Steely Dan’s Countdown to Ecstasy Hits the Big 50

In July 1973, Steely Dan released Countdown to Ecstasy. The 50th anniversary of their sophomore effort gave me new appreciation of a great album from which I only had known a handful of tunes by heart.

At the time Countdown to Ecstasy came out, Steely Dan still were a standing band, but there already was one significant change. Donald Fagen became the sole lead vocalist replacing David Palmer who had shared the role with Fagen on the group’s debut Can’t Buy a Thrill and sang lead on most songs during live gigs – a result of Fagen’s stage fright. Palmer still contributed backing vocals on the album but subsequently departed.

While like the Dan’s predecessor Downtown to Ecstasy was more rock and blues-oriented compared to the later albums, especially Aja, there also was a strong jazz influence. To me, the blend of these different music styles makes for an intriguing listening experience.

Interestingly, the two singles the album spawned, Show Biz Kids and My Old School, failed to make much of a chart impact, reaching a meager no. 61 and no. 63 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, respectively. That stood in marked contrast to Do It Again and Reelin’ In the Years, the singles off Can’t Buy a Thrill, which climbed to no. 6 and no. 11, respectively. As is the case with nearly all other Steely Dan tunes, Fagen and his musical partner Walter Becker co-wrote all tracks on Countdown to Ecstasy.

Side one kicks off with the strangely titled Bodhisattva, one hell of a jazz and blues-flavored rocker. Had it been up to me, it would have been the lead single. Songfacts notes a bodhisattva is a human who has reached enlightenment, as the Buddha did, and can leave physical existence behind, but chooses to remain in human form to help others achieve freedom. The tune was “sort of a parody on the way Western people look at Eastern religion – sort of oversimplify it,” Fagen explained. “We thought it was rather amusing – most people didn’t get it.”

One of my great rediscoveries on the album is Razor Boy. I just love this groovy mid-tempo song. I’m not sure what it means but will add interpreting lyrics isn’t necessarily my strong suit. I also feel when it comes to Steely Dan, it’s more about the music! Plus, I think it’s fair to say even folks who are generally great at deciphering the words oftentimes get puzzled by Fagen’s and Becker’s lyrics. Sometimes, I wonder whether they simply combined certain words or phrases since they sounded good or fit the musical time signatures.

Let’s turn to Side two, which opens with the aforementioned Show Biz Kids, featuring Rick Derringer who provided neat slide guitar. The tune grooves along on the same chord with no progression, an unusual feature, especially for the Dan whose songs tend to have many chord changes. But it works. As for the lyrics, Songfacts states The repeated refrain sung by the female backing singers says, “You go to Lost Wages, Lost Wages,” sung to sound vaguely like “Las Vegas.” It was inspired by a joke from comedian Lenny Bruce, who was a major influence on the band’s lyrical outlook. I’m glad we got that clarified!

It’s safe to assume most folks have heard of My Old School, one of my all-time favorite Dan songs featuring a killer guitar solo by Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, a core band member at the time, as well as great soulful horns. Songfacts notes My Old School was partially inspired by a drug bust in May 1969 at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., during which Fagen and Becker were arrested, along with their girlfriends. The two had first met at that “school” in 1967.

The last tune I’d like to call out is Pearl of the Quarter. That beautiful pedal steel guitar was provided by Baxter. According to a review on the webzine Something Else!, the song probably was inspired by Panic in Year Zero, a 1962 science fiction picture about a family on vacation, trying to survive after a nuclear war had broken out. The Dan’s lyrics take liberties, replacing the family with a loner trying to find other remaining survivors, using an old amateur radio.

In addition to Becker (bass, harmonica, backing vocals), Fagen (piano, electric piano, synthesizer, lead and backing vocals) and Baxter (guitar, pedal steel guitar), Steely Dan’s core line-up featured Denny Dias (guitar) and Jim Hodder (drums, percussion, backing vocals). In 1974, Fagen and Becker decided to abandon a standing band structure, stop touring and turn Steely Dan into a studio project, relying on a diverse group of top-notch session musicians. This concept eventually led to 1977’s Aja album, which is widely regarded as their musical Mount Rushmore.

Countdown to Ecstasy didn’t match the chart and commercial success of Can’t Buy a Thrill. Still, it climbed to no. 35 on the Billboard Top LPs and Tape chart (now known as the Billboard 200), and stayed there for 34 weeks. Eventually, it reached Gold certification in the U.S. in 1978, meaning 500,000 copies had been sold at the time. The album also received high scores from music critics, especially in retrospective reviews. If you like what you read and heard and haven’t listened to Countdown to Ecstasy or haven’t done so in a long time, I’d encourage you to give it a spin.

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; Something Else; YouTube; Spotify

A First Glance at Albums Hitting the Big 50 This Year

With a new year upon us, I thought this would be a good opportunity to preview albums that are turning 50 in 2023. Taking a closer look quickly confirmed my expectation that 1973 was yet another great year in music. Based on Wikipedia, I came up with an initial list of 40 records released that year. I’m going to touch on six of them. A Spotify playlist at the end features songs from those albums, as well as one tune from each of the remaining 34 records.

Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon (March 1, 1973)

Pink Floyd’s eighth studio album The Dark Side of the Moon remains among my favorites by the English rock band. Released in March 1973, it was primarily developed during live performances and premiered before the recording sessions began. In fact, as reported by Variety and other music outlets, last month, Pink Floyd quietly released 18 of these concerts on streaming services before the recordings hit 50 years and would have lost copyright protection. The Dark Side of the Moon, a concept album around themes like conflict, greed, time, death and mental illness, is Floyd’s best-selling record and one of the most critically acclaimed albums in music history. Here is Time, with lyrics by Roger Waters (bass, vocals) and the music credited to all members of the band, who also included David Gilmour (guitar, vocals), Richard Wright (keyboards, vocals) and Nick Mason (drums, percussion).

Steely Dan – Countdown to Ecstasy (July 1973)

Steely Dan’s sophomore album Countdown to Ecstasy, released in July 1973, was recorded when they were still a standing band. In addition to masterminds Donald Fagen (acoustic and electric pianos, synthesizer, lead and backing vocals) and Walter Becker (electric bass, harmonica, backing vocals), the line-up featured Denny Dias (electric guitar), Jeff “Skunk” Baxter (electric and pedal steel guitars) and Jim Hodder (drums, percussion, backing vocals). Countdown to Ecstasy followed the departure of David Palmer and was the group’s first album where Fagen sang lead on every song. After their third record Pretzel Logic, Fagen and Becker turned Steely Dan largely into a studio project, relying on top-notch session musicians. One of my favorite tracks on Countdown to Ecstasy is My Old School, which like all other tunes was co-written by Becker and Fagen. Baxter’s guitar work shines and is among his best.

Stevie Wonder – Innervisions (August 3, 1973)

Innervisions, Stevie Wonder’s 16th studio album released in August 1973, is part of his so-called classic period, which spans six records, bookended by Music of My Mind (March 1972) and Stevie Wonder’s Journey Through “The Secret Life of Plants” (October 1979). Following his 21st birthday on May 13, 1971, Wonder allowed his contract with Motown to expire. He returned to the Detroit label with Music of My Mind and a much more lucrative contract that also freed him from the artistic straitjacket of the past. Wonder’s lyrics changed and started to explore social and political topics in addition to standard romantic themes. Musically, he began exploring overdubbing and recording most of the instrumental parts himself. Innervisions and the excellent Living for the City perfectly illustrate these changes.

Lynyrd Skynyrd – (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd) (August 13, 1973)

August 1973 also saw the release of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s first album (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd). And what a debut it was, featuring classics like Gimme Three Steps, Simple Man, Tuesday’s Gone and the epic Free Bird. You wouldn’t necessarily guess it, based on the album’s relatively moderate chart performance when it came out. In the U.S., it reached no. 27 on the Billboard 200. Elsewhere, it climbed to no. 20 in Switzerland, no. 44 in the UK and no. 47 in Canada. But over time, the picture looks better. As of July 1987, it was certified 2X Platinum in the U.S. The album also made Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and was ranked at no. 381 in the most recent revision from 2020. Here’s the aforementioned Free Bird, co-written by the group’s original lead vocalist Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Allen Collins.

Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (October 5, 1973)

Elton John truly ruled during the first part of the ’70s. With Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, a double LP and his seventh studio album, he scored his third of six consecutive chart-toppers in the U.S. on the Billboard 200. The album also topped the charts in the UK, Canada and Australia. It spawned four singles, which charted in different countries. In the U.S., Bennie and the Jets became John’s second no. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, while the title track topped the charts in Canada and New Zealand. I decided to highlight the magnificent opening medley of Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding. As usual, John wrote the music to lyrics by his longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin. What an opus!

Paul McCartney and Wings – Band on the Run (December 5, 1973)

The final album I’d like to call out here is what I consider the Mount Rushmore of Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles period: Band on the Run, his fifth after the break-up of The Fab Four and the third with Wings. By the time recording in Lagos, Nigeria began, drummer Denny Seiwell and guitarist Henry McCullough had departed. This left Wings as a trio, which in addition to McCartney included his wife Linda McCartney and Denny Laine. As such, Paul ended up playing bass, drums, percussion and most of the lead guitar parts, with Laine providing guitars and Linda keyboards. Both also sang backing and harmony vocals. After recording the majority of the album’s basic tracks and some overdubbing in Lagos under difficult conditions, Wings returned to England and finished the album in George Martin’s AIR Studios in London. After initial modest sales, Band on the Run became the top-selling studio album of 1974 in the UK. More importantly, it revitalized the critical standing of Paul McCartney whose earlier post-Beatles records had received a mixed reception. Band on the Run’s opener and title track, credited to Paul and Linda, is a longtime favorite of mine.

I’m planning dedicated posts on each of the above albums and possibly others released in 1973, timed to their respective 50th anniversaries. Last but not least, here’s the above-noted Spotify playlist.

Sources: Wikipedia; Variety; YouTube; Spotify

My Playlist: Steely Dan

Together with a handful of other bands and artists I’ve dug for many years, I couldn’t think of a better group to dedicate the first playlist of 2021 than to the amazing Steely Dan. While I’ve covered them on previous occasions, this is the first time I’ve put together a career-spanning playlist.

Before getting to some music, as usual, I’d like to provide a bit of background, for which I’m going to borrow from previous posts. The original masterminds behind Steely Dan, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, first met in 1967 as students at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. Fagen was impressed with Becker’s guitar skills. They soon discovered they liked similar music and decided to write songs together. They also started playing together in various local bands.

The seeds for Steely Dan were sown in the summer of 1970, when Fagen and Becker responded to a Village Voice ad by guitarist Denny Dias, looking for a “bassist and keyboard player with jazz chops.” Becker was playing bass at the time and would switch to the electric guitar later. When they met Dias, Becker and Fagen had already written a good amount of original music.

Walter Becker (left) and Donald Fagen

Steely Dan’s first lineup was assembled in December 1971, after Becker, Fagen and Dias had moved to Los Angeles. The additional members included Jeff “Skunk” Baxter (guitar), Jim Hodder (drums) and David Palmer (vocals). Earlier, Gary Katz, a staff producer at ABC Records, had hired Becker and Fagen as staff song writers. It was also Katz who signed the band to the label.

In 1972, Steely Dan’s first single Dallas was released but sold poorly. The debut studio album Can’t Buy a Thrill followed in November that year. The producer was Katz, who also served in that role for each of the band’s following seven studio albums: Countdown To Ecstasy (1973), Pretzel Logic (1974), Katy Lied (1975), The Royal Scam (1976), Aja (1977) and Gaucho (1980).

Steely Dan in 1972 (from left): Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter, Walter Becker, David Palmer, Denny Dias, Donald Fagen and Jim Hodder

In June 1981, Fagen and Becker disbanded and went on a 20-year recording hiatus. Becker and his family moved to Maui where he became sober from drug use and eventually started working as a record producer. Fagen went on to launch a solo career.

In 1993, Fagen and Becker reunited for an American tour in support of Fagen’s second studio album Kamakiriad, which had appeared in May that year and had been produced by Becker. While Fagen and Becker continued Steely Dan tours, it took until February 2000 before their next new album Two Against Nature appeared. One more album followed: Everything Must Go from June 2003.

Walter Becker (left) and Donald Fagen

After the release of Fagen’s third solo album Morph the Cat in March 2006, Steely Dan resumed regular touring. At the same time, Becker and Fagan occasionally released solo albums without involvement of the other partner. On September 3, 2017, Becker passed away from esophageal cancer at the age of 67.

At the time of Becker’s death, Donald Fagen said on his Facebook page, “I intend to keep the music we created together alive as long as I can with the Steely Dan band.” And that’s exactly what he has been doing until COVID-19 hit. I was fortunate to see him twice in 2018 and wrote about it here and here. I’m currently scheduled to see him again open air in early July together with Steve Winwood – keeping fingers crossed. Time for some music!

I’d to kick things off with the aforementioned Dallas, Steely Dan’s first single. Like all tracks in this post, the song was co-written by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. Sung by drummer Jim Hodder, the county-flavored tune was not included on Steely Dan’s debut album but appeared in 1978 on a compilation titled Steely Dan.

Perhaps my favorite early Dan tune is the rocker Reelin’ In the Years, which first appeared on the band’s debut album Can’t Buy a Thrill from November 1972. It also became the album’s second single in March 1973. The song’s kickass guitar solo was played by session musician Elliott Randall, which none other than Jimmy Page called his favorite guitar solo of all time.

Countdown to Ecstasy, Steely Dan’s sophomore release from July 1973, was the band’s first album without vocalist David Palmer that saw Donald Fagen sing lead on every tune. Here’s the album’s second single My Old School. While the record didn’t have a hit and couldn’t match the debut’s chart success, it was well received by critics at the time, and My Old School became a fan favorite.

Pretzel Logic, Dan’s third studio album released in February 1974, was the last to feature the full core lineup of Fagen, Becker, Dias, Baxter and Hodder. It also included contributions from many prominent LA musicians, such as future Toto members David Paich (piano, keyboards) and Jeff Porcaro (drums), then-Poco bassist and vocalist Timothy B. Schmit (backing vocals) who would later join the Eagles, and session bassist Chuck Rainey. Here’s opener Rikki Don’t Lose That Number, which also became the lead single in April 1974.

By the time Steely Dan’s next album Katy Lied came out in March 1975, most of their original members had left. The band essentially became Becker and Fagen who continued to hire top-notch musicians to support their recording sessions. In addition to Paich and Porcaro, the latter included Rick Derringer and Michael McDonald. Katy Lied also became the first Dan album to feature amazing session guitarist Larry Carlton. Here’s Doctor Wu. The alto saxophone solo was played by jazz saxophonist Phil Woods.

Next up: Kid Charlemagne, the lead single from The Royal Scam, Steely Dan’s fifth studio album. Both appeared in May 1976. The funky tune features the above noted Larry Carlton whose guitar solo was ranked #80 in Rolling Stone’s list of The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs in May 2008. I also dig Chuck Rainey’s bass work on that tune.

This brings me to Aja, which to me is Steely Dan’s Mount Rushmore. Released in September 1977, this album is pure perfection. While I could have selected any track, I simply couldn’t ignore my all-time favorite Dan tune: Deacon Blues. Even after having listened to it countless times, I still get excited about this song. I think it represents a perfect blend of jazz, pop and rock, and I love the smooth sound. BTW, Becker played bass on this one. But the real standout are the horns.

Steely Dan’s next album Gaucho from November 1980 proved to be a huge challenge to make, which ultimately resulted in the above breakup in June 1981. Driven by Fagen’s and Becker’s perfectionism, the recording sessions used at least 42 musicians and took more than a year. In January 1980, Becker’s girlfriend Karen Roberta Stanley died of a drug overdose at his home. Her family subsequently brought a $17.5 million lawsuit, charging he had introduced her to drugs. The case was settled out of court. Shortly after Stanley’s death, Becker was hit by a taxi shattering his right leg. During his six-month recovery, he and Fagen collaborated via phone. Here’s the album’s lead track Babylon Sisters.

February 2000 saw the release of Two Against Nature, Fagen’s and Becker’s first new Steely Dan studio album in 20 years since Gaucho. It became one of their most successful albums. In addition to earning a Platinum certification in the U.S., Two Against Nature won four Grammy Awards in 2001, including Album of the Year. Here’s the groovy Cousin Dupree, which won Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

The last tune I’d like to call out is the title track of Steely Dan’s ninth studio album Everything Must Go, the final with Walter Becker, released in June 2003. I think Apple Music correctly notes the lyrics sound like the song is a permanent sign-off: Guess it’s time for us to book it/Talk about the famous road not taken/In the end we never took it/And if somewhere on the way/We good a few good licks in/No one’s ever gonna know/Cause we’re goin’ out of business/Everything must go.

If Everything Must Go indeed signaled Steely Dan’s final studio album, it wasn’t a total sign-off. Fagen and Becker continued to tour as Steely Dan almost every year thereafter until 2017. Becker’s final performance was on May 27 that year at the Greenwich Town Party in Greenwich, Conn.

Steely Dan have sold more than 40 million albums worldwide. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2001. In December 2015, Rolling Stone ranked Steely Dan at No. 15 on its list of 20 Greatest Duos of All Time.

Sources: Wikipedia; Apple Music; YouTube

If You Can’t See The One You Love, See The One You Can – Part 2

As more frequent visitors of the blog know, I generally dig tribute bands and wrote a feature about some of them about a year ago. While then I did not plan a part 2, the reality is I’ve seen many more tribute acts than I could ever feature in one post. So, who knows, this may turn into a series of occasional posts with additional parts in the future. For now, I’d like to focus on part 2. Since I couldn’t figure out in which order to lists the acts, I decided to do so alphabetically.

Almost Queen

As their name suggests, this band is a tribute to Queen. While I could not find public information on the backgrounds of the musicians, these guys from New York surely impressed me when I saw them last September at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, N.J. Almost Queen are Joseph Russo as Freddie Mercury, Steve Leonard as Brian May, Randy Gregg as John Deacon and John Cappadona as Roger Taylor. Their delivery of four-part harmonies and Queen’s music, combined with their looks, make for a fun live experience. More information on the band and their impressive touring schedule that extends beyond the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, can be found on their website and Facebook page. Here’s a sample: We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions.

Beginnings

This tribute to Chicago is one of the most compelling tribute bands I’ve seen, and without meaning to brag, I’ve seen many! Another group from New York, Beginnings is a national act, performing over 100 shows each year – great news for Chicago fans. Founded in the fall of 2002, the band consists of Mason Swearingen (bass, vocals), Johnny Roggio (guitar, vocals), Dan Hendrix (trombone, percussion, vocals), Adam Seely (saxophone, percussion), Doug Woolverton (trumpet, percussion), Scott Chasolen (keyboards, vocals) and Chris Milillo (drums, vocals). Beginnings’ impressive member credits include recording and performing with artists like Peter Frampton, Don Henley, Aretha Franklin, The Temptations and Blood Sweat & Tears, and awards like the Billboard Songwriter’s Award and ASCAP Songwriter’s Award – frankly, way too many credits I can list here! Check out their website and Facebook page for more information. Here’s a great rendition of Just You ‘N’ Me I saw during a recent summer concert. BTW, the band mostly focuses on Chicago’s early and in my opinion best work.

Brit Floyd

This amazing tribute to Pink Floyd is the brainchild of musical director Damian Darlington, who also provides vocals and plays guitar and lap steel. Prior to forming the band in Liverpool, England in 2011, he had played for 17 years with long-running Aussie tribute The Australian Pink Floyd Show. The other members of Brit Floyd include Rob Stringer (keyboards, vocals), Ian Cattell (bass, vocals Chapman Stick, trumpet), Edo Scordo (guitar, vocals), Arran Ahmum (drums), Thomas Ashbrook (keyboards, vocals), as well as backing vocalists Ola Bienkowska, Angela Cervantes, Roberta Freeman,  Emily Jollands and Jacquie Williams – quite a mighty line-up! For more on this band, read my previous post from March of this year when I saw them in Bethlehem, Pa., and visit their website and Facebook page. Here’s Brit Floyd with Pink Floyd classic Comfortably Numb.

Decade

I have mentioned Decade on previous occasions, but as a huge Neil Young fan, I simply couldn’t resist to include this fantastic tribute from New Jersey in this post. The band revolves around singer-songwriter and Neil Young tribute artist John Hathaway. A life-long fan of Young, Hathaway has faithfully studied this artist in and out, and it shows. While he typically focuses on capturing the music, he can also act like Young, which I have witnessed myself. To bring the Canadian artist’s music to life in its full mighty, Hathaway is usually backed by a varying line-up of other long-time musicians. This clip of Old Man was captured during a gig earlier this year at Tim McLoone’s Super Club in Asbury Park. The backing musicians that night included Gordon Bunker Strout (guitar, backing vocals), Pam McCoy (backing vocals), John Dickson (bass), Bob Giunco (drums), Thomas Stevenson (banjo),  Dave O’Brien (pedal steel guitar), Jeff Levine (keyboards) and James Doyle (guitar, banjo). More information about Decade and John Hathaway is available on Facebook here and here.

The Doobie Others

I really dig The Doobie Brothers, so a tribute I came across last month caught my immediate attention. Ingeniously called The Doobie Others, this six-piece band from New York and New Jersey features Pat Montefusco (lead vocals, guitar), Joe Torres (lead vocals, percussion), Eddie Profet Jr. (bass, backing vocals), Allan Korenstein (keyboards, backing vocals), Mike Quadrino (saxophone, keyboards, backing vocals), Ron Lovisa (lead guitar) and Jim Del (lead & backing vocals, drums). While The Doobie Others mostly seem to perform in the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut tri-state area, their current schedule shows they occasionally venture out to other states on the East Coast. For more information, check their website and Facebook page. Here’s the band in action with Jesus Is Just Alright. Captured during a summer concert last month, the footage doesn’t do their high musical caliber full justice, but I feel you still get a good idea.

Free Fallin

This band from Minneapolis is a great tribute to Tom Petty, one of my all-time favorite artists. Founded in September 2007 and named after one of Petty’s songs, Free Fallin  are Tom Brademeyer (as Tom Petty, guitar & lead vocals), Mark Larsen (as Stan Lynch, drums), Russ Lund (as Ron Blair, bass), Karl Swartz (as Mike Campbell, guitar & vocals), Dale Peterson  (as Benmont Tench, keyboards, percussion & vocals) and Craig Volke (as Scott Thurston, guitar, keyboards, harmonica, percussion & vocals). Free Fallin is a full-time tribute band performing throughout the U.S. and even internationally. Check out their website and Facebook page, as well as this cover of Refugee from last year’s Rock The Farm Festival in Seaside Heights, N.J., which I previously covered here.

Good Stuff

Good Stuff is another outstanding tribute act I covered before here, but similar to Decade, I did not want to leave them out – how could I as a huge Steely Dan fan? Formed about a year ago and named after a Donald Fagen tune, Good Stuff features Mike Caputo (lead vocals), Don Regan  (guitar), Axel Belohoubek  (keyboards), Jay Dittamo  (drums), Scott Hogan (bass), Phil Armeno (saxophones, flute) and vocalists  Deanna Carroll and Linda Ferrano. Among them, these professional musicians have very impressive credits, such as tour pre-production for Madonna and David Bowie, and touring musicians for Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, The Duprees , The Les Paul Trio, Jose Feliciano and  Keith Emerson – yep, that Keith of ELP. Similar to Beginnings, there is too much to list. I should also mention that in addition to Steely Dan, the band performs music by Gino Vannelli, Sting and Stevie Wonder. While this may look somewhat arbitrary, combining music from these four artists works pretty well. The key is selecting songs that have a common denominator, which is a jazz influence. Check out more about this unique tribute act on their website and Facebook page. Oh, and here’s My Old School.

Kiss The Sky

With the 50th anniversary of Woodstock going on, I’d like to close this post with a compelling tribute act to Jimi Hendrix. Again, if you are a frequent reader of the blog, the name Kiss The Sky may sound familiar, since I covered them before here. The band revolves around Jimi Hendrix tribute artist Jimy Bleu, who actually met Hendrix in 1968 as a teenager. The following year, Bleu attended Woodstock and got one of the guitar straps Hendrix used during his performance there. You can read more about his cool background story in the above post. Kiss The Sky covers music from both the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Band of Gypsys. Bleu’s excellent backing musicians for The Experience include bassist A.J. Hager as Noel Redding and drummer Ted Edwards as Mitch Mitchell. The Band of Gypsys tribute features Jay Powerz as Billy Cox (bass) and James Jaxon as Buddy Miles (drums). You can find more information about this tribute act on their Facebook page. I also encourage you to check out this clip of Voodoo Child I took last October. Filming conditions weren’t ideal, but I think the footage still gives a good impression about this outstanding band.

Pictured in the image on top of the post are (clockwise from upper left corner) Almost Queen, Beginnings, Brit Floyd and Jimy Bleu/Kiss The Sky.

Sources: Almost Queen website and Facebook page; Beginnings website and Facebook page; Brit Floyd website and Facebook page; Decade and John Hathaway Facebook pages; The Doobie Others website and Facebook page; Free Fallin website and Facebook page; Good Stuff website and Facebook page; Kiss The Sky Facebook page; YouTube

 

In Memoriam of Walter Becker

I’m still a bit in disbelief about the sad news of the untimely death of Walter Becker at age 67.  According to Rolling Stone, the passing of the Steely Dan co-founder was announced earlier today on his official website without providing any details. Uncut reported that Becker had a recent operation that prevented him from performing with the band at the Classic East and Classic West festivals in July in Los Angeles and New York, respectively – possibly an indication of a lingering health issue.

In early August, Becker’s Steely Dan compatriot Donald Fagen told Billboard that “Walter’s recovering from a procedure and hopefully he’ll be fine very soon.” He did not further elaborate. I imagine more details about the circumstances of Becker’s death are going to emerge over the next few days.

Becker was born in Queens, New York on February 20, 1950 and grew up in the city’s suburbs. He started getting into music by learning the saxophone before switching to the guitar. Becker ended up taking blues guitar lessons from his neighbor at the time, Randy Craig Wolfe, also known as Randy California. He was in good hands. Wolfe was an original member of rock band Spirit that was founded in 1967. The previous summer, he had played with Jimi Hendrix in his short-lived rock band Jimmy James and the Blue Flames.

In 1967, Becker and Fagen met at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., where they both studied at the time. They began to form Steely Dan in the summer of 1970. According to Wikipedia, the impetus was an ad in the Village Voice placed by guitarist Danny Dias, who was looking for a “bass player and keyboard player with jazz chops.” At that time, Becker and Fagen had already written a good amount of original music.

Steely Dan’s first lineup was assembled in December 1971, after Becker, Fagen and Dias had moved to Los Angeles. The additional members included Jeff “Skunk” Baxter (guitar), Jim Hodder (drums) and David Palmer (vocals). Earlier, Gary Katz, a staff producer at ABC Records, had hired Becker and Fagen as staff song writers. It was also Katz who signed the band to the label.

In 1972, Steely Dan’s first single Dallas was released but sold poorly. The debut studio album Can’t Buy a Thrill followed in November that year. The producer was Katz, who also served in that role for all of the band’s other ’70s albums. Unlike the initial single, the record became very successful. It reached Gold certification in August 1973. Eventually, in September 1993, Can’t Buy a Thrill was certified Platinum, after sales had reached one million copies. Here is a clip of the record’s great opener Do It Again, one of my favorite Steely Dan tunes.

Seven months after their debut, Steely Dan released Countdown to Ecstasy in July 1973. While Bodhisattva and My Old School became concert favorites among fans, the record didn’t generate a major hit single. That changed with Pretzel Logic, the band’s third studio album, which appeared in February 1974 and featured Rikki Don’t Lose That Number. Also released separately in April 1974, the tune became Steely Dan’s most successful single, reaching no. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1974.

In March 1975, Steely Dan’s fourth album Katy Lied appeared. By that time, most of the band’s original members had left, and Steely Dan essentially became Becker and Fagen who hired additional musicians as needed. Katy Lied reached Gold certification. Lead single Black Friday charted at no. 37. Notable guest musicians on the record included future Toto members David Paich (keyboards) and Jeff Porcaro (drums), as well as Michael McDonald on backing vocals. The Royal Scam followed in May 1976, another gold record for Steely Dan. Lead single Kid Charlemagne charted at no. 82 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In September 1977, Steely Dan released their sixth studio album Aja, the band’s best-selling record and my Steely Dan favorite. It peaked at no. 3 and no. 5 on the U.S. and U.K. charts, respectively, and became Steely Dan’s first platinum record. Ultimately, the album sold more than five million copies. It generated three singles, Peg, Deacon Blues and Josie. Here is a clip of my favorite one, Deacon Blues.

Gaucho, which came out in November 1980, was Steely Dan’s last studio release before they disbanded in June 1981 and went on a 20-year recording hiatus. Becker and his family moved to Maui where he became sober from drug use and eventually started working as a record producer. Fagen went on to launch a solo career. While the recording of Gaucho was impacted by various personal and professional challenges, the album was mostly well received, peaking at no. 9 on the U.S. album chart and reaching Platinum certification. The record includes the classic Hey Nineteen, which became the lead single climbing to no. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Between 1981 and 1993, Becker produced records for various artists, including Rickie Lee Jones, Michael Franks and Fra Lippo Lippi. He also became involved with the band China Crisis. Becker is listed a member of the band on their third studio album Flaunt the Imperfection. While Fagen and Becker had a couple of one-off collaborations in-between, they resumed their official partnership in 1993 when they toured as Steely Dan for the first time in 13 years.

Becker also produced Fagan’s second solo album Kamakiriad, which appeared in May 1993. In turn, Fagan became the co-producer of Becker’s 1994 solo debut 11 Tracks of Whack. Here is a clip of one of the record’s tunes, Lucky Henry, which features some great guitar work.

While Becker and Fagan continued Steely Dan tours, it took them until 2000 before they released a new album, Two Against Nature. It was a successful recording comeback, peaking at no. 6 on the Billboard 200, and scoring four Grammy awards and Platinum certification in the U.S. One of the Grammy awards was the record’s lead single Cousin Dupree, which won Best Performance by a Pop Duo or Group with Vocal.

The final Steely Dan studio album Everything Must Go appeared in June 2003. While the record received mixed reviews, it reached no. 9 on the Billboard 200. Here is a clip of the title track.

Following the album’s release, Steely Dan continued to tour frequently. At the same time, Becker and Fagan occasionally released solo albums without involvement of the other partner. Becker’s second and final such record Circus Money appeared in June 2008. Here’s a clip of Bob Is Not Your Uncle Anymore, a tune with a nice reggae groove.

Following are excerpts from a statement Fagen posted on his Facebook page about his long-time music partner: “Walter Becker was my friend, my writing partner and my bandmate since we met as students at Bard College in 1967…We liked a lot of the same things: jazz (from the twenties through the mid-sixties), W.C. Fields, the Marx Brothers, science fiction, Nabokov, Kurt Vonnegut, Thomas Berger, and Robert Altman films come to mind. Also soul music and Chicago blues…[Becker] was smart as a whip, an excellent guitarist and a great songwriter. He was cynical about human nature, including his own, and hysterically funny…I intend to keep the music we created together alive as long as I can with the Steely Dan band.”

Sources: Rolling Stone, Uncut, Billboard, Wikipedia, Donald Fagen Facebook page, YouTube