On October 24,1991, the day after The Reunion show at The Lone Star Roadhouse, Ray White of New York's contemporary jazz station CD 101.9 was scheduled to have Walter Becker, Andy Laverne and LeeAnn Ledgerwood on his morning show to talk about his Triloka production work. One of NY's biggest Dan-Fans, Ray also took the opportunity to talk to Walter about the historic night before.

Ray White: We heard that there was an interesting show at the Lone Star Roadhouse last night.

Walter Becker: Well, it was a pretty rousing affair, you know we had a couple of hom players and Phoebe Snow and Donald Fagen, Cyndi Lauper was great, Rick Danko...

RW: And we understand from someone who called up that you played guitar, did a couple of blistering solos, is that true?

WB: Well, let's see, (looking at his fmgers) you're right.

RW: Check those blisters.

WB: That's what happens if you don't practice, kids.

RW: Is that the first time that you and Donald have played live in a while?

WB: Let's see, we did a similar thing about a year and a half ago at a club on First Avenue (the defunct Hades, no Dan tunes were played) that has since been closed by the health department and renamed, but you know on an informal basis like that.

RW: Welcome to the Steely Dan fan club. And we understand last night Donald did "Green Earrings" and "Deacon Blues" and you were brought out on stage.

WB: I was dragged screaming and kicking up on the stage actually.

RW: Oh, come on, you kind of expected that, right?

WB: No, I didn't. If I had thought that was gonna happen, I would have just gone ahead and agreed to do it in the first place, but there was such an overwhelming spirit of approval that I felt compelled to get up there and do it.

RW: Are you amazed at the continuing success of Steely Dan and the sales and the fanaticism that people display?

WB: Yeah, it's pretty surprising. It's been over ten years since we did any of that stuff and it still seems to be paying my rent, so to speak.

RW: You and Donald and Phil Spector and Quincy Jones and maybe The Beatles said no to live playing.

WB: Well, you know I was at dinner with Donald, Phil Spector and The Beatles last night and we're going on tour together.

RW: Where are you playing?

WB: And LeeAnn and Andy will be there, too.

RW: You've been producing a couple of piano players. We'll start off with Andy. How did you meet Andy Laverne, who we remember for some work with Chuck Loeb recently?

WB: I actually met him down at the first Andy Laverne recording session. And he strolled insouciantly in, I was already sitting there playing computer games and...

Andy Laverne: Walter, if you actually recall, we actually met on the plane on the way from...

RW: I was gonna say, the liner notes actually refute that story.

WB: Yeah, there you go.

RW: Welcome, Andy. Let's play something from the "Pleasure Seekers" CD. This is Andy Laverne, produced by Walter Becker.

RW: That featured Bob Sheppard on horn, Dave Weckl and John Patitucci in the rhythm section. They're in town tonight.

AL: If you're listening, hi guys, how are you?

RW: Now your reputation was for taking forever to cut a record, but you've really disproved that with both Andy and LeeAnn's projects, those were two-day projects.

WB: That's right and I might add that Roger Nichols and I have worked on eight or nine such projects this year and I must say that it's the most exciting way to record. The end product has a lot of truth and authority 'cause it all happened at once, everybody played together, it's just really exciting.

RW: Now with Andy it was kind of a thing of necessity that you had Dave Weckl and John Patitucci with their incredibly tight schedules.

AL: Right, we had to go in and out quickly.

RW: A little bit of pressure on you.

AL: A little bit. But actually it was kind of a relaxed session.

RW: Are you gonna be playing live at all here in New York?

AL: Yeah, as a matter of fact, we're playing November 4th at the Blue Note. Triloka, which is the label that we're all recording for, is doing a month of Mondays at the Blue Note. I'm playing with kind of a different band there: Will Lee, Anton Fig from the David Letterman Show and David Mann, the saxophone player.

RW: Sitting right next to you is LeeAnn Ledgerwood without her Tweetie Bird...

LecAnn Ledgerwood: Just couldn't make it this morning. Couldn't get him out of bed.

RW: Actually, you know the story with that is that you have a favorite stuffed animal that you bring around with you as a good luck chann.

LL: Yes, and it adds to my maturity as an artist, too.

RW: DJs can talk about it. Are there weird things -- and Walter and Andy can chime in if you want to -- that people have brought in to prop up on pianos, keeping in mind this is a family show.

WB: At Triloka Records in the publicity department we try to come up with a gimmick for every artist and for. LeeAnn it was the Tweetie Bird.

LL: I brought my own gimmick. Everybody needs some kind of schtick to get over nowadays and Tweetie just happens to be the candidate for me.

RW: It's like The Beatles, they're gonna be flinging Tweeties at you.

LL: I would hope so.

RW: LeeAnn, where are you from? You grew up out in the Midwest somewhere?

LL: Yeah, originally from Warren, Ohio, that's really a good place to be from.

RW: Warren is near where?

LL: Sort of in between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Right next to nowhere, Ray, basically, okay?

WB: Is Pittsburgh in Ohio?

LL: It might as well be, once you get past the Hudson River, it just kinda evens out, doesn't it?

WB: Yeah, it flattens out for about three thousand miles.

LL: Just kidding, really it was a wonderful experience to come away from.

RW: And you moved to New York to make it in the big time.

LL: Yes, I did.

RW: We understand you used to hang out at Bradleys a lot and that's where you were discovered.

LL: Hanging being the operative word, right, Andy?

AL: I think so.

LL: Hanging from the rafters. You have to be some sort of bird species to make it through.

WB: LeeAnn had her own hook there at the back of Bradleys.

LL: At the back of Bradleys' neck.

RW: Down in the Village there. So let me ask you two what was it like working with Walter Becker, with this incredible reputation that preceeds him when he enters a studio?

LL: Basically, I had never heard of Walter before that experience so it made it rather easy for me (laughter). No, we had spoken on the phone numerous times I think, before that and there was some kind of connection there somehow. I felt very confident that he knew what kind of sound that it was that I wanted to get together.

RW: And he would be the right guy to do that?

LL: Yes, it worked out very well between him and Roger, I mean, I was totally taken out with the sound.

AL: I feel the same way. With Walter sitting right here I don't want to get too complimentary, I don't want to boost his ego too much, but it was great working with him and he really got a tremendous sound. He knows his way around the studio so well it really took a lot of pressure off me, trying to deal with getting sounds or worrying about things going correctly, so Walter really handled everything great.

RW: So you would know their side of the story being artists?

WB: Absolutely, it's kind of nice if you only have two days in the studio and you're trying to perform some fairly sophisticated music. The best thing a producer in that circumstance can do is create a situation where the musicians can just think about playing and not have to worry too much about the machines and so on.

RW: What first impressed you with LeeAnn's playing?

WB: Well, I think that LeeAnn's playing has a very interesting harmonic dimension to what LeeAnn is writing and playing. And the other thing I noticed about LeeAnn's stuff that she did on this record is that it defies categorization. It has a lot of elements that would naturally place it you would think in different musical styles. But it really has a lot of integrity on its own.

RW: Here's something from LeeAnn's CD "You Wish" and this track is called "Robin's Row". (Plays "Robin's Row).

RW: So it was fun working with Walter Becker, huh?

LL: It was the greatest really; I'm spoiled forever now. I don't know whether I'll ever do another record and that would be it.

RW: Michael Franks was over here yesterday and you did a great job on probably my favorite song of his, "Vincent's Ear." What a great tune.

WB: Yeah, that was my favorite, too. You know that's from a show that he's written about Gauguin that I hope he gets produced, 'cause its got some great music in it.

RW: And you actually had to talk him into recording it. He was going to throw it away?

WB: Well, no. He played it for me and I thought "This is great." They had already done all but three of the tunes on the album at the point where I got involved, so I figured "Oh well, he's gonna have the three songs left that nobody else wanted to do.

RW: And there was this gem.

WB: There was this jewel, so it worked out nicely.

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Last modified on 1/11/03