Naïve Old Fart 9,490 Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 Shit I'll listen to my favourite Dan record, tonight, as a tribute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 Gasp! Holy fuck that's outta left field! RIP to one of the great songwriters of all time. Jesus. This one hurts. Donald Fagen reacts: Quote Walter Becker was my friend, my writing partner and my bandmate since we met as students at Bard College in 1967. We started writing nutty little tunes on an upright piano in a small sitting room in the lobby of Ward Manor, a mouldering old mansion on the Hudson River that the college used as a dorm. We liked a lot of the same things: jazz (from the twenties through the mid-sixties), W.C. Fields, the Marx Brothers, science fiction, Nabokov, Kurt Vonnegut, Thomas Berger, and Robert Altman films come to mind. Also soul music and Chicago blues. Walter had a very rough childhood - I’ll spare you the details. Luckily, he was smart as a whip, an excellent guitarist and a great songwriter. He was cynical about human nature, including his own, and hysterically funny. Like a lot of kids from fractured families, he had the knack of creative mimicry, reading people’s hidden psychology and transforming what he saw into bubbly, incisive art. He used to write letters (never meant to be sent) in my wife Libby’s singular voice that made the three of us collapse with laughter. His habits got the best of him by the end of the seventies, and we lost touch for a while. In the eighties, when I was putting together the NY Rock and Soul Review with Libby, we hooked up again, revived the Steely Dan concept and developed another terrific band. I intend to keep the music we created together alive as long as I can with the Steely Dan band. Donald Fagen September 3 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,326 Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 The co-founder of one of my favorite bands ...R.I.P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fancyarcher 350 Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 Ah man, what a loss. Deacon Blues is one of my favorite songs and his debut solo album 11 Tracks of Whack is highly recommended. RIP!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 20 minutes ago, Fancyarcher said: Ah man, what a loss. Deacon Blues is one of my favorite songs and his debut solo album 11 Tracks of Whack is highly recommended. RIP!!! I have a couple of bootleg recordings of Steely Dan's first reunion tour ('93-'94) that have several performances of songs from that album (Book of Liars, Down in the Bottom, Hard Up Case). It's great to hear those songs with the full Steely Dan band treatment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fancyarcher 350 Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 18 minutes ago, Disco Stu said: I have a couple of bootleg recordings of Steely Dan's first reunion tour ('93-'94) that have several performances of songs from that album (Book of Liars, Down in the Bottom, Hard Up Case). It's great to hear those songs with the full Steely Dan band treatment. Yup. Really wish I could have seen Steely Dan live, but I never got the chance. Big fan of their music. One of my mom's friends was playing Aja in his apartment the last time we saw him, it was fun to hear again all the way through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 I really enjoyed this obituary in Rolling Stone. A tribute to Becker's "mythic loserdom." http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/walter-becker-steely-dan-elusive-genius-by-rob-sheffield-w501082 On 9/3/2017 at 2:06 PM, Fancyarcher said: Yup. Really wish I could have seen Steely Dan live, but I never got the chance. I still plan on seeing them in their Becker-less incarnation. It's not like I'm not a huge fan of Fagen too, so even if it's basically a solo vehicle for Fagen now that's ok by me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fancyarcher 350 Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 5 hours ago, Disco Stu said: I still plan on seeing them in their Becker-less incarnation. It's not like I'm not a huge fan of Fagen too, so even if it's basically a solo vehicle for Fagen now that's ok by me! Without both of the original two, it doesn't exactly feel the same though I'm sure Fagen goes a good job. I'm a fan of his solo album Nightfly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 Been listening to a lot of Steely Dan since Sunday. Their final album is definitely their least essential, but still essential in my opinion. Severely underrated record. I can't imagine a better final song of last album than "Everything Must Go" Quote Can it be the sorry sun is rising Guess it's time for us to book it Talk about the famous road not taken In the end we never took it And if somewhere on the way We got a few good licks in No one's ever gonna know 'Cause we're goin' out of business Everything must go Fancyarcher 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,326 Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 14 hours ago, Fancyarcher said: Without both of the original two, it doesn't exactly feel the same though I'm sure Fagen goes a good job. I'm a fan of his solo album Nightfly. That was really the last great thing Fagen did. Timeless and I literally like every single track on it, just like I do with any Steely Dan record from the '70s. PS: I remember that The Nightfly was one if not the first completely digital recorded pop album ever and audiophiles used it to show off their Hi-Fi systems Hipster! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naïve Old Fart 9,490 Posted September 6, 2017 Author Share Posted September 6, 2017 THE NIGHTFLY is good, but KARMAKIRIAD is better. SNOWBOUND...sublime. Check-out ROSIE VELA, as well. MAGIC SMILE is great. There's a Dan tribute band playing, very near me, in a couple of weeks. I was always planning to go. Now...it's a sure thing... Disco Stu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,326 Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 54 minutes ago, Richard said: THE NIGHTLY is good, but KARMAKIRIAD is better. Sure, and Everything Must Go is better than all their '70s albums combined. Alex - trying to be as silly as Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 I actually agree with Richard (shudder). Kamakiriad is Fagen's best solo album. I love Countermoon and Teahouse on the Tracks and every song there. And his last one, Sunken Condos, is damn great! He's never made a bad album ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,326 Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 Quote Kamakiriad is Fagen's best solo album Wow! Only at JWfan! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 Do you really think everything he did after The Nightfly is bad? I love that album too but that's silly. Unplug your ears! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,326 Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 No, not 'bad', but I think almost pop connoisseur (outside JWfan, of course) will say that the comeback albums never reached the incredible level of the golden years of Steely Dan/Fagen. At first I was severely disappointed, later I found them mildly enjoyable, but I certainly don't love them. Richard I can understand, I mean, he thinks Steely Dan's Aja is an embarrassment. Indeed, that's Richard for ya. I can't remember it exactly but he constantly says things in a similar vein as: "Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon was not a bad attempt but The Division Bell changed pop history!" Or how about: "Oldfield's Tubular Bells is good but Platinum is better"?! It no longer baffles me. He loves to take a work that is usually regarded inferior only to prefer it over the classic milestones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 I dunno. I love every album Fagen has ever recorded, solo or Dan. I don't think of every thing from the 90s to today as being in competition with the 70s/80s stuff. Just as good songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naïve Old Fart 9,490 Posted September 6, 2017 Author Share Posted September 6, 2017 2 hours ago, Alexcremers said: ...he thinks Steely Dan's Aja is an embarrassment. Provide evidence for this, please, Alex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naïve Old Fart 9,490 Posted September 6, 2017 Author Share Posted September 6, 2017 2 hours ago, Disco Stu said: I actually agree with Richard (shudder). Kamakiriad is Fagen's best solo album. I love Countermoon and Teahouse on the Tracks and every song there. And his last one, Sunken Condos, is damn great! He's never made a bad album ever. Stu, what do you think of MORPH THE CAT? I do know for a stone cold fact that, although Alex hates THE ROYAL SCAM, with a passion bordering on pathological, he thinks that MORPH THE CAT is a "musical game-changer"... or something like that. That's our Alex, for you. He's a little pickle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 My personal ranking of Fagen solo: 1. Kamakiriad 2. The Nightfly 3. Sunken Condos 4. Morph the Cat All of them are great, but I thought Morph the Cat lacked focus or something. The songs just weren't as strong. If I had to rank Steely Dan: 1. Gaucho 2. Pretzel Logic 3. The Royal Scam 4. Aja 5. Countdown to Ecstasy 6. Katy Lied 7. Two Against Nature 8. Can't Buy a Thrill 9. Everything Must Go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fancyarcher 350 Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 6 hours ago, Alexcremers said: That was really the last great thing Fagen did. Timeless and I literally like every single track on it, just like I do with any Steely Dan record from the '70s. PS: I remember that The Nightfly was one if not the first completely digital recorded pop album ever and audiophiles used it to show off their Hi-Fi systems Hipster! One of the great things about Steely Dan & Becker's albums is the recording. They use so many instruments greatly, it's impressive. His solo work is of course, no exception. Great stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 The Blue Nile is another band that gigantic nerds would use to show off their hi fi systems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fancyarcher 350 Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 Yup, and they sound terrific & big too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,326 Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 Really? The Blue Nile? I've never heard of that and I've been an audiophile most of my life. Which album was it? I remember Private Investigations as another Hi-Fi show off track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naïve Old Fart 9,490 Posted September 7, 2017 Author Share Posted September 7, 2017 15 hours ago, Disco Stu said: My personal ranking of Fagen solo: 1. Kamakiriad 2. The Nightfly 3. Sunken Condos 4. Morph the Cat All of them are great, but I thought Morph the Cat lacked focus or something. The songs just weren't as strong. If I had to rank Steely Dan: 1. Gaucho 2. Pretzel Logic 3. The Royal Scam 4. Aja 5. Countdown to Ecstasy 6. Katy Lied 7. Two Against Nature 8. Can't Buy a Thrill 9. Everything Must Go Now, here's where I agree with Stu: GAUCHO stands head and shoulders above every other Dan record. No love for WEST OF HOLLYWOOD, Stu? 13 hours ago, Disco Stu said: The Blue Nile is another band that gigantic nerds would use to show off their hi fi systems. The Blue Nile Wonderful stuff. HATS is brilliant! 12 hours ago, Alexcremers said: Really? The Blue Nile? I've never heard of that and I've been an audiophile most of my life. Which album was it? I remember Private Investigations as another Hi-Fi show off track. It's true, Alex. Their first record was on the Linn record label, and it was used in hi fi stores to show-off the Linn Isobaric loudspeakers. PI is another great "hi fi" track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,326 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 34 minutes ago, Richard said: It's true, Alex. Their first record was on the Linn record label, and it was used in hi fi stores to show-off the Linn Isobaric loudspeakers. Oh, that way ... No wonder I never heard of it then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 5 hours ago, Richard said: No love for WEST OF HOLLYWOOD, Stu? It's my favorite track on 2AN actually. Like I said, I love everything they've ever done!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naïve Old Fart 9,490 Posted September 7, 2017 Author Share Posted September 7, 2017 It's my favourite track, too, with NEGATIVE GIRL being second (that xylophone middle-eight, with Vinnie Coliuta's shuffle, if great). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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