Polled At Last: STEELY DAN - ILM Artist poll #50

For what it's worth, he wasn't referring to "Deacon Blues"--I am. (Fuck clemenza!) Not sure what he what he was talking about.

7 number ones is what really grabbed me about "Doctor Wu."

Doctor Jing Nuan Wu (1933-2002), an acupuncturist and artist based in Washington DC. Emigrated from China to the US at a young age and graduated from Harvard to become a Wall Street venture capitalist, finally setting up a Taoist clinic in Washington in 1973. Apparently helped one of the band members to overcome drug addiction in the mid-70s, hence the lyrical tribute.

(I love Lester Bangs of course but am at peak SD defense mode now sry)

There's an EMP project to be written about Cuban-American/Nixon imagery in the Dan.

"cuban-american imagery, nixon's shadow and traffic twaddle: steely dan in the '70s."

I'm a little defensive too right now--feeling a generational split in these results (old people = first four LPs/ younger = next three), but maybe I'm wrong.

Nope. Love the first two, adore Gaucho and Katy Lied.

guys let's not spoil this now

age ain't nothin but a hashtag

"that stupid song" was Dylan's "Visions of Johanna" -- supposedly, it was played on the PA before every 70s Dan show.

old people = first four LPs/ younger = next three

i don't agree with this at all, but if i did, i'm not sure which segment i'd give album number five to.

Catching up late here - I was one of the number ones for "Babylon Sisters," which I've loved for like five years, but the song didn't turn mythic for me 'til I actually moved out to L.A. And I wish I still had a car every damn time I hear it. Aja and Gaucho really start to open up when you're actually on the West Coast, especially if you're a Northeast transplant like me. "Dr. Wu" another one I considered for #1, along with the song I'm pretty sure will take the top spot.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-bcq7GqdtriE/U0HlGb_kBqI/AAAAAAAAA4U/FrxOl8If0e4/w640-h320-no/Peg.jpg

3. Peg
B-side: "I Got the News"
From: Aja
Single Released: November 1977
1,314 Points, 57 Votes, 3 Number Ones

I've got classic albums: aja playing right now. just got to the michael mcdonald vox part on Peg as this was posted.

love, love, love "Dr. Wu"......two of these next three, otoh, are just not top 10 Dan tracks for me. But what the hell--they're pretty great songs.

xpost: ok, gonna be VERY surprised if I have the wrong #1 now....

Aja and Gaucho really start to open up when you're actually on the West Coast

^^otm

yes

kinda glad it's not #1 but i do love 'peg' so much, the way the solo just careens in, maybe my fave backing vocals in any song, at a minimum my fave michael mcdonald vocals. probably one of the earliest songs i can remember being a hit, hearing on the radio, hard to describe the glee i felt at 14 putting on 3 feet high and rising and having that sample pop up.

There's gotta be some really dark subtext to "Peg" ("It will come back to you"?) but I still haven't grokked what it is.

best part of out wedding reception was leading everyone in a crazy Peg dance, like fifty people of every generation losing it in the dance floor in a sunset blvd hotel

57 votes

xpost i just put it on a playlist i'm working on for a buddy's wedding, fingers crossed for the same reaction

lol i almost posted that i loved how much it was a fairly straightforward sunny pop uptempo love song, like a carter era 'windy' or 'along comes mary', but decided against it as i'm sure pop up ilx is gonna reveal it's about some pornographer that becker knew from having the same dealer.

my only regret is not closing the whole reception down w/Babylon sisters

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peg_Entwistle

ITS YOUR FAVORITE FOREIGN MOVIE!

I am certainly one of the older voters here and I don't know, I maybe don't love Gaucho but I have lots of love for Royal Scam and Aja.

so...were any major critics praising Gaucho in '80?

"Peg" I'm neutral on, "Eye Know" is one of my favourite songs ever.

Yeah, forget my age theory--I remembered you saying your #1 was from one of the later three. (The Royal Scam sort of bridges the first four to what came later for me--a little of what I loved before with "Sign in Stranger," a lot of what lost me.)

Oh jesus, there it is. I always thought there was some sort of porno angle, too. Still could be.

Anyway, I'm turning into one of those downer poll-guys...I'm gonna shut up and let you enjoy the last two.

Gaucho placed at #12 Pazz & Jop, so I would assume so (xxxp).

4 1/2 star review in RS in early '81, though I've never heard of the critic: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/gaucho-19810205

their first album to place lower than #6 on P&J though (not counting the first two, which came out in years that the Voice held no poll)

"The labels are important — Steely Dan's characters seem to know the world exclusively through brand names. These characters are the true "heads": solitarily confined intelligences who've had to order all their experience from a catalog."

After years of hibernation in the studio, the metamorphosis that began with The Royal Scam is complete. Steely Dan have perfected the aesthetic of the tease. Their sound is as slippery as their irony. Are those the trumpets of angels near the end of the title tune? Could that slouching gaucho, the one denied a room in the singer's high-rise inn, be the new messiah? On Gaucho, the melodies are questions, too — long-winded, probing, unresolved.

there are a few of these "fagen talks about" youtubes, including one about one of the tracks still to come, and they're all great chord-porn, but this is my fave. dude would make a great music teacher.

Not a big fan of the +porn suffix anyway, but boy did I misread this sentence at first.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GeGOlUsRRNM/U0Hr3K2ju9I/AAAAAAAAA5A/v2XuAr_wCNo/s552-no/Peg+7.jpg

1978: "Peg" (B-side: "I Got the News")
Label: ABC 12320
Chart: US Pop 11

"Peg" was released as a single in 1977 and reached #11 on the US Billboard chart in 1978 and #8 on the Cash Box chart.

The song is a blend of rock, jazz, and R&B. The song's guitar solo was attempted by seven top studio session guitarists ‒ including Robben Ford ‒ before Jay Graydon's version became the "keeper". He worked on the song for about six hours before the band was satisfied.

Michael McDonald can be heard providing multi-tracked backup vocals in the choruses, and keyboardist Paul Griffin can also be heard improvising background vocals in the final chorus and fadeout.

"Peg" was heavily sampled on the 1989 De La Soul song, "Eye Know". In 2007, the song was covered by Nerina Pallot.

Millicent Lilian "Peg" Entwistle gained notoriety after she jumped to her death from the "H" on the Hollywoodland sign in September 1932 at the age of 24. The suicide note as published read: "I am afraid, I am a coward. I am sorry for everything. If I had done this a long time ago, it would have saved a lot of pain. P.E."

TOO LOW TOO LOW TOO LOW TOO LOW TOO LOW

Need I mention that I was one of "Peg"'s #1 voters?

well that's uplifting! xp

y'all I have to go out now so can I just c&p two all time posts about "Deacon Blues"

Someone please explain this to me? Right now the guy is singing "learn to work the saxophone, I'll play just what I feel" to a backing track that sounds like a 5th generation faded photocopy of some actually good soul-jazz song. How is this different from Kenny G or Grover Washington or what have you?

― Tuomas, Friday, January 8, 2010 2:47 PM (4 years ago)

DEACON BLUES

INTRO:(Cmaj7, Gsus2/B, Bbmaj7, Fsus2/A, Dmaj7, Asus2/C#, Cmaj7, Gsus2/B, Ebmaj7, E7#9)
Verse 1:(G13)This is the (F13)day of the(G/A)expanding (F13)man. (G13)That shape is my(F13) shade there (G/A)where I used to(D9) stand. (Fmaj7) It seems like(E7-9) only yest(Am7)erday I gazed through the (Bb13) glass. At(E7) ramblers, (B7)wild gamblers. That's(B7#9)all in the(E7) past(B7#9, E7).
(G13)You call me (F13)a fool you say it's a (G/A)crazy (F13)scene. (G13)This one's for(F13) real I already (G/A)bought (A7)the dream. (Fmaj7) So useless to(E7-9) ask me why. (Am7)Throw a kiss a(Gm7)nd say good(F#maj7)bye. (Fmaj7)I'll ma(Csus2/E)ke it this time. (D9)I'm ready (F/G)to cross that fine line.
CHORUS: (Am7)I'll Learn to work (Em7)the saxophone. (Dm7)I play ju(Cmaj7)st what I feel. (Bbmaj7)Drink scotch whiskey (Am)all night. (Am/G)long(Am/F#, Fmaj7) And (Csus2/E)die beh(Fmaj7)ind the wheel.(Am7) They got a name for the(Em7)winners in the world. (Dm7)I want a (Cmaj7)name when I lose. They (Bbmaj7)call Alabama the (Am)crimson (Am/G)tide.(Am/F#, Fmaj7) (Csus2/E)Call me Dea(Fmaj7)con Bl(Am7)ues (Deacon (Em7)Blues) (Dmaj7, Asus2/C#, Cmaj7, Gsus2/B, Ebmaj7, E7#9)
VERSE 2 : My back to the wall a victim of laughing chance. This is for me the essence of true romance. Sharing the things we know and love with those of my kind. Libations, sensations which stagger the mind. I crawl like a viper through these suburban streets. Make love to these women languid and bittersweet. I'll rise when the sun goes down. Cover every game in town. A world of my own. I'll make it my home sweet home.
CHORUS*Play these instead of the last chords*(Dmaj7, Asus2/C#, Cmaj7, Gsus2/B, Bb13, Gsus2/B)
INSTRUMENTAL: (Cmaj7, Em7, A13, D7#5#9, G13, B7#9, Em7, A13, Fmaj7, F#7#9, Gmaj7, B7#9)*Repeat*
*INTRO* Verse 3:(G13)This is the (F13)night of the (G/A)expan(F13)ding man. (G13)I take one last(F13)drag as I (G/A)approach(A7) the stand. (Fmaj7)I cried when I(E7-9) wrote this song. (Am7)Sue me if I (Gm7)play too lo(F#maj7)ng (Fmaj7). This brother(Csus2/E) is free. (D9)I'll be what(F/G)I want to be.
CHORUS
OUTRO: Same as first half of 1st Verse - except play D9-5 instead of D9. Keep repeating this half verse to fade

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, April 29, 2004 12:18 PM (9 years ago)

and grover washington is badass

A woman gave Gaucho 4 1/2 stars--of course we've never heard of her: she was promptly and ruthlessly marginalized.....

ariel swartley wrote the piece about the wild, the innocent that appears in stranded

Forgot about this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IshE5Xt4J6M

nothing like youtubes of teenagers playing along to CDs to remind me that i am much more of a guitar owner than a guitar player.

Yeah, that's where I figured aw hell, I didn't really want to learn how to play all of Peg anyway.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-QpTTxoYo7SE/U0HxAFTaeAI/AAAAAAAAA5k/Hw1K5GQ2tcU/w640-h320-no/My+Old+School.jpg

2. My Old School
B-side "Pearl of the Quarter"
From: Countdown to Ecstasy
Single Released: 1973
1,515 Points, 54 Votes, 10 Number Ones

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-H4JlLTkPHKI/U0HxM4VLgcI/AAAAAAAAA6I/YlYwlCQSHd8/w640-h320-no/Deacon+Blues.jpg

1. Deacon Blues
B-side "Home at Last"
From: Aja
Single Released: 1977
1,600 Points, 59 Votes, 6 Number Ones