Together again for the first time anywhere

And so the Dan returns to their fans, first a live album and now two studio gems. We’ve got it all here folks, vintage comedic SD lyrics, fine horn charts, some great instrumental solos, Becker singing and a dead sax player.

The album list, and those who played for them reads like a who’s who of LA and NY studio voices. Really, anybody who can feel a certain groove has been called upon for some work on a Dan album at one time or another, and their perfectionism and entanglements led to them turning into a nearly strict studio band from 78 or so until they went on the road in the early nineties.

They haven’t lost their candor, they haven’t lost their sense of humor, and as in all things they are growing musically. The music doesn’t really seem any less introspective either, and the story telling is magnificent.

Croce they ain’t

When they list out the story telling singer, songwriters they almost always leave out the Dan. You get to hear about Jim Croce, Gordon Lightfoot, Harry Chapin and Paul Simon – and they are all delightful folk/rock singers, and great storytellers, but they don’t tell the whole story. Part of the charm of Steely Dan is their ability to tell darker, and much uglier stories. They don’t deal with operators helping, or get whimsical, they were telling stories about chasing the dragon, gas lighting Abbey and people who burned their fathers in Oregon and then held out against the cops. They are hard, gritty stories and Everything Must Go is loaded with them as well.

Cornelius, we hardly knew ye!!

He played the marvelous tenor solo on the Doobie Brothers tune One Step Closer, he toured, and he was all over the music of the eighties and nineties. And a couple of short summers ago, he agreed to go on the road with Steely Dan, hey who wouldn’t. The tour was billed the same way as the album, Everything Must Go – don’t think anyone though it would be the sax player. Cornelius died of a heart attack on the way to a gig in California in February of 2003. There was a great disturbance in the force.

The Tunes Themselves

1 – The Last Mall Another comedic post-apocalyptic song, reminds me a bit of the tune from Kamakiriad about the invading space girls. Ultra clean horn lines, and I really realized the power of Fagen’s horn arranging on Kamakiriad, he has a true feel for what he wants to hear on his own songs. In it’s own strange way it is all about the end of the earth. Becker does the solo guitar work and is interestingly outstanding.

2 – Things I Miss the Most The typical, sad break-up tune. Donald and Walter reminiscing again, and listening to their hearts. Same groove as Peg, but not quite as clever. Nice imagery though, this is not my favorite song.

3 – Blues BeachThis was their main air play release, garnering a lot last summer from The Mountain here in Seattle, and some from the smooth jazz stations. This one is another Florida fantasy, “chillin’ at the Manatee Bar”, “a long sad Sunday of the early resigned.” The piano drives the song along, and in classic Dan form shifts from a cheery sound to a blues filled, descending line for the tip of the chorus. The bridge is a rich layer of background singers and voices, “we can sail, till the bended end.” This one did have radio time written all over it.

4 – Godwhacker Is it possible that Donald and Walter were somehow displeased with the God’s of the Middle East? Did they actually write a heavily disguised version of a 9/11 song? I think they did. This one is the first of the really deeply hidden tunes, rich in metaphor and imagery.

They borrowed from Blake a bit, with their “stars bleeding out”, and “we sniff you Big Tiger, In the Forests of the Night”, some really nice reference to “The Tiger.” Literate as ever, this one has a lot of carefully plucked guitar work and a dark driving groove (think “I’ve Got The News” without the sex. And we also get treated to one of Donald’s delightful synth solos, with the falsetto sound he has embraced.

Yeah, they were talking about whacking out the “Rajas of Erase”, at the “start of the end of history.” America is the Godwhacker folks, an interesting tune.

5 – Slang of Ages Here we have Walter singing, which was nice after 11 Tracks of Whack (yeah, they’ve used it before a little). This one has darker lyrics still and references to drugs (oh say it ain’t so!!). Yeah, “these tabs are iffy-you say they’re good, so roll with the homies and knock on wood.” Walter does his thing on bass as well, and Donald plays a lovely organ line or two. Here we have Walt Weiskopf playing for real on the tenor. A fine tune and the groove are right in the pocket, no mistake.

6 – Green Book And here we have our twisted tail, complete with odd characters, world-weary images and old school spooky. This one is vint-aaage Steely Dan. I wonder if they wear Green Earrings when they are placing themselves into the Green Book. Here we have a groove that should have had Bernard Purdie playing drums, but somehow didn’t. Strong and strange guitar solos from Walter and a tasty organ solo from Donald.

7 – Pixeleen And here we have the first of the two perfect tunes on this album. Starting with a warming, creamy layer of organ – over the top of which comes a very cool Baritone Sax solo. What a delicious way to start it out. Donald is singing about one of his fun and childlike girls, maybe the chick from Alias. “You whip a knife from the top of your go-go boot, just a flash of spectacular thigh.”

The real key to this song is the background vocals singing the chorus, just like on Babylon Sisters, lines and lines and layers and layers. The vocals are ghostlike, and then striking. This song is just wonderful, and the bari work is outstanding.

8 – Lunch with Gina Here we have the extremely funny song of the album. Gina is chasing him, stalking him, calling and confronting constantly. The lyrics take you on a mad chase, a horrible fear struck day. Nothing he does can shake her, because she has ‘nothing but time.” “She’s coming round the corner, her bodies just a blur” “I peel out like The Flash, it don’t mean boo to her.”

The horns fly along, layering over it too, and the bass line is from heaven. Walter outdid himself with his ticks and tocks. The bass moves up and down and builds the tension. Any of you who have ever had a girlfriend or ex-wife leave you twenty of thirty messages on an answering machine know this feeling well.

And then he realizes….hey she is fine, really fine, what the hell am I thinking? She’s worth it, and oh my goodness, I guess it will be all right after all. “coffee and a kiss, maybe later, maybe never.” The lyrics are stunning.

9 – Everything Must Go Just like last album, Weiskopf plays a really fine Tenor solo to close the album. Another not-so-carefully hidden end of the world song, “let’s admit the bastards beat us, I move to dissolve the corporation in a pool of margaritas.” This is really a lot of jazz mixed with some fairly clever grooving and end of times lyrics. Walter and Donald both explored these themes in their solo work, and now they are doing it together.

If the world ends with me smoking Luckies and drinking Margaritas, all will decidedly not have been lost. I can live with this kind of end of the world.

And In The End

Get it, have it, this album is amazing. It didn’t win album of the year like Two Against Nature did, but it has all of the punch it that any of their records have ever had. The musicians are tremendous, the lyrics and arrangements are perfect. This is a must have.


Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Driving