Took the family to Calgary and Banff this weekend. After we checked in to the hotel, they all decided to hit the shower/bath and relax while I went down to the hotel lounge for a brewski. I knew it was a good sign when I walked in to the lounge and "Brooklyn Owes The Charmer Under Me" was playing...I was thinking, "Now that's one you don't hear every day!" I probably would have had one Heineken instead of three if it was only "Do It Again" or something, but since it was a deep cut...the wife and kids were all zonked out by the time I got back up to the room
New article: Celebrating the artistry of Larry Carlton and his work on some of the best 1970s albums by Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell. Stories behind the making of iconic songs such as Kid Charlemagne, Third World Man, Help Me, Amelia and more. The story behind Larry Carlton’s sessions with Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell The story behind Larry Carlton’s sessions with Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell
Incredible that the solo in "Kid Charlemagne" -one of the most celebrated guitar solos in popular music, I'd reckon- was edited together from two takes, and that Larry's solo in the coda was wholly improvised. And, yeah, though I've never been a big fan of "Third World Man" Carlton's solo is the saving grace of the track for me (though Fagen sings his ass off on the song as well, to give him his due). Easy to see why Becker and Fagen dusted off and revamped "Were You Blind That Day" (which, as a song, oddly I prefer to "Third World Man") 'cos that f--king solo was just too good to waste!
Great article, thanks for posting. I always thought Third World Man was one of the saving graces of Gaucho. It was the perfect world weary sendoff on the last studio Steely Dan song people would hear for 20 years
I don't agree with him but I'd go with the original post. It's a music forum, with subjectivity built right in with regard to favorite albums and such. If someone wants to throw an imo in there, fine, but let's let someone say "Gaucho is the worst" or "Gaucho is the best" and object on merits or just with a personal opinion, not on whether they hedged their language to reflect the obvious fact that people have different opinions. Can you imagine if every post expressing an opinion had to couch it that way so that nobody would confuse it with a SHF member being handpicked by the music gods to deliver declaration of ultimate and unassailable truth? Gaucho is the 2nd-worst pre-hiatus Steely Dan album.
Gaucho is in a long line of followup albums to bands biggest album like The Long Run after HC or Stones Emotional Rescue after Girls and some mite say Tusk after Rumours. You get the idea. The band is tired from enjoying the fruits of their labor. Most bands also can use the excuse of touring extensively behind said biggest selling album and don’t have the time to work on new material long enough but that excuse can’t be used for Dan. The boys were tired and it sounds like it.
Iyho. My rankings have probably fluctuated over the years. I currently have: Pretzel Logic - has always been my favorite Countdown CBAT Royal Scam Aja then a bit of a gap to Katy Lied Gaucho then a Grand Canyon sized gap to 2VN EMG
Gaucho is a drop-off in quality from Aja, but the deficit tends to be a bit overstated here. Is it fair to say there's a big drop from Gaucho to Two Against Nature?
I don't think it's a big drop; the big one was after Aja. After that there is nowhere to go but down. And it was a sharp decline as previously said.
Mileage. I think Gaucho is their signature achievement, not Aja, which is lovely (for the most part) but lacks some of Gaucho's taut precision.
I prefer the non-famous stuff on Gaucho a lot more than the non-famous stuff on Pretzel Logic. PL's classic tracks are in playlists, of course, but I never just put it on. (edit: Ha, just saw your rankings! Apologies! )
As I mentioned, I found Pretzel Logic to be a grower, but generally speaking it does seem to be one of the Dan's "weaker" efforts, and for all I know, given how they had to scour their old notebooks for material, Becker and Fagen would possibly agree.
I'm glad somebody said that. I was looking to be knocked out by a great live Steely Dan release, and Alive In America was not that record. This is the first I've heard of the other live recordings that are now available. I'll be hunting them down. I've had the scorching Rotoscope Down b~~tl~g for decades. If there's now a cleaner copy of that set available- I think it's the Record Plant gig- I'd like to find that, too.
The opening of that 7" single of "Bodhisattva" is one of the funniest bits I've ever heard on vinyl. The announcer who's supposed to do the introduction is so blasted that he can't even remember the name of the band. So he bluffs and leches at the laydeez in the audience, until someone stage-whispers "Steely Dan" to him. I've always had the impression that he had been signed up by someone backstage as a contestant in the 1974 Dope Olympics trials.
Nope, Jerome Aniton, believe it or not, was the Dan's equipment truck driver! Apparently, no, he never did know Steely Dan was the name of the band and not Donald Fagen's actual name. He actually thought Donald's name was "Stevie Dan". Ah, the seventies...
heee, I just found this account online, complete with what looks to me like a complete and accurate transcription of Aniton's introduction for that gig: Jerome Aniton - Everything2.com
I do not see any big drops in the Dan. There is a slight drop to me between Count and Logic because the band went back to some of their old unused songs which were not as good, and put those on their new album.
Third World Man is a great closer, and a great tune imho in its own right. Why do people have such a downer on Gaucho? It’s its own statement, hemmed in by its own aesthetic. It’s why they stopped at that point. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. TWM is the perfect end.
