I know, I'm gonna be in the minority (probably, judging by how this thread has gone so far it's hard to say) of folks who don't like "Peg", but, eh, whaddya gonna do. That said, I hear "Peg" over my local supermarket's PA system quite often when I'm in there...never sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing! Other that I personally give Aja about 8/10. Deduct two points for some overt slickness, Michael McDonald and "Peg" in general. I do think in the intervening fourty years it's gotten a bit overrated and tends to overshadow the rest of the Dan's output a little bit, but it's still a damn fine album I'd brazen to say most artists would walk over their own mothers to have made.
I'll expand on this later once I've had time to play the album, but the second thing that comes to mind (after the title track) is drumming on 'Home At Last', especially the chorus;. listen to how Purdie's kick drum accents the offbeat whilst maintaining that shuffle-y feel, it's just stunning. As a bass player with drums as my second instrument, the lock that he and Rainey have on that is just joyous to hear.
There are various recipes online, but it's a booze-based concoction like a very horrible White Russian with Coke instead of milk. The drinks cabinet was definitely open for this album, what with the Scotch and retsina, and whatever Josie's drinking.
Correct, but in the context of the song -and as discussed in the Classic Albums documentary- they're referring to a basic root beer float (root beer mixed with vanilla ice cream)
Funny, cause in the CA video they referred to it as a 'soft drink'. Of course, they might not be talking about a beverage at all...
Personally I would have no problem adding a shot of Johnnie Walker Red, Jack Daniels or Captain Morgan's Spice Rum to a root beer float...
This album changed my life, no question. Side 1 is about as great as any side of music gets. Five years ago my friend and I managed to gather 12 of the best musicians in town to perform this album live. We were so lucky to have a band who had the talent to pull off these songs. Unbelievably our lead saxophonist (a former member of Tower of Power mind you) was mentored in the 70s by none other than Pete Christlieb!!!! (See the sax solo in Deacon Blues) We dubbed ourselves the Blue Deacons. Performing this entire album along with other Dan favorites was one of the highlights of my life. I'll probably gush a lot more about this album later, but wanted to share that story to start it off.
If so (and 'Rudy's' could as much be an ice-cream parlour as a dive bar), the subject of the song has made their innocuous root-beer float into an 'Irish' root-beer float by means of something from a hip flask, and 'high' is being used in the pre-war context of 'drunk' rather than marijuana cigarettes.
As an aside, the old girlfriend who introduced me to Aja, The Big Lebowski was her favourite movie. I had to sit through that g-ddamn movie with her so many times...I wasn't a big fan personally
I always figured the woman in "Black Cow" wasn't drunk, and probably high on something a bit stronger than maryjane...
To my mind, the important thing about the image here is that one cannot consume a milk shake/float quickly. This reinforces the tedious nature of a relationship which requires one to 'talk it out till daylight'
The Dan were close to perfect on their first three albums, and with Aja they returned to that form one final time as a duo. I even like what is generally considered the one weak point, "I Got the News."
Not unlike with certain aspects of "Everything You Did", my personal interpretation of "Black Cow" is that it was at least partly based on Walter Becker's relationship with his girlfriend (Karen Stanley, the one who OD'd during the making of Gaucho). I get the idea that was sort of a turbulent relationship, you know, being junkies and all...
I agree with some of the Peg comments, it got played to death, might be my least fave on the album, I do like the guitar solo and slick drumbeat tho. The 2007 compilation, 20th Century Masters The Best Of SD, HAS NO PEG!
You know, all this talk about Aja being "too jazzy"...I don't really hear it. IMO it's no more "jazzy" than the rest of their albums. Is it considered so jazzy because Wayne Shorter plays on it? I spent the weekend listening to my admittedly small (so far) selection of "classic" jazz albums...Aja sounds nothing like that (or very little), though you can definitely hear the influence Becker and Fagen took from guys like Miles, Monk, Brubeck etc
Aja Rolling Stone review Aja - Steely Dan | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic Steely Dan - Aja (album review 2) | Sputnikmusic Aja by Steely Dan | Classic Rock Review
I don't really like this album at all. Too sterile/smooth and not enough guitars and rock influences and I don't really care for all the horns. If pressed, I suppose my favorite would be Josie or Peg but I don't enjoy those as much as tracks from their earlier albums.
