Steely Dan c'74, covering "My Boyfriend's Back"?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by PretzelLogic, Mar 8, 2017.

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  1. PretzelLogic

    PretzelLogic Feeling duped by MoFi? You probably deserve it. Thread Starter

    Location:
    London, England
    Brian Sweet's SD biography mentions a couple of times that on the '74 tour, the encore would be the backing singers Porky & Bucky (Jenny Soule & Gloria Granola) doing a spirited rendition of this girl group classic. It tallies with the still-active practice of putting a soul classic in the average Steely Dan setlist for the backing singers to get a moment in the spotlight.

    I've never heard any recording of this, and the most widely circulated boot from '74 at The Record Plant has no sign of the girls, nor does the live version of Bodhisattva from their final show (the one with Jerome Aniton's famous introduction). Has anyone heard this curiosity, or even attend one of the show's where they played this?
     
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  2. Roger Thornhill

    Roger Thornhill Senior Member

    Location:
    Ilford, Essex, UK
    This one puzzled me a bit as I'd never seen this come up and when I checked the '74 recordings I had those two names weren't listed. And then I looked at the SD gig listing...and they didn't play anywhere in September '74 (Sweet's book says "My Boyfriend's back was played at Santa Monica in September).

    But...it was in September '73 on the CTE tour and not '74.

    As far as I know, no live recordings from 1973 have ever been found - or at least if they have I've not seen them.
     
  3. daleyguy

    daleyguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Alberta, Canada
    I'd love to hear the songs they wrote that David Palmer sang on the early tours. From the above mentioned biography:

    "Steely Dan’s live set at this point included certain songs – ‘Megashine City’, ‘Take My Money’ and ‘Hellbound Train’ – that had been written specifically as vehicles for David Palmer and which would never make it onto a Steely Dan studio album."
     
  4. pbuzby

    pbuzby Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL, US
    A live recording of Steely Dan from 72 or 73 would be quite a find.
     
  5. C6H12O6

    C6H12O6 Senior Member

    Location:
    My lab
    Was Palmer doing most of the leads then? I remember seeing this and wondering if Fagen was a bit too shy to do it himself, even though he still sang most of the leads on record:
     
  6. ohnothimagen

    ohnothimagen "Live music is better!"

    Location:
    Canada
    Funny, I am re-reading the Brian Sweet SD bio at the moment and a couple of days ago when reading about those '73/'74 shows I was thinking, "Man, I'd like to hear those!" (both the Porky & Bucky tune and the David Palmer "vehicles")...alas:
    That's a shame.
    Indeed it would- according to that biography the original Dan were a powerhouse live. The available '74 shows are awesome, but apparently even before they added Porcaro and McDonald to the lineup the live band was a force to be reckoned with.
     
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  7. honzalong

    honzalong Forum Resident

    Megashine City aka Talkin' Bout My Home:
     
  8. ohnothimagen

    ohnothimagen "Live music is better!"

    Location:
    Canada
    And "Talkin' Bout My Home" never made it on to a Steely Dan album either...
     
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  9. Joti Cover

    Joti Cover Forum Resident

    They were, indeed, a powerhouse live in 1974. I saw them w Porcaro at the Kennedy Center in the spring of that year.
    Pretzel had just been released and they were all the buzz in the rock press and elsewhere.
     
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  10. Joti Cover

    Joti Cover Forum Resident

    I have no memory of "My Boyfriend's Back" @ the '74 show, however....I'm sure I would have remembered that.
     
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  11. davmar77

    davmar77 I'd rather be drummin'...

    Location:
    clifton park,ny
    Since the last shows they did were in early July of 74 I'd say the September reference for that year is either a typo or just wrong. I see many incorrect mentions like that in the various music bios I've read. Could be someone just remembered the wrong year.
     
  12. pool_of_tears

    pool_of_tears Searching For Simplicity

    Location:
    Midwest
    I believe the OP got the year wrong. I'm sure it's 1973, as they didn't have female singers on the 1974 dates.
     
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  13. davmar77

    davmar77 I'd rather be drummin'...

    Location:
    clifton park,ny
    Must have been interesting and in the round too.

    [​IMG]
     
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  14. pool_of_tears

    pool_of_tears Searching For Simplicity

    Location:
    Midwest
    Neither did this one:

     
  15. PretzelLogic

    PretzelLogic Feeling duped by MoFi? You probably deserve it. Thread Starter

    Location:
    London, England
    I blame Brian Sweet, or his proof readers…!

    It also seems crazy that a) this hasn't surfaced somewhere over the years and b) I can't find anything online about what happened to the two girl singers or any other credits of subsequent performances or work. Maybe they didn't exist?
     
  16. pool_of_tears

    pool_of_tears Searching For Simplicity

    Location:
    Midwest
    I've not seen any 1973 live Dan stuff...if a soundboard were to appear with the same sound quality as the 74 shows, that would be great
     
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  17. pbuzby

    pbuzby Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL, US
    I remember in Fagen's book Eminent Hipsters his tour diary mentions a backup singer SD had on tour in the 70's. Forget the name though.
     
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  18. SteelyNJ

    SteelyNJ Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    But soon after they were "through with buzz"! :D

    Sorry!
     
  19. Joti Cover

    Joti Cover Forum Resident

    Ha! I love that. No apology needed!
     
  20. ralphb

    ralphb "First they came for..."

    Location:
    Brooklyn, New York
    I saw them on that tour at Alice Tully Hall where they buried the headliners, ELO. I think I would have remembered them doing "My Boyfriends Back" though.
     
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  21. Roger Thornhill

    Roger Thornhill Senior Member

    Location:
    Ilford, Essex, UK
    Unless there was a correction between 1st and 2nd editions of the book, it's not Sweet.

    The reference on page 62 is in a section which starts "Soon after the release of Countdown to Ecstasy" which is a clue to the year.

    Later in that same section he states "It was around this time (September 1973) that they played their first concert as headliners.

    I did point out that it was 73 in my post above!
     
  22. Jose Jones

    Jose Jones Outstanding Forum Member

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    Wow, Skunk Baxter on conga drums!
     
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  23. Joti Cover

    Joti Cover Forum Resident

    Skumk played some very wild congas for Linda R singing 'You're No Good' one evening on TV as well.... Little Feat's drummer playing in the same band.... That is a great performance and is on YouTube....
     
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  24. Joti Cover

    Joti Cover Forum Resident

    SKUNK, I mean....
     
  25. Hall Cat

    Hall Cat Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    Royce Jones
     
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