At work
this week I’m dealing with an updated edition of Steely
Dan: Reelin’ In The Years by Brian Sweet,
the only decent biography of the group ever published. To say that Brian is an aficionado
of SD would be an understatement. When I first commissioned this book back in
1994 he turned up in my offices with scrapbooks full of cuttings about them
and, knowing that SD didn’t exactly extend themselves when it came to self-promotion, I realised
I had the right man for a difficult job. That the book has never been out of
print reflects not only its attention to detail but the ongoing affection that
SD continues to enjoy among lovers of classy pop music.
As for me, I remember when Can’t
Buy A Thrill landed in the Melody Maker office in early 1973. We played the hell
out of it, not really knowing who Steely Dan were, only that it was a great
album with some great tunes.
In April 1974 I interviewed Donald Fagen and Walter Becker in a hotel suite in New York. They were clever bastards, a bit down on rock and pop generally, huge jazz fans and not the easiest of interviewees. They were more interested in discussing chess than talking to me. I saw them play at the Avery Fisher Hall in NY around the same time too, supporting the Electric Light Orchestra which can’t have been much fun for them. Their set was a disaster, marred by sound problems that – as I discovered later – were the fault of ELO’s sound crew who declined to permit SD to do a sound check. Such incidents put Becker and Fagen off touring and probably explain why they retired from touring in the mid-seventies, not to return to the stage until 1993 when the potential remuneration was too good to turn down.
In April 1974 I interviewed Donald Fagen and Walter Becker in a hotel suite in New York. They were clever bastards, a bit down on rock and pop generally, huge jazz fans and not the easiest of interviewees. They were more interested in discussing chess than talking to me. I saw them play at the Avery Fisher Hall in NY around the same time too, supporting the Electric Light Orchestra which can’t have been much fun for them. Their set was a disaster, marred by sound problems that – as I discovered later – were the fault of ELO’s sound crew who declined to permit SD to do a sound check. Such incidents put Becker and Fagen off touring and probably explain why they retired from touring in the mid-seventies, not to return to the stage until 1993 when the potential remuneration was too good to turn down.
Here’s the first bit of my 1974 MM interview.
Although it’s quite
incidental to the story that follows, let’s begin by explaining the meaning of
the term Steely Dan. It has nothing to do with music, and was never intended as
a pun associated with the English folk band Steeleye Span.
For those of you aching to be enlightened, a Steely Dan is
an artificial penis. The term was adopted by author William Burroughs in his
novel Naked Lunch, in
which a young lady called Mary christened her three dildos Steely Dan I, II and
III.
Frank Zappa, for one, would be proud of a band who
shamelessly took on such a moniker. It comes as no surprise, then, to discover
that the two principal members of Steely Dan are fervent supporters of Zappa,
intent on closing the gap between pop and jazz in much the same way he has
tried to do.
The Steely Dan story began in a New York College several
years ago, when the two principal members, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker met
and discovered a mutual interest in jazz music while the rest of the students
were jiving to rock and roll.
Today Fagen and Becker write all of Steely Dan’s material,
play piano and bass respectively, arrange the music and generally share the seat
of power in the five-man outfit. Fagen also takes care of the lead vocals and –
again not unlike Zappa – acts as a kind of conductor when the group play live.
Fagen and Becker began composing together at the college.
Both had a formal musical education and quit to become part of Jay & The
Americans, a period of their lives which they tend to skip over today. That
introduced them to various influential people in the music industry and they
landed a job as house writers for ABC Dunhill in Los Angeles.
They wrote material for other artists but gradually came to
the conclusion they’d do better forming a band of their own. Encouraged by
their producer Gary Katz, who brought them to ABC Dunhill in the first place,
they formed Steely Dan and surprised many people by having a hit with their
first album. It’s been getting better ever since.
Fagen is a tall, thin fellow with a slight hunch, probably
caused through leaning over a piano for much of his life. He’s a serious
musician who isn’t afraid to voice his opinions on current rock giants, for
whom he has little respect. His partner Becker is pretty much the same, except
that he’s short and tubby. Both would sooner spend an evening in a jazz club
that at any rock concert you’d care to name.
“Yeah, we were staff writers for ABC Dunhill, churning out
songs,” says Fagen.
“But nobody was picking them up,” says Becker.
“We decided that being as our songs were of a conceptual
nature, we needed a band, so we, er, found one,” says Fagen, who’s not a man to
dwell on his past too much.
They found Jeff Baxter, who plays guitar and pedal steel
guitar, Jim Hodder, who sings and plays drums, and Dennis Dias, a second
guitarist. All three are also from the East Coast, and all three had gone west
to work on sessions.
“We immediately went into the studio and did an album,
simply because we didn’t have anything better to do. We weren’t doing so well
as staff writers,” says Fagen. “And the record was a hit so we started going on
the road. Our first few shows were pretty horrible but we’re pretty good now.”
Becker bursts out laughing. Modesty is not one of their
assets.
“I learned music theory and harmony at music college but
didn’t get as far as harsh discipline in music,” says Fagen. “I studied some
orchestration and composition and definitely knew that I was going for a career
in music of some kind, even though I ended up with a degree in literature. My
mother was a small time night club singer.”
“Not only that, but her married name was the same as Billie
Holiday’s maiden name and that’s the kind of thing that launches a thousand
careers,” chipped in Becker.
Hits eluded Fagen and Becker at ABC, though their songs were
recorded by Barbra Streisand, Jose Feliciano and John Kay. Several of their
songs from the first Steely Dan album were covered, a fact that Becker explains
through the album providing the best opportunity to hear what their songs
sounded like in the finished version. “Deodato did a version of one song and
Herbie Mann did a version of the same one,” offered Becker.
“Yeah, we seem to be big with the lightweight jazz crowd for
some reason. We didn’t write it with that kind of band in mind, just that that
particular song lent itself to that kind of treatment,” says Fagen.
1 comment:
Hi Chris I took over from Jeff Stars back in the 70s on MM, I remember this album being played a lot in the office. Reading your blog brings those lovely 3or 4 years back . Working with the likes of Richard Williams, Max Jones, Mick Watts and yourself was something I will never forget Tony Claxton
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