I absolutely love Katy Lied. So much amazing Bösendorfer piano on this record which I think sounds especially wonderful on the Nichols remaster. Phil Woods's solo is the first of the fantastic Dan sax solos from jazz greats; we'll have more of them in albums to come. Doctor Wu and Any World are the twin towers of the album for me.
That is as good of a way to close out the Katy Lied section of our little discussion as any And now, without further ado, by popular demand, I give you: From the Wiki Alexpop wants shot: The Royal Scam is the fifth album by Steely Dan, originally released by ABC Records in 1976. The album went gold and peaked at #15 on the charts. The Royal Scam features more prominent guitar work than the prior Steely Dan album, Katy Lied, which had been the first without founding guitarist Jeff Baxter. Guitarists on the recording include Walter Becker, Denny Dias, Larry Carlton, Elliott Randall and Dean Parks. In common with other Steely Dan albums, The Royal Scam is littered with cryptic allusions to people and events both real and fictional. In a BBC interview in 2000, Becker and Fagen revealed that "Kid Charlemagne" is loosely based on Augustus Owsley Stanley, the notorious drug "chef" who was famous for manufacturing hallucinogenic compounds, and that "Caves of Altamira", based on a book by Hans Baumann, is about the loss of innocence, the narrative about a visitor to the Cave of Altamira who registers his astonishment at the prehistoric drawings. The album was re-issued by MCA Records in 1979 following the sale of the ABC Records label to MCA. Cover The album cover shows a man in a suit, sleeping on a radiator, and apparently dreaming of skyscraper-beast hybrids. The cover was created from a painting by Zox and a photograph by Charlie Ganse, and was originally created for Van Morrison's unreleased 1975 album, Mechanical Bliss, the concept being a satire of the American Dream.[citation needed] In the liner notes for the 1999 remaster of the album, Fagen and Becker claim it to be "the most hideous album cover of the seventies, bar none (excepting perhaps Can't Buy a Thrill)." Eagles reference and beyond In the song "Everything You Did", a lyric says, "turn up the Eagles, the neighbors are listening." Glenn Frey of the Eagles said, "Apparently Walter Becker's girlfriend loved the Eagles, and she played them all the time. I think it drove him nuts. So, the story goes that they were having a fight one day and that was the genesis of the line." Given that the two bands shared a manager (Irving Azoff) and that the Eagles proclaimed their admiration for Steely Dan, this was more friendly rivalry than feud. Later that year in a nod back to Steely Dan for the free publicity, and inspired by Steely Dan's lyric style, the Eagles penned the lyrics, "They stab it with their steely knives but they just can't kill the beast" in their hit "Hotel California". Frey commented, "We just wanted to allude to Steely Dan rather than mentioning them outright, so 'Dan' got changed to 'knives,' which is still, you know, a penile metaphor.". This comment refers to the name's claimed origin in William S. Burroughs' book Naked Lunch. Timothy B. Schmit, who sang background vocals on "The Royal Scam" would later join the Eagles. Reception The album was not as highly rated upon its release as its predecessors with most reviewers noting that it did not seem to represent any musical advancement. In contrast, the original Rolling Stone review was more positive,[11]and ultimately the magazine gave it five stars in a later Hall of Fame review.[10] It has been called one of their strongest albums. Use in media The song "The Caves Of Altamira" was sung by a character in the SB Nation story 17776 written by Jon Bois.[12] Track listing All tracks written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, except where noted. Side one No. Title Solo(s) Length 1. "Kid Charlemagne" Guitar solo by Larry Carlton 4:38 2. "The Caves of Altamira" Tenor saxophone solo by John Klemmer 3:34 3. "Don't Take Me Alive" Guitar solo by Larry Carlton 4:16 4. "Sign In Stranger" Piano solo by Paul Griffin, guitar solo by Elliott Randall 4:23 5. "The Fez" (Becker, Fagen, Paul Griffin) Guitar solo by Walter Becker 4:01 Side two No. Title Solo(s) Length 6. "Green Earrings" Guitar solos by Denny Dias (1st) and Elliott Randall (2nd) 4:05 7. "Haitian Divorce" Talk box guitar solo by Dean Parks, altered by Walter Becker 5:53 8. "Everything You Did" Guitar solo by Larry Carlton 3:55 9. "The Royal Scam" Guitar solo by Larry Carlton 6:28 Personnel Steely Dan Donald Fagen – keyboards, vocals, background vocals Walter Becker – bass, guitar Additional musicians Paul Griffin – keyboards Don Grolnick – keyboards Denny Dias – guitar Larry Carlton – guitar Dean Parks – guitar Elliott Randall – guitar Mark Davis - bass Jim Horn – saxophone Plas Johnson – saxophone John Klemmer – saxophone Chuck Findley – trumpet Bob Findley – horn Dick "Slyde" Hyde – horn, trombone Chuck Rainey – bass Rick Marotta – drums ("Don't Take Me Alive") Bernard "Pretty" Purdie – drums (all other tracks) Gary Coleman – percussion Victor Feldman – percussion, keyboards Timothy B. Schmit – background vocals Venetta Fields – background vocals Clydie King – background vocals Sherlie Matthews – background vocals Michael McDonald – background vocals Production Gary Katz – producer Roger Nichols – engineer Barney Perkins – mixdown engineer Dinky Dawson – sound consultant Walter Becker – horn arrangements Donald Fagen – horn arrangements Chuck Findley – horn arrangements Ed Caraeff – art direction Zox – cover art Tom Nikosey – typography Charts Weekly charts Year Chart Position 1976 US Albums 15 1976 UK Albums 11 Singles Year Single Label & number Chart & position 1976 "Kid Charlemagne" (B-side: "Green Earrings") ABC 12195 U.S. 82 1976 "The Fez" (B-side: "Sign In Stranger") ABC 12222 U.S. 59 1976 "Haitian Divorce" (B-side: "Sign In Stranger") ABC 4152 (UK release) U.K. 17
The Royal Scam is my second favourite Danalbum after Countdown. IMO these are the most “guitar heavy” of the albums, so, as a guitarist/bassist myself, makes ‘em right up my alley. I also think Scam is the best sounding of their albums- I’ve heard and read people decry it as “slick” but I think “slick” is precisely what this material called for. To me, The Royal Scam sounds like 1976, and not in a bad way. I particularly love the drum sound- the stereo imaging is exquisite (of all the Dan’s albums I think Scam is the one best appreciated on headphones) I’m not sure exactly how much Becker and Fagen contributed instrumentally on the album (other than Walter’s guitar solo on “The Fez”; I think I detect a bit of trademark Fagen synth work here and there) but it doesn’t matter- much like on Katy Lied the songs benefit from the super sessions guys they brought in to pinch hit. “Kid Charlemagne” – One of those opening tracks that sort of sets the scene for the entire album. As we all know by now –Becker and Fagen were deliberately elusive about it for years- “Charlemagne” is based on Stanley Owsley, the Grateful Dead’s soundman and infamous Berkeley LSD chemist. Yet the song isn’t exactly an ode to Owsley; in fact Becker and Fagen seem to be mocking the whole 60’s counterculture here (not that it didn’t deserve a little bit of mockery in retrospect- one of my favourite lines about the sixties comes from, of all people, Stephen King: “My generation had a chance to change the f—king world and opted instead for the Stairmaster and Martha Stewart Living!”) Musically the song is a funk groove, anchored by Don Grolnick’s clavinet and Rhodes, Chuck Rainey’s bass and Bernard Purdie’s drums. And, of course, capped off by a classic Larry Carlton guitar solo- a solo which, 41 years later, Carlton still rates as his best. It is a good ‘un, isn’t it? “The Caves Of Altamira” – Another Becker/Fagen tune that hearkens back to their early days, this is a slick sounding (in a good way) piano led midtempo song with a killer horn arrangement. John Klemmer’s sax solo is a good example of the production subtleties on the album- dig that slight delay/echo they added to his playing- beautiful. Lyrically it’s another one of Walt and Don’s “anti Hollywood” songs. Though Chuck Rainey clearly does most of the heavy lifting bass-wise on this album, I think Becker’s playing bass here, it sounds more like his style than Rainey’s. “Don’t Take Me Alive” – As mentioned upthread, this is another Steely Dan song that musically seems inspired by 70’s “cop show” music. Larry Carlton again rules the roost here- his tortured sounding intro is the stuff of legend. Rick Marotta takes over from Purdie on drums and relates two stories about the session- first, how he almost stopped playing when he heard what Fagen was singing and, second, how Fagen obsessed over a single drum beat Marotta played slightly softer than the others (Marotta didn’t even notice it himself.) “Don’t Take Me Alive” tells the story of a desperate individual at the end of his rope holed up somewhere in a standoff with the authorities (likely inspired by the Symbionese Liberation Army, who famously kidnapped and brainwashed Patty Hearst). I’ve never understood why Fagen prounounces “Oregon” the way he does in the chorus, though- said, chorus, by the way, is one of my particular favourites of theirs. “Sign In Stranger” – Becker and Fagen’s love for Science Fiction is apparent with this song that takes place on another planet (I think). Musically it is a mix of reggae rhythms –the Dan’s love for reggae music comes shining through on this album, incidentally- with New Orleans style piano and horns. I daresay it’s another Dansong that strikes me as sounding slightly Beatlesque. Elliot Randall returns to the fold on lead guitar (yay!) but Paul Griffin’s NOLA-influenced piano owns the song. “The Fez” – This is supposedly Steely Dan’s idea of a disco song (or a pisstake on disco, which seems more likely). Paul Griffin earned a co-composer credit for apparently coming up with the main melody in the verse. The song itself concerns safe sex (a fez is of course a slang name for a condom) but even the lyric doesn’t seem to be serious. Walter Becker provides his only guitar solo on the album, and it’s one of his best- I particularly like the dischordant bending with which he winds up the solo. On the surface “The Fez” seems like a total throwaway track but it does have its fans. “Green Earrings” – My favourite song on the album. Another funk work out with a minimalistic lyric, Purdie and Rainey lay down a rock solid groove (the stereo drum sound on the album is used to full effect here) alongside the usual Rhodes and clavinet (I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Yamaha keyboard I bought today in lieu of a drum set reproduces these particular keyboard sounds quite faithfully!) The song then shifts into another direction altogether in the bridge, featuring chiming guitars. Then there’s the guitar solos: Denny Dias goes first, a clean, jazzy solo that is quintessential Dias. Then Elliot Randall lets loose with one of my favourite Steely Dan guitar solos: a deranged, fuzzed out rant. Jimmy Page claimed Randall’s solo in “Reelin’ In The Years” was his favourite guitar solo; to me, it seems as though Randall returns the favour as his “Green Earrings” solo sounds VERY Jimmy Page to my ears at least (although admittedly the solo is played a lot more fluently than Page would have played it in those days). One more chorus, then Randall returns again with an electronically manipulated outro solo. Another Dansong I’d be more than happy to have playing on an endless loop. “Haitian Divorce” – “Sign In Stranger” hinted at reggae; “Haitian Divorce” is the real McCoy. The entire rhythm section sounds straight outta Kingston; this is capped off by another legendary lead guitar part: Dean Parks played the part, which Walter Becker then fed through a talk box (so technically they should both get the credit, I suppose). The lyric revolves around a presumably forbidden interracial relationship and was actually inspired by one of the band’s engineers (Elliot Scheiner) who went to Haiti in order to get an expedited divorce. Oddly enough, this was Steely Dan’s biggest hit in England (the Brits do love their reggae though, which I found out living in London –Brixton, no less- twenty years ago). My only real complaint with this song is the coda goes on about a minute or so too long. “Everything You Did” – this is probably the most straightforward “rock” song on the album, and arguably the most undistinguished. Larry Carlton’s lead guitar almost ends up owning the track by default. Rick Marotta’s drumming give the song a syncopated feel. Not unlike with “Show Biz Kids” when Steely Dan regrouped in the 90’s/2000’s they rearranged “Everything You Did”, giving it more of a reggae feel (and again makes the live version preferable to the studio version for me). The song probably contains the most twisted lyric on the album- it’s about a guy who is turned on by his partner’s infidelities. It also features the classic line, “Turn up The Eagles, the neighbours are listening” (based on an argument Becker and his girlfriend, a big Eagles fan, were having). All told, though, IMO this is the weakest song on the album. “The Royal Scam” – The album closes with the jazziest sounding song on it (not to mention the longest). Horns and piano –particularly trombones and muted trumpet- are at the forefront of this cinematic tale of Puerto Rican immigrants hoping for a new life in America and discovering it’s just another hard dollar in the end. Donald Fagen has claimed this is his favourite Steely Dan lyric. Larry Carlton lets rip with another storming guitar solo on an album full of them. See the glory indeed.
Since I seem to be in the same time-space (if not zone) as these are being posted, I get early dibs on offering up an opinion. My opinion here is...I don't really like The Royal Scam that much. It's my least favourite of all the SD albums by a long drop. Don't get me wrong, on an objective level, it's still a 6/10 against most albums, but when every other album is mostly 9/10 it's a big difference. The key to me is including both 'The Fez' and 'Green Earrings'. I'd count both as my least favourite SD songs, and their proximity on the album makes the middle bit sag enormously after some strong starts and ends. It just feels like a weaker version of a Little Feat extended jam where - gasp - LF are out-musicianing Steely Dan. If we're including 'Here At The Western World' in this discussion, putting that at the start of side 2 instead of ''Green Earrings' lifts the album immeasurably. On the positive side, the title track, 'Haitian Divorce' and 'Don't Take Me Alice' are all incredible songs. I'd actually nominate the first of those as the most overlooked Dan title. And the cover...? For what it's worth, it's their best so far, and probably their most striking overall. Having heard bits of the Van Morrison album it was supposed to be used for, it doesn't fit that at all. For posterity, here's the running order on the 8-track: Kid Charlemagne Haitian Divorce The Cave Of Altamira The Royal Scam The Fez Green Earrings Everything You Did Don't Take Me Alive Sign In Stranger
1. "Kid Charlemagne" 10/ 10 2. "The Caves of Altamira" 8/10 3. "Don't Take Me Alive" 10/10 4. "Sign In Stranger" 6/10 5. "The Fez" 10/10 Side 2 6. "Green Earrings" 6/10 7. "Haitian Divorce" 8/10 8. "Everything You Did" 8/10 9. "The Royal Scam" 7/10 3 straight 10's ( 10/10). I would place this slightly under Katy Lied in my evaluation. Again a strong A-Side.
I've deliberately held off from re-listening to this one, so I can go with my long-held view and then see if it improves any as a result of this thread. So.... I've always rated this one as the weakest of the big 7. I only like Kid Charlemagne, Don't Take Me Alive, Haitian Divorce and Everything You Did. That's the lowest number of winners on any of the big 7. I think part of my view is due to this being their first album where there's hardly any (or any at all, I'll have to re-check) guitar based tracks. I know you said this is SD's guitar album. Solos, yes. But the rhythm tracks all seem to be keyboard led - clavinet or Fender Rhodes, from memory. Anyway, I'm looking forward to jumping back in. Let's see if we can boost this one's rating. It didn't work for Pretzel Logic, but I'll give it every chance for Royal Scam.
P.S. Can we include Here At The Western World in our assessment here? That one's a winner for me as well.
See post 1536. It's a good song, but I can see why they cut it from the album. IMO it'd fit better on Katy Lied.
As I said earlier, Royal Scam is about equal to Katy Lied in my book -- both good but flawed albums. The RS tracks I don't care for all that much are "Caves of Altamira," "Everything You Did" and the title cut. Favorites are "Kid Charlemagne," "Green Earrings" and "Haitian Divorce." But my #1 favorite has to be that gorgeous piece of ear candy "The Fez." I know some folks here wish it weren't on the album at all, but I find its groove irresistible.
Listening to "Here At The Western World", I'm not entirely convinced it was recorded at the Scam sessions at all. It sounds like a Katy Lied track. The Royal Scam: it's all about the groove, baby!
This is probably my favorite Steely San album along with Countdown to Ecstasy. It contains 2 of my favorite Steely Dan tracks Don't Take Me Alive and Green Earrings, both of which contain great guitar solos. Don't Take Me Alive might have made a better single than The Fez. Larry Carlton is actually the unsung hero of the album in my opinion. Elliott Randell is great as well. My least favorites are the last 2 tracks Everything You Did and the Royal Scam. Kid Charlemagne is also really good if a bit overplayed. I dig The Fez and the talk box on Haitian Divorce is unexpected but cool. The solo in Sign In Stranger by Elliott Randall is also a good one.
The Royal Scam - Here is the Rolling Stone review. Steely Dan - The Royal Scam (album review ) | Sputnikmusic The Royal Scam - Steely Dan | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic
Funny, but I've always imagined this line coming from one of the porn actors, spoken on-screen. The idea of parents never occurred to me. And I still like my interpretation better.
I actually prefer Larry Carlton's solo in Don't Take Me Alive to his more acclaimed one in Kid Charlemagne. I like how the last note fades at the end of Don't Take Me Alive. The solo is burned into my memory. I hope @Rose River Bear will break down the song for us.
The first verse of "Haitian Divorce" contains one of the tightest bits of lyric writing ever. "Babs and Clean Willie were in love they said./So in love, the preacher's face turned red./Soon everybody knew the thing was dead." How's that for storytelling? Three lines and we have the story of a Jewish Princess and her goy boyfriend madly in lust but with nothing in common calling it quits as soon as the fire went out. There are lots of poets who can't convey that much in so few words.
