orRWN7I
or could be.
Date: Tues, April 16, 2024, 17:07:24 ET
Posted by: Michael,
Gaucho is the gift that keeps on giving. D&W wrote enough material for it to fill two albums.
Date: Tues, April 16, 2024, 00:54:14 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
Damn, How did I miss this recreation or "cover" of Talkin 'Bout My Home.
Talent + a little AI and modern recording capabilities. Fantastico.
https://youtu.be/eBDG9ZiQnv0?si=6N6tzrk_QkYtP79H
Tasty! Gaucho really should have been a double album.
Date: Tues, April 16, 2024, 00:19:06 ET
Posted by: Abu, Covering Covers
Surely many would agree that there are not nearly enough covers of Walter Becker solo material. However, I have discovered one that is quite good, IMHO. It is by a young woman with the name Danica Baldry. She does Down In the Bottom, originally on 11TOW. Check it out here:
https://youtu.be/C3VVLxDIwqM?si=INqBsF40n-7bmKO7
.
Date: Sun, April 14, 2024, 00:29:41 ET
Posted by: The Dean, St. Augustine. Uptown, Baby!
CCW, I want to say you have sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole with that Steve Kahn youtube video. I had never known about this Steely Dan podcast. I have to assume someone has posted it in the past, but it somehow escaped me. It's called Gaucho Amigo and I assume it is available on most of the podcast outlets. But here's the youtube link as I know that is what M/O/P/D prefers. 🤪
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD_G2IarMgqZuFzApZfzEA7Tswkr_aP5c
But it seems some episodes are missing.
Date: Sat, April 13, 2024, 21:48:59 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
Effortless modulations on Take it or Leave It.
Date: Sat, April 13, 2024, 21:46:45 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu ,
YGSF Song of the Day: Kind of McDoobie in "honor" of the Doobie Bros. taking one for the team and sparing Steely Dan of more openers for the Beagles.
Take it or Leave It from the fab. AM Waves:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZLx6NdKaZc
and Talk Talk's iconic It's My Life with the almost Steely Ebadd9 in the verse:
https://youtu.be/mAOkNNSjkuU?si=89jCy_6ZNysbTM4j
Talk Talk later left the Synth Scene and went on to forge a jazz-post rock fusion on the Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock albums.
Date: Fri, April 12, 2024, 19:55:04 ET
Posted by: CDanborn,
Does anyone else think that the lyrics from “Time Out of Mind”
are reverse irony/irony gone wrong ?
If WB and/or DF were trying to make the first person/
narrator in the lyrics sound like a fool who is seemingly unaware of
or chooses to ignore the inevitable disastrous consequences
of his actions, did they realize the personal (WB) irony in the lyrics
or did they not care at that point?
This would be especially true if the lyrics could
pertain to WB’s real life addiction back then.
Date: Thurs, April 11, 2024, 17:01:58 ET
Posted by: hoops, Chicago
"Gaucho," 200 g, clear viny, 45 RPM, double LP version arrived this morning. It was originally due December 1, 2023 and then postpone to May 1, 2024 but here we are and I'm glad to have it. So far everything sounds just amazing, simply amazing. Bernard Purdie's opening drums are always sort of a punch down, mini sound check for me whenever I listen to something.
Other quick notes. The new catalog for Acoustic Sounds now features "Aja" as the top, primary cover photo.  I seem to recall in a previous catalog the top spot went to "Kind of Blue." So righteous.
One thing in the liner notes: when Donald writes, "But if I were you, I'd be careful about when and how often you listen to this one," remember, just like in a 1992 interview with Greg Kott, Donald says the album reminds him of some very difficult times; he's NOT saying he doesn't like the album. (I just needed to say that because sometimes in the past over the past three decades or so that's where the conversation goes off kilter.)
While the original album credits are left in tact as part of the original artwork, the musician credits in the 2024 liner notes have no mention of Wendel and there are no drummer credits for "Glamour Profession," "Gaucho," "Time Out Of Mind," and "My Rivall."
Regarding the title track, Donald writes, "The song 'Gaucho'... was supposed to be a jokey pastiche of the off-kilter gospel thing Keith Jarrett was into at the time, but I guess Keith didn't think it was all that funny. He threatened to sue us and we consented to give him a composer credit."
I'm grateful to be able to share this experience of things I know and love with those of my kind.

Date: Thurs, April 11, 2024, 13:32:15 ET
Posted by: EC, NY
SD has been replaced with The Doobie Brothers, which is probably a fair trade-off for most Eagles fans. It could be worse, and obviously in the case of the recent Toronto Eagles show, back in March, it was. Much worse.
Date: Thurs, April 11, 2024, 13:18:00 ET
Posted by: Gabe, PA
Ironic that a band known for not playing live is now doing it at an age where age makes it hard to do.
Date: Thurs, April 11, 2024, 11:11:16 ET
Posted by: chris, nh
looks like Steely Dan has pulled out of the UK and NL legs of the Eagles tour. (Still showing on the bill the final NL show, but sure it's just a matter of time).
Date: Thurs, April 11, 2024, 08:02:30 ET
Posted by: Abu, SoCal
Long gone Abu here with some news about a new cover, recently released by jazz singer Lauren White. She has taken on Donald's I'm Not the Same Without You. She does it with a slower tempo than the original, in a style that is kinda Diana Krall-like. A tasty small horn ensemble arrangement, complete with a nifty piano solo taking the place of the Galison harmonica, altogether makes for a decent cover version that pays respect to the jazz routes of our legendary leader. Check it out here:
https://youtu.be/-yrcEFSACE8?si=bcHTi4js-jFiQbni
Date: Wed, April 10, 2024, 11:41:08 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
Very clear version of Cash Only Island. Nice.
I'm now convinced it should have been on either EMG (replace The Last Mall or Blue Bueach) or TvN (replace Cousin Dupree). Krantz on a short but tasty guitar solo.
"Joining Becker and Fagen on this tour are: Tom Barney (Bass), John Beasley (Piano and Keyboards), Ricky Lawson (Drums), Wayne Krantz (Guitar), Cornelius Bumpus (Saxophone), Michael Leonhart (Trumpet), Ari Ambrose (Saxophone), Michelle Wiley (Background Vocals) and Carolyn Leonhart (Background Vocals)"
Date: Tues, April 09, 2024, 21:15:51 ET
Posted by: The Dean, St. Augustine. Uptown, Baby!
SDV, that is a sensational version/recording of Cash Only Island. Thanks for posting it. I can't believe this is the first time I've heard that recording. But then again, my mind is old and feeble, and riddled with alcohol and drug abuse, er use. So there's a good chance I've actually heard that before. 🤣
Date: Mon, April 08, 2024, 15:58:23 ET
Posted by: SDV, up on the hill
Cash Only Island was another cooker that got left behind. great groove, killer guitars, beefy horn chart. and Walter seemed to really enjoy it, he sang with gusto
https://youtu.be/l6bgD9Ve7io
Date: Sun, April 07, 2024, 22:21:26 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu ,
Early Andy Platts and Mamas Gun: Pots of Gold
https://youtu.be/HBmM9rhH8AQ?si=t6-PhnJC0OlZfl0W
Date: Sun, April 07, 2024, 22:05:39 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
Ben Folds appears on another cover - with Daryl Hall in a jazzy/bluesy version of Private Eyes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s0Jn1q-kRc
Date: Sun, April 07, 2024, 16:58:38 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
3 Sisters. 2 Sisters would be even less developed!
Date: Sun, April 07, 2024, 16:57:33 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
Walter's vocal control is actually better live (Jack of Speed from 1997, Book of Liars from Alive, or on Slang of Ages or Circus Money) vs. 11 TOW.
I would agree that 2 Sisters is also not quite as developed or is simpler vs Love in the 4th or Wet Side Story.
I still would replace The Last Mall and Blues Beach in a heartbeat for Wet Side Story, 3 Sisters and/or Love in the 4th.
My EMG Revisited
*Wet Side Story
Godwhacker
Things I Miss the Most - with new intro per NE Corridor
*Pixeleen
Slang of Ages - my Walter corner
Love in the 4th - my Walter corner
*Lunch with Gina
Greenbook
Everything Must Go
#Japanese CD bonus track: 3 Sisters
* my choice for singles released.
Date: Sun, April 07, 2024, 14:27:50 ET
Posted by: Elgin, "On Tour"
Catherine Russell leads a Quintet in three Midwestern cities.
East Lansing, Michigan: Tuesday April 16 - Wharton Center
Chicago, IL: Wednesday April 17 - City Winery Chicago
Indianapolis, IN - Fri & Sat April 19 & 20 - The Jazz Kitchen
with Matt Munisteri - guitar, Ben Paterson - piano, Tal Ronen - bass, Domo Branch - drums
performing her trademark mix of vintage jazz, blues, soul, and swing from the 1920's to the present. A fine excuse for Steely Dan friends and family to gather. Tickets at catherinerussell.net/tour
Date: Sun, April 07, 2024, 14:19:44 ET
Posted by: Chris, nh
I understand Three Sisters was co-written by DF, but it really sounds like a Walter song to me particularly the strange changes before the modulation for the solo section - they are idiosyncratic in a way that many moments on 11TOW are, and perhaps a result of Walter using a sequencer to write many of the songs (there's something he wrote somewhere about trying to figure out what the chords actually were for songs on that album when it came time to record with musicians). My guess would be a portion of it is based on something they wrote together in the 80s and Walter finished it for his record. (That's my same hypothesis for Snowbound). I love it, particularly how tight augmented Lost Tribe rhythm section is on the studio version. The bass/drum mind meld thing is pretty remarkable to me.
I don't hear many similarities to Wetside. Wetside has that wonderful soaring pre-chorus melody but the rest of the verse feels a little flat.
Date: Sat, April 06, 2024, 16:34:00 ET
Posted by: DPillsbury,
I think WSS is a much better song than 3 Sistahs - the melody is
more developed and varied (the melody line is broader, due to DF’s better vocal range), the song form is more varied (nice intro, verse
chorus and interlude sections, definitive ending), solid background vocals, nice, terse
guitar solo by Uncle Walter, great vocal delivery by DF (although he flubs the lyrics at times)
and a more intriguing and ambiguous story line.
Date: Fri, April 05, 2024, 11:42:53 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
Clearly, the Eagles last encore should be...
https://youtu.be/yJD8ABf5jbY?si=2_jNKmg3jLuUY8i3
This reminds of the time that Huey Lewis and the News, an amiable and unpretentious group of chaps, were singing over the background track while pretending to play their instruments at the Oscars...and the backing track started to skip. Oops.
Many artists/groups have been hybrid Milli Vanilli on stage for decades.
Solid Gold was 90% lip sync. Ed Sullivan (and numerous variety shows shows) became largely lip sync or instrument sync (for bands in the 60s who had The Wrecking Crew play on their albums).
...and it turns out that The Monkees were or became mostly became a legitimate group. Who knew?
The self-produced Headquarters and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, and Jones, Ltd. are both very good albums.
Date: Thurs, April 04, 2024, 00:32:10 ET
Posted by: M/O/D/P, It's not *live*, it's Eagles!
Chris's funny Eagles "breaking news story" [sic] and related YooToob link made me immediately think of another funny Music Industry Story from long ago. Not the "story" itself, but the story as related, after the fact, by comedian Norm MacDonald on the David Letterman Show. It goes something like this...
NORM: [My mom] came to visit me in New York, you know? And she's real sweet, you know. She doesn't know much about show business, but she always tries 'cause she knows I'm in show business. So she always tries to give me, like, the showbiz news, and I remember a couple of years ago she phoned me up, she goes [affects high-pitched "mom" voice], "Oh my God, have you heard the news? Liza Minelli's a phony!" And that was her story.
DAVE: Liza Minelli's a phony?
NORM: Yeah, and I thought, how can that be, like, a story? I mean, I'm sure she probably is a phony, you know, but how would that be a scoop? And then like, it took me awhile to figure out she was talking about, uh...remember that "Milli Vanilli" thing?
_____________________________________________________________
Can anyone here delineate the [picayune] difference between outright/obvious musical (?) fraud and the bold-faced robbing of funds from gullible borderline M/R-types ["Eagles fans"] through deliberate in situ deception?
I can't.
To be clear, I don't care about the Eagles any more than Chris does, and I doubt if this revelation will cause much of a ripple. Many thousands of fans have willingly paid $1000.00 each (or more) to see this 2023/2024 concert tour, and most of them just want to hear the songs exactly as they sound on the original recordings. Also, most of these Eagles fans seem quite happy to pay full-pop ticket prices, extravagant amounts of money for "officially licensed" ugly/embarrassing Eagles t-shirts, and they also apparently don't mind being cornholed at the beer concession either. Let's be honest here, these are not, by and large, the most erudite of Music Consumers.
Despite the available facts, most of these folks likely feel that they got what they wanted - slick, soulless country rock-pop, mechanically performed by *some* of the originators - if not actually what they paid for..., y'know, "live music". Despite the online chatter, I do not see any kind of class action lawsuit coming. Most of the dumb shits who forked out are content & pleased with what they got. Case closed - probably.
Also note that Henley is notorious for having any and all Eagles music taken down from the YooToob, no matter how it's used ("context"), The recent fact-based video/audio analysis of "live" Eagles music stands a very good chance of being forcibly removed from whatever platform it may appear on.
The point is, if you re-arrange the letters from the name "Don Henley" - create an anagram, so to speak - one of the unsurprising results is, "Greedy Mean-Spirited Money-Grubbing Prick".
EM/OH/DEE/PEE
Date: Wed, April 03, 2024, 20:47:42 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu ,
Lutz - Yeah 3 sisters was written by Walter and Donald and could have been a SD track.
It has that SD "bounce" in the step. I can almost hear the Danettes singing.
https://somethingelsereviews.com/2018/06/10/walter-becker-three-sisters-shakin/#google_vignette
3 Sisters almost sounds like a companion piece to Wet Side Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtVJHde7a0M
Date: Wed, April 03, 2024, 17:35:31 ET
Posted by: Lutz, Hnl
DocMu, that's an intriguing thought - could it be that 3 Sisters was not put on Walters CD's because it would have been a great fit for EMG or 2vN? That would indeed have been a firecracker to open EMG with, Last Mall would have still fit. On the other hand, it's hard for me to second guess anything that was or was not released. Love In The 4th is a super deep cut, glad the lyrics are included!
Date: Wed, April 03, 2024, 14:44:23 ET
Posted by: Scooterman2, OKC
Thank you for your consideration and insight
Date: Wed, April 03, 2024, 12:59:34 ET
Posted by: ccw, ny
This podcast interview with Steve Kahn is a good listen:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/38-heartbreak-souvenir-ft-steve-khan/id1676094378?i=1000651163452
And his references to Purdie's amazing drumming on "Heartbreak Souvenir" (about 29 mins in) are killing me! This one never seems to see the light of day . . .
Date: Tues, April 02, 2024, 22:58:18 ET
Posted by: Chris, nh
extremely long but convincing youtube video about Don Henley miming his vocals on the current Eagles tour:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ6DbH-X-L0
There's some moral outrage surrounding it, which I don't share, because I don't care about the Eagles. Plenty of bands have been faking/augmenting some amount of live performance since the term 'arena band' was coined. And I think 99% of the audience would prefer convincing, pleasant sounding playback to whatever state an aging singer's voice might happen to be in.
But I do think it's cool that Steely Dan, as far as I can tell through dozens of concerts attended and hundreds listened to, has never been anything but completely live*.
*Live = all the sounds you hear come from people on stage; that doesn't mean there aren't some sleigh-of-hand tricks (Fagen letting a Danette take 'his' note in a harmony so he can lay out and preserve his voice or even some subtle live pitch correction that might nudge a note a couple cents in the right direction ... plenty of evidence for the former, just a hunch for the latter).
Date: Tues, April 02, 2024, 18:17:00 ET
Posted by: Ed Hoe, Barrie Wilson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpIVQxDWowk
Date: Tues, April 02, 2024, 15:10:10 ET
Posted by: Bill Efferden,
John Lennon and Eric Clapton had noted that
they never injected heroin, but rather snorted it.
I assume such was the case for Our Man Walter.
Date: Mon, April 01, 2024, 23:53:16 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
Must
Date: Mon, April 01, 2024, 23:52:43 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
Lutz: That's a great one. It's Girlfriend and this one for me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clnEwTB6tsc
Three Sisters should have been the lead track and first single from Everything Muct Go. I'd probably trade it for The Last Mall.
Date: Sun, March 31, 2024, 21:39:47 ET
Posted by: Lutz, Hnl
Walter at his best.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9cV_tvz5i8
Date: Fri, March 29, 2024, 23:11:08 ET
Posted by: Dr. Hünd, Hanging Valley Wall, Colorado
<<Surf and/or Die>>
Best Walter song….and I love all of them.
Date: Wed, March 27, 2024, 21:24:43 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
M/O/D/P
god an(d) med(s) - AI liftin its Freudian slip!
Surf and/or Die
or this one are as close to SD songs about god and meds.
https://youtu.be/DSfiPrhpeF8?si=J_rutRapsTaHngdr
I'd argue this is also the gateway drug to later SD albums and songs, especially the instrument interlude.
Also, Walter shares lead in part of the chorus and end of the song.
Date: Wed, March 27, 2024, 13:12:08 ET
Posted by: Badsneakers, ,
More likely just a goddanmed typo than autocorrect I think.
Must take the dan-med...
Date: Tues, March 26, 2024, 21:04:08 ET
Posted by: M/O/D/P, Typographical Error Department
"goddamned", not "goddanmed"
Damn autocorrect.
When I go on a cussin' jag, I certainly don't need no AI to figger me out and *fix* me.
M/O/D/P
PS - As my late, lamented Grandpa Blaze would say, way back when, in The Old Days, "Ding dang the #@&&*# dingy-dang #@#@%%** ding ##@@%%** goldarnit!!"
Date: Tues, March 26, 2024, 20:31:33 ET
Posted by: M/O/D/P, Definitely not going to any ridiculous Eagles show anytime soon
QUOTE: "Not much good has happened since they became the official opener".
Point very well made. Especially given that recent "Tom Cochrane" [sic] unfortunate situation in Toronto.
Especially not THAT.
Good Lord...really, who the hell thought THAT substitution was a Good Idea??
I mean, we all understand cancellations and last-minute scrambling...however...
What we don't understand is willfull and deliberate punishment of an already captive ("paid up") audience.
Bad enough that decent, hard-working folks had to pay up (and pay dearly) for an "Eagles" show that, even up-front, in advance, clearly already defied any previous limits for audience boredom and/or suffering.
Never mind the damn ticket prices.
It's enough to make a life-long SD fan bail out and turn into a Springsteen fan.
M/O/D/P
PS - OK, sure, I wuz just funnin' with that last bit. I always like to end on an off-note - a "shock ending" so to speak...but even I will admit that that last line was a bit much, even for me.
PPS - So I beg your forgiveness, dear reader, because this wonderful site does not have an "edit" function, so I can't, y'know, fix any of my earlier indiscretions. Of which there may very well be many, historically speaking.
PPPS - Despite what "Tom Cochrane" [sic] claims, life is NOT a goddanmed "highway". I know this, and YOU know this. And I'm really thankful that I didn't have to sit through an unbearable live performance of that gawdawful hackneyed song, you know, the one that loudly & repetitively claims, over & over again, that "Life Is A Highway". It isn't. That's just tired metaphorical bullshit, and bad song-writing as well.
PPPPS - I guess I should probably just shut the hell up and be eternally grateful that I didn't, y'know, Go To The Show back on March 14th. It is now a Dark Day in history, but it surely would have been several shades darker if I'd actually been there.
Date: Tues, March 26, 2024, 14:55:36 ET
Posted by: Danfests page, sign up
here is a picture of Libby and Dylan asking where the Stones are:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GJlQe07XAAAHoj6?format=jpg&name=large
Date: Tues, March 26, 2024, 14:55:35 ET
Posted by: Lutz, HNL
Eagles have signed a 4th quarter multiple show deal with the Sphere. I wonder if SD will still be on the ticket then. Almost seems like a curse, not much good has happened since they became the official opener.
Date: Sun, March 24, 2024, 22:53:01 ET
Posted by: EC, NY
OK - that "Feelin' Groovy" CD set currently being sold on Amazon...says it's from the Toronto BROADCAST, but the show was, as far as I know, NEVER "broadcast" as in "over the FM airwaves". The recording is a soundboard, and it's been widely shared over the years, by fans - rightly or wrongly, it's been circulating around for a while. I know about the recent EU rulings on broadcast live music that have "freed-up" some older recordings for "legal" sale, but this one doesn't fit that bill. It's not a broadcast.
Date: Sun, March 24, 2024, 16:38:57 ET
Posted by: The Dean, St. Augustine. Reggae Sunday!
Jimme, thank you. I had forgotten about that interview. Pretty funny, in context. Appreciate it.
Date: Sun, March 24, 2024, 16:24:09 ET
Posted by: Jimmie, F
This is what the title of that Toronto bootleg alludes to.
https://steelydanreader.com/2006/03/15/donald-fagen-stowed-away-time-quite-nicely/
Date: Sun, March 24, 2024, 10:09:17 ET
Posted by: The Dean, St. Augustine. Reggae Sunday!
I wonder if someone is out to get Donald. Did you see the title of the latest 2006 concert release (bootleg) from Japan?
https://www.amazon.com/Feelin-Groovy-DONALD-FAGEN/dp/B08GB25J9B
Date: Sun, March 24, 2024, 10:07:09 ET
Posted by: The Dean, St. Augustine. Reggae Sunday!
Napoleon, what a find! Ha!
Wow that is horrible. I wonder if there is some new "artist" going by Donald Fagen, or just a screw up in a database. But seriously, what garbage.
Thanks for the Sunday morning laugh.
Date: Sat, March 23, 2024, 20:42:36 ET
Posted by: Amina Ross, New York
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Date: Sat, March 23, 2024, 19:42:33 ET
Posted by: Napoleon , United Kingdom
In the last couple of hours, I received a new release notification on Spotify for Donald Fagen.
The track is called Infinite Love (I was already suspicious) and the art work is terrible (even by SD's standards).
Needless to say it wasn't him but it's listed on his profile. This isn't the first time this has happened to me either. Anyone else have this problem?
Nap
Date: Sat, March 23, 2024, 18:13:15 ET
Posted by: hoops, Chicago
Had to make some script updates...before posting be sure to do a "refresh" or "reload" of this page. When you go to post, the URL at the top of the page should end in Th3N1ghtBl0ngz2MaryM0na.html
Thanks--with special thanks to Dean!
Jim
aka hoops
Date: Fri, March 22, 2024, 07:28:09 ET
Posted by: Michael,
Doc, how about this one written by Stevie Wonder and Eric Mercury titled 'You Are My Heaven' performed by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway. I think you posted this some time ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF0U9rDsA3s
More songs written by or co-written with Stevie Wonder.
The Spinners - It's A Shame
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoZP18U5VyY
Julio Iglesias, Stevie Wonder - My Love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OXVnsPC0gg
Jermaine Jackson - Let's Get Serious
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMLKb4or8yg
Smokey Robinson - Hold On To Your Love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-JUGYZFcyU
Bonus track: Djavan - Samurai (w/ Stevie on harmonica)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-qwqrQXsXQ
Date: Thurs, March 21, 2024, 17:47:37 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu ,
Here's a recording from Bill Schnee's engineered and produced album by Thelma Houston: I've Got the Music in Me with the Pressure Cooker horns (1975). A nice Stevie Wonder bluesy tune called To Know You is to Love You. The album was direct to disc and the sound is truly "in the room." Some of the best drum mic'ing I've ever heard. Jim Keltner is on the the kit here. Jim Gordon was the other drummer on the album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp0ZWTTf1cs&list=OLAK5uy_kdOgzty1k3xSiuI6VkrU5be3kOqRacXZI&index=3
No wonder W&D wanted Schnee as the recording engineer on Aja with The Immortal!
Drums – Jim Keltner
Electric Piano – Michael Omartian
Lead Guitar – Larry Carlton
Rhythm guitar: Dean Parks
Bass: Reine Press
Saxophone: Jim Horn
Trombone, Bass Trombone: Dick Hyde, Lew McCreary
Trumpet: Chuck Findley, Paul Hubinon
Backing vocals: Jackie Ward, Lisa Roberts, Morgan Ames, Myrna Matthews
Date: Wed, March 20, 2024, 23:41:17 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
As much Jay Graydon produced Al Jarreau sound, but a good one from about 8 years ago from the grazingly Dan, State Cows.
https://youtu.be/dLx7FZd2Acg?si=yCyf3mEWxS8z-5tK
Date: Tues, March 19, 2024, 23:30:49 ET
Posted by: moray eel, Miss
Apologies. Bill Schnee.
m.e.
Date: Tues, March 19, 2024, 21:16:58 ET
Posted by: moray eel, A
Interview with Bill Schee on engineering Aja:
https://youtu.be/jzLe8YsVHOg?si=RrDsbm3DALrGFDgH
m.e.
Date: Tues, March 19, 2024, 09:30:58 ET
Posted by: BadSneakers,
"... you CAN actually get that money back, not necessarily as a refund directly from Ticketmaster, but as a credit card chargeback."
This.
Date: Mon, March 18, 2024, 15:14:42 ET
Posted by: M/O/D/P, "Sit down...grab a beer...I'm back with another long-winded story!"
A former colleague of mine is in charge of the Fraud Department at a major credit card issuing bank, and I've recently spoken to him about this "last-minute cancellation/substitution" situation. He tells me that if you, as the card holder, decide to really push things, you CAN actually get that money back, not necessarily as a refund directly from Ticketmaster, but as a credit card chargeback, as Chris says. It's definitely possible, in some cases, despite what Ticketmaster's silly website says.
To be clear, you've always been able to request a charge back with most well-known credit card outfits, if the goods or services you've paid for have not *matched* what you received, and when you can't get satisfaction from the vendor. So...yes, you CAN get your money back - it is 100% above-board and your credit card issuer WILL ultimately do your bidding, in the end, though often after a lot of work on your part. But there's a caveat.
There's always a damn caveat, no??
For example, some airlines are notorious for charging baggage fees that end up being significantly higher than those quoted, in writing, at the check-in counter - sometimes even as high as 50% more. You don't find this out until your card statement shows up and the quoted rate per bag is now inexplicably $20 higher and the airline has used a lushly-padded foreign-currency-to-US-dollar exchange rate of their own creation. My Fraud Department friend assures me that victims of this duplicitous tactic can ABSOLUTELY get their FULL money back - not just an adjustment, mind you, the FULL baggage charges back, because clearly these charges meet the legal definition of fraud - but he cautions that such a move, as satisfying as it might be at the time, would absolutely lead to a placement on the airline's "No Fly" list...which they generously share with other airlines, not out of vindictiveness, they claim...but for "security reasons". Of course.
The moral of the story? You can get that money back, if you fight hard enough, if you've used a major credit card and didn't get what you paid for. Regarding Ticketmaster, though, the next time you go to buy tickets, you might just find yourself on that awful, awful company's version of the "No Fly" list. Remember, these are the same slimy, foul-smelling miscreants who invented "Verified Resale Tickets" for 300% of face value. They have boatloads of contempt for you, their client, and they don't even try to hide it anymore.
In the end, I'm just happy I didn't get stuck with two thoroughly-unwanted Tom Cochrane seats for a Tom Cochrane live performance that I definitely wouldn't have been able to endure, no matter how many unhappy/unspeakably wealthy original Eagles members might have been present on stage that fateful night, and I'm relieved that I don't have to chase down some rotten-to-the-core ticket-selling cabal and give it the old Brass Knuckles Treatment.
M/O/D/P
PS - Sure, that TM Lifetime Ban would sure come in handy if you were asked to buy, say, "Springsteen" tickets for your low-down good-for-nothin'-drunken-slob brother-in-law...the guy who doesn't have a TM account (among the many other things he doesn't have). You could tell him, "Sorry Bro/Dood, they wont take my order, and it's all because of some guy named Tom Cochrane...I believe you're a big fan of his, no??"...and that would be that.
PPS - On the other hand...you could desperately want ducats for the upcoming Fall 2024 Steely Dan Beacon Theatre 7-night residency*...and find yourself shit-out-of-luck because you're now on a ticket-selling conglomerate's "no fly" list.
PPPS - *Imaginary/fictitious totally-made-up run of live shows totally made up by me to illustrate a point. Sorry about that.
PPPPS - A word to the wise - Be careful what you wish for. You may just get it...
Date: Mon, March 18, 2024, 10:51:07 ET
Posted by: BadSneakers,
from https://ticketmaster-us.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10465798887953-Purchase-Policy:
"9. Opening Acts / Festival Acts
Opening acts, guests, or undercards (each an “Opening Act”) may sometimes tour with headlining performers. We are not always made aware of Opening Acts or the length of their performances. Opening Acts, as well as festival performers, are subject to change or cancelation at any time without notice. No refund will be owed if an Opening Act or festival performer is changed or canceled."
Date: Mon, March 18, 2024, 02:48:18 ET
Posted by: hoops,
And = in
Date: Mon, March 18, 2024, 02:47:33 ET
Posted by: hoops, Chicago
Chris and New Hampshire:
Thanks for the reports about a few people getting Ticketmaster refunds for Steely Dan canceling. While it's no slam dunk, I hope it encourages people to make an attempt and hopefully succeed. Thanks again for the information and the encouragement.
Date: Mon, March 18, 2024, 02:45:17 ET
Posted by: hoops, Chicago
Luke:
Libby is seriously ill. Vince Gill announced it at the show. Donald and his family would otherwise like privacy and will speak publicly as needed.
Just a reminder to everyone:
If you have any questions about the authenticity of Post attributed to me, you can always verify by emailing me at JJMcKay at me dot com -->> remember to change "at" to @ and "dot" to a period and take out any spaces. (I know 99% of you know that, but every now and then there's somebody who doesn't understand that.). And of course, some of you have my phone number and you can text or call me.
Date: Mon, March 18, 2024, 01:59:58 ET
Posted by: Luke,
Saw this article that said Steely Dan cancelled as openers since Donald's wife had a health scare. Any news or updates on this otherwise?
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/music-news-reviews/article286630580.html
Date: Sat, March 16, 2024, 17:22:16 ET
Posted by: also, remember
in regards to the Tom Cochrane refunds, your kilometerage will vary.
Date: Sat, March 16, 2024, 15:45:24 ET
Posted by: chris, nh
I have seen anecdotes from folks who have been able to get refunds from Ticketmaster by pushing hard and threatening chargebacks. Individual mileage may vary and the point stands that TM isn't obligated to give refunds.
Date: Fri, March 15, 2024, 13:44:02 ET
Posted by: hoops, Chicago
Acoustic Sounds' "Aja" SACD/CD hybrid is now in stock. I received noticed that my copy shipped today. And now they finally have a release date for Acoustic Sounds' UHQR double disc, 45 RPM, 200 g clear vinyl version of "Gaucho" which was originally slated for release last December 1 is now coming May 3. The single LP, 33 1/3 RPM, 180 g black vinyl version from Geffen/UMe already came out December 1. There is not a release date yet for Acoustic Sounds' "Gaucho" SACD/CD hybrid.
If you're interested, check out acousticsounds.com
All the other Steely Dan titles formats previously released thus far exclusively from Acoustic Sounds have been great, with the exception of Acoustic Sounds' SACD/CD version of "Pretzel Logic" which I thought sounded a little flat on my system. That could be just my ears and system.
Date: Fri, March 15, 2024, 12:33:31 ET
Posted by: hoops, Chicago
Bad Sneakers!
Unfortunately, no. The show is billed as "Eagles with Special Guest Steely Dan." Because Steely Dan guests--is the opening opening act, there are no refunds if Steely Dan cancels, only if Eagles cancel. Steely Dan does not even appear on the printed tickets.
The last couple editiions of the Dandom Digest talks about this, reminding people if you plan to travel or simply buy expensive tickets to see just Steely Dan, you do risk having to sit through a substitute opening act. No refund. Now if Eagles cancel, then you do get a refund.
Travel insurance and the Ticketmaster ticket insurance does not cover Steely Dan cancelling either.
It will be the same for the UK/Euro shows.
BTW: Folks can scroll down to something like early January and see the full text in the Dandom Digest which I do post here in the bluebook as well.
Sorry I don't have better news.
Date: Fri, March 15, 2024, 12:16:53 ET
Posted by: BadSneakers, ...
Since SD didn't appear in Toronto, can fans get a refund from ticketmaster (full or partial)?
The concert was billed as Eagles AND Steely Dan...
Date: Fri, March 15, 2024, 08:05:14 ET
Posted by: rascalhoudi, Toronto
It was my pleasure M/O/D/P ..... anything to keep a colleague away from those Eagles
Date: Thurs, March 14, 2024, 22:37:24 ET
Posted by: Chris, Nh
Wishing the band all the best. A rough tour, to say the least, in just about every way.
Date: Thurs, March 14, 2024, 22:23:32 ET
Posted by: The Dean, St. Augustine. Uptown, Baby!
Karl, thanks for the link. I've only heard two songs so far, but have to say, "Well done!" Very respectful of the music. Looking forward to hearing the rest in the next day or so.
Date: Thurs, March 14, 2024, 13:26:22 ET
Posted by: moray eel, Chicago
Karl: Thank you for the music. Listening to this is helping me make it through the workday.
m.e.
Date: Thurs, March 14, 2024, 11:35:28 ET
Posted by: Gabe , PA
https://www.popmatters.com/steely-dan-pretzel-logic-atr50
Date: Thurs, March 14, 2024, 09:20:03 ET
Posted by: Karl, Reykjavik
A Steely Dan cover band that I play/sing in recently posted a Nightfly concert on Youtube. Check it out if you have the time: https://youtu.be/LzECG54oTZo?si=k5gr2GcOUaPrwik2
Date: Wed, March 13, 2024, 22:55:00 ET
Posted by: The Dean, St. Augustine. Uptown, Baby!
Funny shit, M/O/P/D. My very first thought, when I read rascalhoudi's post was, "I wonder if M/O/P/D went to the concert tonight?"
You had me there for a bit, I admit. But I wondered, if you drove to Toronto, would you really be posting this early? Anyway, I was relieved and happy to hear you made the sensible choice. I'm guessing Rose Darling agrees.
Anyway do we know if this is a Don health issue?
Date: Wed, March 13, 2024, 21:38:23 ET
Posted by: M/O/D/P, Imagine that...
Imagine that you are a Steely Dan afficionado, you have been for many, many years...and you've seen the band live, in various stellar incarnations, over a thirty-plus-year period, more times than you'd care to admit in decent company. You've travelled, you've crossed international borders, you've paid a King's Ransom in Manhattan hotel bills, you've even journeyed to - of all places - Montreal (home of the great Don Patrol, by the way) on more than one occasion to see one of (if not the) very best live acts ever to act live on a live stage, anywhere, anytime.
Imagine that, by the time the year 2024 rolls around, you still love these guys, despite what time has done to change the band you love (no need to list the RIPs), and so when you hear that Steely Dan will be performing within a two-hour drive of where you live, you vacillate, you hesitate ("the cheapest seat available when you check TicketBastard is around $600.00"), but, ultimately, you decide to partake/participate, despite the band's relegation to "opening act" status ("a one hour set"), and, despite the Feature Act you'll either have to pay for and not stay to see ("that's bad"), or, even worse, the Feature Act you'll stubbornly sit through because you've paid for it, goddammit. You buy the tickets.
Imagine taking the plunge - throwing caution to the wind, as they say - and ponying up the cash for two decent seats to see your favorite band open up for an act you have some degree of difficulty even tolerating...but, hell, you knuckle down and do it, despite all the reservations you have about the whole affair.
Imagine that, at the last possible moment, your favorite band has now been replaced by something called "Tom Cochrane". You look this act up, and realize, to your dismay, that it isn't something you'd like to see & hear at all, ever, anytime...let alone as the replacement act for your favorite live act who were promised as the opener for an admittedly lesser - but far more popular - act.
Imagine being stuck with two very, very expensive ducats for a double bill that would, if now fully consumed as intended - at the very least - cause you to twitch in your seat/barf uncontrollably/scream Tourette's-like profanities ad nauseum/feel really, really bad. You've been HAD, buddy...hook/line/sinker.
Then imagine that the whole scenario described above thankfully doesn't apply to you, because you were smart enough not to do any of that. No tickets, no seats, no "Eagles"...because, in the end, the plan was to travel to the horrible basketball arena just a few hours before showtime, to see just what the scumbag/dirtbag/shitbag "ticket brokers" outside the arena might be asking right before showtime.
I didn't do it.
M/O/D/P
ps - "Attention fan!"
pps - Sincere thanks to Toronto poster rascalhoudi...I didn't get the email 'cause I didn't buy the tickets in advance...without your post here I might very well have wasted four hours of driving and maybe a hundred bucks worth of fuel...only to find out what everybody else already knew...
Date: Wed, March 13, 2024, 19:22:06 ET
Posted by: The actuarial dept, Big corp
Wow —Don may have trouble getting insurance for any next tour. Plus promoters take note of the stability of previous tours. Father Time is a bummer.
Date: Wed, March 13, 2024, 18:40:46 ET
Posted by: rascalhoudi, Toronto
Don is out for tonight in Toronto. Below is the email from (the dreaded) ticketmaster......
"Attention fan!
Steely Dan will not be performing in Toronto at Scotiabank Arena with Eagles, due to personal reasons within the band. Tom Cochrane will be performing as a replacement for Steely Dan."
Date: Wed, March 13, 2024, 18:31:51 ET
Posted by: Michael,
New playlist. Enjoy.
Talc - Rhyming Man
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWaCgEahwaE
Kaidi Tatham - Sebb Junior feat. Muhsinah (Kaidi Tatham Remix)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SRwihEY8ZU
Junior Mendes - Agre Doce
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOypO_9QGIE
Strawberry Guy - Intermission
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_obkWtmjYG4
Perilymph - La Genèse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvEuI7XPpqY
The Crusaders - Spiral (Live at Montreux)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwD9ARq8aE8
Jamiroquai - Two Completely Different Things
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sbcrf3ou6g
Date: Tues, March 12, 2024, 21:57:45 ET
Posted by: Not Oz, Nz
RIP Karl Wallinger, age 66.
His opener for Steely in 2006 was refreshing, and pretty damn great. But mainly he had a long career beset by many serious setbacks, and just kept making music.
Respect
Date: Mon, March 11, 2024, 15:43:04 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
Bad S: haha that occurred to me, but I liked the idea of a mash-up with Razor Boy...since one of the reasons Saban retired was NIL, which means every other team now can do what Bama did under the table for decades.
...and took his fancy things away.
Date: Mon, March 11, 2024, 15:25:17 ET
Posted by: BadSneakers, .
They got a name for the whiners in the world
Gaining their fame when they lose
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide
Call it Saban Blues
Date: Mon, March 11, 2024, 11:53:20 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
They got a name for the whiners in the world
Achieving their fame when they lose
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide
Saban just can't refuse
Date: Mon, March 11, 2024, 11:50:48 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
So...start about 3:20 [hold for applause]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDz-RUMmpjE
lol - I remember back in 2003 I took my young kids to the Dallas SD concert, and we were about the only people there without grey hair. The kids were standing, but at the time were short, so no biggie.
Now my hair is graying - I guess I'll be one of those people. lol
Date: Sat, March 09, 2024, 19:16:53 ET
Posted by: BadSneakers, .
"The Alabama football coach resigned because his players don't know how to lose ... Gotta be an SD joke in there somewhere."
They got a name for the whiners in the world
Achieving their fame when they lose
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide
Call him Nick Saban
Date: Sat, March 09, 2024, 19:09:39 ET
Posted by: Kia, Orlando
I'll just leave this here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=683qkXP5k00
If this is in bad form, please delete. Maybe after the weekend or so. Not as bad as described by attendee here. ENJOY!
Date: Sat, March 09, 2024, 19:09:34 ET
Posted by: Kia, Orlando
I'll just leave this here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=683qkXP5k00
If this is in bad form, please delete. Maybe after the weekend or so. Not as bad as described by attendee here. ENJOY!
Date: Sat, March 09, 2024, 13:16:49 ET
Posted by: Jimmie, C
The Alabama football coach resigned because his players don't know how to lose
https://atozsports.com/nashville/alabama-crimson-tide-nick-saban-reason-for-retirement/
Gotta be an SD joke in there somewhere.
Date: Sat, March 09, 2024, 01:27:01 ET
Posted by: popegreg, The Liminal
For you bargain hunters out there, Amazon currently has the single disc 2023 Countdown To Ecstasy vinyl on sale for $15.57. https://a.co/d/cBzuO1q
Date: Sat, March 09, 2024, 00:43:40 ET
Posted by: Another Scurvy Bruv , On the dunes
Dangential moment on Colbert—De La was celebrating the 35th anniversary of 3 Feet High and Rising w a really creative performance of “Eye Know.” It’s like a cooking show where they’re putting the musical ingredients of the song into a pot—and one of the ingredients of course is “Peg,” so they drop in a copy of Aja.
https://youtu.be/HJrUceBbVxY?si=FYeiXtY6tfB7lYZr
Date: Fri, March 08, 2024, 18:49:05 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
Hops: Thanks. Beasley worked with Walter quite a bit. He's a nice fit and has a little bit of an edge. When I listen to NE Corridor, many of the (post-Walter) current arrangements are almost too smooth...except ironically Things I Miss the Most, especially with the new Intro. Beasley and Adam Rogers together might exude some Walter-side vibes.
Date: Fri, March 08, 2024, 12:39:47 ET
Posted by: hoops, Chicago
Lambert:
For the past month or so, they've had various guests on keys, most notably John Beasley. Beas performed at the Oklahoma show, the first time he had played with Steely Dan in something like two decades. He seemed excited to be guesting. At the time, I just thought Jim's absence was because he had to honor other commitments, much as how the backup singers rotate out while Catherine honors previous solo dates, etc. There have been other keyboardists since Beas in OK.
I suspect they will have a guest tonight and tomorrow in Chicago; three more shows after that.
Date: Fri, March 08, 2024, 08:37:23 ET
Posted by: Daniel, Lambert
Who is currently on keys?
Date: Fri, March 08, 2024, 07:28:10 ET
Posted by: moray eel, For
Ah yes, I overlooked Jeff Young.
Just about all of the touring pianists since the reformation have died. Beasley from the 1996 tour still survives, but the last few years have not been kind to the gentlemen who have held that position.
m.e.
Date: Fri, March 08, 2024, 05:47:35 ET
Posted by: hoops, Chicago
Just a friendly reminder: If there's any questions or conerns about posts, my email is quite public and is accessible simply by clicking on the word "hoops" in the beginning of the post. Here it is again: jjmckay at me dot com. When using my email address that pops up, remember to replace "at" with the @ symbol, "dot" with a period, and remove the spaces. I'm the one person who is not anonymous here. Many of the regulars here even have my phone number to call or text me. So if you have a question about the legitimacy of a post made by me or anyone, simply email, text or phone me.
Another point to keep in mind: this board isn't like Facebook, Twitter, etc. there are generally no photos, so often posts get more attention simply as a result of length. Short posts can get lost. Moreover, responses move much more slowly here than on Facebook. A lot of that is participants, even regulars, only check in couple of days instead of constantly like the social media outlets mentioned. So the group really moves in slo-mo by comparison. I check in pretty much every day, and I get the posts emailed to me in addition to what youi see here... but I am not staring at this page 24/7. So please contact me if you see something like spam, spoofing, etc.
Finally, I also don't post a lot, and for reasons too complicated to explain, I think the BlueBook does better when I sit at the back of the class and mostly let everyone else engage. If you need more explanation, email me and I will explain. Thanks as always.
Date: Fri, March 08, 2024, 00:18:09 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu ,
m.e. Damn. RIP Jim Beard.
Date: Fri, March 08, 2024, 00:02:18 ET
Posted by: M/O/D/P, .......sad......
I can't count the number of live SD shows I've attended and enjoyed with Jim Beard on keyboards. I can't count the number of times I've listened to his brilliant work on Circus Money (he was a major contributor to the overall sound). And like Jim McKay ("Hoops"), I don't have the right words right now to express the sadness that comes with the passing of a really fine musician who was so highly regarded by his peers and remembered by so many who actually knew him as a really good person as well. Like most here, I didn't know Jim personally - I just knew him through his music.
To the anonymous poster who decided to anonymously chastise everyone here for not immediately commenting on Jim Beard's death, I would point out that this isn't fucking "fakebook", and it certainly isn't the ostentatiously-fatuous "reddit". Unlike other spots that litter the internet, not everybody here chimes in immediately about everything, and not everybody checks in pathologically every fifteen seconds to annonce his or her feelings. And not everybody deals with a death in the musical family by posting about it on the internet. For some of us, that moment of respect/"minute of silence" you oh-so virtuously requested had already been considered...and been given.
M/O/D/P
Date: Thurs, March 07, 2024, 22:36:48 ET
Posted by: Moray Eell,
Also Jeff Young
Date: Thurs, March 07, 2024, 22:04:56 ET
Posted by: moray eel, On
Death of the SD touring pianists: Warren Bernhardt, Ted Baker and now Beard. The last few years have been rough.
m.e.
Date: Thurs, March 07, 2024, 18:18:00 ET
Posted by: hoops, Chicago
Reposting from Jon Herington's social media. The post also includes a photo of the album cover of Jim Beard and Jon Herington's collaboration, "Chunks and Chairknobs."
Jon writes:
" I am deeply saddened by the loss of Jim Beard, my dear friend and music-making partner for more than 40 years. It's a great loss to the music-loving world as well: if the reach of Jim's music was limited in width, it was never limited in depth; the people who listened, understood and loved his music did so deeply. I'm extremely proud and grateful to have been able to work so closely with him for so many years and to have contributed to his great legacy of recorded music. Please listen and remember."
"Hand to Hand"
Beard/Herington
https://youtu.be/qjhWNf4hA4s?si=UDbFeEyiSsSG6BkM
Date: Thurs, March 07, 2024, 15:35:33 ET
Posted by: Michael,
New playlist. Satisfaction guaranteed.
Max Zuckerman - Busy Day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNRgK8w_vXI
Alex Fernet - Festa di Finimondo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96ZChj7R1bM
Ice Choir - Variant
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpwjCRG10zQ
Geoff Bastow - Up Market
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEJDKpjVCXU
Pedro Martins - Isn't It Strange (feat. Thundercat & JD Beck)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbxJdlvxiOw
Donny Benét - So Long
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-kg-Ad_xis
RIP Jim Beard.
Date: Thurs, March 07, 2024, 11:53:46 ET
Posted by: NotNotSDV,
"And he also sounded better than AR on the majority of SD tunes. Better style, better tone, better note choices. (And better stage presence, ffs.) Jazz background? Who cares. That doesn’t guarantee that a player will make the right stylistic choices."
Triggered much...?
Date: Thurs, March 07, 2024, 04:11:39 ET
Posted by: Dirk, Western World
RIP Jim Beard. Loved the 'Lost at the carneval' album when it came out. Some critic said it suggest a meeting of Groucho Marx and Miles Davis, or perhaps Errol Garner and Stravinsky. Humorous without being silly.
Date: Wed, March 06, 2024, 21:48:22 ET
Posted by: Not SDV, Being Right
“Connor Kennedy was out of his element on the majority of SD tunes.”
And he also sounded better than AR on the majority of SD tunes. Better style, better tone, better note choices. (And better stage presence, ffs.) Jazz background? Who cares. That doesn’t guarantee that a player will make the right stylistic choices.
Date: Wed, March 06, 2024, 17:57:21 ET
Posted by: Gus Winterbottom, Torrance, CA
People Magazine article about Jim Beard.
https://people.com/jim-beard-steely-dan-keyboardist-dead-age-63-obituary-8605378
Another article is on USA Today, but I can't access it directly from the old computer I am using. Here's an alternate link:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/steely-dan-keyboardist-jim-beard-dies-at-63-after-sudden-illness/ar-BB1jrOvp?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=d012db86c0de4b70a89542a9f5b9c2ff&ei=52
Date: Wed, March 06, 2024, 17:38:40 ET
Posted by: Imho, Just sayin’
Unfortunately, C Kennedy was just another nepotistic dud.
Date: Wed, March 06, 2024, 16:04:13 ET
Posted by: BadSneakers, .
R.I.P. Jim Beard
Date: Wed, March 06, 2024, 15:37:08 ET
Posted by: Daniel, Lambert
Sad about the passing of Professor Beard. RiP.
Who is currently playing keys with SD? I saw Bob Shepherd was on recently.
Date: Wed, March 06, 2024, 15:24:41 ET
Posted by: Really?, Smh
For at least the few seconds it takes to skim this post, I’d like to suggest a moment of respect for Jim Beard, and a moment of compassion for the suffering of his friends and family.
Date: Wed, March 06, 2024, 10:32:46 ET
Posted by: casual fan, orlando
I cannot believe that DF would have anyone not top notch in the band so perhaps I just caught him on an off night or he fell victim to the mix.
Did I mention how bad it was? (Have seen other shows at that locale, which is the basketball arena for the Magic, and have always found it pretty bad). Happy to give him another chance if they make it here for a full show at one of the smaller, more acoustically appropriate, venues.
Date: Wed, March 06, 2024, 09:28:43 ET
Posted by: SDV, upon the platform
Adam Rogers is one of the most capable and accomplished guitarists on the planet and has been in the Steely Dan circle for over 30 years, playing with both Walter and Donald at different times.
Connor Kennedy was out of his element on the majority of SD tunes.
Date: Tues, March 05, 2024, 22:27:29 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu ,
Moray Eel:
Yes indeed. Adam Rogers delivers some prime shredding on Lucky Henry:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBTW2sdJoJE
Date: Tues, March 05, 2024, 21:31:34 ET
Posted by: moray eel, Lost
Didn’t Adam Rogers play on 11 Tracks of Whack and didn’t Walter produce for him with the Lost Tribe?
m.e.
Date: Tues, March 05, 2024, 18:31:53 ET
Posted by: Jimmie, US
Joe Walsh was in fact added to the Eagles roster decades ago to liven up what had been roundly criticized as being a deadly dull live act.
Date: Tues, March 05, 2024, 17:38:03 ET
Posted by: casual fan, orlando
I attended my (at least) 10th Steely Dan show last night, as openers for the Eagles, in Orlando. Here is my honest, unvarnished, review of the whole evening:
The show was set to start at 7:30 and at 7:30 the band was on stage. They knew it was a Monday night and that maintaining a sane schedule was imperative for those of us who are still working stiffs.
Fagen was in excellent form. His voice was strong, he looked physically fit. Channeled Ray Charles, as per usual, and looked good doing it. Carlock and Herington were also in strong form. Both earned well-deserved thunderous applause at the expected cues. No criticisms of any of the three of them.
The sound mix was just awful. The bass was beyond heavy and drowned out the Danettes (and others) quite a bit. I felt like the band even had trouble maintaining a mutual tempo at points. I concluded, once the Eagles came out, that the reason for the absolutely awful and distracting mix was that it was set for the Eagles, as they were truly -- and I did not expect this -- amazing.
Before moving on to that, I have to say that the new guitarist, who I had to look up, is Adam Rogers. And I'm sorry to say I don't get it. I just don't. Now, I am no musician and do not claim to be, but from an audience member point of view, he is just ... not good. Appeared to me to really struggle. The mix did not help, I'll say that. But I found myself many times asking why he had taken a solo when I know Herington would have done a far better job, at least in my uninformed opinion.
I am reminded once again that catching the Dan in a large venue, cacophonous type setting, is bad ju ju. Sincerely hope they return and play a more suitable venue, so they can shine. As is, I was disappointed.
As to the Eagles, I was shocked at how great their show was, really did not expect it. Hit after hit, with masterful guitar playing, often dueling guitars. Was reminded of the dueling guitars of live Bodhisattva tracks. And must say that Joe Walsh really stole the show.
He was animated, funny, engaging, and what he did on lead with "Life's Been Good to Me" and especially "In the City" was jaw dropping. The crowd really appreciated their effort, me included. Vince Gill was a perfect front man for a number of tunes, and just overall I left being FAR more impressed with the Eagles than I expected.
So, for all my complaining earlier that I wish the bill had been reversed, I take it back. Just be aware if you are catching them down the line that Steely Dan really does play a bit of second fiddle in this show than you might have expected.
Date: Tues, March 05, 2024, 15:30:00 ET
Posted by: moray eel, Here
Rick Beato’s interview with Michael McDonald.
https://youtu.be/NLAcQIfoauQ?si=FmfcXUgfaKfvBVME
m.e.
Date: Tues, March 05, 2024, 00:33:07 ET
Posted by: hoops, Chicago
Sad to be the bearer of bad news, but Jim Beard has passed away. RIP. Words are not enough.
Date: Mon, March 04, 2024, 23:14:04 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
Steve M,
Knopfler is unique in many ways. He's left-handed, but plays right handed. Thus, his dominant hand travels with speed and dexterity up and down the frets while the off hand finger picks instead of smashing power chords.
Here's a clip from 1979 at the Rockpalast in Cologne. Mark's incredibly uncomfortable and goofy introducing Once Upon a Time in the West, but is actually animated for awhile once he begins to play.
https://youtu.be/5SqqFeewq_8?si=4aCVHDDCUkdBHBQq
During the recording of TOOM Knopfler became a lot more uncomfortable! lol
Date: Sun, March 03, 2024, 14:33:14 ET
Posted by: Steve M, Scotland
Saw Mark Knopfler on one of his first solo tours after DS split. Had the least charisma or stage presence of any 'front man' I've seen in my 200-odd gigs. Terrific guitar player and songwriter however, loved the first 2 DS albums and have always wanted to hear his outtakes from TOOM.
This live take on the Telegraph Road outro really show what he could do, probably brings out more of the folk influence in his playing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzsmeO7FZcs
Date: Sun, March 03, 2024, 08:53:55 ET
Posted by: Craig, D
MM knows that the best sales potential for a book lies with providing SD fans with inside stories.
Date: Sat, March 02, 2024, 01:48:52 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
Dire Strats - we'll that's a musical Freudian. Better grab the steel guitar instead. lol
Straits, natch.
Date: Sat, March 02, 2024, 01:35:03 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
Michael McDonald has a new tell all book on its way in May. Lots of SD stories including some Bogata deal with Walter that went south.
The Outtro to Telegraph Road seems like Mark Knopfler taking it out on the TOOM Gaucho sessions. Arguably Dire Strats' best stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8bWGGA-5HM
Date: Fri, March 01, 2024, 18:52:33 ET
Posted by: Michael,
'Indian Summer' is a good song by Joe Walsh, an outlier to be sure, but then I don't consider it an Eagles song, nor do I consider either Fagen or Becker's solo output to be Steely Dan songs.
A good song will always be good regardless who writes it.
Donny Benét's new album Infinite Desires came out today, a love letter to 80s synth-pop and funk by the debonair maestro of that style of music. Donny understands the importance of grounding his work in a solid songwriting foundation so that it doesn't come across as forced retrofit gimmickry. This is excellent music through and through full of tight grooves, funkadelic bass lines and infectious melodic hooks, littered with extra sonic details which both surprise and delight expectations. Definitely recommended.
Date: Fri, March 01, 2024, 15:58:49 ET
Posted by: M/O/D/P, The World
Nicholas Urfe - Legend has it that Springsteen initially believed that "We Are The World" was to be a charity single & music video to raise money for the endangered chicks & cars of New Jersey. Apparently he had quickly composed a two chord song structure, complete with lyrics about chicks and cars and New Jersey, in advance of his meeting with the other musicians and producers who were involved in the project, and was fully anticipating an enthusiastic response. Once he realized what the project was really about, he quickly revised the lyrics to reflect more back seats of cars, along with hearts on fire/cuts like a knife, and a bit of the fire in your eyes thrown in for good measure. Somehow, inexplicably, even this contribution got rejected, and the World ended up with the We Are The World song that topped the World's music [sic] charts for several weeks back in whatever year that was.
Another (although possibly apocryphal) story about these legendary sessions concerns superstar musician Bon Jovi - coincidentally, recently fêted (fetid?) by one Mr. B. Springsteen at the 2024 Grammy Awards - who was reportedly invited to the early sessions as well. Mr. Jovi also brought a completed song with him which he called, "Gonna Rock This Town Tonight!", which was ultimately deemed thematically unsuitable for a famine relief charity project, but which ended up being the basis for his smash hit 1986 album, "Gonna Rock This Town Tonight!"
M/O/D/P
PS - You may have noticed that, "Baby, baby, baby!!" is missing from the above check-list of other hoary, cringe-worthy rock music clichés . Thankfully, this is why these wonderful "Post Scriptums" were invented!
PPS - I suppose I could sit through one single Joe Walsh song, sung by Joe Walsh, in a cavernous basketball arena, if (and only if) I had a fifth of Blanton's in me. Unfortunately I don't drink bourbon, so the whole idea is out of the question. Thanks for the suggestion, though.
PPPS - "Priapism" - Not just some obscure bit of medical terminology anymore!
PPPPS - "PPPPS"
Date: Thurs, February 29, 2024, 08:06:13 ET
Posted by: Jimmie, G
Two Against Nature released 2/29/2000 and is 6 years old today.
Date: Wed, February 28, 2024, 08:25:27 ET
Posted by: Nicholas Urfe, Phraxos
Kind regards,
Nicholas Urfe
P.S. - M/O/D/P, you might consider suffering through the Big Show long enough for a pure Joe Walsh offering.
P.P.S. - Thank you for sending me to the dictionary with priapism.
P.P.P.S. - And for the ensuing laughter.
P.P.P.P.S. - I recently watched the documentary about the making of We Are the World. I found it worth watching. It features too much Springsteen, but since there are no Springsteen songs played, it's tolerable.
Date: Tues, February 27, 2024, 15:06:05 ET
Posted by: GABE, PA
RIP professional wrestling great Ole Anderson.
Dangentially, his ring name was a play on the word oleander.
Date: Tues, February 27, 2024, 07:21:21 ET
Posted by: Roy, up
There are not enough people interested in seeing a deep cuts tour for it to be financially viable. If I recall a bunch of seats went unsold for rarities night.
Date: Tues, February 27, 2024, 03:29:50 ET
Posted by: Steve, Gennarelli
Any news or speculation on the new album Donald was working on.
Do any of you think that "Steely Dan" would announce a tour of "deep cuts" and just do the "Dr. Wu's" and other songs that normally only see the light of day at The Beacon.
Hope all my fellow "SD" afficionados are well.
Date: Mon, February 26, 2024, 17:04:24 ET
Posted by: The Dean, St. Augustine. It's Happy Hour
Thanks, Michael. I've been working my way around the site a bit, so I saw that. I think I've seen some of this before, but missed a lot of updates. Pretty interesting non-SD material as well.
Date: Mon, February 26, 2024, 09:51:29 ET
Posted by: Michael,
New playlist. You're in for a treat.
Paul Cherry - Between Me and Chicago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qMjAtWNXn4
Gareth Donkin - Whenever
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwUav2o9dxw
Ice Choir - Designs In Rhythm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKDBNrwR3_o
Kraak & Smaak - In Plain Sight (feat. IVAR)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o3TxMcwMAU
Dina Ögon - Jag vill ha allt (I want everything)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W75697sOJdA
Young Gun Silver Fox - Sierra Nights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfvTTFJd8mE
Date: Sun, February 25, 2024, 17:22:11 ET
Posted by: Michael,
The Dean, Steve also did a page about Aja if you're interested.
http://www.stevekhan.com/aja_steelydan_reflections.htm
Date: Sat, February 24, 2024, 23:29:04 ET
Posted by: The Dean, St. Augustine. Uptown, Baby!
Michael, thanks for posting the Steve Kahn blog about the Gaucho sessions. That's pure gold.
Date: Sat, February 24, 2024, 08:31:58 ET
Posted by: Michael,
Evan Talin, Re: "four letter word" I stand corrected.
http://www.stevekhan.com/gaucho_steelydan_reflections.htm
"Hearing the lyrics again, I recalled Donald telling me that the song was about a guy whose girlfriend is a prostitute, and he can't tell anyone back home about her."
Date: Thurs, February 22, 2024, 22:25:37 ET
Posted by: moray eel, Mc
Rick Beato interviewed Michael McDonald. I can’t wait to watch that one.
m.e.
Date: Thurs, February 22, 2024, 20:32:32 ET
Posted by: Michael,
Donny Benét just premiered his new song Forbidden Love, another slick groove that won't quit you. His new album 'Infinite Desires' releases on February 29th. Be there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_z__YS96bI
Date: Thurs, February 22, 2024, 14:53:39 ET
Posted by: Michael,
Chris, it's in an unfinished state but you can hear how rich the composition is. There's an almost Bacharach-like gaiety in the verse but then shifts to a more bluesy gospel feel for the chorus. Paul Griffin's organ really drives this home. Marotta's laid-back groove coupled with Rainey's bass, Mounsey's keys and Khan's chiming guitar tones really add a lot of rich textures in the right places. Those guys understood the importance of nuance, those extra musical details which perfectly compliment the all important feel SD strived to attain.
Although D&W maintained that they were going through a dry period creatively during the making of Gaucho, the late 70s period is my favorite era of SD. Even their unreleased songs (Second Arrangement, Kulee Baba, You Got The Bear, I Can't Write Home About You) far surpass 99% of other music. Given that D&W left something like five or six songs on the cutting room floor, almost enough for another album, that's saying a lot.
I've listened to ICWHAY over a dozen times already and haven't begun to tire of it. There's some unmistakable quality, I'm not sure know how to quantify it, that stands out about the material D&W were making during that period. I almost wish that the late 70s would've extended for another decade and that SD had remained together through it to continue producing music of this caliber because there's nothing else quite like it.
Date: Thurs, February 22, 2024, 12:17:27 ET
Posted by: Chris, nh
Thanks Michael - incredible to hear something "new" in what sounds like an nearly finished state from Gaucho.
I can see why they left it off the record ultimately - seems a bit 'slight' in a way (although perhaps they would have added a horn chart at some point to make it feel more complete). Maybe could have slotted in for My Rival.
Still - stunning stuff. The bridge ("gin and roses") and the moments leading up to it made me jump outta my chair.
Date: Thurs, February 22, 2024, 11:09:16 ET
Posted by: casual fan, orlando
Lutz,
Clever idea. But who is going to pay $100 + to go see the Eagles at 9 pm on a Monday night?
Date: Wed, February 21, 2024, 23:33:50 ET
Posted by: Lutz, Hnl
Casual fan, if I was to attend a show this year I would buy a ticket and right away post it on craigslist or one of these ticket brokers for resale at the venue - Eagles show only minus Steely Dan - to recoup half the cost. Would go home at halftime and watch Lebowski, especially the scene with that famous Eagles remark Frey bitched to him about years later.
Although in and out privileges might not be the case at every venue.
Having said that it's great the band is touring and stays together and sharp.
Date: Wed, February 21, 2024, 19:44:06 ET
Posted by: Michael, Breaking news!!!
Steve Khan just posted his lead sheets for I Can't Write Home About You along with the song itself as recorded for Gaucho.
http://stevekhan.com/Write-Home_LeadSheet.htm
"I Can't Write Home About You"(Fagen-Becker) Lead Sheet:
Transcription: Steve Khan
as recorded for the 1980 recording, GAUCHO(Never Released).
Personnel: Rick Marotta (Drums); Chuck Rainey (El. Bass); Rob Mounsey (Keys);
Paul Griffin (Organ) & Steve Khan (Guitar)
Lead Sheet: Steve Khan.
Someone also posted it to YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ay8btew0ieU
I simply love the arrangement and organ solo. Donald's vocals are in fine form even in the track's unfinished state. Amazing to contrast this with the Jive Miguel Mix which is a worthy attempt in its own right, but there's nothing like the real thing.
If Steve posts Heartbreak Souvenir next you're going to need smelling salts to get me off the floor.
Date: Wed, February 21, 2024, 15:36:52 ET
Posted by: casual fan, orlando
There is a show here Monday (ugh), March 4. I'm one of the many who would prefer that the bill was the other way around, and right now decent tix are still $400 +. I mean, SD is a band I flew to NY to see at the Beacon, I'm not shy about spending dollars to see them. But as an opening act, its tough to justify.
My plan is to check in the days beforehand and see if any folks can't go and put them up for a more reasonable price.
Looking at the setlist, its pretty limited to:
Josie
Hey Nineteen
Aja
Kid Charlemagne
Dirty Work
Black Cow
Bodhisattva
Peg
My Old School
Reelin' in the Years
I did see Time Out of Mind in a late January show setlist, which I would love to hear. Other than that, the songs that the uninitiated might be less familiar with seem to me to be Aja, Black Cow, and Bodhisattva. Hits to varying degrees, but not as much air play back in the day, i don;t think, as the others.
Aja has become my favorite tune of theirs over the years, and I imagine they make that a permanent fixture because they can feature Weiskopf and Carlock. So, here's hoping that some folks in one of the club suites has to last minute change plans!
CF
Date: Tues, February 20, 2024, 22:19:58 ET
Posted by: M/O/D/P, Celebrating Walter's Birthday the only way I can
Steely Director - Thanks for the New Orleans report, and congratulations on being strong enough to sit through (and withstand, apparently) an entire two hours - my goodness me! - of "Eagles" live entertainment product. I might have been able to do that myself, just maybe, years ago, when I was far more robust in mind & body, but now even the thought of doing it would, I suspect, give me - at the very least - a severe case of explosive diarrhea. Just *nerves*, we understand.
So I try not to even think about it. I may or may not still make it to the upcoming March 14 Iggles/SD concerto at Toronto's horrible "ScotiaBank Arena" (I'm now about 50-50 on the idea, and it's fading fast), but if I do, I'm afraid I won't even consider staying for the Main Attraction.
On a more sombre note, I wasn't aware of the passing of Mojo Nixon until I read your contribution here. For a while there, in the mid-to-late '80s, his public offerings were most often childishly crude, vulgar, and profane...but because I treated the whole thing as a comedy act rather than a musical act, I was able to thoroughly enjoy his occasionally hilarious outbursts. The guy was a priapism, to be sure, although I do have to admit that his solo piano recital of Chopin's Étude Op. 25 No. 6 at the Toronto El Mocambo show back in 1986 was sheer musical brilliance. I know, because I was there.
M/O/D/P
PS - Thanks also for all the PS-es. Nobody appreciates those little flourishes as much as I do.
PPS - Nobody.
PPPS - Apparently, according to legend, Don Henley once joined Mojo Nixon on stage many years ago at a show in Texas for an impromptu performance of "Don Henley Must Die". Later Mr. Nixon, referring to Henley, stated that "The guy has balls bigger than church-bells".
PPPS - Makes it all the more pathetic that I can't possibly bring myself to sit through an entire Don Henley/"Eagles" performance that I've actually PAID FOR, no? Obviously no "church-bells" here in M/O/D/P Land...
PPPPS - In my defense, Your Honor, I live more than two hours away from the venue, and so, I figger if I time it just right, I could be home enjoying a snifter (or quite possibly two) of Don Julio Anejo 'round about the time the reconstipated Iggles start into the opening bits of "Life In The Fat Lane"...
Date: Tues, February 20, 2024, 12:58:58 ET
Posted by: The Greater Dandom ,
PRETZEL L0GIC
Released 50 years ago today, February 20, 1974.
Whoaaaa!
Date: Tues, February 20, 2024, 12:49:22 ET
Posted by: M,
Walter's b-day today, so we're sharing a track from the live show at Slim's. For notes and discussion, check it out at:
https://www.walterbeckermedia.com/forum/rarities-unreleased/hard-up-case-live
Date: Tues, February 20, 2024, 09:19:18 ET
Posted by: Michael,
New playlist. Enjoy.
Majid Jordan - Waiting For You (ft. Naomi Sharon)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LqU_BOGCbo
PRESSYES - Atlantic Ocean Spray
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOWInjZNJpk
David Matthews - Arrakis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnrWNdCQwQY
ぷにぷに電機 - サンシャイン・ベイ (Sunshine Bay)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B75rSMpW-uY
Pykäri - Omena
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE2IDsU_xSY
Oscar Jerome - Berlin 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pB0E0U19bY
Tatsuya Maruyama - ありがとう
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgvl9JHMrA0
Date: Tue, February 20, 2024, ET
Posted by: The Loyal Dandom, On All Continents
Happy Birthday, Walter Becker!
******
|||||
*********
*~~~~~~~*
* *
*****************
* *
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
* ******************
-------------------------------
We miss you so much...but we hear the music up there is even better than a Steely Dan concert!
Fly low and be cool!
[ Cake courtesy of the late and very great Boston Rag & hoops ]
Date: Sun, February 18, 2024, 02:42:37 ET
Posted by: Steely Director, NOLA
Just got back from the New Orleans show. The sound was better than I expected, having attended previous concerts at this basketball arena. Steely Dan was, as usual, hotso. I just wish their 1 hour set could've been 2, just like the act that followed..."Eagles", or somesuch? Seriously though, having never seen Henley & Co. live before, I enjoyed their show and I'm glad I went. Although unlike Steely Dan, I don't feel the need to see an Eagles show ever again...which is probably a good thing since they might be serious this time about finally calling it quits. Let's hope Donald and Co. still have plenty of gas in the car.
P.S.: Henley paid tribute to the late Jimmy Buffett, but missed a golden opportunity to do the same with the recently-deceased Mojo Nixon by covering "Don Henley Must Die".
P.P.S.: Also disappointed that the topic of cross-band name checks didn't come up...i.e. "Steely knives" and "Turn up the Eagles".
P.P.P.S.: Although Eagles merch vastly outnumbered SD merch, I did manage to score a nice Bodhisattva long-sleeve tee. And I tried to establish some cred among the great unwashed masses by wearing my Steelyard "Sugartooth" McDan hoodie from bygone days. Hopefully my efforts didn't go unnoticed.
Date: Fri, February 16, 2024, 15:03:16 ET
Posted by: Pete, California desert
Dr Mu..
Any idea if Clas is still around?
Date: Fri, February 16, 2024, 14:48:28 ET
Posted by: SDV, up on the hill
there are charts handwritten by Donald, he obviously reads. but we know they often left the notation to others in the studio... Larry Carlton, Tom Scott, etc which may have led Rainey to believe Donald didn't read. but hasn't he also stated that some of his bass parts were written out by Walter?
I don't believe Phillinganes' solo on Ruby Baby was written out. Donald loved it and I believe the entire track had to be altered somewhat to fit the piano solo, which wasn't quite in tune as I recall. Donald was reported to have been less than amused when he discovered that the beginning of the solo was quoting "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks
Date: Thurs, February 15, 2024, 21:48:19 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
Clas. That was the guy from Sweden. Dude was a trip - not a bad (part-time) musician.
Date: Thurs, February 15, 2024, 07:13:45 ET
Posted by: Michael,
I wasn't fighting, I asked a simple question about Chuck Rainey which Doc more or less clarified.
Let's keep it civil folks.
Date: Thurs, February 15, 2024, 02:24:34 ET
Posted by: Mic,
And the yellow book has been gone for almost 2 decades.
Date: Wed, February 14, 2024, 22:11:02 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
Moray, Bill, Michael,
Here's a couple of links to access the image of Donald and Walter directing the orchestra from the studio on Capture the Moment. Donald's absorbing the chart while Walter is taking it all in: the two hemisphere's of the Steely Dan Brain.
https://i.postimg.cc/7hsY1ygM/Ft1flc-GX0-AAo-Xbc-1.jpg
https://twitter.com/barneyhurley1/status/1647578303329361924
"Walter Becker and Donald Fagen at O.D.O. Studios, NYC conducting the orchestra for the title cut of Jay & the Americans' 1970 album, 'Capture the Moment'"
Bill - that is correct. Donald played the baritone in the HS band. My daughter did as well. He had to be able to read music at a fundamental level.
Donald also has dyslexia. So, I imagine he didn't like to sight read. Also, they usually had Victor Feldman, Michael Omartian, Rob Mounsey, Tom Scott, or Larry Carlton write out lead sheets or charts because they could do it quickly.
Michael Omartian mentioned he and Donald working on the charts together for Katy Lied. Donald usually sang and or played piano with the band.
Donald was arranging and writing out more charts (horns, percussion, etc.) or lead sheets by Gaucho and definitely for The Nightfly. Mounsey and/or Steve Khan described Fagen as being more involved in writing out the charts by the late 70s and early 80s.
I'm sure many here have seen Walter's charts for outtakes from 11 Tracks of Whack.
I'm not sure if Rainey was thinking about Omartian or Carlton or Scott writing out charts on Katy, Scam, and Aja...or Walter. In the back of my mind, I'm not sure that Walter read music in the 70s...
Anyway, the important thing is that W&D selected the right musicians who could translate their unusual chord changes, melodies, and harmonies into classics of American recorded music.
Date: Wed, February 14, 2024, 19:43:37 ET
Posted by: GTommy, st
We used to have this fight at the Yellow Book, it was great. There was a Swedish guy, define "bridge," that whole thing.
Date: Wed, February 14, 2024, 07:00:35 ET
Posted by: Michael,
You brought it up.
Date: Tues, February 13, 2024, 18:47:15 ET
Posted by: Bill Bredool,
Michael
Who mentioned the term “sheet music”?
Not me.
If you’d read my original post regarding this topic, I had
said Chuck Rainey claims Donald doesn’t read music.
With all due respect, Mr Rainey is incorrect.
Donald can and does read music.
He played baritone horn in his HS band.
If you play in a HS band no amount of “intuition”
is going to help you read a piece of band music accurately.
Here’s 2 other things: 1) Remember that drum
fill in Josie that Jim Keltner plays immediately after the restated
Intro leading to the outtro? That, according to Keltner,
was written out for him.
2) Remember the piano solo on Ruby Baby by Greg
Phillinganes? Written by DF.
Even DF’s organ solo on “Walk Between…” was written out
by him.
Enough now…
Date: Tues, February 13, 2024, 11:14:30 ET
Posted by: Michael,
I'm not getting this. Why would Chuck Rainey claim that Donald can't read sheet music if he could?
Date: Tues, February 13, 2024, 10:30:36 ET
Posted by: Bill Bredool,
Michael
Also writing the arrangements is not just knowing
the voicing of chords on the piano.
You have to know the individual instruments
that you’re writing for - is it a C or Bb instrument,
what is the comfortable range of a given instrument,
etc.
Also the writer has to notate the melodic lines
using specific rhythms along with the specific notes
for the players to play.
Again, Chuck Rainey claims Donald
can’t read music. He is mistaken.
That is/was my original point.
The end.😊👍
Date: Tues, February 13, 2024, 10:20:50 ET
Posted by: Bill Bredool,
Michael
Intuition does not WRITE the charts.
Donald Fagen can write and read music. Period.
Chuck Rainey is incorrect.
Date: Tues, February 13, 2024, 07:57:16 ET
Posted by: Michael,
That doesn't necessarily prove that they could read sheet music though. I'm not saying they couldn't, I don't know. A musician can arrange horn charts on piano or guitar by knowing intuitively how horn voicings should sound. D&W certainly had experience listening to old jazz records, at least enough that they understood what was happening under the hood.
Date: Mon, February 12, 2024, 20:41:46 ET
Posted by: moray eel, D
Donald and Walter were doing horn arrangements for Jay and the Americans in the 1960s.
m.e.
Date: Mon, February 12, 2024, 18:01:14 ET
Posted by: Michael,
Bill, why are there conflicting stories? Maybe someone is getting sheet music confused with lead sheets as those are two separate things.
Date: Mon, February 12, 2024, 14:18:36 ET
Posted by: Bill Bredool,
Michael -
DF knows how to read music.
I studied trombone with Wayne Andre, who played
along with the Breckers on My Rival, and
he said DF rehearsed with them as he was reading
from a score. Like I had said before, DF wrote
the horn arrangements and all the arrangements
of the songs they’ve played on the tours since
like ‘93. H knows how to read music. I’m pretty
sure WB did as well.
Date: Mon, February 12, 2024, 10:34:52 ET
Posted by: Michael,
New playlist.
Chet Sounds - Lo and Behold
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euKU0li0ZP4
Diane Birch - In It For The Race (w/ Shawn Lee from YGSF)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwCWAixUMeg
L'Impératrice - Submarine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SLjLKWt96Y
Pleasures - Stuck in a Moment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPEjYrLvw4E
The Flashbulb - King Mountain
https://youtu.be/JjrqTf0BXac?t=724
Ariane Roy - Quand je serai grande (When I grow up)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7nME67mOz8
ぷにぷに電機 / punipunidenki - 春 (Spring)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa9zZwCuGV4
Date: Mon, February 12, 2024, 08:18:23 ET
Posted by: Michael,
Even if that were so, it makes me appreciate what D&W accomplished all the more. The Beatles didn't know a lick about music theory yet wrote some of the most popular songs in the world, much as Donald wasn't a trained jazz performer but picked its crucial elements apart through intuition.
Once you understand how old folk tunes were put together then you have a solid foundation for understanding its many offshoots, including blues. One thing Donald seems to do a lot in his compositions is reverse-engineer standard songwriting conventions so that he can turn it on its head, so to speak, to subvert the listener's expectations. That might help explain why there's so many unorthodox compositional choices found within SD's music.
Date: Sun, February 11, 2024, 20:53:47 ET
Posted by: Bill Bredool,
I love how Chuck Rainey says DF doesn’t
know how to read music in his interview with
Rick Beato. He had said that before in another
interview.
Maybe he doesn’t know that DF did the horn arrangements
on his solo CDs and the horn charts on most
of songs on 2VN and EMG.
Date: Sat, February 10, 2024, 16:58:23 ET
Posted by: Wwilson, ball
It's totally news! And Dangential. Got it!
Only wondered if we hadn't talked about her here, or an experience of mine elsewhere. Got it!
Date: Sat, February 10, 2024, 12:51:45 ET
Posted by: Fred,
Wwilson. Yes, we did talk about A'ja a while back, but she was just on Colbert a few nights ago and introduced her dad. That's new news. Thx 4 the tip on the T-shirts.
Date: Sat, February 10, 2024, 12:24:08 ET
Posted by: Wwilson, ball
I thought we talked about A'ja on here years ago, bootleg Aja cover/A'ja Wilson MVP t-shirts have been around for four years, I have one and you should find one too, she is great and they are cool.
Date: Fri, February 09, 2024, 15:01:35 ET
Posted by: Dr. Hünd, Hanging Valley Wall, Colorado
She now has to be our favorite WNBA player, hands down.
Date: Fri, February 09, 2024, 07:45:17 ET
Posted by: Jake, alaska
Caitlin Clark was named for Katy Lied.
Date: Wed, February 07, 2024, 23:28:55 ET
Posted by: moray eel, A
That Colbert segment is on YouTube for those that want to check it out.
https://youtu.be/M2AB4_bAe-g?si=7gpmfN_6D-bv3RPh
m.e.
Date: Wed, February 07, 2024, 21:25:30 ET
Posted by: Dr. Hünd, Hanging Valley Wall, Colorado
Anyone see Aja Wilson last night on Colbert? Louis Cato led the band with Aja for her intro. Her dad named her after the SD song as she told Colbert. I wasn’t familiar with her and was multitasking at the time, but I think she’s a basketball star.
Date: Wed, February 07, 2024, 12:53:56 ET
Posted by: moray eel, R
So far, Beato has interviewed:
Larry Carlton
Bernard Purdie
Steve Gadd
Chuck Rainey
Michael Omartian
He also talked a lot about Steely Dan with:
Steve Luthaker (cancelled Aja tour guitarist)
Christopher Cross
He has deconstructed Josie, Kid Charlemagne, Don’t Take Me Alive and Aja. One of his best episodes was on fusion guitarists. He covered Walter Becker, Baxter, Elliot Randall, Denny Dias and Carlton.
I know that Beato rubs some people the wrong way, but I love his content and he has an obvious passion for Steely Dan.
m.e.
Date: Wed, February 07, 2024, 01:08:31 ET
Posted by: The Dean, St. Augustine. Uptown, Baby!
Moray, Thanks for that link. Terrific interview with Omartian.
Date: Tues, February 06, 2024, 16:55:16 ET
Posted by: moray eel, M
Interesting interview with Omartian.
https://youtu.be/M-fEKf3Av3c?si=ujh-AurIz07y0iLU
m.e.
Date: Tues, February 06, 2024, 11:58:20 ET
Posted by: Doc,
Steve M:
Sweet Charity in Adoration is an absolute banger. Even some Katy Lied era chords and piano fills. A very tasty guitar solo. Diary of a Hollow Horse is a criminally overlooked album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFmcVXuFss8
Singing the Praises of Finer Things is probably my favorite CC recording. Great bass line. Counter beat drum intro. Pizzacato keys/fake violins. More Katy Lied piano accents. Soaring melody - what's not to like?
https://youtu.be/k2ujsk0uuAg?si=dB0mlKss1uUOO00R
Date: Tues, February 06, 2024, 07:45:21 ET
Posted by: Michael,
Thanks Hoops. Much appreciated.
Date: Tues, February 06, 2024, 05:13:16 ET
Posted by: Steve M, Scotland
Doc, a big part of the reason you can't remember any Taylor Swift melodies is that there often aren't any. She's notorious for writing songs based around one note, which just isn't a melody in my book.
Always great to hear some CC. Stranger by Nature is up there with Sweet Charity in Adoration in my top 5 CC songs (all Walter produced). Takes me back to having the album on cassette in the unseasonably warm May of 1989 when life was a lot simpler.
ps: Loved that Maiya Sykes/Ben Folds collaboration, bit of a Vulfpeck vibe to it.
Date: Mon, February 05, 2024, 23:56:27 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
M/O/P/D: More albums of the year than Stevie Wonder?
Innervisions (1973), Fulfillingness' First Finale (1974), Songs in the Key of Life (1976)
This says so much about the mental, moral, spiritual decline in music.
I've heard a few TS songs - I can't remember a single melody...or even a lyric. At least Adele and Billie Eilish produce some interesting stuff. [you chord sluts out there and you know who you are might like some of the chords she's playing in the first verse and chorus]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FvEDuWeB4A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFIfRhk8NRc
Many here will think of Walter's elite production touch on China Crisis' Stranger by Nature:
https://youtu.be/PrrW7yiirTQ?si=S1kGb_xEciGX1N_u
Jazz Grammys:
Samara Joy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OkkyRkGSRY&t=9s
Nicole Zuraitis: https://youtu.be/eASYnT4wNEY?si=8B38DDaEYPH4Vexp
Billy Childs: The Winds of Change
https://youtu.be/DjQdDMbQKcM?si=lMeqxvVboxyht-cO
Another Grammy palate cleanser from Andy Platts & Co. The musicians know he's got love.
Love, love, love this live in the studio full band recording:
https://youtu.be/E1JiTkufJgY?si=PUcTeOQqO4zqlAaB
Date: Mon, February 05, 2024, 21:20:44 ET
Posted by: hoops, Chicago
Michael:
Sorry about that. Do you know approximately what time you posted? I can probably dig it up. Thanks. Email me privately if you prefer.
Update: Michael: I believe I found the post that was deleted with the spam. It is restored. Please let me know if more is missing. Thank you.
Date: Mon, February 05, 2024, 20:45:47 ET
Posted by: Michael,
Hoops, my latest post got erased along with the spam.
Date: Mon, February 05, 2024, 19:29:09 ET
Posted by: hoops, Chicago
Thanks to Dean for the heads-up about the spambot. It's been a while. Appreciate your patience. There might be one or two more spam posts but that should be it.
You may need to refresh the main bluebook page and THEN click "post" to get the new posting page.
Thanks!
Date: Mon, February 05, 2024, 08:21:30 ET
Posted by: Michael,
M/O/D/P, yes sir, the new crop of no substance mainstream acts are much worse than glam '80s rockers. I'll never understand the obsession with Taylor Swift.
I put together this playlist on the quick focusing on artists from yesteryear. I've been so preoccupied lately that I didn't get around to exploring new stuff. That will be for next time. All of these tracks are keepers for sure.
Donald Fagen - Slinky Thing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XvANBiNg4U
Michael Franks - Your Secret's Safe With Me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve3vqMg8xhk
Hall & Oates - Wait For Me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zkHLp24Gis
Marvin Gaye - Come Live With Me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA7PdDsK6eM
Pages - Clearly Kim
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibfGKnEoRUo
Spandau Ballet - Only When You Leave
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlLCC_gF8QY
Toto - Let It Go
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARy1XptpU-Q
Date: Sun, February 04, 2024, 23:11:41 ET
Posted by: M/O/D/P, I'm done now...thankfully...
Your Honor, I rest my case:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/entertainment/other/taylor-swift-sza-cyrus-win-at-female-led-grammy-awards/ar-BB1hM23H?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=658ae70330634bcebac5379ca470f7ac&ei=8
I really AM done now.
A gentle soul such as myself can take only so much.
My next contribution will be about the March 14th Steely Dan show - they're the opening act for The Iggles, in case you didn't know - at the horrible ScotiaBank Arena in filthy, crime-ridden Toronto, Canada.
Or not. We'll see.
M/O/D/P
Date: Sun, February 04, 2024, 22:43:44 ET
Posted by: M/O/D/P, Beating a poor dead horse, I know, I know...
Sorry to quote you again, Michael, but here I go...
QUOTE: "The Grammys are a joke anyhow".
Want proof - undeniable proof - of that contention? Check this out:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/lifestyle/celeb-style/all-the-best-red-carpet-looks-from-the-2024-grammy-awards/ss-BB1hLSni?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=03dc49350d8a4dab866430428e7552ef&ei=11#image=47
After scrolling through all those photographs, even I started to wonder, "Was Bon Jovi all that bad after all?".
The answer is, of course, "yes", of course he was.
But this latest steaming load of Grammy-associated personalities is far, far worse. I didn't think that was possible, but there you have it.
Imagine an awards show for music...with nary a single musician in sight. Find one in there - I dare ya!
Imagine an awards show for music...where style - admittedly low-grade style - has completely obliterated substance. As contrived as the Oscars, but for "music".
Imagine how somebody like Donald Fagen (or, say, Stevie Wonder - last "new" album released 2005, by the way) might feel after seeing (or being told about) what's currently happening in (or "to") American Popular Music?
Imagine if these *older* musicians, even those with a few things more to say, looked at this parade of relentlessly-promoted-commercially-viable sewage and said, "Fuck it...I'm done"?
Imagine that...
M/O/D/P
Date: Sun, February 04, 2024, 17:22:46 ET
Posted by: M/O/D/P, Is this the Great Bon Jovi Dustup??
EC/NY - You forgot "Three or [even] four guitar users, lined up, together, playing in unison, and totally Rocking Out!!".
Other than that, I think ya nailed it.
Date: Sun, February 04, 2024, 16:20:23 ET
Posted by: EC, NY
The idea of '80s Corporate Crap-Rocker Bon Jovi being put on a pedestal in 2024 makes me wanna barf.
Why anyone would feel nostalgic for the music of the '80s (I'm talking about the mainstream pop/rock stuff here) is beyond me.
The hair...the spandex...the prancing around the stage like a peacock...the noisy bellowing...the leather pants...the fake *tough guy/pretty boy* manufactured image...it's all enough to make me, well, you know...
Date: Sun, February 04, 2024, 14:37:00 ET
Posted by: Dr. Hünd, Hanging Valley Wall, Colorado
THAT BOTHERS ME!
- Mad Dog Russo
Date: Sun, February 04, 2024, 12:53:34 ET
Posted by: Michael,
M/O/D/P, while I sympathize with your plight, there's nothing much us denizens of this corporate world can do about it. The general public doesn't care about the same things we do. No need to overthink things, that's just how it goes. They don't consciously seek out harmonic complexity or studio wizardry, it's not part of their train of thought. If they did then those bargain bin musicians would've been put out to pasture long ago.
There's plenty of great music out there for us to enjoy. If the suits want to put Bon Jovi on a pedestal, hey, let 'em. The Grammys are a joke anyhow.
Date: Sun, February 04, 2024, 11:46:36 ET
Posted by: M/O/D/P, Just randomly hating everything now
QUOTE: "He's not bothering me."
Michael, your take on this is probably the best way to deal with anything like "Bon Jovi". Just ignore it and let others indulge to their hearts' delight. A balanced approach, as they say. Live and let live.
My problem is that it bothers me to see such mediocrity, such corporate sludge, treated like it's anything other that the generic fodder-product that it is. I mean, an entire event dedicated to The Glory Of Bon Jovi? An "awards show" wasting valuable "awards" on some clownish cartoon caricature with big hair and (possibly) an even larger motorcycle?? Sheesh...
I'll be honest, the fact that the Glorious Tribute was compèred by none other than the terribly-annoying fellow who foisted "Born To Run In The USA" on an undeserving world just makes it so much worse for me.
And, the incredibly insensitive people who write these hurtful MSN/Reuters promo pieces about washed-up Arena Rock Stars really do need to realize that words can hurt. Insensitive bastards.
M/O/D/P
Date: Sun, February 04, 2024, 09:07:16 ET
Posted by: Stan, US
I ended up seeing Bon Jovi three times. First time when a friend with an extra ticket invited me to one of his/their NFL stadium shows a couple towns over from where I lived. And then two more times I returned the favor because I knew they were a big fan and I was able to get comped tickets to casino venues he played. This is going back 20 years now.
They were very hot my senior year in high school with their Slippery When Wet LP. A song from it was declared our senior class song. It's the exact time I started buying up Steely Dan music. I purchased The Nightfly on CD when You Give Love a Bad Name was climbing the charts. I pondered the vast difference in the depth of the two acts (who I was listening to vs. who all my classmates were), and to whom each would likely appeal.
I agree with Michael. He does his thing and has his audience. But he doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath with any of rock's great artists.
Date: Sun, February 04, 2024, 07:52:48 ET
Posted by: Michael,
M/O/D/P, the Grammys are major label honchos patting themselves on the back. The name of the game is to milk legacies for all they're worth. How to achieve this? Simple. Present their stable of artists as living legends, including one (or two) hit wonders, and be sure to give them those little statues to cement their status.
Jon Bon Jovi? Living legend. Guy's won Grammys, you know.
TBH I don't really have anything against the guy. He does his thing and if people enjoy his music then so be it. He's not bothering me. I listen to the music I enjoy like Steely Dan.
Date: Sat, February 03, 2024, 18:48:11 ET
Posted by: M/O/D/P, Definitely not watching the "Grammys", now, then or ever, for that matter.
I ask you, does it get any more feculent than this?
A geriatric Springsteen shamelessly lionizing Corporate/Crap-Rock '80s *Icon* [sic] Bon Jovi, on yet another self-congatulatory Awards Show, you know, that horribly-revolting form of entertainment-product that just refuses to go away??
Gaze on, if you dare:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/entertainment/other/springsteen-rocks-with-jon-bon-jovi-at-pre-grammys-tribute/ar-BB1hI3Mm?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=21b7f8faca454dfca59cb2ea9ef7d19e&ei=114
Just reading the puff-piece "article" made me cough up my last three meals...so, I figgered youse guys deserved to suffer as I did. Fair's fair, and all that.
Apologies in advance.
M/O/D/P
Date: Sat, February 03, 2024, 03:19:23 ET
Posted by: Mt. Belzoni, Portland, OR
. . . and yet the (excellent) Monkey House Retrospective somehow doesn't contain Echo Park Blues, a bonus track released years ago in Japan and still not available in any form in the US.
(They should instead offer a sale on their sheet music, which is priced rather high for the average fan and weekend musician.)
Date: Sat, February 03, 2024, 02:09:37 ET
Posted by: common confusion, not him
Different Larry Klein
Date: Fri, February 02, 2024, 12:02:12 ET
Posted by: hoops, Chicago
Never been a better day to check out the music of Don Breithaupt and Monkey House.
It’s royalty-free Friday at Bandcamp, therefore the perfect day to purchase the 44-track Monkey House ʀᴇᴛʀᴏꜱᴘᴇᴄᴛɪᴠᴇ collection, priced to sell at $15! Contains material from the first three albums, as well as rare mixes, edits, interviews, and unreleased material.
https://monkeyhouse1.bandcamp.com/album/retrospective
Date: Thurs, February 01, 2024, 20:29:41 ET
Posted by: Chet, East
There is a new documentary on Netflix about the recording of We Are The World. Larry Klein is interviewed.
Date: Thurs, February 01, 2024, 17:01:15 ET
Posted by: Michael,
Doc, glad someone picked up on that as it was a somewhat obscure nod to Donald. He was once asked to name a song he wished he'd written and chose Bacharach's 'Land of Make Believe'.
Somnar, fixing a couple of bum notes is one thing, but when autotune is applied liberally then it becomes robotic. Vocal imperfections add a crucial human element to music, picking up on nuances which are otherwise masked within heavily processed sounds.
Date: Thurs, February 01, 2024, 14:09:39 ET
Posted by: EltonMac, 00
in the Napster days, for myself and others, I used to make mix CDs out of the various Radio Steely Dan choices, there are several others out there on the Steely Dan Reader if you don't want to hear "Don's Favorite AM Gold Choices, Summer '90." I didn't use any of those selections.
Leading discs off with "One More Heartache" always hit.
Date: Thurs, February 01, 2024, 14:09:19 ET
Posted by: EltonMac, 00
in the Napster days, for myself and others, I used to make mix CDs out of the various Radio Steely Dan choices, there are several others out there on the Steely Dan Reader if you don't want to hear "Don's Favorite AM Gold Choices, Summer '90." I didn't use any of those selections.
Leading discs off with "One More Heartache" always hit.
Date: Thurs, February 01, 2024, 02:31:28 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
Yeah - major pitch correction on the back up singers (chorus) to lock harmonies in place...
Date: Thurs, February 01, 2024, 02:27:12 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu ,
Just if you're wondering about pitch correction, Anderson .Paak is heavily pitch corrected (ex. Diamonds on the neck. Diamonds on the wrist), although tastefully to sound analog OG. There's a bit of touch up on Bruno Mars (some for effect - 0:27 UFC line), but he really doesn't need it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG7fLOmlhYg
Date: Thurs, February 01, 2024, 02:14:57 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
Somnar - yeah, I drive my daughter crazy because I can almost always hear pitch correction and autotune - it's a curse. Of course today, that means everything! I have to say FWIW that the country music Cousin Dupree might listen to probably suffers the worst from PC/autotune. The twang and bending vocal notes is like half of Country and Western.
The PC/AT spectrum locks a note in place and shifts the harmonics - like moving a band pass filter. You can hear it.
"We've got both kinds (of music). We got country AND western!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS-zEH8YmiM
Date: Thurs, February 01, 2024, 02:05:00 ET
Posted by: DM,
favorites
Date: Thurs, February 01, 2024, 02:04:30 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
Michael: Land of Make Believe is one of Dr. Fagen's favorite and an outstanding pick.
It triggered a jump to a song Donald Fagen wrote for Diana Ross. Unfortunately, Love Will Make it Right (although it won't) was never released as a single, but it's another clever piece of songwriting. Killer bridge with modulation to a short chorus.
Greg Phillinganes on keyboards. Donald on synth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIsD9C7Rk6c
What few synth snares are there are on the offbeats just before the 1st and 2nd beats of the measure (4/4 time) giving the song a dizzying but languid electro-reggae feel.
Date: Wed, January 31, 2024, 22:18:19 ET
Posted by: Somnar, NYC
Just a bit of vocabulary stuff...
Auto-tune is one thing and tuning is another. I'm sure you all know this, but with auto-tune, you tell the software to correct any bum notes in a performance (you can give it some more direction, but you're essentially telling it to do its thing). It's typically pretty clearly audible.
Manual tuning - when done judiciously and skillfully - is a different ball of wax. It can be about going in and changing one note just a little bit, saving a performance that's otherwise great. Of course it can be used in a more heavy-handed way, but this kind of post work is typically not audible to the vast majority of listeners and certainly isn't always a bad thing. Not different than comping a part or taking twenty takes to get something or whatever.
Date: Wed, January 31, 2024, 22:17:58 ET
Posted by: Somnar, NYC
Just a bit of vocabulary stuff...
Auto-tune is one thing and tuning is another. I'm sure you all know this, but with auto-tune, you tell the software to correct any bum notes in a performance (you can give it some more direction, but you're essentially telling it to do its thing). It's typically pretty clearly audible.
Manual tuning - when done judiciously and skillfully - is a different ball of wax. It can be about going in and changing one note just a little bit, saving a performance that's otherwise great. Of course it can be used in a more heavy-handed way, but this kind of post work is typically not audible to the vast majority of listeners and certainly isn't always a bad thing. Not different than comping a part or taking twenty takes to get something or whatever.
Date: Mon, January 29, 2024, 11:09:27 ET
Posted by: Michael,
I'm back with another playlist full of great songs that I know you will enjoy, 'cause you enjoy songs that are great and these songs are great, therefore you will enjoy them.
Burt Bacharach / Dionne Warwick ~ Land Of Make Believe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7MJo0cUP3M
Don Glori - Dlareme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecKPSaiIfAE
Mike Lindup - Atlantia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KANGGZwkSWc
大橋トリオ ohashiTrio - 赤い傘 (Red Umbrella)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_OD9_yjoRQ
Nubya Garcia - Fortify
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKlytImehmo
Larry Carlton - Room 335 (Long Version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeXIWyhB4F8
Klaus Johann Grobe - Highway High
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS7bDGHKXgM
Date: Sun, January 28, 2024, 20:55:10 ET
Posted by: The Dean, St. Augustine. Funky Sunday
Tal Wilkenfeld is a terrific bassist who exploded onto the scene with her live playing with Jeff Beck. She was a very young waif at the time. I had no idea she sang, too. Here she is with the Scary Pockets doing a nice funked up version of Big Yellow Taxi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jm1Zl2Fjd4
And although I have a general distaste for music videos, this Snarky Puppy vid isn't too bad. And the song cooks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEHpq-BxFm4
Date: Sun, January 28, 2024, 08:05:32 ET
Posted by: Michael,
Dr. Hünd, I don't hear it in most of the music I listen to or its use is so subtle that it's not readily apparent to my ears. Bear in mind that I don't really listen to modern mainstream music, as should be apparent from my playlists.
Date: Sun, January 28, 2024, 07:56:25 ET
Posted by: Jimmie, US
https://sdarchive.com/faq.html
As it turned out Donald had once again assumed all the lead-vocal duties; he said he asked Walter if he wanted to do "Jack of Speed" but Walter declined.
Date: Sun, January 28, 2024, 07:37:51 ET
Posted by: James, US
Where and when did Donald say Walter was down with singing lead vocals on Jack of Speed, but Walter declined?
Date: Sun, January 28, 2024, 07:36:47 ET
Posted by: Jimmie, US
As to why WB didn't sing lead on Jack on the studio version. Donald said he was down with it, but Walter declined.
Date: Sat, January 27, 2024, 20:44:58 ET
Posted by: Dr. Hünd, Hanging Valley Wall, Colorado
Michael,
<<It Introduced The World To Auto-Tune
According to Pitchfork, a remarkable 99 percent of all contemporary pop music utilizes the pitch-altering recording technique known as Auto-Tune. And that's pretty much all down to The Cher Effect. Although designed to subtly correct a wayward vocal, the producers of "Believe" decided to make it blatantly obvious that studio trickery had been at play, transforming one of pop's most easily identifiable voices into that of a wobbly android.
Cher had to fight to keep the song's unique selling point, telling unconvinced label bosses they'd have to remove it "over my dead body." And her instinct proved to be right. The pioneering use of Auto-Tune was undoubtedly the catalyst for the song's phenomenal success, ultimately paving the way for everyone from Lil Wayne and T-Pain to Daft Punk and Black Eyed Peas.>>
Date: Sat, January 27, 2024, 18:23:46 ET
Posted by: Michael,
Dr. Hūnd, isn't that a lyric to one of Cher's songs?
Doc Mu, thanks for sharing. Maiya Sykes has a powerful set of pipes and the performances were spot on.
Date: Sat, January 27, 2024, 00:31:27 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
Maiya Sykes with Ben Folds and Scary Pockets reimagining the BF5 song Kate.
The added funk, R&M, and jazz suits it well and elevated it to a fusiony amalgam.
https://youtu.be/gRkgC6sUC-o?si=kZLSj6-PJWyXnj0w
Date: Fri, January 26, 2024, 20:49:59 ET
Posted by: Dr. Hūnd, Hanging Valley Wall, Colorado
Michael, do you believe in life after love?
Date: Fri, January 26, 2024, 18:07:30 ET
Posted by: Michael,
Don't know but it wouldn't be surprising. I do know that autotune was used on the Dukes of September DVD. It's a tool like anything else. Whether or not you like it is your call. I don't particularly like it as it sounds too mechanical, except in very limited circumstances where the intent is to to achieve some kind of narrative effect to sound like robotic, or when it's unobtrusive such as on background vocals in a dance number, things like that. I can't stand it when it's liberally applied everywhere. It gets grating real quickly.
Date: Fri, January 26, 2024, 17:44:33 ET
Posted by: Dr LaVornia,
Yes, thanks Michael, I did mean “didn’t”.👍😊
You could be right regarding the possibility of Walter’s tentative
vocal performance on that song. Although he sounded great
singing it “live” in ‘97.
I think I recall hearing that auto tune was used on WB’s
Circus Money (specifically on “Downtown Canon”).
Any truth to that, you think?
Date: Fri, January 26, 2024, 17:19:46 ET
Posted by: Michael,
Dr LaVornia, did you mean to say, "Why they *didn't* have WB singing lead on that tune on the recorded version is beyond me"? If so that was likely due to the uncertainty surrounding Walter's vocal capabilities. As TAN was to be their first new studio outing in two decades they probably wanted to go with the sure thing as Donald's vocals are the key ingredient to the SD sound and it wouldn't make sense to stray from that formula, whereas with EMG they seemed more eager to take chances, though I can't say for certain. You'd have to ask someone in the know who was there.
My two cents is that Jack of Speed a good song that would've been better with a slightly faster tempo and had it been about a minute shorter in length. My favorite tracks off TAN are Gaslighting Abbie, Janie Runaway, Almost Gothic, and Negative Girl.
Date: Fri, January 26, 2024, 15:08:41 ET
Posted by: Dr LaVornia,
Michael
Imagine Krantz soloing on the studio version Jack Of Speed
along with WB singing lead and done at faster tempo
and at a louder dynamic?
Why they did at least have WB singing lead on that
tune on the recorded version,is beyond me.
Date: Fri, January 26, 2024, 11:47:32 ET
Posted by: Michael,
I don't have a problem with rock per se but I do have a problem with oversaturation. Admittedly I don't know much about AC/DC's catalog but 'Back in Black' has been played a little too much for my liking. Too much of anything is a huge turn-off. Familiarity breeds contempt.
Date: Fri, January 26, 2024, 09:46:29 ET
Posted by: JW, Let There Be Rock
Re: AC/DC, here’s Krantz, Carlock, and Lefebvre riffing on “Back in Black,” which has been a staple of Krantz’s set for some time now. https://youtu.be/P7M_sfnzWq8?si=y83nBcFmoKMTVAvq
Surely some of the purported connoisseurs of high production value who lurk in these environs know about the sought-after drum sounds on certain classic AC/DC albums, especially those engineered by Tony Platt.
Date: Fri, January 26, 2024, 09:03:59 ET
Posted by: Michael,
AC/DC... ugh. I don't recall how many times I've heard 'Back in Black' featured in commercials and movie trailers. Oversaturated like the plague, yet despite hearing it a thousand times I still cannot decipher the lyrics except for when he shouts "BACK IN BLACK!!!" at the beginning of the song.
Please make it go away.
Date: Thurs, January 25, 2024, 17:23:05 ET
Posted by: The Dean, St. Augustine. It's Happy Hour
Sorry for the double post. I got that "dangerous site" pop up again. It seems that popup comes AFTER the post has been accepted. Just an FYIt
Date: Thurs, January 25, 2024, 17:21:46 ET
Posted by: The Dean, St. Augustine. It's Happy Hour
Just to address the AC/DC issue for a second. I know the name AC/DC and realize they are a band. I'm pretty sure they have at least one member (guitar player perhaps?) who wears preposterous shorts. Like M/O/D/P I can't name one song by the band. I may have heard one or more of their songs, but nothing I remember associated with them.
And I always thought the idea Only a Fool Would Say That was written as a shot against John Lennon was pretty fucking stupid.
Date: Thurs, January 25, 2024, 17:21:37 ET
Posted by: The Dean, St. Augustine. It's Happy Hour
Just to address the AC/DC issue for a second. I know the name AC/DC and realize they are a band. I'm pretty sure they have at least one member (guitar player perhaps?) who wears preposterous shorts. Like M/O/D/P I can't name one song by the band. I may have heard one or more of their songs, but nothing I remember associated with them.
And I always thought the idea Only a Fool Would Say That was written as a shot against John Lennon was pretty fucking stupid.
Date: Thurs, January 25, 2024, 07:54:02 ET
Posted by: Steve M, Scotland
Sorry folks, turns out the SD tour dates I mentioned in Manchester UK next May/June are actually part of the whole Eagles support thing....I'll pass.
Date: Thurs, January 25, 2024, 00:01:01 ET
Posted by: SDV, upon the platform
I can't name a single Taylor Swift song but I've certainly heard of Taylor Swift. same goes for a lot of other acts.
like them or not AC/DC is one of the most successful groups of all time and most folks have at least heard of them.
some of us may have thought Donald lives in some kind of bubble where he mostly just listens to the same 20 or so jazz albums but his "desert island" list proves otherwise
Date: Wed, January 24, 2024, 23:02:40 ET
Posted by: M/O/D/P, Certainly not listening to "AC/DC" right now
QUOTE, Shark de Ville: "I still find it surprising that when SD played Coachella along with AC/DC he claimed to have never heard of them".
Although, through a series of unfortunate exposure incidents, I HAVE heard of them, I honestly couldn't name an "AC/DC" song without, y'know, goggling "AC/DC" and then reading through some idiotic promotional drivel about "AC/DC" - something I'm just not prepared to do. DF is/was not completely alone here.
What was it Walter once said when asked his opinion of some popular act? "I don't shop in that section of the record store" - or something pretty close. I'm guessing that most, if not all, of the material released by AC/DC is the sort of entertainment product that someone like DF or WB would be very unlikely to run across in daily life. Not even on the radar, as they say.
My best guess at "AC/DC" song titles, if I were to have to answer, would be AOR/hit tunes with names like, "Rock rock baby baby" or maybe "Oooooh ooooh party rock baby" or even "Rock 'n' party all night long (baby)!"...but without even a hint of shame I readily admit I really don't know what the hell I'm talking about here. And, for the record, despite the fact that I am regrettably aware of all of them, with gun-to-head I also can't name a single song by the likes of Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Hexagon, Stryper, Ratt, Poison, Iron Maiden, Deaf Leopard, or any one of the hundreds of other low grade arena/crap-rock acts that have littered the popular music scene over the past four or five decades.
In short, put me on one of those asinine TV Game Shows (I presume they still have these things?) where the subject is '70s - '90s Crap Rock Trivia, and I end up looking like the proverbial deer-in-the-headlights, or maybe like an Eagles fan suddenly & unexpectedly faced with a roadside sobriety test.
But look, even though I personally don't like the music of AC/DC, I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for those who enjoy the music of AC/DC, "denigrate" means "put down".
M/O/D/P
Date: Wed, January 24, 2024, 16:34:36 ET
Posted by: SDV, up on the hill
thanks for reposting that.
some great selections from Donald and like you say, much more "mainstream" than we might expect. he loved Shakedown Street enough to cover it with the Dukes and the Night Flyers. and the Lennon tune might surprise some who are convinced Only A Fool is an anti-Lennon song... I never bought that.
Donald seems quite familiar with what's popular, I still find it surprising that when SD played Coachella along with AC/DC he claimed to have never heard of them
Date: Tues, January 23, 2024, 20:53:04 ET
Posted by: Eino Eubie Sexton, a/k/a Sam Bivalent (but I've never posted as Sammy if anyone ever wondered)
A few months ago I posted here about a vague recollection I had of reading about Donald & Walter playing guest DJs at an FM rock station and picking their favorites from the station's playlist. I wasn't 100% sure it was both Fagen and Becker, wasn't 100% sure they did it back in the 70's, but I assumed, from scouring my memory, that it musta been their - or Fagen's - choices from some rock station's playlist because the two songs I recalled - Elton's "Bennie" and FMac's "You Make Loving Fun" were so much more like commercial FM programming than what we assume Fagen and Becker normally listen to.
Uh... talk about *faded memories*...'cause I just found this reprint of a transcription of what the show *really* was:
"Donald Fagen was a guest on the “Desert Island Discs” radio show in April 1990 where a famous rock musician plays an hour’s worth of music he would like if stranded on a desert island. Donald decided to devote his picks to songs of the ’70’s and Metal Leg was quite surprised at some of his choices and you probably will be, too. (But then again, nothing that these guys do should surprise us.)"
Fagen: "When I was in Los Angeles — I was living there in most of the ’70s. I guess from ’72-’78 there were a lot of good songs being played on the radio. At that time, we were trying to get a band together and get some of our songs on the radio. I remember — I guess in ’77-’76 — Fleetwood Mac came out with that famous album which had so many great hits on it. This one is called “You Make Loving Fun.”
Here’s a song from the earlier, or middle ’70s. It was an interesting record — had a lot of sound effects in it. It sounded live, but I’m not sure if it was or not. It’s called “Bennie And The Jets” by Elton John.
Got another song here from the ’70s. It wasn’t a big hit but it’s a great song. I think the words really are great and also have something very interesting to say concerning that period when a lot of the cities were falling apart — and of course they still are — but here’s the Grateful Dead with “Shakedown Street.”
The next song I wanna play here is by Dr. John. It’s called “Right Place, Wrong Time.” The words on this are sinful. I played with Dr. John, also known as Mac Rebennack, a few times and he’d call me on the phone and say things like “Meet you at the gig-a-roo,” and all that kind of thing, so he’s quite a character. Here it is: “Right Place, Wrong Time.”
Mark Knopfler is a very talented singer and guitar player. I worked with him — I guess it was about ’76 on the Gaucho album when I was still with Steely Dan and he played on a song called “Time Out Of Mind” and he did a great job, too. This song is called “Sultans Of Swing.”
The ’70s, Nixon and China, Watergate, Sam Ervin, The Godfather, Star Wars, Feminism. And here’s a song that was big in the ’70’s called “Golden Years” by David Bowie.
Another song that would make life on a desert island more bearable is one by Rickie Lee Jones called “Chuckie’s In Love.” Her recent album actually is produced by my former partner Walter Becker, so I’m really happy to play this one. Listen to this guitar part.
Anyone familiar with the creative process knows there’s a kind of manic terror involved when you really get rolling, writing a novel or song or whatever. Here’s the Talking Heads from their second album More Songs About Buildings And Food” with a song about the creative process called “Artists Only: I’m Painting! I’m Painting Again.”
They just keep rolling on: The Rolling Stones. During the ’70s, one of their greatest albums was Sticky Fingers and here’s a slow ballad by Mick Jagger in the Otis Redding tradition called “I Got The Blues.”
When my partner Walter Becker and I first moved out to Los Angeles, one of the first big songs at the time was “Heart Of Gold.” I remember hearing it playing driving along the freeways. Neil Young is a really original artist and I think his honesty and originality are something you hear in this great song, “Heart Of Gold.”
Here’s a song by John Lennon I think is from 1970. It’s definitely from the very early ’70s. I guess some people would still call it the ’60s, if they’re talking culturally and psychologically and so on, It’s a very interesting song, really original in John Lennon’s later style using a lot of echo and all that kind of stuff that he started using during the ’70s. John Lennon died in 1980, so this was 10 years before. Here’s “Instant Karma.”
Let’s see now, we’ve played some David Bowie, some Dead, one by the Rolling Stones, some Lennon. Here’s one by the band War, which I understand is still around. When I lived in Los Angeles in the ’70s, everyone would see these cars riding along with the incredible lowering job on the back fender. And this one is by War, really driving tune, it’s that LA culture in the ’70s, extolling that kind of vehicle called “Low Rider.”
I hope you’ve enjoyed spending the last hour with me listening to the records I’d take to a desert island. A lot of people think the ’70s were a pretty vague era, but I hope this brought back a lot of good memories and, hopefully, not too many bad memories, I know I’ve had a lot of fun on this desert island here with these palm trees, coconuts and all that. And I’ll see you next time."
Nice! Thank you to the transcriber(s). It'd be way fun to hear the actual audio, don't you think?
Date: Tues, January 23, 2024, 07:47:15 ET
Posted by: Stan, US
I'm confident of a new Fagen release. He's very prolific. One new solo album per decade, each decade, going back to the 1980s.
Date: Tues, January 23, 2024, 07:18:35 ET
Posted by: Michael,
During his interview with Acoustic Sounds Donald alluded to working on a new album, though there's no indication as to how far along it is. Hopefully it will be released sometime this year.
Date: Mon, January 22, 2024, 21:01:17 ET
Posted by: moray eel, N
Three year ago, Fagen told Rolling Stone that he had written almost an entire album worth of tunes and had recorded demos.
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/steely-dan-donald-fagen-new-album-1235132/amp/
m.e.
Date: Mon, January 22, 2024, 10:35:41 ET
Posted by: Michael,
Here's a little something for all the music lovers out there.
Hot Salad - Easy Target
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgP8DYwYtco
Santa Cruz - Mais Uma Chance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1AOcFKjdaM
Ryan Power - World of Wonder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eALnXONe1nE
Stereo Venus - Strange Waltz (feat. Rumer)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0HVejth_Os
PSYMON SPINE - Wizard Acid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW9CH_3nzzQ
Yellowjackets - Matinee Idol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdbCf76wlKU
Con Funk Shun - California 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8REZHx7jCE
Date: Mon, January 22, 2024, 08:03:32 ET
Posted by: Steve M, Scotland near Manchester
3 dates in Manchester UK coming up for me late May, early June.
Date: Sun, January 21, 2024, 15:05:33 ET
Posted by: Phoenix, The Real Deal
1/19
Phantom Raiders
Josie
Hey Nineteen
Aja
Kid Charlemagne
Dirty Work
Time Out of Mind
Rikki Don't Lose That Number
Peg
My Old School
Reelin' in the Years
A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry
1/20
Phantom Raiders
Josie
Hey Nineteen
Aja
Kid Charlemagne
Dirty Work
Bodhisattva
Black Cow
Peg
My Old School
Reelin' in the Years
A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry
Date: Sat, January 20, 2024, 14:35:03 ET
Posted by: Foot Print, Phoenix
Phantom Raiders
Josie
Hey Nineteen
Aja
Kid Charlemagne
Dirty Work
Bodhisattva
Peg
My Old School
Reelin' in the Years
A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry
Date: Thurs, January 18, 2024, 18:56:05 ET
Posted by: Michael,
Donny Benét's new song American Dream just dropped.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM3XyivYPYI
Date: Wed, January 17, 2024, 21:03:10 ET
Posted by: Denise, wicked cold in Boston
Hi Gus, good to see a a post from you. Hi to Mrs. W.
Ben, watched the clip on the second link. Those short music recaps just don't do the music justice, do they? But glad SD is recognized.
Date: Wed, January 17, 2024, 16:39:27 ET
Posted by: Ben Jammin, Chillin' in Indy
Here's more about our favorite Hall of Famers...
https://relix.com/news/detail/r-e-m-steely-dan-and-others-inducted-into-2024-songwriters-hall-of-fame/?utm_source=Relix+Daily&utm_campaign=f75702a428-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_01_17_05_37&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-f75702a428-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=f75702a428&mc_eid=a0ea23347e
https://www.jambase.com/article/songwriters-hall-of-fame-2024-r-e-m-steely-dan
Date: Wed, January 17, 2024, 16:39:08 ET
Posted by: Ben Jammin, Chillin' in Indy
Here's more about our favorite Hall of Famers...
https://relix.com/news/detail/r-e-m-steely-dan-and-others-inducted-into-2024-songwriters-hall-of-fame/?utm_source=Relix+Daily&utm_campaign=f75702a428-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_01_17_05_37&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-f75702a428-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=f75702a428&mc_eid=a0ea23347e
https://www.jambase.com/article/songwriters-hall-of-fame-2024-r-e-m-steely-dan
Date: Wed, January 17, 2024, 16:24:03 ET
Posted by: Acrisure, 1000 Palms
Phantom Raiders
Josie
Hey Nineteen
Aja
Kid Charlemagne
Dirty Work
Bodhisattva
Black Cow
Peg
My Old School
Reelin' in the Years
A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry
Date: Wed, January 17, 2024, 15:40:25 ET
Posted by: Gus Winterbottom, Torrance, CA
Denise, Thanks for the Songwriter HoF info.
Hoops, Thanks for the Palm Springs show updates.
Date: Wed, January 17, 2024, 11:27:06 ET
Posted by: Anyone, Anywhere
The next Wendels?...
https://gizmodo.com/new-musical-instruments-invented-georgia-tech-guthman-1851170490
Several of them are not really what I would call "musical." But I can see some being useful for film/soundtrack work, especially for weird alien sounds. (See the Thales or the Yuan, the last two presented.)
The most obviously recognizable and useful one for actual music (imo) would be the second one presented, the circle guitar, because it's not an entirely new instrument designed from scratch, it's "just" a modification of existing guitars.
Date: Wed, January 17, 2024, 09:03:06 ET
Posted by: Denise, Hinktown
Steely Dan, R.E.M., Timbaland, Hillary Lindsey and Dean Pitchford get into Songwriters Hall of Fame
https://apnews.com/article/2024-songwriters-hall-fame-a1c7fbe1d470f45414c9fe87f78ad787
Their nomination posted here a few weeks back.
"Steely Dan — co-founded by Donald Fagan and the late Walter Becker — finally get into the hall despite being a staple of classic rock with songs like “Reelin’ in the Years,” “Do It Again” and “Hey Nineteen.” They went into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2001...
The Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 1969 to honor those creating the popular music. A songwriter with a notable catalog of songs qualifies for induction 20 years after the first commercial release of a song."
Date: Tues, January 16, 2024, 19:35:42 ET
Posted by: hoops, Chicago, wishing I was in Palm Desert
For Gus Winterbottom and others, updating my thread on resale ticket prices. In case you missed my earlier posts, last fall there were a few shows where people were unloading tickets for as low as $38 plus fees, something like 85% off original ticket price. So far, that sort of thing is not the case on this winter leg of the tour.
With that in mind, for tonight's show near Palm Desert, California the lowest resale ticket I saw was $175 (including fees) at the opposite end of the arena, apparently in the nosebleeds. This was at around 1 PM PST.
Just my hypothesis: Since this is in a pretty wealthy area, I imagine people are willing to give their tickets to other people rather than have to try and recover their costs. Just a theory. At any rate, no sign of any of those deals like last fall at MSG.
If you're at the show tonight, hope you enjoy.
Date: Mon, January 15, 2024, 11:26:58 ET
Posted by: Michael,
I'm back with a new selection of great music for your listening satisfaction.
Page 99 - Did You Mean That?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfoa223SI8E
Barbara - Rainy Days in June
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiOE037fJOI
Claude Lavender - Judy's Bottom Drawer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr7am7_HR6k
Ed Mount - Distant Calls (feat. Flore Benguigui)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbMXLzdbpjs
Polydata - Leaving San Jose
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWM-RXYyf94
Kerry Charles - Empress Of The Crystal Moon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5RMWk-jUg4
Marc Jordan - Generalities
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RktQNME5h4Y
Until next time.
Date: Mon, January 15, 2024, 08:50:19 ET
Posted by: Jimmie, US
Mis'ry and The Blues should have been included on the trilogy Extras CD.
Date: Sun, January 14, 2024, 16:03:45 ET
Posted by: Kia3, L.A. 2
:: Same setlist, both nights in L.A. ::
Phantom Raiders
Josie
Hey Nineteen
Aja
Kid Charlemagne
Dirty Work
Bodhisattva
Pretzel Logic
Peg
My Old School
Reelin' in the Years
A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry
Date: Sat, January 13, 2024, 23:04:25 ET
Posted by: The Dean, St. Augustine. Uptown, Baby!
E. Eubie-Sex,
Thanks so much for posting that here. Excellent mix. Old farts like me might never see that on regular social media. Appreciate you including us.
Date: Sat, January 13, 2024, 23:04:06 ET
Posted by: The Dean, St. Augustine. Uptown, Baby!
E. Eubie-Sex,
Thanks so much for posting that here. Excellent mix. Old farts like me might never see that on regular social media. Appreciate you including us.
Date: Sat, January 13, 2024, 19:38:03 ET
Posted by: Kia3, L.A. 1
Phantom Raiders
Josie
Hey Nineteen
Aja
Kid Charlemagne
Dirty Work
Bodhisattva
Pretzel Logic
Peg
My Old School
Reelin' in the Years
A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry
Date: Fri, January 12, 2024, 18:05:30 ET
Posted by: Michael,
。☆。*。☆。
★。＼｜／。★
Happy Birthday!
★。※※※。★
Date: Thurs, January 11, 2024, 21:22:28 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
Happy belated Birthday, Dr. Fagen!
Date: Wed, January 10, 2024, 22:40:21 ET
Posted by: From all of us, to all of you
https://www.instagram.com/p/C17bIFDLRwU/?igsh=MWs2ODJucmNka3Y2eQ%3D%3D
Hey 19 x 4! - Happy Birthday Donald.
Date: Wed, January 10, 2024, 21:50:57 ET
Posted by: Someone, Somewhere
Feliz cumpleaños Señor Fagen.
Date: Wed, January 10, 2024, ET
Posted by: The Loyal Dandom, On All Continents
Happy Birthday, Donald Fagen!
******
|||||
*********
*~~~~~~~*
* *
*****************
* *
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
* ******************
-------------------------------
[ Cake courtesy of the late and very great Boston Rag & hoops ]
Date: Tues, January 09, 2024, 08:51:51 ET
Posted by: Michael,
I'm back with another playlist, an assortment of wonderful gems. Kick back, relax and enjoy the music.
Yatte & Duett - Man In The Shadow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JesWCxBKkWs
Fan Fiction - Christopher 9
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPPSNel3tjQ
Baird - Beluga Baby
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meeZnspSUvU
Psychic Mirrors - Slow Motion Mary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02tZfW0qU5k
Fuyu ni Wakarete - Morning like a breath (舟を漕ぐ人)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hCRgyz6MOQ
Shogun - Tokino Rail
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIFtsQaMEVk
Date: Tues, January 09, 2024, 01:10:03 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
Evan: Doxy, minx or the equivalent. The Gin and roses line evokes a Raymond Chandler-like point of view.
Date: Mon, January 08, 2024, 20:29:25 ET
Posted by: hoops, Chicago
Gus:
Happy new year to you and the Mrs..
As I was posting periodically in the past few days on our sister Facebook page,
(because I'm including graphics/maps of the seats) I've been lamenting tickets this have not gone below $178 for some nosebleeds. Very little off. a very stark contrast to what happened to MSG, with the tickets that actually were not only under $50 but we're selling for about $38 plus fees.
I'm expecting that the Palm Desert show this week will also be very expensive and not come down much. As you know it's a pretty wealthy area, and my gut tells me that people won't care if they can't make the show at the last minute and instead give the tickets to other people rather than try to resell them.
Anyways, on the Facebook group I'm able to post images of the ticket locations etc. So I posted a little more about the sort of thing.
Date: Mon, January 08, 2024, 11:34:36 ET
Posted by: Daniella Gassaway, USA
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Date: Mon, January 08, 2024, 11:33:50 ET
Posted by: Daniella Gassaway, USA
I’m Daniella from New York. I came across Dr Uwaifo post and testimony of how he has helped people solve their problems when I was frustrated and depressed looking for help online on what to do to get pregnant after four years of childlessness. I saw great testimonies of his works and how he has put smiles on people’s faces. I contacted him via the number on his page and told him what I was going through, and he told me not to worry that I will carry my children and I claim it. Long story short, he told me what to do and I follow his instructions strictly without missing any words. I was still doing my wifey duties, few months later i got pregnant, i and my husband was so happy we now have a baby not just one but twins after years of trying Dr Uwaifo spell casting turn our situation around. Thank you for putting a smile on our face Dr. Email: druwaifospelltemple@gmail.com or whatsapp him: +1(315) 277-2762 or Website; https://druwaifospelltempl.wixsite.com/my-site-1
Date: Mon, January 08, 2024, 00:40:34 ET
Posted by: Gus Winterbottom, Torrance, CA
Kia, thanks for posting the setlists.
Hoops, after reading your post about resale ticket prices, I checked Ticketmaster for prices on the Palm Springs show on Jan 16. That show is about 92% sold, including about 250 currently listed "verified resale" seats, with about 900 unsold seats. The prices on some unsold seats have dropped from $300 about a week ago, to $200 today. From what I recall, which is only a couple of cases, the resale ticket prices haven't moved during the last week.
Date: Sun, January 07, 2024, 21:16:15 ET
Posted by: Kia II, Inglewood
Phantom Raiders
Josie
Hey Nineteen
Aja
Kid Charlemagne
Dirty Work
Time Out of Mind
Babylon Sisters
Peg
My Old School
Reelin' in the Years
A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry
Date: Sun, January 07, 2024, 16:30:12 ET
Posted by: Michael,
'Ugly' would be my guess.
Date: Sun, January 07, 2024, 09:44:09 ET
Posted by: Evan Talin,
Does anyone know what the “four letter word” is in the
song “I Can’t Write Home About You”?
Date: Sat, January 06, 2024, 23:03:04 ET
Posted by: hoops, Chicago
Thanks for the set list!
BTW: I was checking to see if there are any great deals on ticket resales as there were for last September's MSG shows (as per Dandom Digest). No. Not for these two Kia shows. Hmmmm....
Date: Sat, January 06, 2024, 17:13:01 ET
Posted by: Kia, Inglewood
Phantom Raiders
Josie
Hey 19
Aja
Kid Charlemagne
Dirty Work
Time Out of Mind
Rikki Don't Lose That Number
Peg
My Old School
Reelin' in the Years
A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry
Date: Sat, January 06, 2024, 14:21:31 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu,
Steve: Those are JM horns. So tasty and so right.
Date: Fri, January 05, 2024, 20:10:13 ET
Posted by: Emilly, USA
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Date: Fri, January 05, 2024, 14:16:42 ET
Posted by: Steve M, Scotland
Doc Mu
That's truly exceptional and the horns are from the JM remix and not from the actual Gaucho sessions? Some piece of work!
Date: Fri, January 05, 2024, 00:13:48 ET
Posted by: Doc Mu ,
If there was a doubt that HI (Human intelligence) can top AI...
I'm really digging Jive Miguel's build around Fagen's vocals on this version of I Can't Write Home About You. Absolutely fabulous.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1EFFao9oT0
Date: Fri, January 05, 2024, 00:00:47 ET
Posted by: hoops, Chicago
The latest edition of the Dandom Digest for September 8-December 31, 2023 (Vol 31, No. 5) emailed out about an hour ago. You should have received it around midnight ET/NYC Time. The previous regular Dandom Digest covered July 1-September 7 ,2023.
As I regularly remind subscribers, some people have problems with delivery of the Dandom Digest, usually because of their spam filters, firewalls, etc. That's why this sort of notice is posted here--so you are aware that you should have received the latest edition. With email filters and spam, what they are today, there can be some issues beyond our control. For example, many work-place email servers reject email that it scans as having a "naughty" word. At any rate, if you don't see it in your in box, let me know by sending an email at jjmckay at me dot com. I've also included. the full contents below for your convenience and BlueBook discussion.
If you are not currently a subscriber but would like to receive the free Dandom Digest email newsletter, please email me at jjmckay AT me DOT com or see http://www.dandom.com/dandomdigest/index.html
For the record, the Dandom Digest is a fan newsletter with content written by and for the fans of Steely Dan. The newsletter and its content is independent of, nor to be confused with, the glorious and much more glamorous official newsletters from steelydanofficial com, sdarchive com, walterbecker com, walterbeckermedia com, donaldfagen com and other sites of Steely Dan and associates.
As the Dandom Digest marks 30 years, thanks to all who contributed to the latest edition of the Dandom Digest, be it through the emailing digest AT dandom DOT com or through posting to our BlueBook guestbook or Facebook page; or tweeting @dandomdotcom.
-------------------------------------------------------------
DANDOM DIGEST
September 8--December 31, 2023
Yr. 31, No. 5
-------------------------------------------------------------
IN THIS DANDOM DIGEST
-Donald Back, to Do It Again, 1/5/24
-Steely Thoughts on SD + Eagles
-Consider Before Buying Tickets
-New DF Interview with Acoustic Sounds, Mentions New Album
-Steely Thoughts on the Album Reissues
-UPDATE: 1972-80 Albums Reissue Series
---WHAT'S NEW: December 31, 2023:
---AJA RE-RELEASES
---GAUCHO RE-RELEASES
...more
-REMINDER: Calling All Current SD Orchestra Members & Alums
-Michael Leonhart Backs Rock Hall Induction Ceremony
SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
-SPOILER: 9/7—MSG NYC: SD Special Guest of Eagles
Followed by
PRETZEL LOGIC
-------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Donald Back, to Do It Again, 1/5/24
From: Jim McKay
As you probably heard, Donald Fagen was taken ill and had to cancel Steely Dan's opening performances for the fall 2023 leg of Eagles' "The Long Goodbye: The Final Tour."
In October, lead Eagle Don Henley announced from the stage that Mr. Fagen was having (undisclosed) surgery and was wished a speedy recovery. Sheryl Crowe, solo Vince Gill, Steve Miller, and the Doobie Brothers were among the acts that stepped up in Steely Dan's absence.
We're glad to hear Donald is back to health and back to performing.
Donald and the Steely Dan Orchestra are slated to resume opening for Eagles with a string of dates beginning Friday, January 5, 2024 at the Kia Forum, Los Angeles. Donald and the Steely Dan Orchestra are slated to continue opening for Eages through March 16 with stops in Palm Springs, Phoenix, Austin, St. Louis, Omaha, Tulsa, Houston, New Orleans, Hollywood, FL, Orlando, Chicago, Toronto, and finally Charlotte.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Steely Thoughts on SD + Eagles
From: Jim McKay,
When I last wrote on June 30, I was hearing that a couple of venues are holding open dates to accommodate the possibility of headlining SD shows; but obviously, they took a third option instead: Steely Dan opening for Eagles.
For us hard core, obsessive fans, their association is not entirely a surprise, given the ong time vantage of Steely Dan and Eagles decades of sharing managers; Tim Schmit appearing on Steely Dan records; Steely Dan's influence on the Frey and Henley's edgier song writing on "Hotel California" and "The Long Run"; and their mutual immersion in the 1970s Los Angeles music scene.
And while there are all sorts of circles who appreciate and respect Steely Dan--from punk to jazz, NYC to LA, and four generations of fans at that--there is of course an overwhelming segment of who were fans of both in their mid- to late-70s heyday, as they are today.
Here we are almost half a century later with Donald Fagen turning 76 on January 10, 2024 (Happy Birthday to Donald!). It's great that Donald still wants to get out do a show (even if it is shorter than days of yore), and even mentions that there's a new solo album in the offing. (See the story below about Donald's "Aja" interview with the Acoustic Sounds folks.) As fans, were very grateful.
So here we have it: "Eagles' 'The Long Goodbye: The Final Tour' with Special Guest Steely Dan." The full usual Steely Dan orchestra will be along for the ride which kicks off September 7, 2023 at Madison Square Garden in NYC. See the "SPOILERS" section below for the first night's set list, kindly provided by super Dan fan Danny. A couple review excerpts also follow.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Consider Before Buying Tickets
From: Jim McKay,
It's come to my attention that because Steely Dan is the opening act and not the headliner for these Eagles shows, tickets are only refundable if Eagles cancel. They are not refundable if Steely Dan cancels. Moreover, under such circumstances, any travel insurance may not cover ticket prices, airline tickets, accommodations, etc. if Steely Dan cancels but Eagles continue to perform for a date.
Since ticket prices for these shows start well into three-figures, those who are primarily Steely Dan fans may want to wait until closer to or even the day of the show to buy tickets.
There is another potential advantage to waiting. There have been numerous fan reports that Ticketmaster, StubHub, and the like have last-minute reputable re-sales of tickets at a fraction of the face value of the tickets. For example, tickets for a Madison Square Garden show this past September were spotted on StubHub hours before the show at over 85% off face value: $38 plus fees (versus over $300) is quite reasonable if you simply want to attend for the 60-minute Steely Dan show. It can't be predicted as to whether every show will have last-minute resale tickets, but it is a consideration. Be sure to protect yourself by buying from reputable ticket resellers or other parties you know personally.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: New DF Interview with Acoustic Sounds, Mentions New Album
From: Jim McKay,
The Acoustic Sounds staff examines the Steely Dan's classic "Aja" on UHQR, as Donald Fagen reminisces with award-winning recording engineer Bill Schnee, mastering engineer Bernie Grundman, the Tracking Angle’s Fred Kaplan, and Analogue Productions’ own Chad Kassem. Order yours: https://tinyurl.com/mtpxcacw
Some great background information on the making of "Aja"--but if you can't listen to the whole 60+ minute segment, at least scrub to 53 minutes in where Donald mentions again that he has a new album forthcoming. Donald also offers an appreciation people seeking out higher quality formats of music rather than simply streaming in the background, where the music matters and where playing it is again engaging the listener.
Link to Acoustic Sounds' Interview with Donald Fagen, December 2023:
https://youtu.be/IZdcOb2OnyY
-------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Steely Thoughts on the Album Reissues
From: Jim McKay,
Part of the Steely Dan ethos is the sonic perfection that Our Favorite Duo and other collaborators have sought through the years. Getting the latest, greatest, re-issue of all these classics, just to experience new revelations thanks to the audio technology, is part of being a fan. That's a big reason why I own between 24-30 different copies of the classic 1970s Steely Dan albums.
Myself? I've partaken in pretty much every re-release series over the past three or four decades. There's been one exception: I did largely pass on the SHM-CD series released in Japan roughly a decade and a half ago. I also understand that there are some legitimate hi-res files of the classic Steely Dan albums available for purchase and download...I'd be grateful if someone could provide accurate details on the official provider for purchasing these.
Back 30-40 years ago, CDs were the rage. Who wants scratchy vinyl that you have to flip over after the first 15-20 minutes? Who likes to replace your turntable's stylus and cartridge? I've never experienced CD defects as frequently as warped vinyl. When was the last time you had to replace the laser on your CD player? (Probably never.)
Yet for me, there's some nostalgia in hearing a pop and click or experiencing the first and second sides--sets or acts?--of an LP while reminiscing about that ABC Records logo as it spun and played some of the greatest music ever as heard it for the first time. And the gloriously large artwork.
If you are like me, many of your vinyl copies of Steely Dan albums are approaching half a century in age. Or maybe you have one the 1980s budget pressings that were made of the highest quality vinyl. So having re-issues after all these years is a way of getting fresh copies.
To be sure the great people at Acoustic Sounds have pulled out all the stops, starting by collaborating with veteran audio god Bernie Grundman who was involved in some of the original Steely Dan recordings. I think the Acoustic Sounds UHQR releases--on 45 RPM clear 200g and 33-1/3 black 180g black vinyl--along with the SACD/CD hybrids will be the final word on the Steely Dan catalog in our lifetime.
But these highest quality re-releases are only part of the equation. If you have a cheap $100 all-in-one turntable/speaker box from Kohl's department store, the 33-1/3 single LP versions may be all you need to maximize the limited capabilities of your audio equipment, compared to some of us reading this who have professional systems well into the thousands of dollars or even professional audio studios. I'm not sure the turntable from Kohl's will justify purchasing the $150 versions.
Other factors in the equation: Your own individual hearing as it has matured, for better or worse, as well as the acoustic quality of your listening space. There are other factors that also contribute to what is truly an individual listening experience, determining what is the most reasonable purchasing choices. For every Steely Dan fan, there's a unique sonic experience.
For all these reasons, the comments and reviews I offer almost exclusively focus on any anomalies that are reported by others and not just me. I don't want people to form an opinion based solely on my personal limitations of hearing and unique audio setups.
Whatever your take on these re-issues, as Donald Fagen points out in the aforementioned interview with Acoustic Sounds staff (around 55 minutes in), it's great that music lovers again are engaging in vinyl (or CDs and high-end audio files), as it requires more conscious and and engaged listening than just streaming with tiny earbuds, reminding us that one has to engage with the physical media.
So whatever you choose and how ever much you partake in new releases or rediscovering previous versions of these classics, this does hopefully mark a renaissance of engages listening where sublime detail in the music matters. And that's a good thing!
-------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: UPDATE: 1972-80 Albums Reissue Series
From: Jim McKay,
WHAT'S NEW: December 31, 2023:
=======
AJA RE-RELEASES
Aja (Acoustic Sounds Quality Record Pressings' Double, 45 RPM, 200g, UHQR Clear Vinyl Version)--OUT NOW!
Order direct from Acoustic Sounds at http://www.acousticsounds.com for $150, plus shipping, handling and any taxes.
-- Acoustic Sounds' Quality Record Pressings' double 45 RPM, 200g clear vinyl UHQR of "Aja" sounds amazing -- 6/5 stars. If you can only afford to get one or two of these in the series, this is the one to get! The highlight of the best? "Deacon Blues" sounds sublime, even on my relatively modest $400 turntable with a 12 year-old Denon 6.1 receiver. Sheer perfection, as far as vinyl goes. If I was fishing to find something wrong with this version, it would be that the LPs don't automatically get up and flip themselves over between all four sides featuring the seven tracks. (Yes, just in case, I should mention I'm being facetious about that.)
Aja (UMe/Geffen Version)--OUT NOW!
UMe/Geffen's single LP, 33-1/3, 180 g black vinyl version, as mastered by Bernie Grundman, was released in the USA on September 29, 2023.
Order direct from Acoustic Sounds at http://www.acousticsounds.com or Amazon.com for $29.99 plus shipping, handling and any taxes; also available from other inde shops
UMe/Geffen's single LP, 33-1/3, 180 g black vinyl version sounds really great; but in some cases there are a couple of caveats. As mentioned earlier in this Dandom Digest, I'm only reporting anomalies if more than one or two people have reported them. With that in mind, it seems ALL COPIES of this version omits the sleeve with the musician credits and lyrics. "Aja" obviously holds a special place in the Steely Dan album canon; but moreover, it's a distinguished recording in US history, officially preserved by the Library of Congress. To be sure, many of us long-time fans own multiple copies of this album so we do have that info. Moreover, the original liner notes are included in the gatefold--so the stellar cast of musicians do get acknowledged. If you are like me, you own close to 30 copies of "Aja" in different formats, most which do include the full lyrics and credits inner sleeve or as a printed sheet. But new generations buying their first copy deserve to have the full experience. The prior three Geffen/UMe 33-1/3, 180 g black vinyl reissues released in the past 15 months took pains to reproduce the albums--"Can't Buy a Thrill," "Countdown to Ecstasy," and "Pretzel Logic"--with all the original information. For those first two titles, that meant reproducing the credits and lyrics. As originally released in 1974, "Pretzel Logic" did not include lyrics, so lyrics weren't necessarily expected for the 2023 edition, although at $25-$30 per copy it would have been a nice add-on. So it is a disappointment that what more than a few consider Steely Dan's pinnacle omits the info. Beyond that, a handful of purchasers have reported surface noice on the outro to "Josie." This flaw is not ubiquitous--others have said they do not have this problem--but it was on a copy I purchased at an independent record store and was played on two different turntables. The inde music store kindly swapped for another copy that also had the anomaly. A seller like Amazon or Acoustic Sounds can absorb the cost of in the event an exchange is needed, but I did discover that some local independent record stores eat the cost rather than spend resources exchanging the copies.
=======
GAUCHO RE-RELEASES
Gaucho (Acoustic Sounds Quality Record Pressings' Double, 45 RPM, 200g, UHQR Clear Vinyl Version) & SACD/CD Hybrid
Order direct from Acoustic Sounds at http://www.acousticsounds.com for $150 and $35, respectively, plus shipping, handling and any taxes.
DELAYED/TBA
Gaucho (UMe/Geffen Version)-OUT NOW
UMe/Geffen's single LP, 33-1/3, 180 g black vinyl version, as mastered by Bernie Grundman, was released in the USA on December 1, 2023.
Order direct from Acoustic Sounds at http://www.acousticsounds.com or Amazon.com for $29.99 plus shipping, handling and any taxes; also available from other inde shops
UMe/Geffen's single LP, 33-1/3, 180 g black vinyl version sounds great! However, there have been reports of anomalies from more than one party. Some have reported moderate warpage; others have reported noise or sticking during "Bablylon Sisters." These anomalies are not universal; however, there have been multiple reports. Before purchasing, you may wish to confirm the vendor's return/exchange policy.
=======
CAN'T BUY A THRILL & COUNTDOWN TO ECSTASY--OUT NOW!
Geffen/UMe released have already new single 33-1/3 RPM, 180g black vinyl remastered editions of both "Can't Buy a Thrill" and "Countdown To Ecstasy" The Acoustic Sounds' Quality Record Pressings' double 45 RPM, 200g clear vinyl UHQR as well as. SACD/CD versions are also out now. See earlier Dandom Digests for an overview.
=======
PRETZEL LOGIC: Acoustic Sounds SACD/CD Hybrid--OUT NOW!
BOTH the Acoustic Sounds' Quality Record Pressings' double 45 RPM, 200g clear vinyl UHQR and Geffen/UMe single 33-1/3 RPM 180g black vinyl remastered editions were released July 28, 2023. These were discussed in earlier editions of the Dandom Digest. For technical reasons related to my SACD player/receiver combination, I'm not able to comment on the SACD layer of this edition of "Pretzel Logic." However, I'm not alone in thinking the stereo layer version lacks bass and has too much treble. If you have this disc, I'd love to hear your own impressions by emailing me at jjmckay AT me.com.
Last heard, the remaining Acoustic Sounds' Quality Record Pressings' double 45 RPM, 200g clear vinyl UHQR albums have the following calendar of release dates.
- TBA, delayed from December 1, 2023, "Gaucho"
- March 29, 2024, "Katy Lied"
- June 28, 2024, "The Royal Scam"
The official calendar of dates for Acoustic. Sounds' SACD/CD Hybrid counterpart versions, from "Pretzel Logic" to "Gaucho," is still "To be announced..."
To purchase the Geffen/UMe editions, purchase through Acoustic Sounds, Amazon or your local independent record store or the usual online sources.
Acoustic Sounds editions are available exclusively through https://store.acousticsounds.com
------------
Check previous editions of the Dandom Digest for more background on these landmark remastersings and re-releases. Email JJMcKay AT me.com if you need a back copy resent.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: REMINDER: Calling All Current SD Orchestra Members & Alums
The Dandom Digest wants to do its part to help get the word out about your latest project, be it a mini-tour, guest appearances, new music release (your own or by others where you appear) workshops, etc.. The Dandom Digest goes to approximately 1,750 hardcore Steely Dan fans. Email JJMcKAY at me.com with your PR or other info when your release is approaching. Thank you!
-------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Michael Leonhart Backs Rock Hall Induction Ceremony
Michael Leonhart was part of the backing band for the recent 2023 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremony. Michael supported the performance of inductee Chaka Khan, New Edition's tribute the inductees The Spinners; a tribute to Don Cornelius, host, producer, and writer of the groundbreaking Black music show, "Soul Train."
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (including Michael's great work backing up these legends) can be viewed now on Hulu.
-------------------------------------------------------------
SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
-------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: SPOILER: 9/7—MSG NYC: SD Special Guest of Eagles
From: Danny Rigoni
Date: Friday, September 8, 2023
[ Set list and concert notes excerpted from Danny's review on the Dandom Digest's Facebook Group. ]
1. Intro: Phantom Raiders
2. Josie
3. Hey 19
4. Aja
5. Kid Charlemagne
6. Dirty Work
7. Black Friday
8. Rikki Don't Lose That Number
9. Peg
10. My Old School
11. Reelin' in the Years w/ KFC solo
12. Outro: A Man Ain’t Supposed to Cry
I thought I’d share a not so brief review of opening night of the Steely Dan/Eagles tour at MSG last night for those interested.
Like most of Dandom, I initially was not thrilled with the arrangement of this tour when it was first announced. I told myself I wasn’t going to go, then changed my mind a few weeks ago. Since Walter’s passing, any chance to see SD has felt like a victory lap, and one that has felt less about they magic dynamic duo of Donald and Walter but more so about celebrating the music and the fantastic touring band the two of them built over the last 20+ years. Tonight will be by 40th show, and I try to enjoy each show like it’s both my first and my last.
Overall, Donald was in good spirits. He thanked the audience for coming a few times. As opening night, I sensed that he even had some apprehension that SD would be a typical opening act with people talking over the band’s set. The venue was mostly full by the time SD came on, but parts of the audience did get chatty towards the end. DF also spoke highly of SD’s history with the Eagles. His voice was a bit rough on the first few songs but he settled in quickly. For the most part, the sound was good. The keyboards were a bit higher in the mix than usual. DF’s plating stood out a bit more than normal as a result. His Vintage Vibe piano sounded really warm and the tone was flawless.
I also spent a lot of time watching Jim Beard. There was a cameraman for the video screens that stood between Jim and Keith, right behind Freddie. I probably watched the three of them the most. A lot of new angles and close ups, especially for Jim. Keith did some new percussion interplay with Jim on the Rikki intro, which was a nice surprise. Freddie and Keith were totally locked in.
Jon sounded incredible as always. He’s my favorite guitar player to see live, and he always adds something subtle, new, and surprising to his playing. Jon played the Rikki solos on his SG as opposed to the Tele like usual and it sounded super crisp. He could have been a bit higher in the mix.
The horns sounded fantastic as usual. Roger unfortunately didn’t get any soloing time but the others all did. Those guys seem to have so much fun playing as an ensemble. It is even fun to watch them stand there when they aren’t playing. The same goes with the Danettes. You can tell they are truly friends and that they love being on stage together. Dirty Work seemed to be the bathroom break song for causal concertgoers. Cat was especially energetic and engaging with the crowd. All 3 of the Danettes were there. I know Cat has some solo shows coming up and will sit out a few SD dates. She is usually good about posting where she’ll be on her website. I believe that LaTanya is going back out with Seal later this month, but I’m not sure.
SD came on at 7:45 and played for 60 minutes on the dot. DF didn’t do as much talking between songs as usual and there were no band intros.
The Eagles came on at 9:20 and played for 2 hours. I enjoyed their set, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmidt are always the highlights for me. I saw one of the Eagles’ Hotel California album shows last year without Deacon Frey. He’s back and really adds a lot to the band. He and Joe have almost the same interplay as his father. Stuart Smith gets a bit less of the spotlight. I’ve seen Don Felder a few times, options on band history aside, Stu is a Swiss Army knife of a guitarist. He and Joe do most of the heavy lifting. The Eagles set was mostly greatest hits. Joe did break out one of their deepest cuts, the 1-877-Kars-4-Kids jingle. They covered Fins and Come Monday as a tribute to Jimmy Buffet. Henley was highly complimentary of the Dan and sounded good vocally. I do suspect he uses a bit of auto tune. At one point he told the audience to “hush” and then told them to clap at the end of his statement, which wasn’t really much of a surprise.
I also had the pleasure of running into guitarist Cory Wong after the show. He’s a super nice guy and clearly a Danfan like all of us. He’s taken guitar lessons with Jon and collaborated with Larry Carlton, Howard Levy, and other Dangental players. He said more work with Larry is in the pipeline.
There seemed to be more Steely Dan t-shits in the crowd and a lot of people specifically there to see them. The Eagles more so catered to the masses.
The show was a blast, and I’m looking forward to the second show…and dreading my credit card bill at the end of the month.
-------------------------------------------------------------
PRETZEL LOGIC REDUX (*Ω)
"My back to the wall
A victim of laughing chance
This is for me
The essence of true romance
Sharing the things we know and love with those of my kind
Libations, sensations
That stagger the mind." Ω
---------------------------------------------------------------
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Original portions of this Dandom Digest ©2022, ©2023 James J. McKay. All Rights Reserved.
Other portions copyrighted by the original author and presented under fair use including
(*Ω) Lines from "Deacon Blues"
by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen,
©1977 ABC Dunhill Music aka Universal Music Publishing
----------------------------------------------------------------
Walter Becker
1950 - 2017
----------------------------------------------------------------
END OF DIGEST
----------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thurs, January 04, 2024, 16:27:28 ET
Posted by: Eino Eubie Sexton,
Hey hey,
I think 2024 is gonna be The Year Of The Dan!
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