Steely Dan - Album By Album - The Royal Scam

(from the Green Earrings department)

This was a fun intro.  The thread had derailed just a bit, so I pretended to derail it further.

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Okay - since I'm doing all this analysis - I should tackle Godwhacker.

Godwhacker is about...

(heh heh)

No - I'm kidding - it's The Royal Scam time.

This album starts out really strong with Kid Charlemagne - a thinly disguised take on the rise and fall of Owsley's adventures in the LSD underworld and the counter-culture of the 60's turning into the me-decade of the 70's. (There's a good sample analysis here: Kid Charlemagne - Wikipedia ). This song absolutely scorches in all the right ways - and I love the "Is there gas in the car? There's gas in the car!" line.

From here, the Dan dust off another old songwriting demo - the Caves Of Altamira. However - here - it sounds fully finished.

(Complete sidebar - they deleted a verse from the demo:

Many years had come and gone,
and many miles between.
Through it all, I found my way
by the light of what I'd seen.
On the road as I returned
was a green and yellow sign,
saying "See the way it used to be",
and I took my place in line.
​

Originally - this was inserted before the last verse.)

Don't Take Me Alive is next - and continues the string of powerful songs on side 1. (And - yes - this may be semi-autobiographical on Walt's part.) Then, comes the highlight of the album for me: Sign In Stranger. I love this song!!! Yeah - the lyrics are a touch more oblique - feels like sci-fi to me - and Walt & Don changed the bridge melody & lyrics by the time of Alive In America - but still. Great song!!!

(Sidebar - the lyrics in the Alive in America version of the bridge change from the "yellow fever" set to:

Find your fortune
On this lucky star
The chances are good
You will thrive
If you make it back alive
​

Kind of extends the sci-fi theme of the lyrics a bit more.)

But - then - we get to The Fez.

Ergh... musically tight - but the entire lyrics consist of:

No I'm never gonna do it without the fez on
Oh no
That's what I am
Please understand
I want to be your holy man​

Really? That's it? On a STEELY DAN album? Where's the deep lyrical play? Where's the melodic inventiveness? Instead - it's a deep locking groove - and a harbinger of things to come.

Side two kicks off with Green Earrings. More of the same - deep groove, great instrumental performances - but the lyrics:

Cold, daring
No flies on me
Sorry, angel
I must take what I see​

and

Greek medallion
Sparkles when you smile
Sorry, angel
I get hungry like a child
​

Otherwise, just this repeated chorus:

Green earrings
I remember
The rings of rare design
I remember
The look in your eyes
I don't mind
​

Again - what happened to the lyrics? They're better than The Fez, but still.

Haitian Divorce is a tour de force, and Everything You Did is... well I was gonna say fun... if a Steely Dan song can be said to be fun. (And kudos for the Eagles shout-out!)

And then - we're kind of back to a locked groove on the final song "The Royal Scam". However - the lyrics and subject matter redeem this one for me. The sense of dread and menace - and the continued lies generation to generation. Amazing.

So - overall? There's a lot to like here - but - wow - in some ways - a step back from its predecessors. It seems like some of the basic material was weaker - hence the need to dig back into the songwriting demos - but the "band" was tighter, hence the longer, virtuoso instrumental passages.

For me, this is the weakest of Steely Dan's albums so far - but not the weakest overall. That's coming up. And - it's still pretty close to the others. Any other band would be lucky to have this one - but the previous 4 Steely Dan albums set a very high bar for this band, and this one doesn't quite make it.

Cheers,
Paul

Steely Dan - Album By Album - Katy Lied

(from the Can You Hear Me Doctor? department)

Not much to needed to setup this review.  Enjoy!

Oh - yeah - the "parent theory". That's in Everyone's Gone To The Movies. The "parent theory" is that the parents have found someone to watch the kids - and they're finally alone - hence the line "Everyone's Gone To The Movies - Now We're Alone At Last."  Meanwhile - the kids are watching films in the den with Mr. LaPage.  This is probably not a good idea.

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Katy lies
You could see it in her eyes...

So - Katy Lied. Where the 'Dan ends all pretense of being a band and turns into a songwriting/performance/recording collective.

That being said - it's a great album.

Black Friday is the perfect start to this album - it sets the tone for the new Dan and introduces us to the new cast of session players, not to mention the upcoming economic collapse, and some possible activities we can indulge in. From there, we delve into the underbelly of civilization - and the typical Dan lyrical concerns - while the increasingly smooth - and immaculately recorded - sounds flow. Bad Sneakers, Rose Darling, and Daddy Don't Live In That New York City No More keep the momentum going - building up to the tropical wasteoid junkie love triangle of Doctor Wu. One of the highlights of the album for sure - and that screaming during the fade? Amazing.

Side 2 kicks off with, oddly enough - another one of my favorite Dan songs. Everyone's Gone To The Movies is lyrically nasty, sonically fascinating and catchy as hell. It's the kind of song you find yourself singing along with - and regretting - but singing along anyway. Yeah - I know - the subject matter - not cool. (And I love some of the analysis I've read here - the parent theory is quite good!) But - I don't think the Dan ever equaled the catchy perversity of this song. Certainly - the demo on Citizen Steely Dan - as well done as it is - is not in the same league. (And, speaking of perversion, we'll have to chat about good old Cousin Dupree later!)

From there, side 2 moves on excellently. Your Gold Teeth II swings, Chain Lightning is tasty as all get out, Any World is soaring, and Throw Back The Little Ones - with it's odd, janky piano - ends the album just right.

There's a lot to like on this one - it's one of my top Dan albums. Even with all the studio cats - the Dan still sounds energized. Something that, unfortunately, did not last on the next album - but I'm getting slightly ahead of myself.

So - yeah - Countdown is still my top Dan album - but this one fights Pretzel Logic (and a couple of worthy upcoming contenders) for the follow-up position.

Cheers,
Paul

Steely Dan - Album By Album - Pretzel Logic

(from the Three weight ounce pure golden ring no precious stone department)

Hi everyone,

Okay - Steely Dan's third album Pretzel Logic is up for review.  I had fallen behind in my reviews, hence the Mr. Hurry McHurry Pants reference at the start.

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Here's my review of Pretzel Logic, Mr. Hurry McHurry Pants 😊 😁 😝

This album is probably the hardest for me to review. When I heard it as a kid - I dismissed it. Except for Rikki. I loved that one.

When I started really appreciating Steely Dan - after the revelations of Countdown To Ecstasy I mentioned in my previous review - I found a lot to like about this one. However - I did feel that it was a retreat from the advances they'd made on Countdown. 11 tracks in 34 minutes - this is a shorter album than Can't Buy A Thrill - and it even has one more song!

Outside of Rikki - the one tune that really stood out for me was - of all things - Charlie Freak. Just like King of the World - I think I really like the narrative driven Steely Dan songs. Love this song - and the sleigh bells? Sounds like Christmas for the Dan to me! I have been known to auto-repeat this song a few times before moving on. Plus - the piano on that track? Amazing.

Found out years later that this was one of their original songwriting demos. That may have been the issue with this one for me - the reversion back from the stretched out arrangements of Countdown to the two minute single conventions of the day. They may have really been trying to write normal "hit" songs on this one - hence the digging back into their songwriting demo material.

But normal for the Dan - is another man's Charlie Freak.😊

So - this was a slow grower for me. Now, I can really appreciate the album as a whole - and with the exception of East St. Louis Toodle-Oo - it really holds together. I'm not a Toodle-Oo hater - not by any means - but it almost seems out of place amongst the misanthropy, although now with CD, it serves as kind of a long intro to Parker's Band. Any Major Dude is a great deep catalog cut - the acoustic guitar is particularly tasty on that one. Barrytown (another demo dusted off) and Night By Night kind of have the patented Dan sound down. Pretzel Logic is a puzzle - unlocked by the time travel narrative drive - but still a puzzle. With A Gun just proves how quickly the band could shift gears - country Dan, anyone? And Monkey In Your Soul sounds like the perfect summation of this phase.

And - that brings me to a theory I've been working on for a while.

Dan albums come in pairs.

Hear me out.

If we take Can't Buy A Thrill out of the picture for a second - I'll get back to it, I promise - then each Dan album pairs up in a way. You have Countdown to Ecstasy & Pretzel Logic as twins - Countdown's longer arrangements, Pretzel's shorter as a reaction. Then the studio cats Dan of Katy Lied & and the "studio cats turn-up the guitars" of the The Royal Scam. Move on to the laid back jazz vibe of Aja & Gaucho, followed by the twin solos Kamakiriad and 11 Tracks of Whack. These two solos led to Two Against Nature and the live band reaction to it of Everything Must Go.

If you take the best of the songwriting comps - Aero record's The Early Years comes to mind - that kind of matches Can't Buy A Thrill as its proto-twin.

It's not a perfect analogy by any means - what matches with the Nightfly? Alive In America? Circus Money? Sunken Condos? But - you see what I'm getting at here. It seems like - especially when they work together - they'd re-invent themselves, debut that on an album, and try a different take on it for a subsequent album before trying something new.

Even the two compilations during the active band years - Greatest Hits and Gold - follow this pattern. Gold sort of fills in the missing bits for Greatest Hits - like a Greatest Hits 2. (The original Gold, BTW - not the Extended Edition.)

Anyway - Pretzel Logic - for me - the ultimate slow grower. Didn't love it at first, but - yeah - probably one of their best.

Cheers,
Paul

P.S. I have the quad vinyl of this one. No big surprises or mixdown revelations. Rumor is that it might be a "double stereo" version of the album, as opposed to a different quad mix, but I don't have my quad setup together anymore - stereo only - so I can't confirm or deny that. I believe it's QS - officially it's listed as Command Quadraphonic.

More about the quad-ness - or lack thereof - here: Steely Dan: Can't Buy A Thrill [QS/Q8] and Steely Dan: Pretzel Logic [QS/Q8] 

Steely Dan - Album By Album - Countdown To Ecstasy

(from the While the poor people sleepin' - All the stars come out at night department)

Next up is Countdown To Ecstasy.  Again - this review is a bit on the terse side.  Sorry about that.

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Okay - since I'm behind - let me catch up with Countdown To Ecstasy.

This is my favorite Steely Dan album - bar none. From the kickoff of Bodhisattva to the last note of King Of The World, this album is a complete stunner - and quite the leap forward from Can't Buy A Thrill: longer songs (8 vs 10 in 40 minutes), more adventurous arrangements, and the sense of being a real band bound together through touring.

Highlights are the spooky guitar solo break in The Boston Rag, the "you are there" feel of My Old School, and the map-like descriptions of Pearl Of The Quarter - but I also find a lot to love in the spiritual cynicism of Bodhisattva, the dissolute lifestyle in Razor Boy, the slight atonal blast for every roulade Cathy Berberian can't sing in Your Gold Teeth and the amazing loop of Show Biz Kids. (Sorry - I love that loop!)

And then there's King Of The World.

I had never realized how beautiful and clever the lyrics in King Of The World are until I heard this version from Joe Jackson:

I then went digging through my album collection, found the Steely Dan version and went "How the heck did I miss this?"

A high-water mark for the Dan - and one that - for me - in some ways - they never quite equaled.

Cheers,
Paul

Steely Dan - Album By Album - Can't Buy A Thrill

(from the Where are you driving Midnight Cruiser? department)

Hi everyone,

On the Steve Hoffman forums, we've been reviewing Steely Dan album by album, and I thought I'd share some of the reviews I'd written here as well.

This is the first one I wrote for Steely Dan's first album - and it's terse.  As we've gone on - the reviews have become more detailed.  Still - there's a little bit of content in this one.

As far a recommendation, this is a very solid debut.  Not quite like the other records in their catalog - they had put the band together just before they recorded it.  The subject matter of the songs are all over the place too - these were probably the best of the material they'd been writing as staff writers for ABC Dunhill.

----------------------------------

Can't Buy A Thrill is the only album in their official cannon that sounds like this - but to my mind - is not their only material that sounds like this.

Dallas and Sail The Waterway should be on this, regardless of what the actual creators think. :)

Heck - some of the Kenny Vance stuff, cleaned up a bit, would fit fine on here.

Although not my favorite SD of all time, I still love this album. Especially for the overarching literary feel - they're trying too hard - but who cares?

Also Midnight Cruiser is an underrated gem. Love Hodder's vocals on that. I agree about the non-airplay cuts too - Dirty Work and Kings are stellar.

As for the hits, they're great - and that guitar solo in Reelin' In The Years still shatters.

An auspicious debut - and points to things to come.

Cheers,
Paul

Rose with a Rose

(from the It's Poetry, right? department)

Hi everyone,

Took these photos of Rose today on a walk near our house.

She does like roses.

Cheers,
Paul

Tour of Tsue Chong Fortune Cookie and Noodle Factory - Seattle, May 4th, 2017

(from the You Should Try The Unfortune Cookies department)

Hi everyone,

We got a chance to tour the Tsue Chong Fortune Cookie and Noodle factory in Seattle's International District.  They're family owned and have been making noodles for 100 years.

We got up nice and early and lined up outside:

Soon our tour guide arrived.  He gave us a quick history of the company, then led us inside:

He took us to the 3rd floor - apparently it's a bit quieter there.  We started at the place where they make rice noodles and fried chow mein noodles:

After trying a couple fried chow mein samples, we then moved on to the wheat noodle area.  After giving us some sample noodles to munch on, he showed us the machines that cut the noodles and the noodle drying area:

We then moved on to the fortune cookie machines!  They used to make their fortune cookies by hand.  Then - they got nine machines - four of which are working today.  The rest have been cannibalized for parts, since the company that made them is no longer in business.

One of the machines no longer folds the cookies - it just makes round discs.  They call these "unfortune cookies".  They're still quite good!

These machines make one cookie at a time.  They had a newer machine that makes 4 cookies at a time.  You can see it over there:

After trying some fortune cookie samples, our tour was over.  We wandered around the corner to the small factory store:

and bought some cookies and noodles to take home.  Then - we escaped into a beautiful sunny Seattle day!

Dana surprised at the sun, maybe?

This was a fun tour!  And - it was nice visiting a part of Seattle history!

Cheers,
Paul