Steely Dan's AJA on VH1 "Classic Albums"

lawson · Post by **lawson** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:19 pm

Becker usually looks like a pedophile....

STEELY DAN RULES.

Katy Lied is an unbelievably cool record (for the most part)

Aja is one of the best.

Royal Scam. Who doesn't want to listen to "Don't Take Me Alive" with Larry Carlton's tasty adobe licks. Just kidding, actually, I despise music.

jborsma · Post by **jborsma** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 3:05 pm

cgarges wrote:He's also been carrying around this story for years that he replaced Ringo on a bunch of the early Beatles stuff. Never mind that that was physically IMPOSSIBLE back then.

Hey everyone,

Actually, the only connection he ever had to The Beatles was reinforcing the drums on a couple of songs from the recordings they did in Germany (produced by the German musician Bert Kaempfert for the German Polydor label), because Atco thought Pete Best's drums were too low in the mix (besides not being played that well). The overdubs were done in America. He never recorded with The Beatles themselves. It's just self promotion.

Take care, jborsma

AstroDan · Post by **AstroDan** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 3:21 pm

I like the part where Dean Parks is philosophizing about how Steely Dan "go all the way past perfection just to get to natural" and they put in the still of Fagan and Becker with a perplexed, WTF? look on their face. Funny.

And props for the Arp String Ensemble mention. I was impressed Fagan remembered what he used.

I guess love them or hate them - but they did seem to be very interested and involved in the recording process. If TapeOp were around, they seem like they have been one of the likeliest bands to have digested it while Led Zeppelin was out banging groupies (which is honorable and enviable in it's own right).

percussion boy · Post by **percussion boy** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 5:07 pm

AstroDan wrote:(which is honorable and enviable in it's own right).

Dude, you're like the Kofi Annan of music.

[Oh, yeah, the topic:] I liked hearing Mr. McDonald's vocal parts a capella, also the breakdown of "Deacon Blues."

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:13 pm

That's gotta be the first time I've ever heard someone say they liked hearing Michael McDonald's voice.

And I'm a Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers fan...

percussion boy · Post by **percussion boy** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:14 pm

I guess I'm just a sick man.

RefD · Post by **RefD** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:28 pm

dwlb wrote:That's gotta be the first time I've ever heard someone say they liked hearing Michael McDonald's voice.

And I'm a Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers fan...

"Thuh WYZE MAHNN HAZZ THUH POW-ERRR!! ...to REE-ZUN UH-WAAAY!"

my ears just went blind and i'd never before thought that possible.

lotusstudio · Post by **lotusstudio** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 10:34 pm

Royal Scam. Who doesn't want to listen to "Don't Take Me Alive"

The first 15 seconds of "Don't take me alive" - totally sublime

:oneeye:

I'll tell you, their music and lyrics used to be so subversive and gritty and, you know, there's been so much talk about lo fi but I heard it said that The Dan wanted production to be as clean and pristine as possible because the songs were subversive enough already and they wanted that to just not be obscured!

Sadly, they lost me after Gaucho, their songs about the plight of immigrants and drugs and grit and balls - Fagan's seething, jeering, sneering voice- were replaced by an image of old wilting lecherous urban smooth jazz pussies - so sad to me.

Where's the beef? The same thing kind of happened to REM and even James Taylor - it's true.

By the way, Michael McDonald's voice -like it or not - is a unique force of nature. I'm not sayin' I like it, but I do have his Christmas album.

RefD · Post by **RefD** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 10:43 pm

"an image of old wilting lecherous urban smooth jazz pussies"

damn, that's a concept album right there!

*rings up Roger Waters*

AstroDan · Post by **AstroDan** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 6:50 am

Yes, that is a raw image.

By the way, you can hear this album's legacy on the Weather Channel's local weather segment.

MoreSpaceEcho · Post by **MoreSpaceEcho** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 7:16 am

RefD wrote:"Thuh WYZE MAHNN HAZZ THUH POW-ERRR!! ...to REE-ZUN UH-WAAAY!"

i'm pretty sure we've had this conversation before, but a good friend of mine always heard those lyrics as "the white man has the power!"

fagen's upper lip gives me the creeps.

RefD · Post by **RefD** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 10:15 am

MoreSpaceEcho wrote:
RefD wrote:"Thuh WYZE MAHNN HAZZ THUH POW-ERRR!! ...to REE-ZUN UH-WAAAY!"
i'm pretty sure we've had this conversation before, but a good friend of mine always heard those lyrics as "the white man has the power!"

yeth, i do recall that!

MoreSpaceEcho wrote:fagen's upper lip gives me the creeps.

the rest of Fagen creeps me out.

last night i dreamed that Vanessa Redgrave was trying to seduce me while my kids were asleep in the other room...she had put Steely Dan on the stereo.

infopimpster · Post by **infopimpster** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 12:27 pm

RefD wrote:"an image of old wilting lecherous urban smooth jazz pussies"

damn, that's a concept album right there!

*rings up Roger Waters*

'they were watching tv' (repeat ad nauseum)

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 2:44 pm

AstroDan wrote:Yes, that is a raw image.

By the way, you can hear this album's legacy on the Weather Channel's local weather segment.

In what way is that worse than hearing, say, the Velvet Underground's or Joy Division's legacy on modern FM rock radio?

lotusstudio · Post by **lotusstudio** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 7:00 pm

Fagan's a hunchback, but he's the coolest hunchback on earth.

My apoligies to other hunchbacks.

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