Donald's Solo Record

"I wish I could push out records quickly just to keep my career afloat, but I don't know how. The only way I know is to let time pass and the record makes itself," Donald told the "Independent" in late '91. Well, despite the drawn-out process, Fagen is moving along slowly, but surely on his record and we hear that the November '92 release date is still on schedule.

Fagen spent the entire month of February in Maui at Walter's studio working on the album and will return in April after a couple of appearances at Libby Titus' New York Nights showcases at the Lone Star Roadhouse in NYC at the beginning of that month.
So to bring everyone up to date on all we know about the record, we'll first start off with the players that have been in the sessions.

Four drummers have been involved: Chris Parker, Denny McDermott, Buddy Williams and recently Leroy Clouden.

On bass, Zev Katz and Lincoln Schleifer were also in the studio. And on guitar, Georg Wadenius who played on "Century's End." We don't know who of these players will make the final mix but it looks like Walter Becker will be all over the record on bass and guitar. Fagen we know will be singing and playing the Fender Rhodes piano.

Fagen has said in recent interviews that his project could be considered a science fiction-rooted "concept album." Set in the near future, it follows a protagonist on his journey in an "environmentally correct steam-powered car that has a hydroponic farm in the back."

'I guess it has a social level on which you can take it," Fagen said of the album (in a November LA Times interview with Richard Cromelin reprinted later in this issue). "It's sort of a metaphor that can be seen on any number of different levels -- as a personal life story, a cultural life story. It's like, What do you do with what you're given, and how do you transform it into something worthwhile?' That's really what it'ss about."

The theme of the album is not really Sci-Fi, Fagen elaborated to Ken Sharp in FMQB Magazine in mid-Feb.'92. Sci-Fi is "rather a device in which to exploit other themes that I'm interested in. It has to do with life itself and the problems of being in the middle of life and looking ahead with a sense of mortality, which tends to be on your mind when you get into your forties as you'll unfortunately find out. (Ken is 28). I wanted to address that problem. To do it, I came up with an idea of someone who's on a journey, and the journey takes place several years in the future. That's what made me use a lot of Science-Fiction devices which I felt helped tell the story."

Although Fagen hasn't let on the working title for the album, three song titles from the albwn have been reported: "Snowbound," "Dunes," and "Tea House."

Walter Becker is still handling production duties with Roger Nichols at the controls.

Walter's Solo Record, Etc.

Although its release is even farther away than Fagen's new album, Walter Becker's debut solo album is in the early stages and is generating enthusiasm from those close to the project, including producer Donald Fagen.

Fagen told Rolling Stone, "I've heard some stuff that was just great. He's a totally original person, and the songs really express his personality. It's a kind of pop music, but very funny. It's really smart and witty, and I think it will do very well."

Ken Sharp, in his interview with Fagen brought up whether Walter was confident singing. "Well, you know I think this is more of a confidence problem because he's always had a great voice, but he's never been very confident about it; but he's a great singer as I'm sure everyone will find out.

For those of you who have the pre-Steely Dan demo album "The Early Years," we believe that Walter sang the lead on "Mock Turtle Song," which is a pretty funny song.

In addition to working on his own stuff and Donald's record, Walter is producing jazz albums for Windham Hill and Triloka Records. Walter was hustling his Triloka projects on an interview on NY's CDIOI.9-FM with D.J. Ray White. Walter was accompanied by two of the artists he produced.

Pianist Andy Laverne whose recent release called "Pleasure Seekers" (Catalog #186) features Bob Sheppard on saxophone, clarinet and flutes, John Patitucci on acoustic and electic bass and Dave Weckl on drums.

LeeAnn Ledgerwood, also a pianist, was on-hand to promote her recent release "You Wish" (Catalog #187) which features Jeremy Steig on flute, Bill Evans on tenor & soprano saxophones, Eddie Gomez, Steve LaSpina on bass and Daruiy Gottlieb on drums.

Although trumpeter/vocalist/keyboardist Jeff Beal didn't make the interview, his Becker-produced effort "Objects In The Mirror" (Catalog #189) features songs Beal composed on his Macintosh computer. Saxophonist Bob Sheppard, Paulinho DaCosta on percussion and guitarists Steve Cardenas and Danny Heine.

Upcoming 1992 Triloka/Becker albums are flutist Jeremy Steig's "Jigsaw" (Catalog #190) to be released in early April, and pianist David Kikoski's "Persistent Dreams" to be released in early May.

In the fall, Becker will produce a second Andy Laverne release, and in the winter, Electric Wind Instrument (EWI) player, Steve Tavaglione.

In addition to all of the aforemenioned projects, we discovered that Becker co-produced and mixed a 1991 jazz album by Maui's own Bob Bangerter. Called "Looking At The Bright Side," this guitarist's album was discovered in a Maui record store and is not available in mainland stores. However, if you're nterested in buying a copy, you can write to his record label: Don't Stop Music, P.O. Box 423, Kula, Maui, Hawaii 96790.

Going back to Water Becker's work on Rickie Lee Jone's "Flying Cowboys," a song they co-wrote "The Horses" has been covered by a new Australian singer Daryl Braithwaite from his new release on Epic Records, "Higher Than Hope." Daryl has a great voice and did a beautiful job on the tune.

Speaking of Rickie Lee Jones, although Becker didn't produce her latest album, "Pop Pop," her time with Becker certainly had an impact on her. To this day, she still quotes Beckerisms ("Use an accordion, go to jail") and lauds his studio skills ("he's really smart, and he has a lot of integrity").

Steely Dan Soul?

In some recent interviews both Fagen and Becker have hinted that they have been writing together for an "unspecified project" but have declined to elaborate.

Well, the story is that Donald and Walter have co-written 7-8 soul songs for guitarist/vocalist Sam Butler. This Minnesota resident was a member of the original NY Soul Shows at the Lone Star in 1989, and made appearances with the Revue at
Southampton and some other Lone Star Shows. Butler was discovered by Fagen in Bob Telson's "Gospel at Colonus" which also featured Leroy Clouden on drums.

Not only are Fagen and Becker writing songs for the effort but they will also be playing on the album as well as co-producing it. The project will be released by Triloka and is supposed to be out in the Fall of '92 around the time Fagen's album is slated for release. We'll keep you up to date on this.

River Sound News

Gary Katz, producer and co-owner of River Sound Studio is currently working on a new album by Laura Nyro. Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, a veteran of many Dan sessions is playing drums on the project.. Supposedly, Donald will also be playing on the record. Peter Wolf of J. Geils fame and The Uptown Horns have also worked at the River.

Others who have made their way through River Sound are Roger Daltrey and Keith Richards. There was also a feature on River Sound Studio in the 2/l/92 issue of Billboard, where Fagen is optimistic about the site which opened last spring. The studio manager, Todd Alan, says it's a terrible time to be a studio owner, " says Fagen. "But we only have one room to fill, so I think it won't be that much of a problem, especially when they find out that Gary Katz works here."

Fagen plans to keep River Sound focused. "It's built for music," he says. "No one's going to make any videos here or commercials."

Are You Talkin' To Me?

Donald Fagen, along with his other projects, has been working on the soundtrack to an upcoming Robert DeNiro movie that's supposedly titled "Night and the City." Also working on the project is Jimmy Vivino, the frontman and guitarist for the Little Big Band.
Their job is to pick songs from a large record collection to go along with the different scenes in the movie. (Like "Goodfellas" used songs like "Layla.") The songs that Vivino and Fagen are picking from are classic Rock and Soul tunes and it's easy to see how they got the gig. In addition to songs by the original artist, some songs will be re-worked by the NY Rock and Soul Review including "Tell Mama" and "Wrap It Up," which will be sung by Catherine Russell.

Some Steely Dan songs might be included in the movie since Donald and Walter have agreed to offer their songs for consideration. A scene in the movie we've heard about has a girl going to a jukebox, putting in a quarter, and "Hey, Nineteen" starts blasting.

This wouldn't be the first time Steely Dan or Donald Fagen solo songs were used in movies. The most notable songs and movies were: "F.M." from the opening and closing credits from the like-titled movie, "True Companion" from a taxi driver scene in the animated "Heavy Metal," and "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" in a lip-synched, off-key performance by a happy father in "Say Anything." The movie "Mask" with Cher also included some Dan tunes, and "Air America" with Mel Gibson included "Do It Again."
And finally, in director Savage Steve Holland's classic "One Crazy Summer," John Cusack plays Hoops McCann, the lead character, who incidentally, can't play basketball. No Dan tunes appear on the sound track, but Demi Moore Willis does sing several songs in the movie.

NY Rock & Soul-Live at the Beacon,
possible East Coast Tour, expanded Gold, etc.

With great anticipation, the NY Rock & Soul Review-Live At The Beacon CD was finally released in late October to great reviews. Sales have been good with the album charting on Billboard's Top 200 and good word of mouth is keeping the title moving, despite no tour from the Review, and only a two-week run of the video for "Pretzel Logic" on VH-1.

The Rock and Soul. CD included 13 tracks taken from the Beacon shows on March 1 & 2, 1991 in NY. The order of the tracks were rearranged a bit; "Pretzel Logic" wasn't really the encore. Also, not all songs performed at the Beacon made the CD. In fact, although Fagen did "Home At Last" and "Black Friday," the tunes didn't make the cut. Hopefully, we'll see them released someday.

Also, if you take a close look at the liner notes, you'll see something interesting about who took the marquee photo.

Since Rock & Soul was released, Donald has done more television, radio, magazine and newspaper interviews than he's probably done over the past 15 years. It's really hard to believe, but Fagen was featured on the Cable News Network on Showbiz Today in January, and on Headline News. A re-edited, 30-minute version of the ABC in Concert '91 mini-Review at the Academy Theater appeared on VH-1 later that month, and a one-hour re-edited version appeared on ABC In Concert '92 in February.

There is also talk of a limited East Coast US tour for the Rock & Soul Review starting in mid-August in some outdoor amphitheaters with pretty much the same lineup from the Beacon. Billboard Magazine reported this tour in a recent issue, but nothing has been confirmed yet. One rumor has Walter Becker joining the tour for all of the dates while other stories have him making guest appearances. We also hear that the Review might do an appearance in Japan.

We will keep you abreast of any developments as we get them. Please keep your ears open if you hear of any dates in your area.

The CD has received great reviews and has been selling pretty well and getting radio airplay on both jazz and rock stations.

As if one release after all this time wasn't enough, another Steely Dan greatest hits collection -- "Gold - The Expanded Edition" was also released the following week. "Gold," which features 2 tracks from Gaucho, 2 tracks from Aja, and one track each from Royal Scam, Katy Lied and Countdown. Three soundtrack songs are also included and "Here At The Western World," a Royal Scam outtake.

There are a few peculiarities to this release. First of all, FM has been edited. On the original soundtrack, the FM Reprise had a great extended saxophone solo by Pete Christlieb, which was not part of the single that everyone's heard over and over. Well, "Gold" edits this saxophone solo onto the second half of the song, beginning with an "uh huh" from Fagen.

The only problem is that Walter's great extended second-half guitar solo was sacrificed. Pat St. John, the DJ from WNEW-FM in NY, who is a fan of both solos, had an interesting solution for his show. He just played the opening song "as is" and then adds the Reprise for a "super-extended" version of FM. On the "Gold" liner notes, Christlieb's solo was not credited.

"Century's End" is also different. It was remixed and you now hear a little less bass and drum machine, so now you can throw away your "Bright Lights, Big City" soundtrack.

The live version of Bodhisattva includes the introduction of "Mr. Steely Dan Whatever," by the intoxicated truck driver-turned-announcer, Jerome Aniton. This show was Steely Dan's last live appearance.

"Here At The Western World," is different, but not intentionally. The original master tape of the song was lost by MCA, Steely Dan's record label. As a result they had to use a second-generation master. You can really hear the difference in sound quality.
Speaking of MCA, in the 1/11/92 issue of Billboard Magazine, an article "Master Mistake Mars Steely Dan CDs; Inferior tapes used by MCA on 7 Discs," it was revealed that for the past several years MCA has been using inferior, decaying master tapes when transfering the entire Steely Dan catalog over to compact disc. The initial run of CDs in 1985 were fme, but on subsequent runs, the record company used the wrong master tapes. This mistake was originally revealed by Dan engineer Roger Nichols in an article he wrote in EQ Magazine. Later in this issue we will go into more detail on this situation.

Libby Titus presents New York
Nights and a Steely Dan Reunion

Libby Titus, the person responsible for starting the original NY Soul shows at the Lone Star in 1989 that set up the reemergence of Donald Fagen, and also serving as executive producer of the NY Rock & Soul Review shows, hit another home run with her "New York Nights" series at the Lone Star Roadhouse in NYC in October of '91 through January '92. Her showcases featured some of the best live music performances that Manhattan has seen in years from a diverse and eclectic group of rock, soul, jazz and blues artists.

The series, which took the same format as the original NY Soul shows, allowed various artists to join Donald Fagen and Jimmy Vivino's Little Big Band in playing some of their own songs in a casual and low-key setting. The shows for the most part were filled to the house capacity of 500 people.

NY Nights started out with performances by Donald Fagen, Phoebe Snow, Rick Danko from the Band, Cyndi Lauper and a couple of guys from the Hooters (including the one with the accordion again). The shows featured a mix of the artists' hits and also some of the songs they just liked to play. The shows went smoothly and the audience loved seeing Fagen play the Dan tunes. Phoebe, as usual, knocked everyone out, Rick (I Feel No Pain) Danko gave his fans what they expected on stage, and also supplied a tour bus so the performers could disappear quickly at the end of the night.

While there was another NY Nights scheduled for October 23, there had been a lot of talk that Walter Becker would show for the gig. Walter was in town promoting his Triloka productions as well as working on Donald's new album. Walter had played live with Donald at the defunct Upper East Side dive "Hades" over a year ago (ML, 7/ 90 Issue), but they didn't play any Dan tunes. Anticipation was building for the possible Steely Dan reunion, even if it was only for a ten-minute jam. As the week progressed, we found out that Walter was gonna be at the show, but he had absolutely no intentions of playing.

As the word about Becker's probable appearance was passed to insiders, the first show at the Lone Star sold out. As Tuesday night came, a line started forming at 4:30 p.m. for the 9:00 p.m. show. Anticipation was building early, but these die-hard fans didn't know that this reunion probably wasn't going to happen now. And we weren't going to tell them the bad news. They'd get to see Donald perform some Dan tunes anyway, so they shouldn't be that disappointed when the night was over.

Although we will be reprinting a couple reviews of the show later in this issue, we're gonna lay down the scoop on how the Steely Dan reunion that was never supposed to happen, spontaneously unfolded in front of our eyes. As the band was setting up, WaIter's guitar was not there. It now seemed that Walter wasn't bluffing. He really didn't want to play. Now the question we were asking was "Would Wally even show?"

Donald opened up with "Green Earrings" and while the audience, many of them seeing Fagen live for the first time, were getting into the song, others were doing 360s with their heads, whispering among themselves, "Where's Walter? Where's Walter?" He was nowhere to be seen.

As the next couple of songs were performed, word had it that Roger Nichols had been spotted in the club. Did this mean that Walter was here, too? Probably, but we still didn't see him.

Then, as Fagen swung into Deacon Blues, Becker was spotted in the balcony area. In fact, at the beginning of the song, a glass fell from the balcony and ahnost hit Ula Hedwig, a backup singer, in the head. But this didn't stop Becker from going downstairs to get a better view of what was going on..

As Walter made his way to the far right wall of the club about ten feet from the stage, the audience began to whisper, "Walter's here, Walter's here." But he didn't take the stage. After Phoebe did "I Can't Stand The Rain" and Rick did "Stage Fright," Vivino took the microphone. "Is Walter out there?" Vivino asked. "We'd love you to come up, just to play the solo, just to play the solo." The crowd erupted like a volcano. Chants of "Walter! Walter!" rung out through the club. People were jumping, screening, frothing at the mouth as they tried to persuade Walter to take the stage. Walter's reaction was to shake his head no and then he pulled his sweater over his head to hide his face.

The crowd continued to beg, plead and implore Becker to join his partner and finally Walter relented, he started making his way to the stage. The screams got even louder. People were saying "Yes! Yes!," "Oh, my God," and "I can't believe it!" They actually seemed stunned. This would be the first time that Donald and Walter would have done a Steely Dan tune live together since July 1974. And as the opening chords to "Josie" started, it would also be the first time ever for them to do this song live, since they stopped touring long before "Aja" was released.

Fagen had been playing "Josie" since the Woodstock shows and had extended the song to include a lot of room for solos.

Becker, using one of Jirruny Vivino's spare guitars, treated the audience to the familiar guitar sound that most had only heard on record. Becker's playing seemed to flow effortlessly and all eyes, including the band's, were on Walter.

Even though there was a Steely Dan reunion taking place, you never would have been able to tell from Fagen and Becker. It seemed like just another night for Donald who didn't even pressure Becker to take the stage. He sang the song, and during Walter's blistering guitar solos, didn't glance over. There was no dramatics involved. They both just played it cool and just let the incredible music experience speak for itself.

After the extended drum solo that Fagen added for the live performance, Walter and Jimmy traded guitar licks to the end of the song. Time seemed to stand still as this was happening because you knew the song would be ending soon, but you wanted it to continue forever.

But the song fmally did end and the crowd wanted more. Walter walked over to Fagen and they both exchanged some words and laughed. As Becker exited the stage to a thunderous standing ovation, Jimmy promised the crowd that Walter would be back later.

After another reunion of Cyndi Lauper with the Hooters, Walter did return and treated the audience with his guitar solos on "Chain Lightning" and ended the show with another "Katy Lied" classic "Black Friday." And this wasn't the end of it yet, after the monsterous applause settled down, the band decided to do an encore of "one of the most complex songs we've ever rehearsed." So they ended this magic night with "Wooly Booly."

As the band made its way off the stage, you had to wonder if this would be the last time you'd ever see Donald and Walter sharing the stage and performing Steely Dan tunes. We can only hope that someday all of you will get a chance to see these two guys live.

And the NY Nights kept on rolling. Although they didn't come every single Tuesday, when they happened, they happened. The Nights always featured great artists. Some of the notable greats were: Annie Ross, the great jazz singer, Bob Dorough, noted for his vocal work with Miles Davis, country artist Carolyn Doctorow, Little Jimmy Scott, whose new record is being produced by Tommy LiPuma, Joy Askew, keyboardist who has worked with Joe Jackson, Curtis Stigers, the new pop star who got his start singing Dan tunes at Wilson's restaurant on NYC's Upper West Side, actor Gary Busey, noted for "The Buddy Holly Story" and numerous motorcycle mishaps, Dion DiMucci from Dion and the Belmonts, who really got the place rockin', Joe Roccisano, of the Hoops McCann Band who did a new big band arrangement of "The Goodbye Look," Sam Butler, from the "Gospel at Colonus," and even Libby Titus joined in on the vocalizing.

There were also some interesting people in the audience: Julian Lennon, son of John Lennon, John Robinson, noted LA studio drummer, Steve Lillywhite, U2 producer, Matt Bahr, NY Giants kicker.

Joe Jackson, who was checking out the action for a possible "Nights" gig, had a temper tantrum when a waiter didn't recognize who he was. Jackson also seemed more interested in getting a drink than watching the show.

But one person in the audience who was totally impressed by what he saw was guitarist Pat Metheny. Metheny had taken a seat close to the Metal Leg publisher and editor. On this particular night, Jimmy Vivino was in California and Drew Zingg, from NY Rock & Soul was substituting on guitar. Metheny turned to us and said "'This is the best guitar player I've seen in years," and also commented that Donald was "great to watch live."

Metheny was also checking out the proceedings to see if he thought he would fit in. Well the next week, Metheny showed up again and was convinced by Jimmy Vivino and Donald Fagen to come up and play on "Chain Lightning." Metheny did not want to play because he didn't have his own guitar. But Fagen wrote out a quick chart of the chords for Metheny and before you knew it, Pat Metheny was playing on this great song.

Metheny seemed to have a good time and we were hoping that we would see him again for a longer set. We were really excited about the prospects of seeing him do more with Fagen, but Metheny was extemely busy working at the Power Station on his new solo record which he had promised his record label several months ago. He was also spending 14 hours a day in the studio and it would be hard for him to do anything more since it would require a break in his schedule to rehearse with Fagen and The Little Big Band.

But as things panned out, Metheny finally committed to a full night of music. On December 2, a NY Nights show occurred that would be as memorable as The Reunion. Metheny had made the rehearsals earlier in the day and this time he had his own guitars.
So what songs would he play? Several months earlier Jimmy Vivino had talked to Donald about trying to do "Sign In Stranger" from "The Royal Scam." Fagen said he thought they were being "a little ambitious." Well, that night they decided to be "ambitious."
Metheny came on stage earlier than expected. This was probably because the band had only rehearsed the song once earlier in the afternoon. Right before the show, they discussed how they were going to end the song, and so it seemed they wanted to get to it while everyone was still thinking about what they had to do.

So before they started the song, the hom section exited the stage leaving Pat Metheny, Jimmy Vivino, Tom Barney (filling in for Harvey Brooks) on bass, backup singers Mindy Jostyn and Catherine Russell, and the drummer. And as Donald played the opening notes to this great song on the piano, the crowd exploded again. While Vivino took the opening guitar parts, Metheny could be heard in the background just warming up.

Then Jimmy made way for Pat as he took the solo in the middle of the song. It was so unbelievably great, that it became too hard to put into words because we were so taken in by Metheny's playing, that we found ourselves in another world.
Metheny was so focused and seemed to be giving it his all for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play a solo on a Steely Dan song. He started turning weird colors as he dived in deeper and deeper into the song, not coming up for air.

Metheny's style and trademark electric guitar sound mixed with the Steely Dan sound was a mystical and exotic combination. For a group that had explored many sounds, tonight's was another first.

Just as great was Metheny's playing at the end of "Josie" as Vivino again traded licks with Metheny as he did with Becker at T'he Reunion.

At the end of this NY Night, people spoke of this being the best show they've seen in their entire lives. We have to agree.

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Last modified on 1/11/03