when I was reading album guides as a teenager it seemed like a unanimous opinion that Gaucho was worthless, I was pleasantly surprised at the existence of a vocal pro-Gaucho faction when I started reading ilx
― soref, Thursday, 3 April 2014 19:53 (ten years ago) link
xp to clemenza. that is very interesting because I only ever encountered the "aja is the best" narrative when getting into SD. I was born in 1985, though. aja has had the doc (which I watched) and the 33 1/3 book (which I just bought) since then.
― Belgian Flanders Albums Chart (Sufjan Grafton), Thursday, 3 April 2014 19:54 (ten years ago) link
No, I mean, I came to Steely Dan through Phish. The Phishheads who turned me on to SD were huge fans of Royal Scam. There is a very obvious influence.this comment has been haunting me, and explains why The Royal Scam has never sat well with me― Euler, Thursday, April 3, 2014 10:29 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
this comment has been haunting me, and explains why The Royal Scam has never sat well with me
― Euler, Thursday, April 3, 2014 10:29 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
sorry to do this to you Euler, but Umphrey's McGee covered 'Hey Nineteen' when I was in high school. it looks like they also cover 'Peg' now. ;_;
― Belgian Flanders Albums Chart (Sufjan Grafton), Thursday, 3 April 2014 19:58 (ten years ago) link
I knew I was home when ILM devoted 6000 posts to Gaucho's genius.
Phil Freeman mentioned it in his introduction the latest Marooned.
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:01 (ten years ago) link
I'm sure the 33-1/3 has something to do with, De La Soul also, etc. (The "etc." I don't know about.) I meant the original RS reviews--Bud Scoppa, another name I didn't recognize--which I just checked. I remember the Marsh entry now...as with his Neil Young entry, he seemed like a weird choice to write about them; they just don't strike me as his kind of band.
― clemenza, Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:01 (ten years ago) link
one person did only vote for two albums and one was a solo album.xpost― Bee OK, Thursday, April 3, 2014 1:11 PM (1 hour ago)
xpost
― Bee OK, Thursday, April 3, 2014 1:11 PM (1 hour ago)
That was me. Voted for Nightfly first, Royal Scam second. The rest of the initial run I hold roughly equal.
― EZ Snappin, Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:10 (ten years ago) link
i think in the '70s a lot of people who had seen them as a weird/dark/jazzy/beatnik rock group, both for better and for worse, were put off by the slick studio sheen of aja, perhaps not quite noticing that they had been slick studio guys all along, and also perhaps put off by their sudden ascension to pop stardom. critics can we weird about that. and then gaucho kept going even further in that direction, plus, cocaine. rockcrits hate cocaine.
― fact checking cuz, Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:11 (ten years ago) link
Aja having longer/fewer songs kind of puts me off it tbh. It is still great, but in my mind it's their least great.
― How dare you tarnish the reputation of Turturro's yodel (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:14 (ten years ago) link
it's a less realized Gaucho, although I like it.
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:19 (ten years ago) link
rockcrits hate cocaine
and yet think about how many fucked up classics were the direct product of cocaine abuse in the 70s!
― nitro-burning funny car (Moodles), Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:20 (ten years ago) link
otm
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:26 (ten years ago) link
no more interruptions.
we shall continue.
― Bee OK, Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:30 (ten years ago) link
are you drinking
― °ㅇ๐ْ ° (gr8080), Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:31 (ten years ago) link
he was snorting coke, duh.
― fact checking cuz, Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:32 (ten years ago) link
i had something to do and no i'm not drinking.
― Bee OK, Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:32 (ten years ago) link
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Sx2Buh4Ggk0/Uz3EjNlsLNI/AAAAAAAAAGk/BE5UaQiNEPc/w640-h320-no/Almost+Gothic.jpg
59. Almost GothicFrom: Two Against Nature Released: February 29, 200076 Points, 4 Votes
― Bee OK, Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:33 (ten years ago) link
might be my favorite image.
here's my ballot for the albums poll -- from the looks of the results I was the only one who went all out and ranked all the solo albums and the live disc:
The Royal ScamCountdown To Ecstasy AjaPretzel LogicKaty LiedCan't Buy A ThrillCircus MoneyGaucho Two Against NatureSunken CondosEverything Must GoAlive In AmericaThe NightflyMorph The CatKamakiriad11 Tracks of Whack
― CANS.... and D? (some dude), Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:34 (ten years ago) link
"almost gothic" is great, awesome image
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:42 (ten years ago) link
Wow, surprised that "Almost Gothic" made it. It's a fine track but not a standout on that album for me. Then again, there's only about 60 tracks on the first seven albums.
― Vinnie, Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:43 (ten years ago) link
i'm working on gospel time these days
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:45 (ten years ago) link
i'm so excited I can barely cope i'm sizzling like an isotope
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-WMmjeoOgQD0/Uz3LS77Ea4I/AAAAAAAAAHc/pWl2IJncpiQ/w640-h320-no/Parker%2527s+Band.jpg
58. Parker's BandFrom: Pretzel LogicReleased: February 20, 197479 Points, 4 Votes
― Bee OK, Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:59 (ten years ago) link
can somebody do a Spotify?
― Bee OK, Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:00 (ten years ago) link
it's like you read my mindhttp://open.spotify.com/user/1219464571/playlist/3WxVfruSRGjCsxQsrtZNuG
― CANS.... and D? (some dude), Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:02 (ten years ago) link
although it just occurred to me that I'm going to be super busy all day tomorrow, so I made it collaborative, people are welcome to add songs if I'm not keeping up w/ it.
― CANS.... and D? (some dude), Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:03 (ten years ago) link
Soooo...Parker's Band! Like that one!
― voodoo chili, Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:12 (ten years ago) link
wow that's low. though i love "parker's band" a wee bit less than i used to (the arrangement is a bit fussy, and i could do without the sibiliant S's in that first line), i still love it as both a joyful tribute to music itself and as a statement of purpose for these particular musicians: "if you can't fly, you'll have to move in with the rhythm section" would have been a good note to leave on the steely dan studio door, though by the end, of course, if you couldn't fly they wouldn't even let you into the rhythm section.
― fact checking cuz, Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:13 (ten years ago) link
perfectly sequenced after "East St Louis" (bop after hot jazz): Pretzel Logic is the Dan at their most earnest, jazz-nerd-wise, in its way.
― col, Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:15 (ten years ago) link
always loved the "parker's band" early version/demo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfY0q7FA4H8
― fact checking cuz, Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:15 (ten years ago) link
(who's that guy singing with fagen in that demo? is that becker?)
― fact checking cuz, Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:16 (ten years ago) link
The "We will spend a dizzy weekend" section really catapults this song.
― Vinnie, Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:17 (ten years ago) link
It may sound odd, but Parker's Band reminds me a bit of "Down on the Corner." Similar subject matter, but obviously Creedence left out the bizarre bridge.
― voodoo chili, Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:19 (ten years ago) link
"Parker's Band" was my #20, and
this is why
― Euler, Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:19 (ten years ago) link
I like how "Parker's Band" is about the incantatory power of Steely Dan's own music.
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:19 (ten years ago) link
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-frrNr49ncrQ/Uz3OMAiU0qI/AAAAAAAAAH4/6G7T04Fzv40/w640-h320-no/The+Second+Arrangement.jpg
57. The Second ArrangementUnreleased90 Points, 5 Votes
― Bee OK, Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:20 (ten years ago) link
hahaha
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:23 (ten years ago) link
"The Second Arrangement" had been a favorite of producer Gary Katz and Nichols. In late December 1979, after weeks of working on a particular recording of the track, approximately 3/4 of the song was accidentally erased by an assistant engineer who had been asked by Katz to ready the track for listening. The band attempted to re-record the track, but eventually abandoned the song entirely.
Steely Dan biographer Brian Sweet has written that the group abandoned the song in favor of focusing on "Third World Man." "The Second Arrangement" was never played live by Steely Dan until a rarities show on September 17, 2011; a studio recording of the song remains unreleased. However, a handful of demo and outtake recordings of the song exist in bootleg form.
In addition to "The Second Arrangement", a number of songs were written for the album, but ultimately left off Gaucho. A number of these songs were included on a bootleg titled The Lost Gaucho, which represents recordings from early in the album's sessions. Song titles include "Kind Spirit", "Kulee Baba", "The Bear", "Talkin' About My Home," as well as "The Second Arrangement". An early version of "Third World Man" with alternate lyrics is included under the title "Were You Blind That Day." This recording dates from the Aja sessions.
― Bee OK, Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:29 (ten years ago) link
so happy "The Second Arrangement" made it (with my help!)
here's the studio bootleg:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgugMZI18pc
and here's a live version from a 2011 'rarities night' show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=filvJyO89EI
― CANS.... and D? (some dude), Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:33 (ten years ago) link
i remember the engineer story (never heard this song though). man "accidentally erasing 3/4th of an obsessively-worked-on Steely Dan track" is up there with your all-time bad days at work
― col, Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:33 (ten years ago) link
The horror that engineer must've felt as Katz kept saying, "Go ahead and pot it up, we're ready. What's happening back there?"
― pplains, Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:34 (ten years ago) link
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, April 3, 2014 5:19 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
um how on earth is that song anything but a Charlie Parker tribute?
― CANS.... and D? (some dude), Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:34 (ten years ago) link
yeah but it's also a comment on their own music; that's how it reads to me
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:36 (ten years ago) link
Tributes and homages are by nature acknowledgments of limits or showing how far you've matched or outperformed the subject imo
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:37 (ten years ago) link
lol can you imagine Donald and Walter on album 3 going "welp, we're as good as Bird now, if not better"
― CANS.... and D? (some dude), Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:38 (ten years ago) link
I can imagine them thinking that around album 6, true or no
― voodoo chili, Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:39 (ten years ago) link
on the fine Colombian, sure
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:39 (ten years ago) link
the existence of that 2011 rarities night show really gives me a little hope that someday SD will loosen the reigns of perfectionism enough that they may do an archival project with unreleased songs. even new re-recordings of some of those old rarities would be cool.
― CANS.... and D? (some dude), Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:40 (ten years ago) link
this poll is already making me look at the songs that have placed so car in a new light. that fuzzy little bass or low guitar line in "Monkey" is so cool.
(xp) i'm not sure all tributes/homages are specifically acknowledgments of how you've matched or not matched the subject, but i do think all tributes/homages are at least as much about the author as they are about the subject.
― fact checking cuz, Thursday, 3 April 2014 21:40 (ten years ago) link