Anyway, "Do It Again" is a surprisingly strong single for a band that essentially was just getting started. Its undulating Latin funk makes it easy to mistake for a Santana song; even Denny Dias's fluid, surprisingly effective solo momentarily makes one wonder if Carlos Santana decided to pick up an electric sitar for s's and g's. But it's Donald Fagen's distinctive jazz-tinged vocals that really let you know it's Steely Dan and no one else. (Funny to think that Fagen initially was reluctant to be the band's lead singer. I can't picture what albums like Countdown to Ecstasy or Aja would have sounded like without his "yeah, I'm from South Jersey; what of it?" vocals.)
Showing posts with label donald fagen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label donald fagen. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
"Do It Again" (Steely Dan)
It's still amazing to me that Steely Dan pulled off the feat of having a hit album its first time out of the gate with Can't Buy a Thrill (1972). And had an instant #6 hit song with "Do It Again." Not that the album or the single aren't great; they are. It's just that, for a band named after a sex toy in the William S. Burroughs novel Naked Lunch and a quirky debut single that tells an odd tale of some junkie gambler who shoots a guy and then ends up on a debauched spree in Vegas, I'm surprised it fared as well as it did in the bubblegum musical landscape of 1972. After all, we're talking a period of time when a pubescent Donny Osmond was ruling the charts.
Anyway, "Do It Again" is a surprisingly strong single for a band that essentially was just getting started. Its undulating Latin funk makes it easy to mistake for a Santana song; even Denny Dias's fluid, surprisingly effective solo momentarily makes one wonder if Carlos Santana decided to pick up an electric sitar for s's and g's. But it's Donald Fagen's distinctive jazz-tinged vocals that really let you know it's Steely Dan and no one else. (Funny to think that Fagen initially was reluctant to be the band's lead singer. I can't picture what albums like Countdown to Ecstasy or Aja would have sounded like without his "yeah, I'm from South Jersey; what of it?" vocals.)
Anyway, "Do It Again" is a surprisingly strong single for a band that essentially was just getting started. Its undulating Latin funk makes it easy to mistake for a Santana song; even Denny Dias's fluid, surprisingly effective solo momentarily makes one wonder if Carlos Santana decided to pick up an electric sitar for s's and g's. But it's Donald Fagen's distinctive jazz-tinged vocals that really let you know it's Steely Dan and no one else. (Funny to think that Fagen initially was reluctant to be the band's lead singer. I can't picture what albums like Countdown to Ecstasy or Aja would have sounded like without his "yeah, I'm from South Jersey; what of it?" vocals.)
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
"Peg" (Steely Dan)
By the time Steely Dan recorded its 1977 album Aja, the "band" consisted only of guitarist/bassist Walter Becker, vocalist/keyboardist Donald Fagen, and a revolving array of session players who were picked for what they could bring to an individual song. Not a bad approach, actually. If one player has blues chops, you plug him into a song that needs a bluesier feel. Or if something calls for a jazzier approach, you use the guy who's a Wes Montgomery disciple for the guitar solo instead of the guy who was reared on Chuck Berry. It was a smart way for Becker and Fagen to broaden Steely Dan's sonic palette and create music the way they heard it in their heads.
Anyway, the track "Peg" from Aja is what you get when Becker and Fagen create a "pop" song. Its augmented blues structure makes it instantly accessible and familiar. But then they throw in some quirky melodic twists (like the jazz-steeped chord changes on the chorus) and arranging innovations (like having Michael McDonald's backing vocal doubled by reed player Tom Scott on his Lyricon—an electronic sax-like instrument—to make the word "Peg!" sound strangely electronic and robotic) that catch you off guard and make you want to listen to it again, just so you can figure out what the hell is going on.
And then there's the lyrics. In true Steely Dan fashion, they're smart but vague in their thrift. The song is ostensibly about a young starlet who's about to get her big break in the movies. However, Fagen drops subtle clues as to what kind of actress she might be; the fact that her headshot/pinup photo is blue suggests that her films might be equally blue. (This no doubt eluded radio programmers, censors, and my 3-year-old brain when I first heard the song.)
But the song is really about the sum of its perfect parts. It's the way Fagen's voice sounds against the galloping funk of Rick Marotta's drums and Chuck Rainey's bass; it's Jay Graydon's searing guitar solo, which defies any kind of categorization and comes completely out of left field. Those elements are the reason why the song holds up to repeated plays instead of being stuck in the boneyard of late 70s R&B.
Anyway, the track "Peg" from Aja is what you get when Becker and Fagen create a "pop" song. Its augmented blues structure makes it instantly accessible and familiar. But then they throw in some quirky melodic twists (like the jazz-steeped chord changes on the chorus) and arranging innovations (like having Michael McDonald's backing vocal doubled by reed player Tom Scott on his Lyricon—an electronic sax-like instrument—to make the word "Peg!" sound strangely electronic and robotic) that catch you off guard and make you want to listen to it again, just so you can figure out what the hell is going on.
And then there's the lyrics. In true Steely Dan fashion, they're smart but vague in their thrift. The song is ostensibly about a young starlet who's about to get her big break in the movies. However, Fagen drops subtle clues as to what kind of actress she might be; the fact that her headshot/pinup photo is blue suggests that her films might be equally blue. (This no doubt eluded radio programmers, censors, and my 3-year-old brain when I first heard the song.)
But the song is really about the sum of its perfect parts. It's the way Fagen's voice sounds against the galloping funk of Rick Marotta's drums and Chuck Rainey's bass; it's Jay Graydon's searing guitar solo, which defies any kind of categorization and comes completely out of left field. Those elements are the reason why the song holds up to repeated plays instead of being stuck in the boneyard of late 70s R&B.
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