Steely daN
Steely daN is an American group of music composed of two members: Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. Initially formed like a group conventional Rock'n'roll, Steely daN evolved to a duet Jazz-rock'n'roll fusion surrounded of the best musicians of studio of the United States, producing intelligent albums in literary and impeccable terms in terms of sound quality and musical.
History of Steely daN
We can divide the history of this group into three stages. The first stage (1972-1974) is that of conventional a rock'n'roll group of the years 1970 whose history is strewn with recordings and musical rounds. The second phase (1975-1980) is that of a pseudo-group, animated by two composer-songwriters, whose work is concentrated primarily on recordings musicalement impeccable: Donald Fagen and Walter Becker engaging only the best musicians of studio available. It is the time when the group-duet exists only by its recordings. The third stage (1990-2003) is that of the surprised one: the group reappears of its ashes in the form of a group Jazz-rock'n'roll carrying out rounds and new recordings.
Donald Fagen was born with Passaic, New Jersey (western suburbs of the town of New York) on January 10th, 1948 whereas Walter Becker was born on February 20th, 1950 in the town of New York. Both grew in these American suburbs in explosion of beginning of the year 50, attending the school the day and listening to the evening their idols Charlie Parker (The Bird), Duke Ellington and John Coltrane. Both tested an affinity with the life related on the jazz and the poets of the Beat Generation.
They met with the Bard College located at Annandale one Hudson (state of New York) in 1967. One evening, Donald Fagen which played of the piano heard in a room of students somebody which played a part of blues on its guitar. It was Walter Becker. Along their conversation, they discovered that they had the same interests for the music as well as the same direction of somewhat ironic humor.
With the college, they formed some musical groups of which “The Leather Canary” (with the American actor Chevy Chase) and “The Don Fagen Trio”. It is at that time that they began the composition from songs.
Donald Fagen obtained in 1969 an university degree in English literature. Walter Becker left to him also the university. Both decided to settle with Brooklyn (New York) and to propose their songs with the musical producers gathered within Brill Building (with Manhattan). They met little success, but a producer, Kenny Vance, proposed to them to record some demonstrations and to work with certain small projects of which a sound screen for the film “You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It” putting in the high-speed motorboat Richard Pryor. They made also some presences on scene by accompanying the American group “Jay and the Americans”
Meanwhile, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker met their future producer Gary Katz in New York. Katz was recruited by the recording company ABC in Los Angeles as an associated producer. This one engaged Fagen and Becker as type-setters associated with the recording company. They moved in California in 1971.
Realizing that their compositions (words and music) seemed too sophisticated for the other artists of the company ABC, Fagen and Becker secretly decided to set up their own group while having Gary Katz as producer. They engaged initially Dennis Dias as guitarist. They had already met some time before in New York by the means of an classified ad published in the weekly magazine Village Voice.
Discography of Steely daN
Can' T Buy has Thrill (1972)
With Fagen in the keyboards and Becker with low electric, they engaged Jeff Baxter with the guitar and Jim Hodder with the battery. The group thus formed, Fagen and Becker were to find a name with their group. Being impassioned readers of the literature of the Happy Generation, they decided to baptize their group of the name of Steely daN , name drawn from one godemiché which one finds in the novel of William Burroughs Naked Lunch (the naked feast).
The group practiced in an unused studio of the building ABC of Los Angeles, in company of the sound engineer Rogers Nichols, former nuclear engineer. Rogers Nichols took part in all the recordings of Steely daN .
The position of principal singer of the group appeared uncomfortable for Donald Fagen. The group decided to engage the singer David Palmer as principal singer. On the other hand, Fagen and Becker noted that the musical attitude developed by Palmer did not correspond to that which they wished to have on their own compositions. Wishing to finish the recording of the album quickly, Fagen agreed with back-plate to sing all the songs except those which had been recorded beforehand by Palmer ( Dirty Work and Brooklyn Owes The Charmer Under Me ) and Hodder ( Midnite Cruiser ). The album was baptized Can' T Buy has Thrill . Interesting thing, of the musicians external with the group were committed in order to add a single palette to the musicians of the group (Jerome Richardson and Elliot Randall for example).
The album was distributed in October 1972 without preliminary promotion campaign. However, with surprised of all, the song Do It Again reached the 6th place of the prize lists and the song Reelin In The Years position 11. As for the album, it occupied the 17th place and became gold disc. The company ABC, noting this unexpected success, obliged Steely daN to leave in round. Whereas the group recorded already its second album, David Palmer left Steely daN : Donald Fagen occupant from now on only the position of principal singer of the group.
Countdown to Ecstasy (1973)
The company ABC, surprised by the business success and unexpected of the album Can' T Buy has Thrill , asked the group to make of it promotion while recording new a opus. Thus the songs of the second album were recorded at any between the stops of the American round 1973. Fagen and Becker, thereafter, affirmed that the songs of this album had a particularly natural key musicalement (as at the time of a concert) since they had been recorded quickly with the group and the musicians used in round.
This album called Countdown to Ecstasy was put on the market in July 1973. The first song on the prize lists was Showbiz Kids but it reached only the 61e place, in spite of the musical contribution of the guitarist Rick Derringer. According to the rumor the directors of the radio stations did not appreciate the more or less explicit words of this song. The song My Old School , a homage to their last years with the Hand-barrow College in the state of New York, reached only position 63. In spite of the little of success, this album accepted criticisms extremely positive and the songs My Old School and Bodhisattva became successes of regard for the fans of the group at the time of the concerts of the Nineties.
Pretzel Logic (1974)
Under the pressure of the recording company ABC to produce discs containing of business successes, Fagen and Becker wrote shorter songs for their new album Pretzel Logic . Launched in March 1974, it contains their larger hit Rikki Don' T Lose That Number which reaches the position #3 American prize lists.
This album confirms an increasingly constant practice of Becker and Fagen, that is to say the recruiting of musicians of studio in order to polish the sound of the album and to reach a sound, a sonority in the songs which a group already made up could not reach. Thus, they engaged Jeff Porcaro like second beater for their last round, Michael McDonald as singer and clavierist and Royce Jones as a singer.
Whereas the current group was higher than the group of origin of 1972, the rigors of the rounds as well as the fact of being in first part of the spectacles of groups of heavy metal early made use the perseverance and the energy of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. After the last concert of July 4th, 1974 in Civic Center of Santa Monica in California, they decided to stop the rounds completely in order to devote itself exclusively to the writing and the recording of new albums. This decision involved the departure of Jeff Baxter, which liked the life of round, for the group The Doobie Brothers. Jim Hodder also left the group him, whereas the disc was proclaimed disc of gold and reached the position #8 prize lists of the sales of the time.
Katy Lied (1975)
Reappearing in the shape of a duet whose musical work is a work exclusively of studio, Fagen and Becker begin the recording from a new album. Two new musicians revolve around the duet: Porcaro and McDonald. With the departure of Baxter, Becker adds a little more work of guitar to its role of bass player. The other musicians who unite with the work of studio come from the world of the jazz, the such saxophonist viola Phil Woods as well as the guitarist Larry Carlton.The album Katy Lied is published in March 1975 and knows excellent criticisms. However, side prize list, the song Black Friday reaches only the 37e position. But that hardly disturbed Fagen and Becker. However, their producer, Gary Katz, regretted thereafter that the title Bad Sneakers was not selected like song intended for the prize lists.
In spite of the success of Katy Lied (gold disc, 13th position with the prize list of the time), Fagen and Becker were rather anxious sound quality of the album, quality which, according to them, was deteriorated by the faulty operation of a tape recorder with bands. Thereafter, they refused to listen to the album in its final form. Certain musicians having taken part in the recording of this album affirmed that the recording orginal had sound qualities higher than all that was carried out at the time. On the original small pocket of the 33 turns, one finds councils very curious concerning the use of the record player and the system about sound at the time of listening. Undoubtedly an ironic text making a wink on the disastrous effect of the incident during the master original.
Thereafter, Michael McDonald was recovered by the Doobie Brothers as a singer soloist, according to the way traced by Baxter one year before. Gary Katz, commenting on this promotion, affirmed that the use of Michael as a chorus-singer was a wasting of an undeniable talent. However, McDonald was going to take part finally in other albums of Steely daN .
Royal The Scam (1976)
Becker and Fagen turned over in studio in order to work on their new album, the first officially carried out by a duet and not a group. On the 33 lathes North-American original, the interior small pocket shows a stylized photograph of Fagen and Becker, only, without other musicians. The Royal Scam is published in May 1976 and is regarded as the album of the group more directed towards the guitar; under the cane and the work of arranger of Larry Carlton, many titles comprise solos of guitar considered as being traditional the Seventies. The strong moments for the majority of the listeners and the radio stations rock'n'roll are the titles Kid Charlemagne and Don' T Take Me Alive . But once again, few or not business successes side 45 turns, even if Haitian Divorce had a success of regard in England. With the skill to attract musicians of studios, such Carlton with the guitar and Chuck Rainey with low electric, the musical performances of Walter Becker were increasingly discrete on the posterior albums. The Royal Scam also includes/understands the title The Fez , which is the only song of Steely daN written by a third author, Paul Griffin, which also plays of the organ on this title. The Royal Scam was gold disc and reached position 25 of the American charts.
Aja (1977)
The constant pressure of ABC Records for a significant round and business successes obliged Becker and Fagen to be turned over in studio. This time, the end result is the album Aja , launched in September 1977 and which comprises the longest parts and the most directed towards the jazz. Regarded as one of the best albums of its time, Aja also one of is best recorded. Fagen and Becker recruited great sizes of the world of the jazz such Joe Sample, Wayne Shorter and Tom Scott so that they play their increasingly complex and sophisticated compositions. Aja entered to Signal 5 the three weeks following its launching and was one of the first American albums to being certified platinum disc for more than one million sold specimens. It reached position 3 of the prize list, only preceded by Rumors of Fleetwood Mac and Stranger of Billy Joel. The first individual one extracted the album was the title Peg , with the presence of Michael McDonald with the choruses. Then the titles Deacon Blues and Josie were also published in 45 turns. The title Peg reached position 11, Deacon Blues , long piece of music very inspired by the jazz, position 19 and Josie position 26 of the American prize list. Fagen and Becker agreed to make a round, but this one fell through quickly when with the repetitions, certain musicians compared their seals and tried to renegotiate their contract. In February 1978, Aja gained a price Grammy better recording for a nontraditional album.
In July 1978, Fagen and Becker published the title FM (No Static At All) , it song-title of the original soundtrack of the film FM which reached the position 22 of the prize lists of the time.
Greatest Hits (1978)
Thanks to the phenomenal success of the album Aja , Donald and Walter have less pressure to launch a new disc quickly. In November 1978, the company ABC left a compilation entitled Greatest Hits including/understanding a new title Here At The Western World , which had remained new until there. This compilation was also disc platinizes and reached position 30 of the North-American charts.
Gaucho (1980)
Tired life and environment of Los Angeles, Becker and Fagen turned over to New York, their birthplace, to begin the recording from a new album. Gaucho was the last album recorded by Steely daN before absence a 10 years (of June 1981 in October 1991), and also the last album studio published until the return in the year 2000 with Two Against Nature .
During the recording of Gaucho , Becker and Fagen had to live a series of reverses of fortune which delayed the publication of the album: Becker was reversed by a car and had to move out of crutches during several months, one their new favorite titles The Second Arrangement was accidentally erased by an assistant of the sound engineer, and contractual arguments concerning the company owner of the rights of the next disc used the energy of the two creators.
Becker and Fagen had already signed an prior agreement with the company Warner Brothers, but ABC (become MCA) stipulated that it still held the rights for the next album. MCA gained this argument and decided to raise the price of the Gaucho album to 9,98$ is a dollar moreover than the usual price of the albums on the market. Donald and Walters delayed the launching of their new album during this contractual argument, which firm MCA gained. Finally, the album Gaucho was published in November 1980.
Gaucho follows the way traced by Aja , artistically and musicalement: in addition, one finds still more musicians of jazz on this disc but also Mark Knopfler with the guitar on " time out off mind". Gaucho reached position 9 of the charts and was disc platinizes. The title Hey Nineteen reached position 10 and Time Out Of Mind the position 22 of the prize lists.
Alive In America (1995)
Only album as an official public of Steely daN to date, Alive In America was recorded between 1993 and 1994, at the time of the round in the USA following the reformation of the group. For the anecdote, during this round, Donald Fagen was presented as a " Rick Strauss" and Walter Becker as a " presented; Frank Poulenc" !
Natural Two Against (2000)
In February 2000, Steely daN announces its great return by publishing Two Against Nature , their first album studio recorded in 20 years. It was surprising it success of the year in the USA: in February 2001, this album brought to them four Grammy Awards in the categories “Best Engineered Album - Non-Classical”, “Best Pop Vocal Album”, “Best Pop Performance by Duo gold Group with Vocal” (with the title Cousin Dupree ), and finally in the major category “Album off the Year”.
Everything Must Go (2003)
Published on June 10th, 2003, the last album in date of Steely daN offers a freer approach of the recording in studio. Walter Becker plays of the low guitar on all the titles. Remarkable fact, the song Slang off Old is the first with being sung by Walter Becker on an album studio of Steely daN .
Topicality of Steely daN
In January 2007, the group announced on its Internet site the first dates for a new round in concerts, which will be called Heavy Rollers '07 . This new round began on May 5th, 2007 in Beale Street Music Festival of Memphis, Tennessee and will incluera then shows in North America, in Europe, in Japan, in Australia and New Zealand, by thus making the largest round and most complete ever carried out by STEELY daN .
External bond
- Official site of Steely daN
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