SIS Archives -- June 2000

Dammit Clas, now I'm up way past bedtime listening to Gaucho. Did ya ever notice that the very *first* note (bass) on Babylon Sisters sounds like a mistake! It's quickly corrected, almost like speeding up a turntable. When the theme is repeated before the first verse, that bass note is gone and replaced with the "corrected" one from the first pass! Another sneaky trick?

Dr. Mu...

Sorry about the mutated citation...I will gladly pay the fine.

...with the last piaster I can borrow...

DBD

citation mutation: Jive = Razor sorry...

My take on the discussion about TOOM is that maybe D&F had it right when they didn't comment seriously about their words. It's idiotic to believe that commenting on experience is promoting it. One of the the things I like about their lyrics is that they're not judgemental. I reckon Donald would be better off giving them the usual BS.

poly-segmented danfan: Ah - that last one was my favorite pair au d. Green Eggs & Ham is one of the best books of all time.

But all your pair O ds are fine. Where do you get the time? It takes a major life event or at least 30 minutes for me...

I trust Clas. His hearing is impeccable! Gary Katz is Da Producer!

rb

weekendworm...TOOM is absolutely NOT suggestive of a good time unless you like sticking yourself w/ needles or waking up (maybe)and not knowing where, or for that matter, who you are. I had cousins in S. Fla who not only looked deeply into the dragon's eyes, but were consumed by its fiery breath. Thank God St. George arrived when he did...

F#...I didn't take your comment to be pro-drug at all...that would be rather untrendy by today's standards don't you think... and I hope my reply back caused no offense...no need for disclaimer either...had not Don opined that maybe he shouldn't have penned the references in TOOM the way he did, autobiographical or not, none of us would be discoursing on this particular thread. I'm simply saying the fact that he suggested he and Walt may have made a lyrical transgression possibly opens up an opportunity for our heroes to make the lessons of the past available to the next generation of dandom in a way that would be both appealing and accessible...sadly, you are correct in your assertion that D & W are not particularly given to social commentary so this opportunity too shall probably pass.

Razor...VERY interesting theory advanced on the relationship between the journey taken by Kama's protagonist and the re-energizing of the creative juices of one DF. Correlation of your theory evidenced by the assemblage of the New York Rock and Soul Review shortly thereafter with Don in fine vocal form and becoming more comfortable with himself as bandleader / ringleader...want a good volume-cranker off that CD? How about Boz Scaggs on the Joe Simon classic "Drowning in the Sea of Love" with Drew Zingg ripping off a very tasty solo and outro...

everyone have a great fourth...talk to you after I finish the fifth...

she serves the smooth retsina...

DBD

Wonderwaif/Aus: Bring on the IPO! We could pull a Hillary

Blazer Rouge: "Kamikiriad is an album by the depressed for the depressed." Brilliant! Kama has a unique other wordly/dreamy/surreal/off kilter soundscape that fits in well with the black and white illustrations in the liner note jacket. As The Nightfly was a modern man looking wistfully at his past, the bookend Kamakiriad was a apprehensive, quirky, clever, near future subconscious look at an uncertain future. Notice how the 2-dimensional eerie sound slowly melts away during the 2nd half of the album. Compare the sound, the flavor of first 3 songs (Trans-Island Skyway, Countermoon, and Springtime) with the last 3 (Florida Room, On the Dunes, and Teahouse on the Tracks)...like a series of dreams with the last being a decision to fish or cut bait with the new day.

Fagen had suffered from writer's block, dramatic personal life changes, and growing up (they made it big young - never had the chance). After an aborted attempt in the mid 80's could Donald Fage and Walter Becker work together fruitfully? Could he get his creative juices flowing again? NYR&SR, touring, and this album were part of the Dan in artistic rehab. essentially. The answer is given at the end of Kama - back on the adventure trail.

The soundscape is strange or I should say different than the Dan albums of The Nightfly...but it's on purpose mostly just as 11 ToW. Becker could have easily made the album sound like China Crisis, but that was not what he was after.

Razor: I know exactly what Clas means by the 3-dimensional sound associated with Katz, coincidence or not. He knows of what he speaks as he can virtually reproduce it in in Track One and Pan Am Roof on Technicolor Motorhome. Please don't confuse soundscape with songwriting, arranging, and vision. Clearly in Steely Dan, the vision was Becker and Fagen. But I think you are underestimating the intangibles of Mr. Katz. Listen to pre-Dan Da (Sun Mountain or whatever your collection) the CBAT. Also Katz is able to recreate that certain openess on both Eye-to-Eye albums and Laura Nyro's Walk the Dog and Light the Light (1993) - the song A Woman of the World and Louis's Church are examples. Although many aspects are different than Dan - there's that something that tether's the soundscpae with Dan. One could argue that Katz learned a great deal from Donald and Walter and I expect that that is correct. It is more than probable that Katz did not contribute to the charts of those wonderful guitar solos we discussed, but his ear was still an integral part of the final product.

Pure Speculation: The Laura Nyro album and Kamakiriad were recorded at River Sound about the same time. I wonder if that was the beginning of the end of Fagen and Katz' relationship. They co-owned the studio - a coup occurred in about '96?

I argue that TvN has a big 3-dimensional sound as well - quite different that Kama. It's just not quite the same as on The Nightfly, Gaucho, or Aja. It may be better - like Alive in America with better clarity (yes, I know Roger Nichols' involvement in both).

My parents were in for a visit - originally from the NYC area (but could not be located on the VH1 map also). Anyway, he revealed that he saw many of the Dan heroes (Bird, Davis, Coltrane, Gillespe, etc.) in the early and mid-50s in NYC. He must have picked the wrong nights as many of the gigs he saw were marred by the performers "chasing the dragon" prior to going on stage (not his words of course). As a result he stuck with Big Band.

I've got a great ticket for Atlanta, July 18th, fourth row in the orchestra section. Selling at face value. Email if interested.

re:TooM- my comments shouldn't be misconstrued as interpreting the song as "pro-drug" in any way shape or form [or in need of some disclaimer any more than Don't Take Me Alive might be pro-terrorism via dyn-o-mite]. At the time "chasing the dragon" was trendy practice especially on the west coast [as was the rise and fall of cocaine- seen anyone with a spoon necklace lately?]. I'm sure that W&D seek timely subject matter with which to invent characters for their songs.

Heraldo Rivera [ha! Jerry Rivers, who once sold encyclopedia door to door or ws it vacuum cleaners? what do you mean you don't have electricity?????] even did a tv special on the fad and used the song under the voice-over. The "voice" of the song is a mere caricature and not necessarily one that has any autobiographic implication/connection [such as Down in the Bottom]. I 'get it' from a literary context as a character in a story [like Deacon Blue], as though we can listen in on the machinations in the affected brain of the user/abuser [who is to say what constitutes abuse?] singing this ode to opium. it was a product of the time... that is all.

gotta match?
F

Greetings all.

I have to go with the crowd on the TOOM thread. It certainly seems like Don was stumbling over himself trying to get out of that one. The lyrics take you in one direction which appears quite obvious. Then again with The Boys anything IS possible.

I almost feel some sort of personal vindication in regards to WASAM after reading this little snippet...."Like in this instance, the character sort of seems like a loser on the surface, but he also has this kind of personal honor." A while back I posted that I had felt that at the end of the song where he turns her down for a romp at her hotel, he was really standing up for himself to not be used more than he was feeling sorry for himself.

all I have time for now.

Peace love and DAN

Razor

off for the weekend
dragon chasing serene (tamer dragons)

Dan Boy Dave - is Time Out of Mind all that suggestive of a good time?, I think an actual pusher friend is more at risk of being a corrupter then a song. I thing TOOM (yes nice accronymic ring) talks about the dark side in rather complex imagery that most people don't understand and with an ironic upbeat backing. The boys are hesitant to glorify the underbelly and plenty of the new songs definitely talk of the dark side of drugs and gals of negativity

TaN is all about trying to avoid addictive and harmful things

DBD a warmwelcome aboard, I have enjoyed your insights

and please help yourself to Ole's excellent enlightening page or backpedal through the guestbook (lots of neat song descriptions)

oleanders Dan analysis
http://home.earthlink.net/~oleander1/Index.htm

as for Walt and DOn backing up from TOOM, I find that odd, as they usually have this funny evasive - we don't know what this means, you tell me attitude

anyway off till monday, have a great one

enjoy

TOm

the water will change

LaPage...

We'll expect a full report...travel safely...

lost in the barrio...

DBD

Dan Boy, We'll all provide a hearty AMEN to that!
Those of us with children, know where you're coming from.
Pehaps the fact that Fagen is now a step-father, has caused him to rethink or back away from the lyric in Time Out of Mind.
God, knows, we can't blame him. In light of the band's history of 'health problems', this tune comes too close to autobiographical to be dismissed as standard Steely Dan sarcasm and clever repartee'.

I don't think that Becker and Fagen are much about social commentary so that's probably why he chose to rose color the lyric.

I'm off to NYC for the Jones Beach show this weekend! Everyone please have a safe and happy holiday weekend.

Craig

Blaze, WormTom, F#, Aja, LaPage...

Been following the TOOM discussion (interesting acronym if you think about it...)

Listen, all of us who've been following our heroes for years know EXACTLY what that track was/is about...but it's a different day and age...whether or not Donald was recanting, backpeddling, shuffling or simply can't remember from 20 years ago, it doesn't matter...the fact is there's a whole new generation of Dan followers (my 21- and 17-year old sons for example) who are certainly as smart as are we and will figure all this stuff out without us telling them...the best thing the boys could do if they feel compelled to re-write the past for some reason is fess up, come clean and use their position and experience to maybe prevent some of their new fandom from becoming products of the sins of their fathers (and mothers....)

I'm not trying to be altruistic here 'cause Lord knows, I did my more than fair share of contributing to the subterranian economy...I agree with you guys...tell it like it is and tell it like it shouldn't be...

Dan Boy Dave

Blaze - my son is playing green eggs and ham on the pc
so I can get work done

could you would you
Don and Walt
eat them eat them
with no salt

I could not eat them if I tired
I could not eat them, Katy Lied

I do not like great eggs and ham
but I so like the Royal Scam

never mind

Tster

and before my friends find out, I'll be on the road

Edd - Even then, it'd be a crappy summer. You would actually have to catch those (circus) acts. Aghhhh, indeed.

Happy 4th to our yankee friends. Tomorrow, Canada Day.
Ciao.

Funny how Dr.Mu is now Dr.Wu and we find a Mike C. after we've seen a Mike A. not to mention two Mark B.s. I'm sooo confused!

Wiggly wonder - a small post and then you leave? That's odd.

Blaise

Hmmm, for the price of 1 Steely Dan ticket you can get tickets for Britney Spears *and* Christina Aguilera.

That doesn't seem right. You should also get n'sync, Backstreet Boys and $48 change...

Not My Nance - wow what a way to take in a fourth show
so you only caught the second set but still, good for you

Walter retracks the Time Out Of Mind lyrics
ahhhghhh - the funny thing was that it was played on easy listening stations as a fun light pop song
I't Mystical "sphere" not steel
I alsways liked the song to get me in the mood for a night out
I just chased different dragons

Dr Wu - I agree that Larry Carlton certainly is adaptable to the ever changing styles of the Dan and solo projects, Nightfly being rather tasty.

WOuldn't one like to hear a bootleg of all the different soloists who were able to attempt to lay one on over a dan track

on the drummers - I like Ricky Lawson - he does an admirable job
I like Purdie too, the guy has chops and I enjoy watching his jamming with the guys on the old Aja classics in the Making of Aja DVD

and horns - isn't it amazing how seemless the horns are at times

I really like the dissonant out of control sax work on the new album - reminds me of Pharoah Sanders and that's a good thing

have a great 4th

wormtom

keep your eyes on the sky...

Jive- Right on with the Katz report! I think you hit the nail right on the head!

Mr. Lapage: the metaphor *is* a mystical mythical metalurgical one... alchemy. change the silver to gold, water to wine [how devine!]. the entire uplifting groove evokes a wonder of wonders
as though chasing the dragon will work its alchemy on the chaser.
however, as mentioned, the alchemy under scrutiny here has the effect of turning one's life into nothing but shit... tra la?

btw: The Modern Alchemist, Blodwyn Pig circa 1969/0? highly highly recommend. Roland Kirk meets Jethro Tull? yes i'll be there. the album: Ahead Rings Out. nice cover.

Bigtongs: the price is that high because you bought a ticket.

Robin: most gracious thanks for your enjoyable post. retort: but the boys are tricksters and most certainly do throw split fingered pitches and weird breaking stuff not even intended to go over the plate in the first place. i'm not suggesting their intentions are to lure listeners into over-interpreting- but, it seems to amuse them sufficiently to lean more towards the cryptic side of the lyrical spectrum if the choice presents... and then, when asked, entertain themselves with the sort of quips that endear them to us all the more!

warmly,
F#

Mr. LaPage-I had the same reaction about the backpedaling on "Time Out Of Mind". The title alone is revealing enough. It's okay, guys, it was the seventies, we understand!

Have a wonderful long weekend all, and Happy Fourth of July!

Aja

wonderwa*if - Don't go anywhere! I just had one question that's been bugging me for a little while there. How did you manage to take pictures with a zoom lens when other people were turned away at the scene with similar gear? Do you enjoy a special relationship with the band? Got their approval (and dare I say financing) for your project or something? Set this old monkey straight if you please. Love your tour journal and pix, btw.

Randy - great pictures!!!! - feel like I was standing there - oh that's right I was.

Akron, Ohio paper:
http://www.ohio.com:80/bj/news/docs/008907.htm

Bland pop act - oh please:
http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/00/43/music-kane1.shtml

all - too bad we can't attach pics to our GB submissions. any of you computer wizard fans think this might be a possibility? prob. best that we just get our own web page in order i suppose. in my "spare time" i use dreamweaver but it's been under construction for a year now. in the meantime I think I'll send the wonderwa*if summer party pics to hoops...

Hoops - Thanks for the kind words on the Digest. BTW, did you leave a fancy blue pen at our pad on Thurs. night last week? It has a faux diamond on the cap....I have it so if it's yours let me know and i'll send it along.

Expanding Man - ohhh you're endearing too. I like the Jasmine tea and rice at big bowl...what did you have?

DrWu - have to agree that a dan IPO would rock! i think all the GBers would have to get pre-IPO shares since these are SOOO hard to come by these days...we have had $2.30 /gal gas prices forever ..actually they are down to 2.09 as of yesterday. IL has the highest gas prices in the 48 contigous states, and don't get me started on TAXES!!

caramia - thanks, and if you'd like you can send those pics via snail mail, if i can find your bus. card I'll email you our address. how's life?

can't wait for dallas, happy 4th everyone.

LaPage - Is this a concession to these politically correct times we now live in? Looking to shield themselves from an eventual finger-pointing a la Ozzy? Yes, this tune always struck me as the equivalent of EGTTM only the pushing changes from dirty movies to heroin. Come on, come on, children we have it right here...
Chasing the dragon was well-known in my furry hazy years as an expression to hint at the ritual or technique involved in smoking heroin, heating it up on tinfoil (silver turning to gold) and chasing the smoke. If you prefer another means of administration, there's always the old syringe where water and blood mix in as you shoot (water turning to cherry wine). It's all on Oleander's page, btw. But yeah, don't tell the kids, it's not advisable to tamper with such things. I too wouldn't want to be associated with promoting such activities.
It's understood.
For the record, the song is really about an invitation to experience chasing a real dragon at night and the euphoria that follows, OK kids?

Randy: WOW. AWESOME pics! Thank you x 100,000,000 for sharing. The backup gals are certainly easy to look at at!! What a ball!
Have a great Independence weekend all!

Aus
"...Mr. magnificent, the one, the only one, Mr. Steely Dan"

Blazer Rogue, I too find it hilarious how Fagen is trying to backstroke from the Time Out of Mind lyric thing. It is clearly a song about heroin/opium experimentation. And this was at a time when Becker was heavily involved in his 'health problems' which included heroin abuse.

Come on. "The mystical steel, direct from Lhasa." "It's the smile on my face." Sure, the songs about metallurgy, and comic reflection!

Can there be any other meaning to "chasing the dragon' that these guys were alluding to in the lyric? Perhaps they're talking about purchasing false happiness and the terrible price it exacts, but it doesn't follow lyrically.

Son you better be ready for love
on this glory day
This is your chance to believe
what I've got to say
Keep your eye on the sky
put a dollar in the kitty
don't the moon look pretty

Sounds to me like the narrator is inticing a young initiate to experience the euphoric heroin high for the first time. His pied piper to paradise. Decscribing the head in sublime brushstrokes.

"Water to cherry wine, silver to gold"

You can here his tempting come-on:
"It's wonderful man! It'll change the way you see things. Your problems will all melt away. The revelation'll blow you away!
You'll taste perfection. Be endowed with lifesaving grace.
And to top it off, I've got the El Supremo stuff, Stygian Black Lotus, direct from the steppes of the Tibetan Himalayas. Picked by Buddhist monks in their high mountain Shangri-la.

Don't be fooled people, this is what Fagen & Becker were conveying in this song, their protestations notwithstanding.

Craig

So, after surviving the trip to and from the Gorge, and enjoying myself beyond my semi-wildest dreams, I returned home with photos and sweet memories. Some of these photos and memories have been gathered together in a trip report. If you wish to check it out, please go to my home page and click on "Steely Dan Road Trip".

http://www.ualberta.ca/~rreichar/

Many thanks to StAl, et al...

-Randy

Dr. Mu: Unfortunately the equity capital markets have been taken to the woodshed for a solid, old fashioned good one. Absolutely no enthusiasm, no road shows, nothing. Perhaps a Steely Dan Inc. initial public offering is just what the capital markets need to get up and running anew.

Aus
"...you can tell your little purty ones, they're gonna miss out tonight!"

Running late for work this morning..telly blaring in the living room...on our channel four here (NBC)...circa 7:00 a.m. EST, Steely Dan Two Against Nature tour advertisement..in the background you hear snippets of tracks from Aja, and a few others including the new effort. Promo pictures of Messrs. Fagen and Becker flashed..voice over urges fans to rush to buy tickets for the Jones Beach and PNC venues.. Thrilling.

"...Mr. Whatever is here tonight!"

Aussie

Enjoying the recent talk about guitars - nice to hear that there are plenty of people who appreciate Dias' unique "bop guitar" style. Apart from Bodhi, some other classic D. Dias solos:

Your Gold Teeth II
Green Earrings
Aja

One thing I've never figured out though. We read all the time about how Dias' would never played bent notes, and his solos certainly confirm this.

... and yet, on early live versions of Bodhisattva where Skunk and Denny are playing, the introduction section clearly has both guitars playing bent notes on the two-part melody line. Then the keyboard enters, and all three voice are bending the notes.

This means that DD *did* play bent notes when absolutely necessary, no?

Howard

I'm really enjoying the guitar and production threads on the GB of late, which is why I must rouse from my sustained lurk and thud in here with a totally personal non sequitur of an anecdote:

I'm on for three shows this summer, right? Boston, Hartford and Maryland. East Coast Charlie, that's me. But a week ago, I head to Colorado with my family for an 8-day vacation and, upon landing in Denver, begin hearing a suspiciously disproportionate amount of Dan on the radio.

Hmm. Why are they playing so much Dan? Were the Kennedy Center awards announced? Did Fagen die?

My turtle brain eventually comes around to the possibility that, gee, Steely Dan has been touring out west, and maybe they're in town TONIGHT. Quick consult with the Denver Post confirms an appearance at Fiddler's Green starting about the time that the kids go to bed.

It is kismet.

Kids go to bed, spouse is loaded into car, and two offsetting wrong turns later, we are at the box office listening to echoes of the end of West of Hollywood, purchasing 10th row tickets alllllllll the way on the right hand side. Midriffs obscured, sadly, but darn close.

We stroll the front of the stage, get a good look at Roger Nicholls, and then set two begins.

The band sounded great. Fagen's voice, weak and wavering on the TV appearances, was strong and on. The practice is clearly helping him, and it puts the listener at ease to not worry about fuzzy or flat notes. The second set was clearly the crowd pleasing set, despite Scam and Monkey, both of which I loved and both of which elicited crickets and tumbleweeds from the audience. I went back and listened to Monkey on the disc--it sounds like a tribute to Smashmouth, yet the boys have taken a lot of the really jaunty, go-go 60s sound out of it for this performance. Odd. Nevertheless, a great resurrection and great fit for Becker's voice.

Herington sounded very good, good tone, taste and chops. Only complaint: does he give up on his solo lines too early? He works his way up the neck, building energy and intensity, then suddenly gives up and starts back down on the low strings again. Is there a lack of lead guitarist swagger here? Dr. Warren Kruger, call your office.

Dirty Work is now a sexy soul ballad and should be released as a single with Carolyn "Ouch" Leonhart on lead.

More to say, but I consider myself a lucky Nance to stumble into fourth Dan appearance. See you at the Meadows!

I agree with my Canadian fellow. Gary Katz, as far as I know, has not produced anything noticeably great besides his work with Steely Dan. In interviews (see Metal Leg archives), he took a great deal of credit for the Dan's music and maybe that's why he's not involved anymore.

Clas, where's that medication? Kamikiriad is an album by the depressed for the depressed. I agree with you that something was lost after the Nightfly. I'm not convinced it was Katz, especially after hearing the new one.

Mr LaPage - You feel the same enthusiasm for Aja after 25 years. TAN got me to appreciate Gaucho, a record I had dismissed at first (except for BS, of course). Now, I love it. It sounds better today than it ever did as it fits my little personnal Zeitgeist like a glove. Can't wait to get an earful of this one remastered. I read in a recent interview posted here how Donald is back pedalling on some of the old lyrics. He now says he didn't know that "chasing the dragon" meant what it meant. I hate to doubt such a statement as the rest of the lyrics of TOOM also clearly point towards a heavy drugs reference. Denial, denial...

I am dreadfully tired...as usual...the price for owning your own business...however, I haven't posted in some time and I feel the need to set the "Gary Katz Question" straight...

I don't think Gary really had that big of influence on either the music or the production techniques with SD...D+W learned very rapidly in the studio, but mostly from others (e.g. Bob DeValia), not from Gary himself...

Gary was a believer and a friend to D+W and opened a huge door by fighting, and pushing, for the creation of SD! He is largely responsible for SD ever being formed, because he believed in the music, but I don't think Gary ever really fully understood it!

The title of Producer, I believe, was bestowed upon Gary initially out of necessity, however, this honour continued out of a debt, perhaps of gratitude or someother, not because Gary Katz was ever really the producer of SD music! That was, is, and will always be D+W's providence, as they are they creators of "The Sound" and the only 2 who truly understand where the music starts, progresses, and finishes!!!!

Gary Katz is a nice man...a good friend to D+W...a huge reason for SD ever being formed...but never, and I mean EVER, was REALLY the producer for Steely Dan records! Those who think otherwise are sadly strung out on deludin!

Jive!

PS on the DMX satellite system at the Coffee House tonight, 6 hits of SD, including a Double-Header, featuring Dr. Wu, then Donald's IGY, wow!

PPS Cuz Dupree is beginning to slow down in air time, and Jack of Speed is picking up all of the time...nice!

Chuck Klosterman - thanx, cool post. That comments from Fagen on Kid Charlemagne just confirms my own thoughts about it; the Kid is obsolete, times they are changing. The "drug thing" in the song is just, well.. something to hang the issue on.

Dr Mu - I didn't mean to complain over a flat hihat sound or the lack of a Baldwin piano or the sound of Lawsons snaredrum. What I mean is; when I listen to Gaucho or The Nightfly, it's like walking into a room, or a jungle. It's a 3D-sound-thing. The soundpicture is excellent architecture. And I can't walk into these latest CD's like I used to do with the old albums. And though Gary Katz didn't produce Kamakiriad, 11 Tracks Of Whack and Two Against Nature my guess is that he had a great deal to do with the older 3D-Soundpicture/architecture - albums.

And there's never been any questions why he's no longer with the band, and no disscusions about his contribuition to the Steely Dan success.

But hey, that's no big deal for me, I love Two Aginst Nature. The reason I brought this thing up is maybe because I threw away my antidepressive pills in October -99, or that I have been sober for one year and 24 days, or maybe it's just my bad stereoequipment?

I guess I'm just growing old. I can't muster the enthusiasm anymore.

Seeing and hearing (the live albums & the Sony-show) Steely Dan nowdays is kind of an absurd thing; a band making covers of their own songs.

The chord is frozen.

Stockholm audi and out,

C

I also just had to say that the good doctor mu's diagnosis of chronic boplicity in the patient is correct and requires no other than spiritual attention. yes we're on gospel time here.

German operatic lineage is breaking bad tonite with Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier. Insane parts.

Robin that was truly wonderful, laid out and written beautifully. Write a book, I'll buy it.

two or mm: glad to hear you scored the todd. only thing, a store like mine would have it for say $13.99 and todd would actually get a buck or two instead of paying for you to have it. NOT that I wouldn't buy or trade in promos, but with artists I want to support, I try to make sure they are gettin' that handful of change....there I go...now I'm preachin' again. Sorry man, you know I love ya for caring past Todd Who?...So why be...why be...yb...yb...TODD...

ybtodd: As one sincere steely GB good buddy here to another, when that reissue FINALLY hits the dragway, I believe I'd give that Gaucho the once or twice over. Apparently our parts dept. recommends the title track somewhat highly. I'd go with that. That alone puts her out of the pit and on the track.

I am right now listening to the end of Black Cow and have been listening to Citizen Steely Dan constantly, and I have also been reading the little book contained within. I am a huge reader of liners and album covers, and I feel fairly confident in answering questions regarding the "who plays what" on a lot of my favorite (read "old" or "classic") albums. Not so with this Steely Dan guy. He has so many players, and all are of such quality and talent, I don't know how you all keep them straight!
The production values on all the albums are equally staggering. I consider myself a guitar type, and one of my favorite guitar songs is "Reelin' in the Years" I practiced it all the time.
I have a current favorite song from that box set and it is "Gaucho".
For some reason, I really like the line: "Why is he standing in your spangled leather poncho, with the studs that match your eyes" if I am listening correctly. I like the fact, to my ears anyway, that the EYES are the STANDARD to which the studs are compared.
This song is a masterpiece. IMHO.
I also have a greater respect for "PEG". When FM radio used to play it to death, I grew tired of it. I like it again.
I think from 2vN I like "What a Shame About Me" the best.
What a wonderful commentary on a life left behind.
I agree with a comment I read somewhere that mentioned the fact that WB and DF don't try to be 21 years old anymore. They know they are mature men and conduct themselves as such. DF knows when to use the "midriff section" to cover for a high note out of range. He is still in fine form, and although he doesn't have a "pretty boy" voice, it's one of those beautiful sounds that you just can't describe even after all these years.
Some of the resurrected bands from the 70's don't know they are fast approaching 50, and although to me "Toys in the Attic" was one of the greatest albums going, c'mon guys, that was better than 20 years ago! All that jumping around and stuff. Hummph!

Is there a Steely Dan Inc. to invest in? The freakin' total gross from The Gorge alone was $481,444 behind only George Strait, N'Sync, and KISS. I mean the "new" economy is beginning to look the the emporer's new clothes thanks to Greenspan, the Microsoft suit, high taxes, and gas prices - I've gotta invest my paltry sums somewhere, eh?

I'm not a big Bill Gates fan because...well, their products suck...I'm sure those billions he has left must soothe the pain of rejection in the bars years ago:

"Hey baby, I own a tech up-and-comer"

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Microsoft"

"Well, I'm sure it is" *rim shot*

KD: Floyd is denying that Krause swallowed a poison pill by grabbing Fizer to screw up an even bigger deal between Orlando and the Clippers, but I don't buy it...Krause is fuckin' nuts. Prediction: a full year managing/owning the Wizards and Jordan will suit up.

Augustus Wiggly Wormsley: Since Gaucho ended with a semi-shredder (Carlton's Third World Man solo), it would have been cool to begin TvN with one.

Clas: You know I'm a fan of Mr. Katz and I agree that Katz could have avoided the edgy imbalance on Kama (as you know I though that that was on purpose)...but truthfully - the balance, sound, clarity on TvN are absolutely superb and met my expectations. The snare may sound a little saturated on Gaslighting Abbie and Donald Fagen vocals sound a little low in the mix on the title track... But I don't see how Katz could have improved What a Shame About Me, Janie Runaway, Almost Gothic, Jack of Speed, or Negative Girl. The problem for you I suggest is that this album is more bop oriented with little LA Jazz left...and you are not a bop fan. Aside: Those critics who think TvN sounds like Gaucho or Aja are only listening superficially.

wormytoungedone...

you slithering subterrainian soloquist...brilliant prose-ack from last eve!

...as sung to the bridge in IGTN:

Walter Becker, baby if you only flew
Half as fast as Johnny H's fingers do
What we'd hear would be true
I would still proud to jam with you

Like many of my brothers in axedom, I was particularly ennervated by yesterday's axe e dent and pulled out my Strat late last night...kept the house awake working on the intro to DTMA just to prove to myself again that can only get about 90% of it right!! Oh well, what's a poor Dan Boy with short, fat fingers to do...

Unlike many of my brothers in axedom, it's verrry difficult for me to pinpoint a favorite Dan album because they each have their own enduring musical qualities and influences, lyrical subtleties and vagueries and varying infusions of all of the things in life we're supposed to avoid...which makes each album very special in it's own way, separate and distinct from the rest. I love each and every one equally, for different reasons musically and influentially...every song on every CD can take me back to a very fond memory of some sort...and isn't that what music in general is supposed to do...take us away for a while?

Biscayne bay...where the Cuban gentlemen sleep all day...

DBD

You can't take the experience with you either.

http://www.rouze.com/buzz/10/3958ECC7-0001-00C1-1.cfm

nice q&a with DF

Wormtom & Mr. LaPage: Thank you for your kind words. Magical is a great word to describe last night.

I found this while looking for a post-concert review and thought it quite interesting and unexpected, given the usual articles we see (hats off to Oleander!):

Published Thursday, June 22, 2000, in the Akron Beacon Journal.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
A closer listen to songs delivers a surprise
BY CHUCK KLOSTERMAN
Beacon Journal staff writer

Twenty years ago, writers used to ask Donald Fagen and Walter Becker if they worried that the surrealism of their lyrics might be going over the collective heads of their audience. Today, they're more often asked about the people who continue to obsess over what they've written, dissecting every line as though it was lifted from Beowulf. ``There is a certain kind of fan who wants to do deep analysis on everything they like, and at some point they go past what they're analyzing,'' Fagen explains.

``I recently read an interview with Philip Roth, and he was talking about going to a book convention in France. People were asking him about his use of certain syllables in certain words, trying to figure out how his stories were constructed. The metaphor Roth used to describe this was that it was like people who go to a football game and study the way the numbers on the scoreboard are shaped.''

Of course, the fact that Fagen casually references Philip Roth in an interview is probably evidence enough that the music of Steely Dan is a few tiers above What a Girl Wants or Bawitdaba. In fact, there's even a fan Web site called Fever Dreams (http://home.earthlink.net/~oleander1/Index.htm) that academically breaks down every song in the entire Dan catalog.

So what exactly do Steely Dan songs sing about? Well, here are a few examples:

Kid Charlemagne (from The Royal Scam): ``A lot of our songs about (drugs) really aren't about that subject specifically,'' Fagen says. ``In that song, the main character is sort of an acid-head LSD dealer like Augustus Owsley, but the song is really about how the excitement of the 1960s eventually wound down and a lot of people were at loose ends when it was over.'' The once popular Kid is forced to vacate his suddenly drug-free environment, which is why the closing lyrics ask, Is there gas in the car?/Yes, there's gas in the car.

Everyone's Gone to the Movies (from Katy Lied): If you only listen to the lyrics of the chorus, this track sounds vaguely romantic. However -- when you listen to the verses -- it turns out to be about a pedophile.

Peg (from Aja): Punctuated by the soaring background vocals of Doobie Brothers frontman Michael McDonald, this is another song that initially seems like a conventional love story. But upon further review, it appears that Peg is actually a struggling porn star, making foreign movies in ``blueprint blue.''

Time Out of Mind (from Gaucho): It's not clear what this tune is about, but Fagen admits regret over including the line tonight when we chase the dragon, which is slang for smoking opium. ``In that particular case, we made an error. We used a drug term that we thought was terminally obscure, without intending it to be so restrictive. But sometimes it doesn't matter what you write. Sometimes you make up words or phrases and later find out they mean something else in real life. That happens to science fiction writers a lot.''

What a Shame About Me (from Two Against Nature): At first blush, this seems like a prototypical Dan tune where the writers stick it to a flawed protagonist. But Fagen describes it a little differently. ``A lot of times, when we stick it to somebody, we're really sticking it to ourselves. Like in this instance, the character sort of seems like a loser on the surface, but he also has this kind of personal honor. I think the ambiguity of that contrast is interesting. I mean, I don't know if we're necessarily sticking it to that guy or not.''

Chuck Klosterman can be contacted at cklosterman@thebeaconjournal.com or by phone at 330-996-3758.

Bigtongbokes: That's how much quality concerts cost these days. And believe me - this one is worth every penny and then some.

Life is too short to sweat money vs memorable and uplifting experience. You can't take the money with you, but the experience becomes a part of you.

just my humble o

rb

Going to my first Dan show, please tell me why ticket prices are so high? Does the price include drinks?

Cool...as long as there is no one else in the air. Can you say collision vector?

The SkyCar is very cool.

I've been following the Moller for about ten years now. I heard they flew a test version at a show in London earlier this year and that they are going to go through the FAA certification process. I've also heard reports these guys think these things will be about $300,000 each in 5 years. It's about time we got flying cars. They just need to add the greenhouse for good fresh things every day of the year.

90 minutes from New York to Paris...

Forget the Kamakiri, meet the vehicle of the not-so distant future:

http://www.moller.com/skycar/

George Jetson

Speaking of ticket prices and SFX . . . the Fox story left out the parking fees, the facility fees, the handling fees and the ticket service fees, all "'. . .charges you must pay before you walk in the door,' points out one concert veteran. 'As opposed to buying that Coke or T-shirt.'"

More at:
http://www.salon.com/business/feature/2000/06/27/tickets/index.html

One thing I love about Tomas' page, and I'd never thought I'd say this, is the MIDI stuff. He's doing solos note for note! Baxter's finest from "My Old School," Walter funking it up on "Josie," some great stuff.

I can't believe I'm listening to this.

Then again, Steely Dan sounds great on a pan flute, or even when Smash Mouth covers them...

I have seen my last concert. Anything after last nite's Dan performance at Blossom would be a let down.

KD & GuitarMan, Sorry, guys I stand corrected. I didn't follow your disussion from the begnning and opened my mouth when I should have kept it shut. I concede I have egg on my face. Baxter and Dias DO indeed have dissimilar styles. I actually wasn't thinking of the seperate solos when I responded, but instead my recall of the interview I'd read.

Craig

I like Guyton, he's perfect for the Triangle b/c all he has to do is shoot. I'm not sold on Fizer, like you, but I don't think the Bulls wanted either Miles or Swift (and I wanted Darius for Chi).

Darius, who made less than half his free throws in high school, had a little problem with one of the Bulls shooting drills.

The Bulls mark six spots on the floor, starting close to the basket and progressively moving further out. You have two minutes to advance as far as possible by making three consecutive shots at each spot and then moving on to the next one.

When his two minutes ended, Darius was still standing on the first spot.

Voskuhl's a terrible pick. Most people didn't even have him getting drafted at all. Orlando had to trade Alexander, the Mavs got him! Great draft for the Mavs, it feels even nicer knowing I had a hand in it. Crawford will be fine in the Triangle, and the Bulls got the best Euro chump of the flock.

Mr. LaPage: no way Skunk played that solo. Sure, he played the loud outro stuff, after "come on," but that middle solo section is all Denny. Do you really think Skunk could pull that off? Not a bent note to be found.

Skunk is fine and dandy, but nothing says "Denny" like that first solo. Even Broberg's page has:

Guitar: Denny Dias (1st solo)
Jeff Baxter (2nd solo)

YBTodd - I too am less inclined to Aja then to Scaming Royally or Lying With Katy

I love the excursions on Aja and Deacon but Peg and Josie, although fun and vintage Dan are too ready for airplay, and I miss the heavier emphasis on over wraught irony in the lyrics (which seem to take more a back seat on Aja)

I also don't like the fact that Aja opened up and made them more appealable to a much larger audience. I said it, I am a snob and enjoy it when the music I like isn't top ten fodder

One Long YEar, new Todd album
first two Rundren songs are keepers, cool,
third a lame techno jaunt,forth - a acoustic bang on drum with the lion sleeps tonight yaps - this is getting weird, okay
when I found it in the used store it wasn't a good omen (dud?)
nope, just a distributers copy and oh goody I didn't have to give $19 to those corporate scum suckers at Tower

can you say markup boys and girls?
I knew you could

craig - yes that Hiatian guitar is oh so killer
unless you have a hot passionate but heartless wife sqawking at you just like it ;-[

wormy t

tell us to stop.... before it's begun

Mr. LaPage writes:

"GuitarMan, The reason I answered the Bodhi solo question the way I did was in reference to an interview (found on Tomas Brobergs excellent site) where Fagen & Becker state that that particular solo was Baxter's and that, to the best of their knowledge, he conceived it without direct attribute or suggestion from outside sources.
I don't recall the exact words, but I'm certain that they credit Jeff with the solo in this interview."

Just goes to show you can't believe everything you read, Craig. It is ABSOLUTELY indisputable. Dias owns Bodhisattva. It's just that simple. Baxter does the rockin' outro and that's it. There IS no debate here... We're talkin' Steely Dan 101 stuff.

Like all great musicians, Baxter and Dias have their own VERY distinct and unique sound. Their two styles are utterly unmistakable.

GuitarMan, The reason I answered the Bodhi solo question the way I did was in reference to an interview (found on Tomas Brobergs excellent site) where Fagen & Becker state that that particular solo was Baxter's and that, to the best of their knowledge, he conceived it without direct attribute or suggestion from outside sources.
I don't recall the exact words, but I'm certain that they credit Jeff with the solo in this interview.

Your point is taken that both Baxter and Dias contibuted heavily in a dual capacity on many early Steely Dan numbers. That's probably the case on Bodhi since it filled with numerous distinct solos, but I haven't had a chance to listen to it since we began his theme.

I listened to Haitian Divorce this morning and I challenge everyone on the heels of yesterday's conversation to give it a good going-over. VOLUME 10! The Dean Parks solo is completely outstanding and really quite unique as far as melodic solos go.
It must have been such a treat for Becker and Nichols to belly up to the board (becker with talk-box tube firmly implanted in cheek) and add the freaky guitar effect. The fuckin' guitar work on this song is incredible. I get CHILLS!

Craig

mlp- I fully understand the attraction of Aja. Upon further review, I was a bit extreme in my vituperative ether, but I'm prone to that...especially when prone. I do very much like the other tunes on the album, and Chuck Rainey's bass work is worth the price of admission 1000 times over. It's just that my appreciation for the tunes is a bit higher in my body than the earlier works.

Now for a different thought...what about the drummer? I find that this might be more of an influence than the guitar changes. 2vN is pretty damn straight-up drumming, and there isn't a lot of funky feel (GA notwithstanding). Not that that is inherently bad, but it is much different than Purdie/Gadd/Pocoro, etc. One of my big complaints with AIA is that most of the tracks are from '94. While Dennis Chambers is a great drummer, I thought he was too much for the tunes, and that Erskine was (to quote the album notes) "perfect".

Mr. LaPage wrote:

"KD, the Bodhi solo that you rightly shower with such lavish praise was conceived and performed by one Jeffrey "Skunk" Baxter."

Baxter does the outro... The rest is Denny's. The jazz inflections give it away...

ybtodd, That's a mighty big statement about 'Aja' for a danfan to make. I respect your opinion.

Aja is my absolute favorite Steely Dan album! Hands down! It's the place where all roads meet concerning my love of music. The lyrics, melodies, themes, solos, horn charts, musicianship, epic scope all combine to kick my ass with every listening. I can't explain it but it's been this way for nearly 25 years.

KD, the Bodhi solo that you rightly shower with such lavish praise was conceived and performed by one Jeffrey "Skunk" Baxter.
Perhaps you're referring to a particular version of the song but even the 'Jerome Aniton' introduced version features Jeff's chops.

Tom, where'd that nifty parody come from? Chortle, Snort, Guffaw!
I'm with you on running out and buying Todd's new offering. A wizard indeed!

Robin, your Cleveland review was truly magical. Your reflections caught the true heart of the evening better than any review I've read to date concerining this summer's tour.
Hope you regale us again folowing the Pittsburgh show.

It's true, no discussion about Steely Dan sax men can be complete without paying homage at the feet of "The King of 'The Delaware Water Gap Jazz Fest' Phil Woods.

Craig

"[...] AJ Guyton and El-Amin are nice 2nd round picks, but Pfizer can't play small forward and did Krause need the cash that bad when Jamal Crawford was available anyway. It appears Krause was caught with his pants down (that's an ugly thought!) when Swift and Miles were picked earlier than expected[...]"

What?

Ooops, sorry wrong forum...

ybtodd - yes but "why be Todd" when you have just opened the lock to Dan Nirvana -

yes grasshopper, the universe now resolates at your frequency
the frequency of OF (no, worm's do not stutter)

no sacred cows here batman, I think he's on to something
Moo Moo, no no no, it's Mu Mu, oops Wu Wu

Of - King OF the World, West OF Hollywood, Caves OF ALtimira, Change OF the Guard, Pearl OF the Quarter, TIme Out OF Mind

Doc Mu - yes I know Larry played that choice non in your face guitar on Nightfly, but I couldn't fit it into the song stanzas and make it swing, sorry

worm OF the quarter

I wanna be your holy man

wheeling

last night I finally picked up my Heritage guitar out of layaway guitar heaven

the lawyers can't have it all, thank God

anyway this red H150p is every bit the Les Paul
with a lot better headgear and made by the same guys that brought you those luscious 57's and 58's

boy is it a pleasure to play

now if I could only learn a few dan tunes

I think I'll play around with Bad Sneakers
that one looks doable and I can steal Walt's chops off the DVD

toodles from the topsoil

Tom

with a "tran" sister and a large sum of money to spend

KD: Incredible sheeling and dealing by Mark Cuban. My head is spinning...he had Versace on the run. I like this guy.
Orlando keeps Courtney Alexander and paves the way to get some BIG free agents under the salary cap: Grant Hill and maybe Duncan, who ironically might stay because of their excellent catch of another Blue Devil Chris Carrawell - who was drafted low for shoing up in class instead of the camps. Couldn't believe the Bulls passed him over for "Twiggy" Voskhul. Could you explain what the hell the Bulls were doing? AJ Guyton and El-Amin are nice 2nd round picks, but Pfizer can't play small forward and did Krause need the cash that bad when Jamal Crawford was available anyway. It appears Krause was caught with his pants down (that's an ugly thought!) when Swift and Miles were picked eariler than expected...then realized that Mihm was too white, so he picked a slower European center who don't know how to use their bodies at the NBA level.

Sigmoidal Segmented Sargossum: But don't forget the adaptation of Carlton to more tasty, smooth, jazzy accents on The Nightfly!

"Read into this what you will, but 'Aja's my favorite Dan album, as it is with most of us."

Well, I guess I'm not most of us, because Aja is most definately *not* my favorite SD album. While I have softened my stance some over the years, I always considered that album the end of SD (in fact, I don't even own a copy of Gaucho). Maybe it's because of all the airplay DB and Peg got, but once I get past Home at Last, and pick my jaw up after listening to Gadd's work on Aja, I move on.

I'd be really hard pressed to pick a favorite from the first 5...maybe KL, but it would be the slimmest of margins. I do like 2vN quite a bit, and put JofS up with any Dan tune ever penned (WofH is a killer to).

Hey...maybe that's it. The best SD songs are one's with "of" in the title...

OOPS!!! Try this for ticket prices - not boat trailers - has anyone else noticed that the precipitace increase in concert tickets has mirrored the fact that SFX now has a virtual monopoly on venues?
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/062800/ticketprices.sml

Q - did the emails arrive?

sorry I couldn't resist
a treaty on Walt and Guitar Aces and Warm Places

to the tune of Jack of Speed

Larry's flying fingers - outta sight
he slammed on Scam - playing oh so tight
But he's gone - no more frontal guitar attack
He's gone - Walt's chops oh so laying back
Carlton's almost metal, when his sixstring sings
He's a jack of speed

Aja's abstractions - there's a case in point
don't need no shredding in this jazz club joint
Wailing's gone - all the feedback to apease
It's gone - no stinging lead
Walt's grooving with the bluesters, funkin with the newsters
Ain't no Jack of Speed

On to horns and jazz grooves in their later years
Skunk and Denny gone, as they've shifted gears
to the... slower sidekicks
and the sombre jests
and Walt new best friend ain't a Tele or a Les

He can't wail you, honey - that's alright
His chops aren't Larry's but they still delight
Don't stop - with those choice notes - Walter's tame
Don't stop, the bare midrifters plead
cause while Herrington's been the guitar rave
Walt's hanging in the Vick Cave
no Jack of speed

wormy

Ticket prices out of control:
http://www.swfishing.com/fentressmarine/images/fentcat10.jpg

Pre Cleveland show article:
http://www.cleveland.com/music/index.ssf?/music/features/0623steely.html

Hard to believe Wilkes Barre would have been tomorrow ans they are playing Saratoga Daturday - which is pretty close to where I'll be - so close and yet so far. The east coast leg officially starts. See you there.

RObin - thanks for a memorable insight into Cleveland
I enjoyed your insights into the show
Cleveland is up there with Detroit and Jersey as having the most appreciative and rocking fans

MR LaPage and Dr Mu and Dan Boy Dave and others
thanks for jumping so nicely into the guitar thread
I certainly was inspited by JMONEY's guitar shredding comments
and felt wait a minute, wasn't Scam where they started abandoning the guitar as main messenger boy? Uh OH I feel a parody coming on

StevieD- the Tower here in N.O. had the new Runt in I am sure
I just was busy - so is it a Toddlerian keeper or another diversion???
If it's a keeper I will wiggle down to the Quarter at lunch for my ear candy fix, don't keep me in suspense too long

wnet home and got my walt fix ala TaN plush DVD
overwelming obvious conclusion? simple
Vicki Cave has a very nice ass

Tom

I stepped up on the platform, the man gave me the news

June 28th in Cleveland.

Home of Donald's parents (who look like the absolutely sweetest and nicest folks a person could have).

A perfect night--temps in the high 60s, low 70s, the sky patterned with the occasional cloud.

Site of an impromptu DanFest in the parking lot, where like minds from 3 states celebrated their love of the Dan, along with libations and sustenance.

The venue--the beautiful wooded parklike Blossom Music Center, located between Cleveland and Akron, to be exact.

The crowd--numerous, I am guessing around 15,000--filling the greatest part of the lawn, with few available seats in the pavilion. Walter seen scanning the crowd; a screen onstage showing a view of an area of the lawn (what was up with that?).

I have loved these guys for over 25 years--their music takes me to places that I can go to no other way. After seeing the show tonight, my admiration for their talents and achievements has increased (if that is truly possible). My voice is hoarse from all the cheering--I have had little sleep--and I'm ready to do it again!

Everyone was on. The Cleveland crowd was duly appreciative (at least in my area--left front section of the pavilion). The majority of songs received a standing "O" accompanied by many cheers and yells. There were a few dancers in the aisle, but the largest group started at the front left, and gradually grew until the entire front of the pavilion was on their feet. After Kid C, I don't know if there were any folks left sitting anywhere!

The setlist was unchanged from recent shows, so I won't rehash that subject. What I will remember was the look on Jon Herington's face after the audience acknowledged his great guitar work (it was priceless). The smiles on Don and Walt's faces (I think they knew we liked them, we really liked them!). The band "testified", I know of no other way to describe what took place tonight. Every one of them did exactly that. Bob Shepherd--West Of Hollywood--sax solo--'nuff said. The enthusiasm exhibited by all members of the band toward the other members throughout the show. The audience--drumming, dancing, singing. So many people standing when Don introduced his family.

The band was so tight, so incredibly talented. Those who have seen them so far know what I mean. I can use all the words in the dictionary and still not be able to tell you how incredible they are. The surprises in the songs are great. I add my voice to the chorus of "release another live album"--I want a copy of everything!

Nothing--no concert, no televised show, no album can top this. I am a happy woman tonight. I know euphoria.

Thank you Donald, Walt, Cornelius, Bob, Michael, Jim, Ricky, Jon, Ted, Tom, Vicki, Carolyn, and Cynthia. Bless you all. It was a fabulous evening we spent together. I hope you enjoyed it, too. I look forward to doing it again Sunday in Pittsburgh.

Robin

NOTHING from Cleveland... Big Fan, where are you when we need you?
Somehow I knew all this talk-box talk would degenerate into a discussion on the virtues of Peter Frampton... agh...
Contest: how many times did the words "onhoops.com" appear in last night's discussions? Winner gets a free tatoo of said words on his/her forehead.

Later...

should be paying attention to guests, but fark it...

"Shine On," favorite, "Smokin'" second.

and I know "Smokin'" was a hit, but "Shine On"'s first side is as good as it gets.

I think we're prejudiced to Phil b/c he plays Alto. I just listened to it meself.

I love me some Crowes. The only two rock songs that my band covered last year were "79th and Sunset" off "Shine On" and "Hard to Handle," although we went closer to the original than the Crowes version. Other than that, twas straight R+B.

Actually, we threw in that "Your Gold Teeth" I and II medley, seriously, and Big Star's "She's a Mover" in most of the gigs, so I'm full of shit.

"Smokin'" smokes, but it misses the Frampton touch among all the Marriott bombast. And I love Steve, I have all the Small Faces albums, to only one Faces album.

KD I'm with you on the PIE, however for me their best was with Frampton out on his......own: Smokin'. I played this album for my nephew and he wanted to know which Black Crowes album it was. Come to think of it, I liked 'em better when they were called Humble Pie. Rock On KD.

I have a hard time separating the solo elements from the tunes themselves. Sometimes I might like a solo more because I like the harmonic jungle gym on which it hoists itself.

All I know is we've been talking SD horns for virtually hours here and no one has typed the name "PHIL WOODS".

Super MC let me pop a cap in da whack listbot,
dat mac daddy ain't tipped me new jack squat.
I am attempting to help Ole finalize some of the later ambiance.
She is temporarily off da hook, but fret not, she is all over the case.

Worm: The lowsoil is DEEP man, really DEEP. Also man, the Rundgren came out Tuesday. Your store don't got it ? They SUCK. My store has it at the TOP of the waterfall, you know, up where my employees thought 2VN was to be PERMANENTLY located. Most albums get one week. 2VN holds the record at "enough that I can't recall".

Something DanBoyDave said (for a rookie that boy prods us...a good thing for sure) about the absence of pedal steel made me think about the pulling in of the wagons, the refinement of the pool. A carefully placed (is there any other danplan ?) guest soloist OTHER than a guitarist or saxophonist would be interesting occasionally. One's unbridled fantasy might turn to say a Toots Thielemans or a Bela Fleck. Bill Ware's vibes were the absolute deal. We couldn't afford to have him back ? A kick ass Zappalevel percussionist ? An ACCORDIAN ? Everybody uses 'em these days. BETTER: Bandoneon. Yessss !!! Forget Larry Carlton. Think DINO SALUZZI. Oh YESSS !!!

Just when I said Aj' I can't dis,

She was wasted, then she says this.

No, she left "King" on the floor,

What do you think I'm writing forrrrrrrr?

I'll drop her on the freeway,

Doesn't she need to dance?

Lord I know you're all Steely fans,

But you don't seem to understand.

You're naive nudniks with no place to go,

Post again tomorrowwwwwwwwww.

my bud Lo, great friend and lacrosse player at Mizzou, heard "King of the World" and went nuts. Fell in love with it. He's been slowly Steely every since.

I should stop typing, my wrists are about to explode. Mostly because of this:

http://www.onhoops.com/content/articles/Jun2000/2000draft.html

6,000 words of fun!

I'm a whore, I'm a whore, I'm a whore whore whore...

What a wonderful day of posts! You cats did a great job.

I'm going with "Katy" as my favorite, mostly on the strength of Denny's heart-wrenching work on YGTII.

Sorry to add to all the acronyms, or should I say, STATATA.

I always wondered about "The Fez." You could tell it was a talk box, but it wasn't being used in the usual way. Usually the box is used to actually emulate words, save for a few classic rock hits, but this was different. That and I read that Dean or Elliott played it, and Walter added the box.

I don't have a good talk box history. I've never played with one (I reckon you can't exactly try that tube out and give it back), and I don't own "Frampton Comes Alive." Now, my collection is thick with Humble Pie albums, just no Frampton (I don't like his stuff, although it's obvious the Pie's best work is with him on board).

"Shine On" is bloody brilliant. Speaking of guitar tones you can sink your teeth into.

Does this mean he sent the tape through a 1/4 inch jack through the box, through an amp, and recorded again? Did he copy the part and play it again through the box? What's up here?

Also, although "Bodhisattva" gets listed under full-on shred mode, I'd put Denny's in the jazz category. No bent strings, amazing stuff. That solo still blows me away, every damn time. How many times have we heard that song? Billions, with all the live versions floating around. Do I feel the same way about the "Peg" or "Josie" solos? Nup, they get old (well, about as old as Dan songs can get). Denny doesn't.

Favorite guitar albums, Dan-wise:

Katy Lied
TvN
Countdown
Royal Scam
Pretzel Logic
Gaucho
Can't Buy a Thrill
Aja

Read into this what you will, but 'Aja's my favorite Dan album, as it is with most of us.

R.I.P. Paul Griffin and Jerome Richardson. I'm listening to "Dirty Work" right now. Man, this hits hard.

Add me to the list of "King of the World" volume crankers. I heard that song before I knew Steely Dan very well, and I immediately rushed to Tower and kept buying Steely CD's until I found that song (I didn't know the correct name). You can imagine the delight of exploring unknown Steely terrain looking for one song.

"King of the World" stands out from all the other numbers because it is the only song (I believe) that communicates such raw despair. The tone of most Steely songs tends to be subdued (and by that I mean expressing cynicism, irony, disillusionment, etc.) but "King of the World" jumps at you with emotion, both in the tone of Fagen's voice and the music. "Don't Take Me Alive" by contrast sounds smooth, even though the theme is desperation.

The other song that stands out is "Aja". Though no one knows for sure what it's about, it's the only song that portrays longing for something positively. Or longing after something positive.

On second thought, I think I'll fire up "Aja".

'night, all.

Aja

Tom, thank you for starting the wonderful guitar theme today. It really brought back some pleasant memories and I also listened to some of the songs we discussed today with 'fresh ears'

Dan Boy,RE: The Horn thing. Both Fagen & Becker are on record as late as 1997(AJA's 20th anniversary) as saying that Tom Scott was as much a part of the album's success as anyone. They state that they gave him complete autonomy as far as the horn charting was concerned and that he took the responsibity very seriously and composed some of the slickest most innovative charts ever recorded in a popular music format.
Also, his sax work on Black Cow ain't too shabby either!

The compliation of Tom Scott, Wayne Shorter and Pete Christlieb make Aja a very memorable sax album for me though it's clear that the work of Chris Potter on the new disc rivals the best of SD's session men.

Craig

How does one write a melody as beautiful as the verse in Almost Gothic over such an illogical chord progression? Divine intervention.

Mr. LaPage...

Thanks for the insights on LC's work on Kid C and DTMA...in celebration of my newfound knowledge, I decided to turn the vol up XTRA loud on the way home from work and I listened to DTMA with a fresh set of ears...quite extraordinary I must admit.

I actually had been a fan of LC's since some of his early solo efforts (Strikes Twice is an exceptional body of high-energy work just perfect for that cherry-red ES335 he used to sling around)...I actually saw him live a couple of time when I used to live in No. Cal...if you've ever seen him, especially prior to the attack, you'd have to agree that no one played the the guitar with such grace and seeming ease as LC.

It's really too bad, on multiple levels, that he suffered the gunshot...he's really never been the same since...I've tried to listen to his newer works but they lack ANY of the intensity found in his early solo works and in his Dan portfolio.

So, I guess we can thank our lucky stars that LC was in his prime when Walt and Don pulled out the little black book.

who was that gaucho amigo?

DBD

I am afraid I am in the same position as another poster to this GB. I didn't even think about getting a t-shirt at Pine Knob, and realized I never got one after I got home. (The mind is the first to go)
I would never ask,normally. I usually get tattoos to mark points in my life. I have enough of those.
Could I ask nicely for someone to help me out? Any sites I might go to?
If this is possible, an offline E-Mail would be wonderful.

there were somber pieces sans dominant guitar before Scam

it's just that the in your face guitar domination of the song certainly started to receed with a large number of the compositions on Scam

as for Horn Players - those were way back too
although they evolved into a minimalist formula where they blended so well

Tom Scott certainly cut his teeth here

the non 4/4 time signatures and extended sections predominantly not guitar driven nicely expanded the dan's aural canon

wormy

they got a name

both links take you to the same place, but www.steelydamned.com has cool pix.

http://lebarbat.com/damned.htm

Craig, Midnite-you can access the Steely Damned songs at www.steelydamned.com and click on "samples". Yes Midnite, Hank sure does nail those licks, doesn't he? Steely Damned is playing July 3 and I'll be able to dance for 4 hours straight with no one asking me to stay out of the aisles :)

Aja

Craig....as you've read since our posts, it is the box with the tube that comes up to and is usually taped to the side of the mic. That's one reason most people didn't want to "play" anyone elses, you never know where that guys mouth has been. *lol*

As for what I think, it's brilliant! I thought it was just the coolest sound when I first heard it back in the '70's. By the way, did you ever hear Hank Easton (I think that's his name) from the Steely Damned (lovebob & Peg's Steely cover band) play the Haitian Divorce solo? Bob had a real audio link posted to it here at one time and Hank nailed that sucker! The man can play some serious Dan licks and melodies. If you haven't heard it maybe you can persuade Bob or Peg to dig it out of the archives and post it again.

Ground Control to Major ole....when you get home from the road, please send me a note with details on Raleigh. I think the list-bot has crapped out on me.

whoever it was that said the My Old School/Beat collage from JW's West of Hollywood Gallery was interesting, I appreciate the input. I like Clas's work as it's more of a conventional art style and I like John's work because it's a bit more surreal and out there. Very nice variety in the gallery. More folks from the Guestbook should contribute!!

MC

ybtodd

Yeah, to your point about the poor DJ who dropped the needle on DIA for the first time...I can only smile slyly when I envision his or her reaction...certainly wasn't along the same lines as the Jackson 5 or the Guess Who or that famous power trio Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds Wrap...god, to think I even remember those bozos.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another thread for consideration...

We talked earlier about the metamorphasis of the Dan from the early guitar influences a la CBAT, CTE and PL...how about the evolution of the jazzy, horn-based sound following RS...Dr. Mu and the slithering, slimy one have all advanced how RS was kind of the turning point...I'm wondering about everyone's ops on the changes in horn players and how different player's horn styles may have affected the band's sound...or is it opined that Walt and Don are so in control of the charts that the parts are interchangeable?

I'll learn to work the saxophone...

DBD

Roy/DBD: Yes, yes yes. I think I once blew some speakers out when Pearl of the Quarter started...I had cranked the ending of My Old School way high to hear that last descending lick...

I actually couldn't narrow down a particular "guitar" album. All of the first 5 have their repsective moments (and Aja has some very sublime stuff). One thing that still gets me is trying to imagine the thoughts of radio station dj's when they unwrapped Can't Buy a Thrill and dropped the needle on "Do it Again" for the first time. The face of music changes yet again...

It certainly is the Heil Talk Box effect (No wah-wah no way!), but whether that actual device was used ...?

The devices are pretty easy to make. A smallish driver directing moving air into a tube. Tube in mouth. Shape tonal changes with mouth.

Roger could have built one with a speaker, some duct tape, and a garden hose. Or bought one.

Blaise/no that's MC: "The thing that I found most inaccurate was this big thread where Webb said D + W did not connect with audience. I have been to hundreds of concerts, more than a dozen SD shows, and including all three midwest shows this past weekend. I don't see how this critic could say that the band did not connect. Chicago was the hugest audience response I had ever seen, including previous SD, Grateful Dead, Phish shows and more. Except Milwaukee the night before, I had never seen so many standing ovations at a show--SD or otherwise. After "Kid Charlemagne" Sat Nite, there was one standing ovation that was at least four minutes long (5?) and Walter and Donald and all of the band were laughing their asses off since they couldn't move on to the next song, there was so much response. None of the Chicago papers mentioned this."

Yes, that is indeed the libelous part - that's the thing that really irritated me and prompted posting the review of the review a couple of "daze" ago...and he presented evidence in HIS OWN ARTICLE - how stoopid are these creatures?

MC again: You are correct you axe man you. There's been mention by a number of sources included Mssrs. Becker/Fagen that Roger Nichols built the box just for the purpose of that solo, now that my memory is prompted Frampton Comes Alive came out about the same time that Royal Scam was recorded, so I'm not sure if it is the same or just a similar device. Anybody know?

slithering centimetric scintilla: Well of course no one could make the album - if so my guess is cult following, but even better critic raves only if Steely Dan had never existed. The nouveau hip to be square thing ya know...

Roy.Scam...

glad to hear there's another believer who cranks up the vol. when Skunk breaks into the outro on KOTW...if that piece were any smoother, it would be a baby's ass!

DBD

me again - Actually the more "serious" the papers, the better the reviews. The second Toronto review posted is from The Globe and Mail which is Canada's answer to the New York Times or the Washington Post. The reporter is informed even though he remains brief in his comments (no spoiler here). The article manages to praise the concert and the new album while it clearly dismisses both the MMandI soundtrack and the No Static compilation. Bottom line: look for serious papers to get the better lowdown.

Blaise

Cruiser, Sorry, I'm not a guitarist. I really didn't know what the actual name of the device used on "Haitaian Divorce" was called. I do know that it is the same apparatus used by Frampton, on his Comes Alive album and Nazareth on Hair of the Dog. I've heard it referred to as a 'talk-box' by several guitarists though.

The device I'm talking about has tube thing running up the mike stand and into the guitarist mouth.

Now that we've got thatr out of the way; what do you think of Parks/Becker combination on the song?

Person Who Said They Would Get Me A T-shirt: Thanks a zillion! You Da Bomb! You Da Man! That's what you am - you gonna be my holy man!

With all this talk about guitar solos
wouldn't it be great to hear what Walter
and Jon could do with that Midnight Cruiser
solo? It would be HOT!

Also, I hear Boston Rag in a brand new way since
I heard it live. OoooWheee!

Matt & Amanda: Great site! Love the tour journal, fan shots, etc.

rb

WW: You asked whether people would prefer to hear "Dirty Work" as a solo by one of them women, or trading off.

I was at the Gorge, and while I was VERY impressed with Carolyn Leonhart's interpretation of the tune, I felt disappointed that I didn't get to hear the other two sing something.

At that point, I wasn't aware that they were taking turns with each new venue - so it felt (to me) as if Carolyn had been given an opportunity to prove herself, but the ability of the others was to some degree still a mystery to me.

I think each one getting a shot at a verse is a good idea. I would like to have heard it that way.

Regarding the Almost Gothic Negative Girl's writing about the Daily Herald's slam of the Chicago show, I stand right behind her.

As for the view that these critics should be ignored by us: I had three people, casual or non-Dan fans, write to me saying they had seen the reviews and sent condolences in advance about my probably having a bad time at Milwaukee and Chicago, based on the reviews.

These critics are libelous, writing about things they know little about. Sure there were some legit criticisms--like at Allstate, the sports arena acoustics created a delayed boom/echo on Ricky's drums.

The thing that I found most inaccurate was this big thread where Webb said D + W did not connect with audience. I have been to hundreds of concerts, more than a dozen SD shows, and including all three midwest shows this past weekend. I don't see how this critic could say that the band did not connect. Chicago was the hugest audience response I had ever seen, including previous SD, Grateful Dead, Phish shows and more. Except Milwaukee the night before, I had never seen so many standing ovations at a show--SD or otherwise. After "Kid Charlemagne" Sat Nite, there was one standing ovation that was at least four minutes long (5?) and Walter and Donald and all of the band were laughing their asses off since they couldn't move on to the next song, there was so much response. None of the Chicago papers mentioned this.

In terms of audience response, I would have to say it was amongst the best at a Steely Dan show. With the writer saying that Walter sang just "Daddy" when he really sang more later and then seemingly missing the many standing ovations, I can't help but wonder if this guy just stayed for the first set or something.

All three Chicago papers, a Detroit paper and now Toronto have all dissed the shows. All the reviews had errors from incorrect song titles, to major details omitted. I think these days, the cheap, faux way "critics" add "sophitication" to their reviews is to say they hate the show with flowery words. What a bunch of bullshit. No wonder people read the Internet instead while newspaper readership goes down.

Excerpts from the Entertainment Weekly review (by Rob Brunner) of the "Me, Myself, and Irene" Soundtrack: " There may be no band less suited to interpretation than the idiosyncratic Steely Dan.... ... predictably lame stabs at Dan classics. ... ... Save a decent 'Bad Sneakers' from the Push Stars, you can't buy a thrill on this execrable exercise."
My opinion: It's not that bad. I thought the Dan classics lent themselves pretty damn well to alternate interpretations. It's just that a few of the interpretations to which they lent themselves drew no interest.

My choice for guitar solo album: Katy Lied. I know Dias and Carlton are superhuman, but, on this one, mortals Becker and Derringer sat in beautifully.

Best guitar moments: 1) Becker's great use of the jazz cliche' of melodically quoting another song (Ellington's "Don't Get Around Much..") in the middle of the Black Friday solo. 2) The screaming, almost metallic guitar breaking up the quiet part in the middle of "Boston Rag".

Hope to see some of you at the Virginia beach pre-concert party. You bring the snails, and I'll bring the water and chess openings (I prefer the queen's gambit against novices).

Am I the only person who maxes the volume at the end of some SD songs just to hear the closing riffs of the fade out? [as in KOTW, Pretzel Logic, My Old School]

RS

and for what it's worth, Royal Scam is THE guitar album from the Dan....they're all great but this one stands out above the rest for me.

Re: Hatian Divorce....I keep hearing the effect Walter added to the guitar after the fact as "squawk box" and "wah-wah" and a few other things but isn't it a Heil Talk Box? The type used by Frampton on "Frampton Comes Alive" and used by Joe Walsh in the Barnstorm days and Joe Perry on "Sweet Emotion"? Maybe this is nit picking but I hate seeing a misnomer of this type. I've just been heavily into guitar since '76 and these little things bug me. Call me anal, I don't care but I like to call a spade a spade. I always wanted one of these units because I think it's a cool effect if used sparingly but since you need a PA (or at least a mic into something to hear the effect back) I never bought one. It does sound similar to a wah but is much more expressive.

oleander....can you e-mail me with details of the what to do, the where to go on dinner in Raleigh before the show? I'm not getting much from the list-bot lately, don't know if it's something to do with my hotmail or there just hasn't been much traffic? For a while I was getting several a day from the list bot? Hope to see you there along with our other friends from the Guestbook! Opti says Hi!

MC

new fodder

the new Patti SMith album is quite nice
the Continetal Drifters played some great new material
at Saturday nights homecoming (rush out and buy Vermillion if you do not have it already, and thanks me later)
The latest Peter Green - Robert Johnson sketchbook is nice

blaze - get out of the closet and shake it up there bud

I did mention Green Earrings

is there an existing Dan album that could be released today that would sound a bit dated??

how would TaN be received if a new band had put it out?

ponder ponder

oops the topsoil beckons

Tom

sorry angel, I must take what I find

Actually i'm almost a newbie. I'm just having fun with Edd's secret handshake. Yes, Dr.Mu, FM is forever burned into my brain because of the soloing. BTW, any new sound treats or do I have to settle for Springsteen?

Hi to all,
Blaze

other solos: A Dean Parks not quite worked out jazzy/light shredder on Here At the Western World. Beyond categorization on Surf and/or Die - 11 ToW. Jaazy blues on This Moody Bastard - 11 ToW.

Yeah, the total # of guitar solos is certainly on CBAT, but Subterrainian Tomesick Bruise and Mr. LaPage are right: the intro to Don't Take Me Alive and the outtro to KidC can't be beat for wizardry and power.

: Welcome

How could I forget FM, one of the definitive Dan solos...incredible tasty runs by Walter. Hey check this out: just before the sax solo Walter play plays almost a crying high note then a second lower pitch and volume note - a perfect lead-in. Do they remind anyone else of the hi/lo couplet that begins What A Shame About Me? Lower key but there's an eerie déja vu in there.

ah

life is this here gb

Dr Mu - gives the whole dictionary of guitar rush
and it seems CBAT and KL are just as guitar laden as RS

Mr Lapagian Craig - revels in more guitar insights

and a newbie without a name agrees with me
and therefore deserves a nice warm wormy welcome
would help to use a name for us to refer to

my whole intention on this thread was for those so strung (pun intended sixfold) on Royal Scam as the end all guitar Dan album that it really was a transition to songs less driven by the guitar as evidenced by Aja and Gaucho

and that the earlier albums hled more dominance from the fretboard

what's a worm to do

your everlasting sermon, you can see it

I agree with worm dude that CBST (Can't Buy Some Time) is
the most guitar-oriented album of the SD catalog.

I'm a newbie, anybody want to welcome me?

Dan Boy, It may surprise you to know that it is much documented that even though Fagen & Becker did put Carlton through his paces regarding session work, the famed solo in Kid Charlegmegne was done in 2 takes with the incredible outro done in a single taping.

The smokin' gun intro to Don't Take Me Alive was done in ONE unbelievable blurr of unsurpassed guitar chops by the no-longer-Dan-worthy-over-the-hill guitar maven; Larry Carlton!

Skunk's work throughout his Dan tenure is sublime. Great chops, innovative licks, nifty slide, blazing speed, worldclass technique.

Can't buy a Thrill is IMHO the most quality guitar-driven SD album to date with Royal Scam coming in a very close second.

I do tend to agree with Edd and some of the contributors to last week's guitar discussion that the guitar-heavy, licks-laden albums are for the most part, products of the past, though I do so love a kick-ass solo.

Once again, Becker's quality work on West of Hollywood feeds this primordial jone's just fine!

Craig

... and of course, FM (tone, grabs your spine and shakes it around a few times). I agree the movie was really bad but...

oozing neural network: lesse - here are the shredders/gut wrenchers (these are not the only guitar solos by any means). Did you mention Green Earrings?

Reelin' - CBAT
Midnite Cruiser - CBAT
Bodhisattva - CTE
Boston Rag - CTE
Rikki - PL
Night By Night (short) - PL
Black Friday - KL
Bad Sneakers - KL
close call w/ Daddy - KL
Chain Lightning - KL
accent on Any World - KL
KidC - RS
DTMA - RS
Haitian Div - RS
accent/outro on Fez - RS
Everything You Did - RS
last 1/3 of Green Earring solo (Randall) - RS
Peg - Aja
borderline w/ Josie - Aja
Third World Man - Gaucho
jazzy/gut borderline in My Rival - Gaucho

Lucky Henry - 11 ToW

KL would actually be close if it were not for the magnitude of shredding on DTMA and KidC

Skunk slide solos:

Brooklyn - CBAT
Razor Boy - CTE
Pearl of the Quarter - CTE

Typical Rock solo:

Change of the Guard - CBAT

More jazzy solos:

Do it Again - CBAT
Kings (some gut wrenching) - CBAT
Only a Fool (is there a solo really?) - CBAT
Turn That Heartbeat Over Again (awesome - underrated) - CBAT
Your Gold Teeth I - CTE
King of the World - CTE
Any Major Dude (a theme really) - PL
Pretzel Logic - PL
Rose Darlin' - KL
Your Gold Teeth II (you know the quote) - KL
first 2/3 of Green Earrings (Parks, Dias) - RS
Home At Last - Aja
I Got the News (another great Walter solo) - Aja
theme on Gaucho - Gaucho
What A Shame About Me - TvN
West of Hollywood - TvN
Cousin Dupree - TvN

Carlton's stuff on Nightfly
Junkie Girl - 11 TOW
Snowbound - Kama

I Don't Know What the Hell It Is:

Show Biz Kids - CTE
Gaslighting Abbie (TAFKAP imitation?) - TvN

I'm sure I've missed some, but back to work...

Personally, the reason I jumped on Andrew Webb, music critic extraordinaire, had very little to do with the fact that he gave the show a bad review or that he didn't *get it*. It was because his review was full of misinformation and idiotic statements. He didn't do his research very well, and the article was poorly written. I am assuming that someone paid him to attend the show and write the piece, and therefore, as a professional writer, he failed miserably.

Dan Boy Dave is on to something
and your enthusiasm is more than welcome here

I was waiting dangling as bait in a lonely fish bowl
and our new Indiana buddy takes the hook

The CBST songs are almost all driven by the guitar hysteronics

I expect more commentary
especially from you axe men

I know Larry's solos are awesome and you techies can revel in his tecnique but which album is really the most up front guitar sounding from start to finish

I think it says alot about the evolution of Don and Walt's writing style and the size of their little black phone book of studio ace's numbers

wormwood

so you grab a piece of something

Gotta jump in here...

Worm...absolutely Kid C and DTMA solos scream and you're right, I'm SURE that WB and DF worked LC until not only did the solo bleed, but so did his fingers!

An alternate suggestion as a heavy Dan guitar album might be CBAT...witness...

Do It Again - post Harrison-meet-the-Maharishi electric sitar...blew everybody away then and still does today

Change of the Guard - chunky, chord-based solo with a GREAT pick-down-the-fretboard treatment at the end...the cruiser slides into verse three...

Only a Fool - latin, tinged jazzy solo...updeat and hopeful

Reelin' - Elliot Randall scorches...'nuff said

Brooklyn - It's too bad the boys don't use the pedal steel much anymore...I challenge anyone to play a more soulful, introspective pedal steel than the Skunk on this homesick rhapsody

wormyone...Carlton, Parks, et al are absolute guitar heroes no doubt...but for diversity in a body of guitar work, I'd vote for CBAT...

responses and/or differs of op...

i crossed my old worm back in indiana, don't take me alive...

DBD

Wow! Check this out:

Not since Murphy did “Landlord” have we been treated to locution like this! Shot through with haunting melodies, patented Dan irony and superior “horn” work, this may be their best yet…

Jesus F.N. Krist
The National Probe

Guys

I was trying to contrast the shredding guitar mentioned by JMoney with the fact that most of Scam is actually more sombre in approach with the guitars playing less out fron troles much like AJA

Carpet Crawling Dr Mu - yes it's a choice guitar in Fez
but it isn't the defining in your face guitar that Kid C or DTMA is

ED - I stand behind my statements of those guitar solos having an intent purpose and imagery

sometimes a cigar is more than a cigar
and the one smoking it all to aware of it's ram ah fah kay shuns

as for Don't Take Me ALive

You don't think Don and Walt took Larry aside and said "Look buddy we want this real fugative take no prisoners type of guitar intro on this song - the guy is holed up, he just went on a rampage and I want the guitar to bleed profusely of the situation"

wormytonguetwister

with rage in your eyes and your megaphones

where can i find a site that will give a listing of what they have performed during this tour. none of the ones listed here
seem to provide for this feature.

Spineless SineWave Generator: Beside the Parks/WahWah killer hooks on Haitian divorce, there's a neat guitar accents and outro on The Fez: I think it's Elliot Randall - have to listen when I get home from the office

Mr Lapage wrote

I say let the masses scoff. It's cool belonging to something that by it's very nature is unconventional and rages against the prevailing zeitgeist. It was
my aversion to convention that caused me to eschew the crowd-pleasing sounds of groups like Zeppelin, Springsteen and The Who long ago.

~ ah

try growing up in the Midwest in the late 70's and liking Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, Roxy Music, Talking Heads and John Cale

my friends in high school couldn't get it and I didn't even try to convert them nor did I go along with them to Styx, Nugent and REO Speedwagon concerts

they could handle the Dan but they thought they were more the light rock fluff of other Ambrosia or Little River Band type groups, weird

wormy t

on the hill the stuff was laced

Bill C: Are you kidding me?

Aus

"In Kid C the frenetic guitar signifies the out of control aspects of the aging hipster and the danger that awaits him..."

"On Don't Take Me Alive the guitar intro signifies the tortuous path of the songs fugative - and the agression and force assembling to take him out..."

Wonderful imagery and interpretation, but it sounds like you're digging way too deep. These are 4 minute pop songs with guitar solos.

Hey Craig - good to have you back and glad the Windy City is in a state of you four eeh ahhh

I knew when I wrote it that Haitian wasn't mentioned intentionally
I do have to drag you and SoOut out to post somehow ;-]

I was talking in your face guitar ala Carlson or any other Dan accomplice

whereas Hiatian is more the squawk box emulating the couples heated arguing it doesn't drive the song it more pushes from the backside

passion mislaid can be a dangerous thing

so is Scam really the guitar album ala steely?

come on and bite into this thread

topsoilant thomass

oh no, no hesitation, no tears and no hearts breaking

Aussie- Just wondering...Do you live in NYC?

Tom, You failed to mention Haitian Divorce in your discussion of great guitar solos on the Royal Scam album. I feel that Dean Park's haunting and poignant work accompanied by Becker's ex-facto wizardry on the 'squwak-box' make this one of the most notable Steely Dan guitar songs to date. The sheer magic of this solo is it's visceral musical digression from frenetic banter to it's o-so-drawn-out sorrowful fade.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Chicago reviewer was a bit misguided in his criticism but such is the case for many music lovers today who did not catch the Steely Dan Tsunami during the bands heydey in the 70's. The 'uninitiated' hopelessly mired in the churning undertow created by the wave we've been riding since it crested somewhere west of La Cieniga circa 1975.

I can apreciate where he's coming from as I can imagine the legions of Springsteen fans vilifying me for not catching his amber wave/purple mountains majesty prairie fire back in the day.

We all don't collectively "get" everyone's overriding passion for their particular brand of music. Steely Dan music happens to be my favorite. Springsteen, Neil Young, The Stones, Jimmy Buffet, Garcia, Zappa; undoubtedly hold that particular position of esteem in countless other's hearts and minds.

I say let the masses scoff. It's cool belonging to something that by it's very nature is unconventional and rages against the prevailing zeitgeist. It was my aversion to convention that caused me to eschew the crowd-pleasing sounds of groups like Zeppelin, Springsteen and The Who long ago.

The reviewers are intitled to thier opinion.

I'm happy where I'm at.

Craig

Stop making us hungry
Beth wrangler's gotta take a break sometime
Gotta feed the machine
Steamer Heaven is empty
A couple of kids sitting high on the counter
The love that you need
Soon as he walks in the door, she's smiling
Covers his eyes with his hands

Robin: Great heads up! Thanks for the blast. The locomotive is moving and gathering speed I guess. Good news all around. And I hope that the article prompts a few to go rent Stanley Kubrick's classic Lolita....wonderwaif is right!

Expanding Man: Super post. Thank you for the colour. I'm literally jumping outta my skin. July 8.....I can taste the sweetness..........

And a million thanks to the others who've posted commenting on the shows...keep 'em comin'

Rockin' not too far away from Grammercy Park, Manhattan, NYC
Aussie

StevieD - how's that lowsoil doing?
so when's the new Todd release - aren't most things on tuesdays?

Hey Cara Mia Marsha - if Ole's done twisting your arm, I'll second the persuasion for you to do Raleigh, look forward to meeting you there

I ran into the owner of my fav musician store the other night in a coffee shop, with him was a rep for one of his PA lines who also has and runs a studio in Austin. We talked Stevie Ray who he had worked with extensively and somehow the conversation went to summer touring bands. He is friends with Mr Nichols and flew up and saw the Vegas show. He was overwelmed that the Dan would send their studio ace out on the road to try to capture that sound in large venues

~ ~ ~ ~

new thread (well sorta)

the Walt/Carlton debate of last week - funny thing is only 3 songs on Royal Scam really feature runaway let loose guitar
Kid C, Don't Take Me Alive and Green Earrings

In Kid C the frenetic guitar signifies the out of control aspects of the aging hipster and the danger that awaits him

On Don't Take Me Alive the guitar intro signifies the tortuous path of the songs fugative - and the agression and force assembling to take him out

Green Earrings is just a more blues jam related song in the vein of Bohis

most of the album is actually more sombre pieces based on piano or with the guitar used to complement not shred, a trend that would go full cycle by Aja

so just what is the most guitar laden Dan album? may surprise you

send your thoughts and illustrious portrays to the GB

wormy

a wise child gets right out of here

Dandom...

StevieDan...thanks for the welcome...I agree with you about the reviewers being geared to modern rock...the media ought not to send boys to do men's work...to understand the game, you have to play the game.

Parts Department...better late than never...sounds like you're now "complete"

Razor and Expanding Man...thanks for the great reviews...until Black Friday the 21st, I can only sit, read and sing along...

Clas...no need to close the book after Stockholm...the Dan lives forever!

Now I've been reading all this stuff about Jon Herrington...I've seen him on the DVD and I agree that he is one outrageous m*fr...he can really make that 335 sing...I also agree that Kid Charlemagne is the solo on which new players should be judged...but, I'd like to suggest another very tasty jam that in my opinion gets far less notoriety...the Skunk's work at the end of "King of the World" is simply one of the smoothest and best guitar riffs you'll ever hear. I would love for the boys to turn Herrington loose on that one for about 4-5 minutes!!

So, Walter, if you're watching, how about a heaping helping of KOW in Raleigh, followed up with a kirschwassa and a couple of cobalt cigarettes...

I think my face is on fire...

Dan Boy Dave

http://www.globeandmail.com/gam/Music/20000628/UDANNM.html

http://www.canoe.ca/JamConcertsR2Z/steelydan_062700.html

Clas...wait a minute here, what's this....when I first entered this GB I followed the comments on Home at Last and lots of other Danabouts ..now it seems some of us have run into a wall ...is there something in the water overthere in Sweden, maybe???

But hey, if you feel like closing the books, it's your choice..only hope you'll do that in a less dark manner...

Bye now, Gina

For some reason I listened to "The Nightfly" yesterday. A lot of memories came running like bills at the end of the month. But except for the memories the songs brought up, I was again struck by how great that record is. It's so sharp and the lyrics are at its best.

And I realize that Gary Katz had a great deal to do with the soundpicture of the old Steely Dan. I think it's too bad he's no longer working with Fagen/Becker.

"Kamakiriad" is a great album, sure, but there is something wrong with it, can't put my finger on it. Maybe it's the coldness, or George Wadenius enervating picking, or the lack of melodies. I never listen to that CD nowdays.

"11 Tracks Of Whack" is Walter Beckers sketchbook with some good lyrics and a couple of good songs. Nothing more. I never listen to that CD either.

"Two Against nature" is great, sure but, hey, can't help thinking how it would have sound with Gary Katz as the producer.

I will finally see and hear the Steely Dan live September the 1st, the band that has been such a great part of my life, not only for the music, also for their attitude, their arrogans and for the feel that there are two people that I have a certain relationship (affinity, kinship) with.

I guess it's time to close the books after the concert here in Stockholm.

Clas (child of the Bad Sneakers era)

Escargot...stuff is CRAP...I'm sorry.

Conversely worm, some of the most nourishing food is hard to swallow. I love Todd's balladry as well. He usually includes at least one that's worth much more than the price of any CD. First tune on this new one, however, is "I Hate My Frickin' I.S.P.". Another tune is entitled "Jerk". He may even do some rappin', as he did brilliantly on tr-i. But I also see an apparent remake of "Love of the Common Man". Sounds like a winnah ! Oh you take the topsoil & I'll take the lowsoil and I'll be in Alltel at nearly the same time as ye.

Welcome to DanBoyDave

Gee guys, these are MODERN ROCK critics. What do you EXPECT ? These are the same guys that just love stuff like....well nevermind...I'm sure I'd insult somebody...forget it. However, our local M.R.C. who is usually totally F.O.S. is amazingly a HUGE SD fan. One of the two times a year I'd agree with him is his customary Glowing-Like-Hickory-Embers review of the Dan. That's just one reason that I KNOW this planet was put here for me !

Gina, the weather ? These boys bring the weather with them. I saw Browne/Raitt/Hornsby/Colvin in a virtual hurricane. One of my absolutely most memorable rock shows. Now, not from the lawn of course, but I was soaked. It didn't matter. With SD it definitely won't matter. Just as long as the voltage holds out the power will flow.

Hello all. It's been great meeting and talking with all of you. I know some of you said you would be at various shows throughout the tour, and if you want to get back together with us, just email and let us know.
Also, for those of you who are looking for setlists, comments on the shows or even pictures, head over to our website at http://members.aol.com/lovethisgig/ and check it out.
Hope to hear from all of you soon, and for those of you who haven't been to any of the shows yet, we're looking forward to meeting all of you as well.

Hey guys, i saw Steely Dan in Chicago a few days ago. Needless to say, it was awsome, one of the best shows i have ever seen. But i forgot to bring my wallet and was very upset that i didn't get a shirt. I was wondering if there is any place online a can get a shirt, or if there is somebody willing to send me one for some money?? I really wanted one. Thanks.
JJ

ChiRival---- The getting up and moving thing applied to the Pine Knob show as well. Lots of movement, but I was lucky to be in an isle where folks came to see the show. My wife first made this observation, I was too busy being mesmerized to pay much attention.
WB seemed to graciously defer to young
Mr. Herrington on the intense solos, but I believe Walter has the market cornered on his particular style, which to my untrained ear, is hard to define. He does it all so very well.
The dry wit, to those of us who usually get the joke, is a welcome ice breaker for the new Dan fan.
Do I wish the concert would go on for a lot longer? Yes I do.
Do most of us understand there are many pressures involving the playlist. Yes we do. I would like to have heard Gaucho, Barrytown,Any Major Dude,Here at the Western World and others.
The selections I most identified with were Bad Sneakers, and Deacon Blues. Unbelievable!
I am a late bloomer when it comes to this GB and a late bloomer when it comes to SD's complete works,
(got the box set a few months ago) but as I stated in another post, I have been a fan of the Dan music I had for a lot of years. I missed out on a lot of their best music on a detour through the different styles of rock as my years progressed.

Just the ravings of a born again Steely Dan fan. And thanks to the rest of you all here, as the folks at my workplace could give a sh>t less to hear my rantings. I get laughed at for liking Peter Frampton,too!

Robin: Excellent find of great significance. It appears inded that the guys have indeed primed the pump. Throw back the little ones and pan fry the big ones... First, TvN, tour, "see you next year", now this! Pinch me!!

Still trying to face real life here while the aftershocks of Trifecta settle in......

blazed - sorry, didn't get the memo on what should be posted here vs. the Digest. Could ya forward dat one? (and the reference to YGT2 should not, was not, nor evah was intended to imply that the boys played it....not without express written consent of the Commish...)

Razor - did the sign make it out to Day-twah?

wonderwa*f - you're as endearing as they get! 'Twas a pleasure meeting you and your better half.....me and my better half hope to see ya at future concerts, and we'll schlep you around anytime...been to dat Chinese place already, btw.......

Some recollections, synaptically etched:

The 5 younguns at the Mwa-kee pre-concert; always nice to see fresh blood keeping the faith...

Talking to Hoops on the cell pre-concert, knowing that he, Moonflower, Pete, and Shari were turned around on the Hoan Bridge...

Walter referring to the Trifecta at the Marcus - my clenched fist raising from the 5th row, and him nodding at me in acknowledgment...

Ricky's asskicking solo in Josie in Milwaukee - made up of three segments, actually......standard snare, cymbals, mounted toms, and bass, changing into an all-tom segment, followed by cymbals and double-pedaling bass segment. It freaking ROCKED. And Razor was right; the man never did stop smiling...

Ted's melodical, lyrical solo between Janie Runaway and Josie...in Chicago (I don't recall if he did it in Milw), just before he starts with the intro chords to Josie, he makes a final, subtle, and BREATHTAKING quote of the last two lines of Janie Runaway....

Bob Sheppard's solo on WOH.....he had it on both nights.

Something Pam (my partner in crime) noticed during Royal Scam -- the Leonhart siblings both play tambourine during the song, and with the exception of the BG vocals during the chorus, they kept flashing looks and goofy faces to each other that only bruthuh and sistah can get away with....

Walter NAILING the vocals on MIYS....

The midriff section taking the vocals in "Dirty Work", soloing the verses and harmonizing the chorus (I guess that's why they call it the chorus....)

The ovations BOTH nights for Mr. Herington's solo, on Kid C....and let's not kid ourselves, it's the guitar solo we ALL use as an acid test when the boys bring in a new guitarist...from what I've read here in the GB, he even outdid himself in Detroit.....

Watching a hotly contested ping-pong match between Ricky and Cynthia backstage before the Chicaaaguh show....and meeting Cornelius, Jon, Michael, and Carolyn backstage after the Chicaaaguh show....and what absolutely kind and gracious people they all were.

The video-fest at both post-concert venues.....and just like DanFest '97 in Chicaaaguh, "Decade" on the jukebox at the Clark Street Ale House....

And there's still too much to mention.......I'll gather my thoughts for more comprehensive reportage later on. Until then, talk amongst yourselves. I've gotta get back to work.

Peace. And keep the faith.

Expanding Man

A little of the usual, with something to look forward to this fall:

http://www.cleveland.com/music/index.ssf?/music/features/0623steely.html

LOL!!!!! A reporter caught in his own Webb:

First he sez -

"...Instead, the Dan relied on lesser-renown singles like "Bodhisattva" and "Josie," to score points with the enthused crowd of Steely Dan experts. The band proved they didn't need to bring out their biggest hits to please their fans; however, it didn't take much,..."

"...Although they returned to touring in 1992, Saturday's show was Steely Dan's first Chicago performance in support of "Two Against Nature," their first album in 19 years. Audience response to new songs like "Jack of Speed" and "Cousin Dupree" was strong although misguided..."

"...Of course, as far as denying your art to pander to the audience, Becker hit a home run when, between songs, he remarked, "Daddy don't live in New York City but Daddy sure is happy to be playing in Chicago."..."

"The encore featured the only song recognizable to a non-Dan fan, "My Old School," during which the back-up singers cooed "Guadalajara just won't do" and Fagen, with the crowd, answered, "I'm never going back to my old school!""

But THEN he inexplicably ATTEMPTS to argue:

"...Steely Dan seemed to have a problem connecting with their audience who were sitting patiently during each of the 22 songs performed..."

"...Steely Dan's inability to connect with the fans may be due to the glossy performance of songs that should have at least a hint of an edge to them..."

Is Webb a product of public schools, post-modern day liberalism or is he schizophrenic or just plain stoopid? We report - You decide!

OR is he covering up the fact that HE JUST DOESN'T GET IT:

"Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, the duo that make up '70s jazz/pop meddlers Steely Dan, avoided what are possibly their three most well-known tracks, "Do It Again," "Reeling In the Years" and "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" at their Allstate Arena performance this weekend."

"..."Black Friday" and "Don't Take Me Alive," the latter being the most upbeat song about a hostage situation, were both performed entirely too up for their subject matter. Three back-up singers in low-cut tops should not be ooh-ing along to a song called "Black Friday."

...Fagen introduced the last song of the first set, "West of Hollywood," as being a "sad, dismal" number off of the new album. The exact purpose of his comment was lost in the shining smiles of the thirteen people on stage, it seemed only to highlight the fact that the mood and point of the song were lost at the Allstate Arena..."

"...many fans reaching for their binoculars to get a good look at Fagen and Becker instead of closing their eyes to listen..."

Next time Mr. Webb, break the Ritalin in half.

Ruby---I got your pretty mug shots and want to send them to you.
Send me your email...mine is caramiarubia@yahoo.com

Wonderwa*f--same goes for you and that man o' yours. Got two nice digital photos of you two lookin' all lovey dovey.
Let me send them your way.

Clas--Yes, I went to the Getty...sort of a pretentious site for such an unimpressive collection, but then it is an art "center and foundation" sprinkling it's endowment worldwide. I was impressed with the views and all that marble...got photos of it too. Thanks again for your gift.
Getting excited about your big show coming up with Walt and Don as your special guests?

Oleander--see you Monday the 17th, which I forgot IS my night for Atlanta...let's party!!!!!!
I need some arm-twisting to attend Raleigh...

OK....OK!!!! I'm coming...you don't have to break my arm!!!!!!

Monkey man, aka the chimp---you are a tease

cara mia, too hot for a black mini down heah West of DollyWood

Thanks for the link, Skeevy Fan. That reviewer, Adam Webb,
Daily Herald Correspondent, is a booger-eating moron. No, on second thought, I am being way too kind. The review is good for several laughs though. What an idiot!

Just to let y'all know I'm loving the concert reviews (the ones by YOU, not the paid critics.) I could only get to one show.

Has anyone bought the Jack Of Speed t-shirt? Did yours shrink like a muvva?

Anyone Going To A Later Venue: I'll send you money, will you buy me another t-shirt? I need a Wonder Waif. I'll even chip in for yours.

tom: medula oblongata, I know is part of the brain. But it sounds like it should be something else. Or maybe with some, it is... Anyway you've got me thinking about Walter now.

Oleander: Are you up for another fever dream? I had a whopper!

rb

I thought that those that were at the Chicago show would get a giggle out of this review from a suburban Chicago paper.

Go to www.dailyherald.com, then do a search for steely dan to get their reviewers take of the concert.

Along with factual errors and contradictions, there is a staggering lack of knowledge about Steely Dan. I thought that the reviewers conclusions about the show were also curious, at best

I was tempted to write a long-winded rebuttal but I don't think this paper has a Letters to the Editor Section.

Thanks my new wormy friend for the seating info...hmmm, a choice between a soft lap and a sharp brain...sounds like a toss-up!

I would love to tour the southland...

DBD

Dan Boy Dave

check out the official Dan website at http://www.steelydan.com
tour dates galore and links

here is the seating chart for Raliegh
from ticketmaster

http://www.ticketmaster.com/venue/atl/75/seat1.html

hope it helps

can I upgrade to Carolyn's lap
or Walt's medulla oblongatta?

looks like the hot later release seats went fast

where is StevieD, Mr Lapage and Rouge Blazer for in spire a shun???

the worm one

your everlasting sermon

OK...one more question...my tix for the Raleigh show are in the sit-down area (not on the lawn) over to the right side of the stage as you look at it...can any of the '00 concert vets give me some insight as to stage setup...are the speakers hung from the trestles or stacked on stage...I guess what I'm wondering is are we likely to have limited views? Not that the ticket price is any issue at all, but for what I paid, I ought to be sitting in Carolyn's lap!!

DBD

On this platinum thing...actually I think StAl is right...it's kind of like in the industry I work in...when the manufacturer ships the product, it's considered sold, whether the middle man sell it through or not (can't imagine 2VN not selling through completely).

In the case of CD's, when shipments are counted versus actual sales, it allows the label's PR machine to announce gold or platinum perhaps earlier than might be expected, which hopefully provides some additional lift to sales...if 2VN has actually been announced as having gone Platinum, we should expect to see the sales rate take off again (evidenced possibly by the fact that it's climbed back to 78)

It's late in the day and I'm living on gospel time...gotta finish some work here...

Long live Hoops and the Kid...

DBD

Dan Fans, Just putting in my 2 cents about the Chicago show.
The boys were Great! I really dug Night by Night. Royal Scam
sounded great also. I also liked the Backdrop behind the
musicians. from a distance it looked like a four legged
animal poking his head in a doghouse. The dangled a movie
camera from the ceiling and projected different pictures
onto the backdrop during songs. Now for the strange news.
I was sitting just above the floor near the center of the
stadium right on the aisle. I know it was the center because
it was the only aisle where you could walk completely through
from one side to the other without interference. I dont know
how some people saw the concert because they were too busy
going for beer and mixed drinks. this constant traffic blocked
the view of the performance. Secondly during the brief intermission my girlfriend was talking to some couples next
to us behind us and below us and they mentioned the fact that they did'nt have the 2VN cd. I guess that explains why they
were all sitting there looking dumb when most of the songs were played. This sorta reminds me of a concert I went to for Eric
Clapton, for the Pilgrim album. The concert was sponsored by Lexus, and it seemed as though everyone in the crowd was more concerned about talking on their cellphones, rather than the music. Dreery Soul Archetecture Indeed.

CHI.

Thanks, StAlphonzo for the info. I was at Best Buy the other day and there were no less than seven or eight copies of 2VN. The same is true at Sam Goody in the Annapolis Mall. So... the actual sale (last I heard) is over 600,000, is that right? When the 1,000,000th copy crossed the cash register somewhere, our heros will get their platinum certification.
Good to see the album climbed back up to 78! Maybe the concerts around the country has generated interests in buying 2VN!
Peter

St Al

on the TaN platinum thing
yes - number of records shipped to stores - but sitting in a warehouse? stores tend to turn over high volume merchandise fairly fast

I think Cousin Dupree snatched up a few hundered thousand copies of TaN so that he could relisten to his namesake tune and try to figure out just what "dreary architexture" of your soul was all about

next Dupree will be looking for lucky thursdays

sorry to digress
my mind is made of applesauce

wormy t

back to pretending and the probe

Pete -- My take is the album has *shipped* plantinum, thus Warner Brothers considers it a plantinum album. Billboard uses Soundscan to track actual album sales which actually tracks the sale at the point of purchase. All those CD's are sitting in a warhouse somewhere and as far as Warner is concerned they're sold.

Correct me if I'm wrong anyone.

What is the deal with 2VN getting a platinum certification? There is a picture with the smiling D & W plus Craig and Irving posted in the DIGITAL DARKROOM at steelydan.com, but the Billboard website (www.billboard.com) didn't show that 2VN has reached platinum status. It shows 2VN is Gold-certified.

Anyone out there, please shed some light on this.

Peter

I was totally stunned when Walter mentioned the Trifecta on Friday. I was like a deer in headlights, I was just frozen. I clapped and hollered, but why I didn't get up on my seat and jump up and down and flail my arms to let him know right where I was is beyond me. It was very, very, very cool of him. It was the only time he mentioned it so it meant alot since it was in my hometown.

Razor

Hello fellow Strangers...scrolled my way back to where I left this GB and like myself I sense we're wrapped up in our day-to-day routines...so all the New Ones are more than welcome to shed their lights ...
I have a question. Does any of you care about the weather when there's a SD-concert ahead? Does it make you doubt? Does it make you wanna stay at home?
I'm wondering, 'cause a friend of mine is having second thoughts, he's a bit blue and maybe you all can convince him not to pass on a SD-concert...it will lift up the spirit, right?????????

Okay ..welcome to all the new GB-ers, or did I say..oh..something like that ..hello, I'm Gina, from the Netherlands, waiting for September 15th ..Steely Dan will play in Rotterdam then ...

And I think playing chess with empty escargot shells would be a real treat ...I once heard or read about a Cheryl Bainbridge ...hm..could be a character in a book..how about Morse?
Anyone know Morse, a real grumpy policeman in a TV-series???
British ofcourse.
If you like SD, you can love Morse. It's literature...

With regards, Gina

Greetings all!

The Trifecta was a smashing success! It was great meeting all the danfans and partying with them before and after the shows. The band was incredible. By far the tightest, most enjoyable line up to date. Though the set list was the same for all 3 shows, each was distintively different. One common high point to all 3 was West of Hollywood. Each time they got to "and I almost got there" the hair on my neck stood up and I got goosebumps. Bob Sheppard would then raise the dead with his sax for 4 or 5 minutes at which point the rest of the band went silent and he played on his own for another 2 or 3 minutes. Superb. Saturday night in Chicago, Walter and Ricky were the men. Walter absolutely owned Josie. He ferociously attacked each solo as if he knew it would be his last. Mr. Becker is playing better than he ever has, and is loving it. Ne'er was he seen without a little grin on his face. Speaking of always grinning, one Ricky Lawson, who was named drummer of the year by some magazine, does not know how to frown. His pearly whites where showing throughout the weekend's shows. He really truly loves what he's doing and the crowds loved him back. Each of his solos were breathtaking and acknowledged as such by huge ovations. How he can expend so much energy in five minutes and then get right back into the song is a wonder. I had the pleasure of meeting and talking to him for a few minutes after the Detroit show. (He was the hometown boy for the night and sat on the stage after the show to talk to some of the fans). He's very down to earth and personable.

That's all I have time for now, back to the real world and work. I'll be posting bits and pieces as I put them back together about the shows and all the great people I had the pleasure of meeting.

Peace love and DAN

Razor

Hi there danfans,

sorry i've been away from the GB for so long, I am busy as i said trying to burn off all those fish tacos I ate in S.D., and I'm happy to report that I actually was able to squeeze into my Calista Flockhart Fun Day T-shirt for the first time and run
out to the store the other day. Next time i'm in NYC I have to
visit Gramercy Park i suppose.

IO, you're in summer school, yuk! hats off to you girlfriend.

Midwest Newbie, i'm originally from St. Louis (don't ask me where I went to high school :-)and a big fan of the heartland and steely dan, welcome to the GB. Did you know that the midwest will be the featured locale next year for the band? so they say....

let's hear from all you midwest fans so they
know we are psyched for the 2001 show. I just hope they make
a quick stop in San Diego, or Arizona or both!!! We've got to getaway now and then...

Hey speaking of St. Louis...

Hoops I forgot to ask you to tell me the story of the St. Louis fan. can i read about her on the dandom site? thanks for coming to the summer partay, and joining in the trifecta preparty. Thanks for planning all the great chicago
events, you rock too! Can't wait to see the uploads!

Moonflower, it was so nice meeting you darling! You rock! I'll eat my edamame (soybeans) faithfully. Hope to see you again sometime!

CaraMia- sorry you couldn't make it but we did lend your guestroom to our new friend Pam from Birmingham, the Nearly Dan
Gal! Have you heard the Nearly Dan? We listened to them
at Gino's East in Rosemont on Sat. Night! Wow, they are great.

Expanding Man - aka Murray! Whattsup?? Thansk for the ride, boy did I enjoy leaping through puddles with you and Pam
in the parking lot! What a downpour we had, but it didn't put a damper on Donald and Walter's performance in Chicago did it? Hey Did you go to the chinese restaurant on Rush street that Walter mentioned at the show? He said you can get two fortune cookies there! I think he was referring to BIG BOWL...it's at State and Elm, or maybe he was referring to a different chinese place. Nonetheless, I recommend Big Bowl next time you're in chicago.
Jasmine tea and all the fortune cookies you can eat from the bowl on the hostess stand.

Aja, don't want to start a dancing thread, but I've noticed now that most of the fans are respectful and sit down to enjoy most songs, rising up only to praise the great band with applause and cheers, some were dancing just at the end of the chicago concert on the floor to FM and it did sort of block the view, but truly I'm ok with it, just NOT BEACH balls! Whattup with that? Go back to Buffett if you want to toss a beach ball around!

Pete and Shari - we love ya~ so great partying with you preshow and postshow Keep wearing that Happiness hat pete, it suits you! See you in Dallas, don't know quite what to do the next 3 weekends with no concerts on the schedule for the lloyds.

Matt and Amanda - Hey FRED IS DEAD!! OH NOOOOOOOO.... great meeting you and we'll see you in Texas too!

all what do you all think of dirty work vocals done as a chorus? i prefer when just one of the three great backup singers does the vocals, what about you all? It's the perfect story for a soulful individual to sing solo, what do you think? Ahhh, let's see, Cynthia was very interactive with the crowd
on Sat. in Chicago, I liked that. I also enjoyed Walter's oh so humble and respectful introductions of EACH band member, and his monkey in your soul was flawless. What an assembly of musicians it is..it's unfortunate that the acoustics in that hockey arena are subpar, but Walter, Don, and the band ROCKED, brilliant, absolutely awesome.

well i'm hungry, yup even a waif has to eat ya know...
ciao,

Dan Boy Dave-welcome to the GB! I love your enthusiasm. This is a fun place to be overall and you have plenty of musicians to keep you company here.

Razor Boy-looking forward to your concert report, and enjoying reliving the show through all the lucky trifecta attendees!

Aja

Today`s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a quarter page add for sunday`s show and it is on page 3, not the entertainment section. TWO FOR TUESDAY , Buy one Lawn ticket and Get one Free.... The show must be in trouble for this to happen......Ticketbastards still had seats available under pavillion roof..........This is my lucky Tuesday....... and im so glad i waited........

Okay, I would like put to rest all of the stories about the Chicago Show on Saturday night. The show was outstanding and I have never seen a group of musicians sound that tight in my life. Donald and Walter are truly two of the most musically talented people on the face of the earth. To be able to let other musicians take over your material and do it so well is a tribute to their mastery and perfectionism. Each and every member of the band got their moment during the show and they proved that this is the best tour going on this summer. In my opinion the best songs were "The Boston Rag" and "Deacon Blues" and the energy they showed on "Kid Charlemagne", "Don't Take Me Alive", "My Old School" and "FM" just showed that they truly saved the best for last. I have seen these guys 5 times now over the past 9 years and this was the best they have ever sounded. The new songs definetly are going to be instant classics as well. Great show and great enthusiasm. Those of you going in the next few weeks, be prepared for musical mastery.

small dive in queens
The Lido
monday night

Walt Don Bumpus and Carolyn

setlist
Green Flower Steet
The Fez
Daddy DOn't Live
Charlie Freak
With A Buzz
Almost Gothic
MIdnight Cruiser
Gaucho
I've Got the News
Negative Girl
Ricki Don't Lose
Janie Runaway

encores
Home at Last
Dirty Work sung by Cornelius
Western World

the audience consisted of 25 or so appreciative homeless people glad to be in from the rain. Sausage and beer were served, to some to weak to chew, intraveineously

a wonderful time was had by all

Carolyn smiled at me once or twice, I think

Does anyone have a setlist from any of their recent shows this year? Thanx

what is this?

worshipping ones worminess??? what?

these three towel clad ladies just got doused with love potion from a certain Cousin Dupree

they are praying that he will get lost

Cecil - This is absolutely incredible! I'm also a big fan of chess, escargot and water. What a coincidence. I also like Steel "Dan the Man" quite a lot as well.
Carry on!

Dan Boy Dave - Great to have you here!

Notice the one with her hands behind her back is the born-again
Christian. Thou shall not mock Mother Teresa. TaN platinum w/o a
true hit single. Yes.

Hello all you music fans . I hope you don't mind me dropping in on your site . I dont like music as much as a game of chess so I am abusing your hospitality a little . I have never heard of steel Dan but I am sure he is interesting or as interesting as a mere singer can be . I am writing to promote chess and escargots . I have a club here in England called the Chess , Escargots and Fresh Water Club of Coventry and I'd like to tell you a little about it .
We have 12 members signed up and we hope to have more soon . We have many different venues where we play chess from say 6.30 pm until 9.30 or sometimes as late as 10.00 pm . While we are playing we like to eat escargots washed down with an ice cold glass of spring water . After the game we go home . Sometimes while we are playing we listen to some kinds of music but some of our members are offended by the vulgar tone evident in a lot of t the vulgar tone evident in a lot of todays tunes so we usually don't have the music on or else we lower it substantially so as not to intrude upon players concentration or enjoyment of their culinary eats .
A few weeks ago we listened to a radio show while we played and once or twice over Christmas we sang some carols so you see we are not averse to indulging a little in music and I hope you don't think I was getting at your Steel "Dan the Man" if you get my drift .
As you can see my name is Cecil McBainbridge or Mc Bainbridge . I have been trying to find others of this name . Wouldn't it be delightful if another of the same name was interested in chess , escargots and water and we could get together and sing at Christmas while we licked our lips and concentrated on our game ?

interpret this photo any way you want

http://www.steelydan.com/Images/2k/us/sheik.jpeg

I know it's "hair time for krishna and germany"

but I'd rather think its

"three engaged disciples preparing to worship their worminess"

t

she prays like a roman with her eyes on fire

Dan Boy Dave
enjoyed your enthusiasm, a warm wormy welcome aboard
the Rayleigh gig is at
http://www.steelydan.com/danfestdirect.html
or on the GB go back to the Banyan Trees and hit the tour info stuff and you are there at the official site (you can score good seats too)

Ole is sponsoring a get together and you can get on the mailing list on this site
last minute spontaniety and release of some more choice seats landed me at that show coming in from New Orleans
look forward to meeting you
Tom
tonight when I chase the dragon

My fellow Dan fans...

I just discovered this awesome site yesterday...truly wonderful stuff!! I've been a Dan fan ever since I was 16, when I first heard the last few bars of "Do It Again" late at night listening to WLS in Chicago. I nearly leapt out of my bed, shouting "who the hell was THAT...that was GREAT!" Unfortunately, the moron DJ didn't back-announce the track, so I stayed up late every night listening, until I heard it again about two weeks later. I rushed out the next day and bought the album and just about wore it out over the next few months (I still have it 29 years later!) Being a guitar player myself, and listing to Dias' and the Skunk's work, as well as Elliot Randall's solos on Reelin', it was all over for me after that...I was hopelessly hooked.

We're all so excited about the fact that the Dan has been touring again since '93, but did you also know that the Dan was actully on TV in 1971 I think it was, appearing on one of those Friday night concert shows? It was the original lineup of WB and DF, with Hodder, Palmer, Dias and the Skunk...if memory serves me, they play DIA and Brooklyn...the one thing I do remember is they looked EXTREMELY uncomfortable!

Anyway, since my first listen, the Dan has been a daily part of my life...their music has always been in my car or in my office, ready for a fresh listen anytime. I've learned to play most of their music and enjoy jamming along with the CD's every chance I get.

I saw the Dan live for the first time in '93 at Poplar Creek Ampitheater in Chicago (since closed) and also in Charlotte that same year. Those of you who saw the shows that year will remember the instrumental medley they played to open up...I remember very much being in a pleasant state of altered attention, shall we say, and the first notes of that medley being struck in Chicago...well, having said years before to my best friend, who was with me at the time, that if the Dan ever toured I would travel ANYWHERE at ANY COST to see them, I was in heaven...and Charlotte was even better.

Well, it's seven years later and I haven't seen them since...but I will be in Raleigh in July and can hardly wait...the music's still the best and from what I've read here, the show is maybe even better than those in '93.

I'll not take up anymore precious space for now...I'm looking forward to being a regular participant in this message board and hope that you all will make a fellow lifelong Dan fan feel at home.

One question I do have...from whom can I get some information about a DanFest in Raleigh?

I'd go to Raleigh on a dare, and I'd go it alone...

Dan Boy Dave

This just in from Joe Murtha...

*************************************************************************

For immediate release...

Download your copy of the New and Improved Revision 2.20 complete Digital Steely Dan!

This new version contains new application graphics, additional articles covering 2vN and the 2000 tour, a slideshow featuring the various stages of the Dan in photo's and music, additional sidemen snippets (Peter Erskine, Victor Feldman and others) and some cool new Dan archive pictures.

If you already own a previous copy of the CDSD, you need only download a quickie 5 minute upgrade. Others must download the verbose version (about an hour or so to download).

*****************************************************************************

http://www.seanet.com/~stalfnzo/

Click on the "Steely Dan Software" link.

StAl

Razor - can't wait to hear your escapades at Pine Knob
It seems the Detroit shows are always special
Half of LIA is from the 96 Dan show, the one my wonderful younger brother attended

Howard's End - yes Walt and Neil both have th eknack for emotion in their guitar work - Neil is one of only three rock guitarists who has such an indellible and different acoustic and electric body of work. the other two - Townsend and Page
Cortez or Like A Hurricane get me every time

StevieDan - you will be at Rayliegh - great
can't wait to meet you and the gang
Let's hope Rungren's latest is a return to his lucious styles and not another odd diversion (the last few have been tougher to swallow)

wormtongue tom

close your eyes and you'll be there

ok so we're all tasteless idiots on this board...........so what are you doing here..............

Fauning forever,

Q

Thanks Clas, now we know what a beaten dog looks like... you and
slide strangler (a.k.a. Nigey Lennon) taking a stab at Walter while self-promoting, aren't we? Wish i could hear your playing, you chopsters.
Yeah Clas, your antics were appreciated here years ago already.
The more things change...
Your work looks good though. All naive... and Cruiser's beat surrealism is interesting.
Best of all is that picture of Ballah. Priceless indeed.

The quote that is missing from my post below is:

JMoney wrote:

"Walter Becker has NOW suddenly become a quality guitarist?

Where did this bullshit come from?

Who put the whisper to this lie?

Becker is an adequate guitarist at BEST! He was never the lead in Steely Dan for a reason. He doesn't have the chops! His one string/one note solo on Gaslighting Abbey is deplorable yet you guys are fauning over it like it was played by George Benson."

that'll teach me to enclose quotes inside angle brackets!

JMoney wrote:

>

Just my personal view, but my opinion of WB as a guitarist hasn't changed much over the years. I've always considered him to be a player of great talent, taste, style and feeling.

Great chops do *not* necessarily imply "great player".

People who knock WB should listen through to all those Steely albums and make a note of just how many of the great guitar solos (Black Friday, Bad Sneakers, Josie ...) are played by Becker.

Re the solo on Gaslighting: the whole idea of the song is about "bugging the crap out of someone" no? Maybe that was the inspiration for the solo? Hmmmm?

Another great guitarists (IMHO) who gets knocked all the time for "having no technique" is Neil Young. So what, he has a sloppy style - he can play solos with such power, passion and frenzy that he is one of a few people who have actually taken ideas that Hendrix brought to the world and made them their own.

What matters - to me anyway - is how the guitar playing affects me. Does it move me or excite me? If it does, that's all that matters. Whether it's people like Neil and Walter, playing simple, creative and interesting stuff, or people like Zappa or Steve Vai, playing technically demanding stuff that is *also* creative, exciting, interesting - it doesn't make a jot of difference.

Howard

Forgot to tell the newbees about the excellent Steely Dan Art Gallery "West Of Hollywood", made possible by JW Malibu, (the warrior):

http://www.thekatbox.com/casellastudio/wohgall.htm

Howdy hootenanny gringos! Saved the world today again?

San Fran Knight - hi there you darn ol' lad. Long time, what are you doing?

Slide strangler - "Becker is an adequate guitarist at BEST! He was never the lead in Steely Dan for a reason. He doesn't have the chops! His one string/one note solo on Gaslighting Abbey is deplorable yet you guys are fauning over it like it was played by George Benson."

In some way I agree with you, but what the hell, he's at least different. Okay, it can be a little annoying listening to him sometimes, he's always over the damn whole place. It's like listening to the vacuum cleaner (but he's a pretty good bassplayer from time to time)

Hutch - yeah, great seats.

Stevie Dan - thanx for the info. Thank you very very very very much. I'll pass it over to my son, Jaco is his hero.

Cara Mia - glad you liked it. Tell me, did you go to the Paul Getty Museum? Great place uh?

Hi Ballah - Zeke - and others.

Edd - how come you know how a beaten dog act? Do you have a dog or was it your childhood?

Fuck Delta Airlines and Viva PLO!

Stockholm audi and out,

Clas

Had some gigs over the weekend, was generally busy, and had to prove to myself that I could stay away at least a coupl'a days.

Thanx to AGNG, Expanding Man, JoeJoe, Tony D, & whoever else found time to pass along a slice of their experience. At this point, we could probably deal in just the alterations to the set list instead of the same list over & over...I don't know. We definitely need to tighten down on the crowd estimates though.

The Raleigh show is selling at a level somewhere between Jimmy Buffett & Motley Crue. Exactly that.

I.O.: We really appreciate your presence here. Anyone who listens to music out of THEIR time is a special music listener. Particularly if they are not musicians. They are evaluating music free from it's cultural context, unless they are merely being pretentious. But clearly, that's not you.

AGLisa: I wouldn't be too sure about ol' straw chewin' share-it-with-the-world Davey boy. His lawyers (cleverly disguised RIGHT) used to make regular phone calls to another store I managed that sold boots back in the day. Really, it was the SAME call over and over. Have any ? Where would YOU get such a thing ? I had a BLAST with these cats, I hope they were just interns 'cause they were STOOPID as HAELL. I appreciate Dave's music somewhat or it's grown on me, but he & Hootie (I KNOW !) virtually single-handedly wiped out the Carolina's boot trade eventually...for better or worse. Anyway, I've never gotten any stupid phone calls under false pretenses by "Big Brother Dan's" lawyers.

AGNG: Asleep at the Wheel is on FIRE as far as I'm concerned. Their tribute to Bob Wills & the other more recent all-star "Ridin' With Bob" are masterworks of the genre. I thought your review was great, your crowd estimate, however, was somewhat askew. In regards to the lack of review quantities, well honey they haven't gotten to Raleigh NC yet. When they do, I promise you the JOHN STEINBECKIAN mother of all reviews.

ReeReeBayBay: I got yo sack-o-mail girl and I've still got it under analysis. Testing is almost complete. As far as for whom the bell TULLS, It TULLS for me this coming Saturday. Front row center. Chieftains. Skating away on the thin ice indeed.

with apologies to DJ Mitch (I'd really like to know, too)
steviedanwithaplan

oh and if you care...steviedan's album of the week....
Todd's new one. I haven't heard it yet, but I don't have to. Now THERE's a review.

Sunday night I witnessed something I have been waiting to see for about 25 years.
Let me give a little history. The first cassette tape my mom bought for me (at about 13) was CBaT and from that point on ,I was knocked out. I played it constantly on my red Panasonic "Take N Tape".
As I progressed in age, I went through my Led Zep days, and then came Ted Nugent, Frampton, Van Halen, then Scorpions, A/C D/C and you know where this is going (I'll bet)! All the while, I seemed to have a copy or two of an SD album sitting around.
And this brings me back to Sunday night at Pine Knob.

Steely Dan is the greatest band ever. No matter the line-up. I can honestly say I believe this to be true. More magic than music, Sunday evening was like being thrown back in time to my youth and the favorite music I left behind for the other styles, and now I have come full circle at age 40.
The band assembled before me was a group of musical talents that need to be heard and seen to fully respect, and respect I did. Where do they find such talents? The girls were fantastic on "Dirty Work". (As well as easy to look at!)
I felt the thrill running through me the minute WB and DF stepped onto the stage. Seeing those two, with the group they have gathered, was one of the most important events of my life. (I need to get out more!) Sounds silly, huh?
Sunday night confirmed for me there is still great music in the world. It may come from the classic rock stations, it may be in the form of a new release. Steely Dan is still an important part of today's music scene, and I am sure we will hear more from them in the future.

Late Edition of Rosemont (Chicago) review

First let's acknowledge Chicago freelancer Kevin McKeough
a real numbnuts fashion writer who won't jump on the 2VN bandwagon until it is, well... fashionable. He is at this moment eating his own doo-doo words.

I love these guys Donald and Walter, together since college they define songwriting greatness. Their show at our very own Allstate Arena was a wonder. They are a great live performance machine, but I can't help to think they should be spending their time in the studio for their next brilliant creation.

Too many of us worshipping fans second guess them because they made this or that choice for the tour. Bottom line is they can do no wrong. They are gods. We bow our heads, and avert our eyes to smoke a doobie, and sip a cocktail.

Shows highlights:
Bob Sheppard smoking West of Hollywood like a mf'er
Jon Harrington getting tied up on West of Hollywood
Donald proving he is the best man on stage playing ten finger
chords on his short blues solo during band introduction
Ensemble work in Hank's pad and Monkey in Your Soul
Cornelius Bumpus' choice of notes on Deacon Blues
Crowd standing 'O' on Kid Charlemagne
Crowd singing "yes there's gas in the car"
Very cool, tasteful stage effects/backgrounds

to be continued
I am sure this piece of shit AOL is ready to kick me off
more later

Yes theres gas in the caaaaaaar

Hello everyone! Wow it seems that the set list is getting better and better as the show goes on!

Chere- HEY!! I'm doing well!! how are you?? Hope everything is GREAT!!

WOW!

Back soon with low down.

Razor

Lyrics compliments of St. Alphonzo, from his wonderful website, Under the Banyon Trees with Steely Dan, which you can access by clicking on home at the top of this page.

R E E L I N ' I N T H E Y E A R S

Your everlastin' summer, you can see it fadin' fast,
So you grab a piece of somethin' that you think is gonna last
Well, you wouldn't even know a diamond if you held it in your hand
The things you think are precious I can't understand

Are you reelin' in the years, stowin' away the time
Are you gatherin' up the tears, have you had enough of mine
Are you reelin' in the years, stowin' away the time
Are you gatherin' up the tears, have you had enough of mine

You've been tellin' me you're a genius since you were seventeen
In all the time I've known you, I still don't know what you mean
The weekend at the college didn't turn out like you planned
The things that pass for knowledge, I can't understand

[Chorus]
[Solo]

I spent a lot of money and I spent a lot of time
The trip we made to Hollywood is still etched upon my mind
After all the things we've done and seen you find another man
The things you think are useless I can't understand

[Chorus]
[Solo]

i need the lyrics to reeling in the eve, does anyone have them ? i'm sure someone has please oh please send then to me . i have everyone but that i think i adorel steely dan , i want you guys around forever and then some . thank you ,.... patricia

http://chicagotribune.com/leisure/features/article/0,2669,SAV-0006260056,FF.html

The New Math

I can't really vouch for this not seen it firsthand
but I come up with the following equation for nirvana

Steely Dan set - (Josie+Peg+Cousin D+FM) +
(Dr Wu + P Logic + Shame + Bab Sisters) = euphoria

maybe it really should be expressed in differential equations
or tensors and vectors

or a smile upon the face

tom

bury the bottle momma

Sunday June 25 Detroit - Pine Knob Amphitheatre

8:25 p.m.
1. The Boston Rag
2. Bodhisattva
3. Night by Night (Donald sings this time, I've read that Walter has sung this at earlier shows)
4. Janie Runaway
5. Josie
6. Black Friday
7. Daddy Don't Live in that New York City No More
Introductions
8. Bad Sneakers
9. Jack of Speed
10. West of Hollywood

Intermission 9:35-9:55

11. Hank's Pad (Henry Mancini)
12. Royal Scam
13. Deacon Blues
14. Cousin Dupree
15. Monkey in your Soul (Walter sings)
16. Dirty Work (back-up singers sing)
17. Peg
18. Kid Charlemagne
19. Don't Take Me Alive
Encores
20. My Old School
21. FM
11:00 p.m.

Crowd an band were very enthusiastic. It appeared that the crowd worked up the band and the band responded. Back-up singers were very energetic. Donald said "see you next year". People standing and dancing throughout

Eli Maodus
Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Got back late last night (this morning) from Chicago... plane was 4 hours late... concert was most excellent!!! There was so much energy that I can't even describe it... perhaps to mention the 3 minute standing O after Kid Charlemagne is just a tease...

The post show fest at the Clark Street Ale spot was a blast but I had to leave a bit early... It was great meeting Hoops, Pete, Shari (Pete, you lucky dog!!!), Eenie, Susan, RAZOR BOY!!!, Kerry, Big Pete, and so many others that I don't have time to mention... In fact, lunch is over and I've gotta get back to the office.

Now that I'm sober, I need to issue a clarification on what I said last night. But there is none needed; it is still one of the best shows I've ever seen, and Jon Herington is still a motherfucker. Detroit is a big guitar town. When you get a 3 minute standing O at the end of a tune, as Herington did in "Kid", you're doing something right. The band seemed to pick up on this. At least I hope so. I shudder to think that their chops are that good every night.

The Pine Knob show was incredible!! I wish they could have played for two more hours. I think they enjoyed themselves too. The crowd loved 'em.

An interview from north of the border:
http://www.thestar.com/thestar/editorial/entertainment/20000626LFE02_EN-STEELY.html

Nothing from the Detroit News yet - and they traditionally have good online stuff.

Lot's of obits:
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/178/obituaries/Paul_Griffin_62+.shtml

the TaN dvd

I wish they had the multicamera angle option

my fav view

either gunning down on Herrington's guitar with Walt in the background or that midtorso shot of the baremidriff section

if I wasn't a clutso guitarist in would probably be the later

the new songs do cook here, as does babylon sisters
why not push this?

still holding out for Shame and Wu live

tom

yes she's sly, and you're an ordinary guy

why don't we grab a cab

The Chicago show rocked! The band's getting tighter. The Chicago crowd was very vocal. The mood was sublime.

I too would like to add my dismay at the lack of representation from the Gaucho album. Glamour Profession would have been an inspired choice for hard-core DanFans and the title track or perhaps Time Out of Mind would have been great also.

I realize that there are only so many songs from Steely Dan's extensive 30 year catolog that can be performed on tour, but Gaucho should definitely be represented by the boys this time out. It's too complete a work, too many excellent tunes to be jilted this summer.

Here's to the upcoming east coast invasion. NYC & PHILLY: HERE I COME!!!!

Craig

Speaking of the TaN DVD, I caught another version of that show
on the tube last night. The same minus FM and JOS.

Some thoughts on the Sony gig:

- Vicky 's the best midriff all around. Although Cynthia really
gets into the music, almost reaches a gospel trance.

- Pete Fogel can not look the Boys in the eyes when he's talking to
'em. I don't think I could either.

- They should play Pretzel Logic sometimes on the road.

- The 2VN songs sound great live especially Gaslighting Abbie.

- Jon Herrington rocks.

- Walter can really play and so can Don.

- At this point they can play Josie in their sleep.

I especially like the angle where Don is in the foreground and you see
Tom Barney working his fretboard in the back.

Plush numero uno for a reason.

Howard: Great work on the tabs/charts. I would pay for a version of Jack of Speed though....I'm working on it but it is slow going.

Speaking of that tune...it has burrowed into my brain, and I fear I shall never be released. Perhaps this is kharmic payback for waiting until last week to buy 2vN (yeah, yeah, I know...). At any rate, an insanely great tune. Up there with anything in their catalog. How can they be so intense while being so laid back at the same time? One of the mysteries of our generation.

Besides Paul Griffin, yet another Dan sessionman died last week: Jerome Richardson who played on Dirty Work if mhy memory still works.

Hey Blaise - I am a kid in a candy store

I'm also as giddy as a school girl

and hyped up as an elderly woman about ready to shout bingo

Pine Knob - thanks for the reports, my brother took in that show

the TaN dvd is not shot in widescreen format
I was moonlighting at my friends high end audio store saturday and brought the dics along to play on a widescreen
this did not look good extended out to the edges of the screen

INternational Geophysical Wormtongue

mother in tears, look at this chainof sorrows

Good morning all. Had a glorious weekend on the shores of Southampton...two awesome beach days. Hope you all enjoyed your first full weekend of the summer as well...

Chere: Thanks for the blast on Jethro Tull. Glowing review. I'll keep my eyeballs peeled for these cats when they come around..

Tony D. : Great review!!! And thank you. NOTHING from Gaucho? Yipes! I guess you can't play 'em all.

Rockin' in Manhatan
Aus

Guitarists: I've updated the Steely Dan tab files on my page. Just added Cousin Dupree and Josie.

http://www.ph.ed.ac.uk/~haw/music/tabfiles.html#steelydan

Roy.Scam: "DIAS ES DIOS". I like it!

Howard

.

...Have enjoyed reading the posts from "new" or not so frequent GB-ers..anyone who lurks but not writes...why??? why not???

Talked to Gabriel (Gaby), the owner of R&B cafe the Duke who happens to be a Danfan as well, he's close to half a century and so casually mentioned he has every album. The Duke once started out as a punkcafe, Sex Pistols, Sham '69, The Clash, The Jam (later Paul Weller went solo)...but gradually evolved into what is is right now ..a cool place to be where all kinds of people walk in or out, no dresscodes of any kind (from rags to riches)and good music..real "old-fashioned" blues, soulful, with a dash of country at times ..

But fat chance they will play some of the Dan there...

Back to work, will pop in to lurk some!
Bye now, Gina

Black Friday is coming..................................

F#maj9- T.U.D. Theory #1- Smoking a cigarette?
The E-mail address is a reference to my band's current name,Aria Rugs, in which my cringemaker, a classically trained spinto (that's between mezzo & coluratura), shares vocal chores.She sang the Queen of the Night aria on some German progressive rock band album in the 80s. '59 was I.G.Y..
Heard on the radio that Me, Myself & Irene was #1 at the box office this weekend, but it's only an estimate right now.
My 13 yr old nephew who is getting me pc savvy told me that the initials A.S.&L. was chat-room slang for age, sex , and length, so I typed male, 40, and 10 inches to"Fresh Young Girl".Isn't the internet a constant learning experience? He's been singing,as 13 yr olds still do, "how about a kiss for your Cousin Dupree" over and over the other day. I think we have another true companion in the makings here.

6/25 @ Pine Knob. This was the fifth tour I've witnessed, so I go back a ways. The band was as tight as any I've ever seen. Jon Herington was a motherfucker on Kid Charlamagne. 3 minute standing O. Dirty Work was sublime. Fagen in fine fettle. I take back all those ill conceived remarks I made about Don Henley possibly competing with these guys. Bygones. As I type this, I bite my tongue. Forgive me. I danced in the aisle with my bride of 20 years. Good response to new stuff, especially West & Cuz Dupree. Boy, did I have fun!

I am off to St. Augustine tomorrow. Can't wait! Milder weather, flowers, long walks on the pristine beaches and secret spots that are only habitated by surfers. Porpoise Point, Vilano Beach, Ponte Vedra. I will see my God Mother. My Godson get married. Looking forward to it. I will MISS my beau much though. Six days! I will try to post if I get time- weddings are alot of work and these kids are still students. So WE are all doing the work. 50 people. Small gathering. I cleaned some apartments and managed to get up enough fundage to grant them a carriage ride around town after the reception. It will be beautiful, especially as the sun goes down, downtown is gorgeous at that time. SOOO romantic. I also wrote some spoken word, and arranged for them a place to stay down here to extend their honeymoon. It is a friend of mine's town house and she is in London for the next two months. She was GLAd to offer her place. We dressed it up a bit and there is a jacuzzi, great grilling patio and I stocked the fridge for them. They are BROKE. There WILL be a computer accessible to me so I will try to pop in, if I get time. I return to South Florida Two days before my Birthday, July 4. Throw me some love and shout out Birthday "propa". K? I will look forward to it. My beloved Gbers. My peace. My friends in Dandom! God I love you guys and gals!

Hoops- Hope trifecta was a blast for all in Chicago. No rain? Hope so. I did some JUJU fer dat. They're only raindrops. Kind of a blessing really. A downpour would sort of been a bummer though. Can't wait to read all the Trifecta postings. How is Brother Soout Steven? He told me you were going to hook up for that event a couple of weeks ago, and I KNOW how much he was looking forward to it, especially since Wilkes Barre was cancelled. Still hoping he will be able to make it down here for the WPB show. I plan on giving him the ticket that Q sent me for my nephew who cannot make the show. Sure hope to hook up. Although, THAT seat is right behind the mixing board- Right behind Roger Nichols. I kinda want that one myself. Whatever, as long as I see the DAN I really don't care. Sure hope Soout can make it.

Q- speaking of, e mail me when you have time. How are we going to find eachother at the Mars Music Ampitheatre? Seat sections I guess. I don't HAVE Steely dan T shirt, yet.... Where are you sitting? Next to that ticket seat you sent me? Let me know. When you have time. Maybe I'll give you a jingle later next week. I know how you have so many e mails and stuff.

Soout- If your'e there, I miss you bunches, and have been checking my e mail. Que pasa papi?

Steviedan- Didja get those e mails? Too much? e mail me brother. Whassup with you? I am sure you were gigging it all weekend though. I am looking forward to your e mail "propa". Also too for you, when you have time. Hope all is well with you and yours. I spoke to my uncle the other night- he got to hang out with Peter Tork from the Monkees. Said he was a pretty cool fellow. Poor brother Uncle Jim- somebody broke into his place and stole an entire drum kit. Luckily his two other more expensive and customized kits were in storage witht he rest of the band's man touring gear. Thank the Gods!. But they also got the TV, VCR, Stereo, CD's, and took food? Whatever. Bummer man. ANY drum kit aint cheap. Specially when a brother is a struggling musician. Anyway e mail me. Check your e mail.The Barbour one. Much love peaceoutree

IO- Hey girlie girl. Hope all is well with you.

I love the cellphone incident. How lovely! Sooooo cool! Love all the reports about the shows. I am getting closer and closer to July 25th 2000. Steely Dan LIVE!!!!! God Bless the DAN! Not to talk about something non Dannish, but I caught Jethro Tull Friday Night. The show was amazing. Ian was MAGICAL. The band was so tight. They did a mix medley of "Song for Jeffrey" and then went into "Thick as a Brick" (which everyone sang along to) and then back into "Song for Jefrey." Opening band was the "Young Dubliners" Cool Irish vibration. Very Jammin band. They ARE touring so if they come round your way folks, check it out. Worth EVERY penny. It was a birthday gift from my brother in law to be for me. Big surprise, since I was just writing the song here on the GB the other night. They did a bunch of the new jammin harder stuff at the first half of the show and all the really old stuff at the end. A whole lot of slapstick kind of humour on stage with eachother, and the audience. Real fun energy. Ian's flute playing was just magic. "Crosseyed Mary", "Locomotive Breath", and "Skating Away"- (also a sing along) were the encores. A great show. If you like the Tull, get to that show if it is possible. Really Good karma.

David in MY Florida room- EVERYDAY I play your cd along with TAN. It is a ritual now. I will surely work hard on getting over to Venice one weekend to Sharkey's place. I spoke to my friend from the local classic rock radio here in WPB, Big 106, while I was at the TULL show. He was there representing the station and when I heard that, I called him and told him I was gonna be there and we should hook up ... that I HAD something for him. I made him a cassette version of it, cause I KNEW I was in a hurry. No piracy intent there, just for the record. They have a hour a week where they do new Old Skool type music. Originals etc... Maybe we can get you some radio play in these parts. I met him because I won the "Big Guitar Riff" the only female to do it just yet (pretty proud of that) and we became friends at the Santana concert two years ago. He does alot of functions for PBS too. Super cool dude. PBS concert shows anyway. We'll see.

For the record, ANYTHING I can do for any other musicians here I am glad to pass it all on. E mail me to my e mail listed above, and I will e mail back my address and pass out CD's, bio's, flyers whatever. I am really meaning that folks!

So that's what's shakin' in my pot. Still trying to mend my body and soul. Still workin dat JUJU "REE Style". - My best to you all. Shout at me won't ya?
-chere

Almost Gothic Lisa: DF speaks highly of Henry Mancini here:
http://www.steelydan.com/premiere3.html

Paul Griffin R.I.P.: "Paul Griffin, an organist and pianist who played for the albums of several music stars including Bob Dylan and Aretha Franklin, died at his home June 14. He was 62."
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20000625/us/deaths_33.html

the other side....

Yes, I am the the guy with the cellphone referred to by Lisa in her June 24, 21:32 post.

Amazing the sonic detail a digital phone can carry, she heard more than I did, somehow. Let me clarify, the guy next to me in the men's room was squaking "no Aja, no Reelin," but I was NOT disappointed. Aside from the four obligatories from Two AGainst Nature (including a first-set closing West of Hollywood and serviceable versions of Jack of Speed, Janie Runaway and Cousin Dupree) the night was very democratically spread out amongst the various albums, with the screaming omission of any material from Gaucho and Nightfly. A rundown, by album:

Aja: Josie, Deacon Blues, Peg
Scam: The Royal Scam, Don't Take Me Alive (set closer), Kid Charlemagne
Katy Lied: Black Friday, Bad Sneakers, Daddy Don't Live...
Countdown: My Old School (encore), Boston Rag, Bodhisattva (almost half the album!)
Pretzel: Monkey In Your Soul
Can't Buy A thrill: Dirty Work
FM soundtrack: FM (encore)

The biggest pops were generated by Deacon Blues, Kid Charlemagne My Old School and Dirty Work, strangely, although I guess it was because they had "the gurls" solo in a chewy arrangement and I can tell you that I've never heard so many men over 40 scream in unison at three women. Maybe I have, but not at a rock concert.
Charlemagne and Don't Take Me Alive ended the second set, and I don't know where they found the energy, but the band peaked during these two songs. And My Old School is just an unbelievable singalong and clapalong, ask Lisa, she heard the thousands (and THOUSANDS) screaming, "Oh NO! Guadalajara won't DO!"

What would I have changed? Walter sings two songs, I'd drop one to slip in "Glamour Profession" or "IGY."
And Black Friday/Bad Sneakers? How 'bout one or the other, and get "Home At Last" back on the set.

Still I loved it. In the same building (Allstate Arena, formerly Rosemont Horizon)two years ago, saw a 30-something show, the Culture Club reunion tour with Human League and Howard Jones; that crowd couldn't hold a candle to this smaller, older but more vocal Dan crowd.

hello everyone! JUST got back from me myself and Irene, it was soooo funny! I liked it but a lot of the movie was givin away from the preview! I HATE THAT!! so anyway, i think that i read on here that D&W were seen in the movie but i didn't see them!! I did hear a lot of the songs by other people. They weren't that bad! i dont think that the guy from smashmouth is right for singing Bodhi. It's just not right. Why couldnt they just have used the originals?? Ok well talk to you all later

I.O.

Mini-review from Denver - I'm surprised no songs from Gaucho also:
http://insidedenver.com/penny/0623penny.shtml

Most popular video:
http://news.excite.com/news/ap/000623/10/ent-videos

Pre concert from Milwaukee - I think someone may have posted the text:
http://www.jsonline.com/enter/music/tianen/jun00/steely21062000.asp

Here's the post concert review:
http://www.jsonline.com/enter/music/jun00/steely24062400.asp

I could find nothing from Chicago in my limited search.

Steely Dan bootlegs on the Guestbook - a definate no no

Q - email me please!!!!

Hi DJ Mitch ~

"I See bullshitquotes like two thirds filled, two thirds of what 18,000..."

Well since you put it so nicely, I think that particular bullshitquote came from me, and yes it was 2/3 of approximately 18,000/20,000. I would be happy to answer any questions that you or anyone else may have about those particular shows if I can.

I am relatively new to reviewing shows; however I try to make my reviews thoughtful and informative. To tell you the truth, I only see a few people in this particular forum taking the time to write reviews that include info on the venue, the crowd, the musicians, the music, and perhaps a little color to try to give the feel of being there. Considering the sheer amount of things people post here, I am a little surprised at the lack of reviews of these current shows. I am hoping that more will be forthcoming, and soon.

I have always used my real e-mail address, and if you ever want something clarified in a review or any post that I have written, please feel free to e-me, okay? And by the way, I kind of like that term bullshitquote; mind if I use it sometime? ; )

linda

From the Akron Beacon Journal:

Steely Dan first in irony

By Chuck Klosterman
Beacon Journal
Published: 6/22/00

There is a logic to humor. Of course, how that logic is applied makes all the difference in the world.

First, there is the logic of being silly, which is essentially the art of being obvious (if a clown gets hit in the head with an anvil, a 5-year-old child will giggle). There's also the logic of being funny, which is really just the art of execution (there's a set-up, there's a punch line, and the audience responds with the appropriate chuckle).

But then there is the art of being clever, which is a more complicated art to quantify and a harder craft to master. There's no skill as impressive as writing something so hilarious that no one laughs; it requires the kind of logic that begins and ends in the same place.

In short, it takes pretzel logic.

Pretzel Logic was the name of a 1974 Steely Dan album, and that has remained the best (and perhaps the only) description of what Donald Fagen and Walter Becker do for a living.

Steely Dan is arguably the only popular group of the last 30 years to exist within a musical genre that includes no other bands whatsoever. Musically and lyrically, Steely Dan is the answer to a question that almost seems rhetorical: What does it mean to be clever?

``That's actually an interesting question,'' says Fagen. ``It's interesting because we're rarely asked about that, even though it's something Walter and I think about all the time. We'll be working on a song, and we'll wonder if maybe it sounds too silly or if it's clever without being substantive. Sometimes Walter will come up with a line that's really funny, but it will actually be too funny and break the mood of the song. We both admired Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention when we were younger, but there were some things they did that really crossed into comedy. And we were never interested in doing comedy.''

Fagan does not talk like most rock musicians. In fact, he doesn't even talk like most people who listen to rock music. His sentences are long and involved and mildly contradictory. He mostly sounds like a college professor. That intellect has mostly been directed toward snarkiness, the hallmark of the band's music. Over the last half of the '90s, modern pop artists have become obsessed with seeming ``ironic,'' which is something the members of Steely Dan were doing in 1972 for their own amusement.

``I don't think Walter or I have grown any more ironic as of late, but I think the world at large has,'' Fagen explains. ``Irony has become part of the culture in a way it wasn't during the 1970s, except for maybe a small fraction of the populace who were ironic to begin with. I think there was always a Bohemian minority who thought life was inherently funny and had a satirical take on living, and that goes all the way back to Mark Twain. It's a very American concept. But as is always the case in America, it's the things that develop on the fringes that eventually filter into the mainstream.`

Songwriting team

Nonetheless, Steely Dan's filtration into the American soundscape doesn't make much sense, especially when you look at the content of the band's music.

Fagen and Becker met in the mid-1960s as students at Bard College in Annandale, N.Y. (a familiar geographic reference to anyone who's heard the song My Old School). Though they played in countless incarnations of college bands (including one that featured Chevy Chase on drums), they ultimately moved to Los Angeles to serve as a songwriting team for artists on ABC/Dunhill records.

The only problem was that their songs were too sophisticated for the talent on ABC's roster (which included groups like Steppenwolf and Three Dog Night). The only option for Fagen and Becker was to form their own band, taking the name ``Steely Dan'' from a reference to a sex toy in the William Burroughs novel Naked Lunch.

Steely Dan's debut Can't Buy a Thrill was an immediate favorite among critics and became a staple of FM radio, a status they would hold for the rest of the decade. In theory, this should have been impossible. For one thing, Steely Dan never really played rock or pop; it basically played modern jazz. Moreover, the lyrics were subversive and dark; much of the Dan canon dwells on the drug subculture and a general sense of misanthropy.

Flawless sound

However, what radio stations found irresistible about Steely Dan singles was their unavoidable perfection. Years after their release, the records are still sonically flawless, and that's obviously no accident. Instead of forming a conventional band, Fagan and Becker used a revolving door of studio musicians to build songs to their exact specifications. This drove contributing artists crazy (the pair became known as relentless taskmasters in the studio) and prompted some aestheticians to criticize the band for sounding ``too perfect.'' An album like Aja is closer to architecture than it is to the New York Dolls.

``I think there's a point to that criticism, actually,'' says Fagen. ``In rock 'n' roll, there's a folk element and a rhythm and blues element, and there's sort of this belief that the folk element has to be rough and emotive. At a certain point, technical ability almost becomes a detriment.''

The reputation for being clinical is probably why Steely Dan still hasn't been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A cynic might even suggest that the reason Fagen and Becker released Two Against Nature -- their first new album since 1980 -- was an attempt to raise their public identity and get the votes they need.

Not surprisingly, Fagen scoffs at that accusation.

``When we were first nominated, it sort of seemed like we would get in either that year or the next year,'' he explains. ``But as the years went on and we kept not getting in, it sort of just became something funny for us to comment about.

``One of the reason (the rock hall) is a good target is because -- when it was founded -- the whole idea seemed really silly. But it was actually fun. I went to a few of the early hall of fame meetings at the Waldorf Hotel, and it was hilarious. It was like a convention of sociopaths. But now that (VH1) started televising the ceremony, it's become just another boring awards show. If Walter and I end up getting in . . . well, that will be fine. But the whole thing has sort of degenerated. Once you get into the 1970s, the talent goes way down. You don't have any more majestic talents like Jimi Hendrix or Bob Dylan. To be honest, I guess I really don't care.''

RE: Boko Maru
Worth a look & listen!
bokomaru.com

"...vocals and arrangements often give Mrs. Fagen and Becker a run for their money (if you're a Steely Dan fan you could do much worse than buying this album)." – John Porter, Performing Songwriter

"The group gladly admits to being strongly influenced by Steely Dan, and you can definitely hear the similarities...But they aren't Steely Dan clones, as any of the other tracks will prove. Each song strongly pulls you into a different story, a different mood, a different dream...This is an outstanding debut effort that deserves attention." – Jennifer Layton, indie-music.com

Re: WB's playing, two observations:

First, last night's Chicago version of Rag was made complete by his blowing, which was more grungy than his typical recent soloing. Reminded me more of the original solo on Countdown. It was beautiful.
Second, I tend to think of his soloing in recent years as melodic and appropriate for the mood of the song, and if I have to compare it to an example, reminds me of Miles' earlier soloing. As opposed to someone like Dizzy (or Maynard Ferguson!) who would blow a lot more casually impressive and technically difficult stuff (not downplaying it, just setting it apart in style), whereas Miles would be more understated but still so tasteful. While some solos make you stand up and notice, others blend so well that you almost DON"T notice, and that can be a great solo too.

Hoops--

LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER GORGEOUS DAY & EVENING IS IN THE WORKS!

Hope the following is easier:

Downtown Clarkston is 1 exit beyond the exit for Pine Knob, M-15 (That's a
"15" inside of a diamond noting a Michigan highway, a.k.a. Ortonville Road). I believe it is Exit
91.

Turn South after getting off I-75. I'm not sure whether you turn right or
left as I don't remember if the exit is a straight ramp or whether its a
loop around ramp.

Anyway, after turning off the highway South, just proceed on the same road
for about 1 mile into town. The Union is at the far South end of town on
the left. You can't miss is as it is an old converted Church with a tall
steeple in front.

I also know of a small short cut to get back to Pine Knob. We'll discuss
that at the Union.

PK parking lot opens two hours pior to show, however, no alcholic beverages are allowed in parking lot or to be brought in. Only the beverages purchased thre will be allowed to be consumed in parking lot. Never fear. We stocked with iced cappuccino, bottled water & soft drinks.

Kevin C.

The more things change the more they stay the same.......Jack of Speed was a tremendous cut at Art Crimes 96 and is turning out to be the most outstanding cut yet from 2vn.......what are the attendance numbers for the shows, why are they never mentioned here? I See bullshitquotes like two thirds filled, two thirds of what 18,000 .......I like numbers as in album sales, attendance figures.......the official site has always guarded these......Hey Hafez Assad is dead open up a little information....surely the diehards are number freaks too....

There is a mercyful God after all?

http://chicagotribune.com/news/metro/chicago/article/0,2669,SAV-0006250145,FF.html

Don't the moon look... lonesome?

http://www.jsonline.com/enter/books/reviews/jun00/bk.moon25062300.asp

How's the Trifecta so far? Any news is good news...

"LOS ANGELES, June 22 (UPI) -- The top 10 music video sales, compiled from
a national sample of sales reports:
1. Two Against Nature -- Steely Dan
2. Memphis Homecoming -- Bill & Gloria Gaither
3. Time Out With Britney Spears -- Britney Spears
4. Hell Freezes Over -- The Eagles
5. Oh, My Glory -- Bill & Gloria Gaither
6. Tales From Margaritavision -- Jimmy Buffett
7. Whitney: The Greatest Hits -- Whitney Houston
8. A Farewell Celebration -- The Cathedrals
9. 50 Years -- The Happy Goodmans
10. 'N the Mix With 'N Sync -- 'N Sync"

My kind of charts.Tonight at 9:00 Eastern on Canada's MuchMoreMusic: yet another edit of the PBS gig.

So far, just a pre-concert interview to chew on:

http://www.suntimes.com/output/rock/live23.html

Joe C - When you think that you could easily share at least some of this for free, this is just plain wrong, IMHO.

Webdrone has carte blanche in this situation.

for those of you scratching your head after the Chicago concert (and not because they omitted 'Do It Again'):

I know Zippy, I've met him several times but I haven't seen him since I was much younger. He once played "Leader of the Pack" for me on acoustic guitar.

My Dad knows Zippy, VERY well. They do "business" together every so often. Zippy does bad things for a living.

Happy Birthday, Willy.

More later...

Hey Joe C:

Blow it out your ass! Charging $40 bucks for a bootleg is a crime against humanity!

What a loser!

yboraudios@aol.com <<<--- AVOID or MAILBOMB

Are you listening webdrone?

alas, danizens of the lawn... it is raining like a bastard and has been for hours... a small stationary front hovering over southeastern michigan. forget the sunscreen. bring a baggie for your tush and extra socks. the lawn's gonna be like woodstock and the mudsliders could end up in the pavillion if security isn't tight enough. Walter- if Almost Gothic is performed i promise to buy a whole bunch of t-shirts.

btw- Jack of Speed is getting quite a bit of airplay in these parts. When I pick my daughter up from work it somehow cues right up as she hops in the old Plymouth. she knows if she inches toward the presets to get the alternative stuff she feeds on i can secure the wheel with my knees, double clutch, whinge on through the intersection and pinch her rilly hard all at the same time... not exactly turkish union dues but it gets the point across.

the rain sounds so lovely... a wonderful night to all
F#
[T.U.D. theory: Midnight Express reel 3 scene 7 in which someone gets stabbed in the ass. as i recall, considered ethical and above board to exact recompense in this manner as it can in no way be misconstrued as intent to inflict significant harm or terminate union membership. "walk around collecting turkish union dues..." any other interps and/or fever dream stuff on this?

I have an excellent 2 disc set of teh San Diego show
from 6/9/00!!! Outstanding quality and performance.
Get in touch with Joe C at yboraudios@aol.com

- Joe C

Thanks to Tony and his cell phone, I just listened to a third of the concert in Chicago. Incredible! Of course, Nichols had the boys sounding good even through the phone! No Almost Gothic, though. Sure hope it is back on there for the Cincinnati gig! Please, Guys!?! From what I got of the show, the set list is the same as the one posted for June 6th. (Thanks for that earlier posting!) Donald's voice was incredibly clear with rich tones. Praying it lasts through the tour! Tony said there were complaints of no Aja and no Reelin' as soon as they finsihed with FM. Does anyone ever remember hearing Walter or Donald speak of Henri Mancini before this tour? Just curious. That tune sounded like it really got hoppin' and the crowd went wild!

A.G. Lisa

Hiya, Ken Brown! Enjoy your round of shows--sounds fantastic! Couldn't help noticing your home-base location of Cayuga, NY ... if you'll bear with me, I am compelled to share with you a parody of Cornell's school song taught me by my father (so blame it on him, okay?)

High above Cayuga's waters
There's an awful smell
Some say it's Cayuga's waters
Some say it's Cornell

I am more than happy to entertain parodies aimed at my alma mater as penance for the above drivel.

But can you blame me, when my brain is in an advanced state of chaos from envying all you folks who are basking in the glow of the latest round of concerts? I can't wait for my own chance to do it again come July 15th.

P.S. to Edd--yep, I did indeed work for Digital from 1980 through 1984. Mainly as a tech writer, in various locations--Corporate Marketing in Parker St. (never did get to work in the legendary Maynard Mill, but I had to find my way through it occasionally); writing tech-marketing literature for DEC's ill-fated PCs in Marlboro; and doing up chip specs at the Hudson MA chip foundry. Those were the days, my friend ...

/Mam'zelle Canard
Le geek, c'est moi

its finally coming our way. starting Tues. in Toronto, Wed. to Cleveland, Friday's Cancelled show @ pocono ,but us die hards are still going to catch "the Royal scam" Teh River St. Jazz club.at Wilkes Barre . Sat. off to Saratoga.
What a vacation!!!!!!!
Now Toronto is obviously the most quiet,well mannered? venue on the trip. How about the pre and post parties? Come on Toronto show us your best. How bout Cleveland ?, and tiny Saratoga. Lets get going.
Forever Dan. Thanks W/D and group.
KB

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>All right, Cheesehead! It is great the trifecta got coverage! Thanks for letting us know! Just goes to show, Big Brother Walter really does keeps watch over us. Perhaps those who said the changes in the set list came from the Guestbook were correct? So what was the set list in Milwaukee? And what was so outrageous with the Walt solo? I'd love to hear Gaucho and Time Out of Mind!!! Didn't notice any of that, hunh, Negative Girl? Yeah...she go crazy...no tears and no hearts breaking, no remorse?

Groovessentially,
A.G. Lisa

woke up this glorious day,
as usual with a 2VN snippet circling in my head
this time;
Walter's guitarpeggio just before Don flew across the room

I got rid of the kids
a couple of beers
Smuggled inmposter Cuban cigar, probably Honduran
The hybrid stinks so bad, I had to double bag it

I can't wait to hear what I've been hearing about
namely Boston Rag, WOH, etc, etc

In case you are popping here for last minute Chicago Danfest info, the deal is this..looks like rain...if it rains, we have reservations for 50 at Gino East at 9751 W Higgins, down the street from the pinic site. See http://dandom.com/danfests/trifecta/ for more info.

Last night's show in Milwaukee was hot, hot, hot. Best moment was Walter's incredible guitar solo on the opening song. Fucking great! Walter KICKED ASS!!!

About 40 people were at the pre-show picnic and about 40 were at the post-show event which were just incredibly great times.

Also have about 30 video clips ready for upload early next week from four Danfests thus far. In the mean time, Dandom.com is looking a little messy...Sorry!
`

Keep the faith!

hoops!

StAlphonzo ~ I got a pretty good laugh out of your Dylan comment. I must say that although I have always been impressed by his songwriting abilities, I never put him on my list of someone I had to see perform, until recently. I was following his tour with Phil last year rather closely, and the reviews just kept raving about how tight his band was, how on top of it Dylan was, and how great the energy was. So I finally decided to check it out when he came to Santa Cruz on the Ides of March this year, and played at a great little 2000 seat venue.

Asleep at the Wheel opened, and they were a band I used to see a lot in Berkeley 20-25 years ago. Hadn't seen them in awhile, and they were just wonderful. The perfect opener. In fact, I felt that they were actually tighter than Dylan's band on that particular night. His band was real good, but they didn't knock me out like I was expecting. Apparently the second night was "THE SHOW", but I couldn't make it. Although Dylan's band wasn't quite as good as I expected after the stellar reviews, Bob Dylan himself was absolutely impressive, he was much more personable that I would have expected, he was into it, his guitar playing was better than I thought it would be, and he put on a fantastic show. I was blown away by his presence, his musicianship, his excellent song selection, his professionalism, the crowd reaction...etc. It was the biggest musical surprise that I have had in a long time.

I have seen Phil and Friends in its many different forms a lot in the last year. I saw him on his 60th birthday this year with the current line-up, which also includes Bill Payne from Little Feat, and Robbben Ford. It was good, it was fun, Dixie Chicken got more psychedelic than you could ever imagine, but I preferred Phil and Friends when Steve Kimock was with them, and also the recent grouping at Mt. Aire with Jimmy Herring, Derek Trucks, Rod Barraco and Jeff Pevar. And yeah, John Molo is the man.

Many of the reviews coming in at DNC on dead.net are saying that Dylan's sets are incredibly good, and Phil's sets are a little less so. I'm going with an open mind, I have a great miracle seat from a lovely lady I have met briefly, and it is going to be a wonderful evening, I have no doubt. So thanks for the well wishes!

linda

Last night--crowd was cookin' band was hot. Surprised nobody else mentioned it yet but Walter acknowledged the "midwest trifecta" before doing MIYS in the 2nd set

hi blazed,thanks for the praise. No, I'm not Nigey Lennon, unless
I have an alternate personality that I am currently unaware of.
I'm much more a lurker than a poster but I really enjoy the
interchange between the regulars here.

Charmer- carnivores tend to think that they're winning while they
swallow down another soul. It takes the edge off the guilt.

Almost Gothic NG -- You have fun at the Lesh and Friends show tonight. Judging from the Concord set list it looks like you're in for a treat. Phil's "friends" include Paul Barrere (Little Feat) and the great John Molo (Bruce Horsby).

Should be a great show as soon as Dylan leaves the stage...

Charmer: Carnivores ALWAYS win! I just want to know what side of the fence you were on and was she good looking?

StAl

According to Nick Carter, writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, in the article linked a post or two back:

"The band blended hits from its album-rock classics "Aja" and "Gaucho" of the '70s and early '80s with a few numbers from its recent release, "Two Against Nature," which is receiving lots of airplay on smooth-jazz and easy-listening pop format stations."

GAUCHO??? Has the setlist changed, or is Nick hallucinating? Expiring minds want to know. Or do I need another cup of coffee? Or am I losing it because I am so excited to be going back to Shoreline tonight (where one week ago today I had my best Steely Dan experience ever) to see Bob Dylan and Phil Lesh?

linda

Who deserves it the most?

http://www.cdnow.com/cgi-bin/mserver/redirect/leaf=allstararticle/fid=207686/from=sr-117124

Milwaukee concert review, anyone?

http://www.jsonline.com/enter/music/jun00/steely24062400.asp

waddddayaknow...

(in my best Yoda voice) There is...another.

I just took a gander at the Danventions page for the Trifecta, and saw that there is ANOTHER Charmer up in cheesehead country.

Why don't people tell me these things.

Well, for those folks up in the Trifecta, that's not the Charmer who went to the Gorge. I'll bet he didn't have a cool straw hat, either.

I 'spose there's only a finite number of proper nouns in the Steely Dan catalog to choose from.

The Charmer
p.s. carnivores won the argument

Expando-man...

I wasn't anywhere near Wisconsin last night, I swear. By the time the boys were taking the stage, I was 500 miles away talking to a nice young lady in a bar about vegans vs. carnivores.

Wish I could've been there.

Must've been another Charmer.

-The Charmer
astral-projecting

Expanding Man - "I'll post the setlist and my opinions/reactions in the SPOILERS section of The Digest..." No, talk about the show here and expand on the Danfest opinions/reactions in the Digest. Otherwise, no rain and I gather they played YGTII. Thanks.

dread slinger - Superb, aren't you Nigey Lennon? Like your contributions here. Hihi.

Marvelous (using the term loosely) 3 explain themselves:

http://www.launch.com/Features/fs_Start.asp?contentType=NEWS&FeatureMode=News&contentId=7058

Hiya Gang........

It's 4:30 am, and I'm still juiced from the first leg of The Trifecta.....we had 20-25 of the brethren at the pre-concert extravaganza held at Veteran's Park, right on the shores of Lake Michigan.

As the weak link of the chain of three co-conspirators (along with Razor Boy and The Charmer), I had the honor of welcoming the minions to the land of beer, bratwurst, Harleys, and pedophile tight ends. (The position, not the bums.)

Those of you from the GB that prayed like a Roman with her eyes on fire for no rain, thank you. It worked. The skies clouded up, it got a bit cool at the lakefront, but we all stayed dry. (Matter of fact, when DF introduced WB during the first set, he looked skyward and commented, "It's getting dark and scary here in Milwaukee; speaking of which, here's my partner, Walter Becker!")

Thanks to the generosity of the Milwaukee PBS affiliate, we were able to raffle off *5* (count 'em!) copies of the "In The Spotlight" VHS, and one copy of "Polka 2000" (Don't ask...it takes too long to explain.)

Then, of course, came the concert. Center Section, 5th row for me and my beau....I had the horns coming in my left ear, the midriff section in my right, and my seat angled just to Donald's right...I'll post the setlist and my opinions/reactions in the SPOILERS section of The Digest....I DO wanna get *some* sleep yet tonight.

Afterwards, we decompressed at John Hawks Pub, out on the terrace overlooking the Milwaukee River below, underlooking the Wisconsin Avenue Bridge above, and overhearing the undermuffled flatulence of Electra Glides riding overhead (this also happens to be the weekend of the annual Harley Convention here....)

Hoops, Moonflower, Swami Pete, and Shari - stuck in Chicaaaaguh traffic on the way up - weren't able to get to the pre-concert festivities, but made it out to the post-concert. Introductions were made, video footage was shot at just about the same time The Charmer was, and a good time was had by all.

See you all later today from the Land-O-Lincoln. (The President, not the luxury vehicle.) The sun's starting to rise....I think I'll brew up a cuppa Kona, sit out on the deck, and remind myself of the answer they reveal....

Peace.

Expanding Man

Just got a new moniker for AOL chat. It's batlapl. Other than the "Mr. Saddam" parody, Dr. Demento also played an original tune called "Northwest Territories Revisited". A sample line; "Some freak called wanting to carve up Alice, Corvalis, Corvalis. I think he's going to use a knife, Oregon, Oregon..."

appear in the movie. Too bad they didn't make the sountrack.

With the Trifecta in full swing I feel that I must live up
to my moniker by dishing out a dose of Almost Toxic. It's required reading for my gang of four in the Dan Van on the trip
to Pine Knob. Sort of the bottom line in the deportment department. Sing with me now...

I'm working on hospital time these days
(a bummer,a bummer,this could be the cruel start of a bummer)

The slow-eyed creature in the Reckless Room
I'm stratosphered
a wise child says,"Hey,no more beer"
I'm so blighted I can barely cope
I'm fizzling,woe,I'm on the ropes
I might expire,so cover my back
my nerves are way gone,I'm starting to crack
I had no business dusting off that tray
I'm almost toxic in unnatural ways

This Faustian desire to swill more fare
(a pity,a pity, he overdid it and he's feeling rather shitty)

When I speak it's like the sickest sound you've ever heard
my throat is raw,my words are slurred
as if I'm not already dazed enough
I swallow down a fist of stuff
Kramer-style
I'm jerking around
I'm losing all feel
I need to sit down
its poor science when you mix-and-clash stash
I'm almost toxic and I'm down with a crash

This dark place is spinning and skewed
My mind is like a popping zit from a cranial view
A last big hit on the bong
had seemed so right
but now I'm all wrong

A pretty nurse has yet to pierce my hide
in fourteen tries
but I just lie here tranquilized
I'll just have to be inert for now
I'm in the I.C. Unit, OW!
Hands in gloves
insert an I.V.
"Nurse, my small buzz became cacophony."
"You bubbled over. That was yesterday.
You were toxic in unnatural ways."

This old fool should learn like Neil Young
Living easy beats becoming a stat
I was toxic but I'm better than that

(incidentally, I heard that Neil will play the Knob on Aug.26)

OK i would just like to appologise to everyone right now who might of thought that I was serious when I said that KD hates me. I was just playing around but HATE is a very strong word and i didn't mean to use it so easily! Kelly is acutally a very cool person to talk to. So anyway i'm appologizing to anyone who might of read that because KD is a very sweet guy!! So once again i appologize. Especially to you KD because i was just playing around

I am flying from Mpls to Chicago (Midway) tomorrow for the concert at Allstate. The catch is I am in rehearsal all afternoon and will not arrive until 7:50PM. I need to know if there is an opening act and how long they are estimated to play.

don't know if this has been posted yet or not....a short article by William Gibson on TvN.

http://www.addict.com/issues/6.03/html/hifi/Cover_Story/Gibson_Essay/index.html

I'm cashin' in this ten cent life for another one......

Thanks,

Q

Masters Becker & Fagen
As da' mayor of this fine airport village
I am requesting that you play the setlist as follows

Boston Rag - awesome/wonderful openner
Night by Night
Janie Runaway - please announce Janie Aparo (in the audience)Royal Scam
Gaslighting Abbie - please, please; i need, i need
Daddy Don't Live...
Black Friday
Green Earrings
Cousin Dupree
Do It Again
Deacon Blues
Josie
Peg
Kid Charlemagne
Bodhisatva
Negative Girl
West of Hollywood
Monkey...Soul

Encores
Don't Take Me Alive
My Old School

Please omit "no static at all" song
Following this request will insure a smooth orderly concert going experience for everyone.

Sincerely, Don

CHI-RIVAL-- thank you for your words of encouragment! That was very conciderate of you! I realize that a lot of the music these days is pretty crappy!! so anyway, thanks again! Sometimes you can just feel lost and alone, even in an enviornment where you know everyone...thanks for being there!

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%DENNY DIAS on guitar over anyone, anytime! Roy.Scam, u r so right!

RECORDERS ALLOWED AT CONCERT was posted on the sign at Dave Matthews Band last night in Indy! They played 7 unreleased numbers that were great! New CD is to come out this fall. Bootlegs should be on the net by now. What a contrast from the Big Brothers Dan!

Wishlist setlist for me is changing daily! I want it all! Looking forward to the intro of Don't Take me Alive most!
Would enjoy hearing what the boys would do with:
Wherever You Go
Teahouse on the Tracks
Book of Liars
Brain Tap Shuffle

All of you on the Trifecta trips have my envy!
A.G. Lisa

You worked for DEC???

I started there in '83. Did 8 years as part of "Field Circus" at the MRO site, stayed one step ahead of the grim reaper and ultimately ended up in the "fly squad" (Trade Show Support), spending all my time traveling from one city to another. Sort of like being in a band only no music. And the VMS groupies were an odd sort...

Finally got "the package" in '94. Started my own business doing trade show support with DEC as my biggest customer. Actually got rehired in '97. You know the rest of the story...

It really was a great place to work. How many other companies would bring in the QE2 for use as a floating hotel???

Which might explain some things...

M. Blaze -- yes, I really do work for "the Big Soft," as I fondly call it. My title is Desktop Publisher -- a slight misnomer, because what I format is not newletters and such, but documentation headed either for print or CD-ROM or websites (I'm in the department doing documentation for Windows 2000). Can't tell you much of anything about e-mails, privacy, or any such issues that people wouldn't already know from reading the news media or, say, Hotmail's official privacy statement. As for the working conditions ... okay, I do my share of joking around about the joint, but in fact, I've been working in high tech off and on since 1980, and have a huge number of friends in all sorts of other high-tech companies, and I do have to say that MS is lots better than many I've seen or experienced--both in pay and in working conditions. Now when I worked for Digital back in the 1980s--now THAT was one terrific place to work! But you see what happened to them--they didn't swim fast enough and so they got et. RIP, sic transit gloria mundi, et cetera et cetera et cetera ...

/the Mam'zelle
(yaas, sonny, I remember when we had to do all our documenation writing in TECO, and then run it through NROFF or TROFF to format it ... )

Back early from a relaxing vacation with the wife and daughter(s). Just talked with Hoops and he asked that I post this link for all the Trifecta-goers:

http://www.dandom.com/danfests/trifecta

Stay tuned to this page. Jim will update it with weather information and other important stuff within the next 24 hours.

I'd ask everybody do a anti-rain dance for the Trifecta people, but being from Seattle I know that you can dance like Edd's alter-ego and it's still gonna fucking rain...

Speaking of Edd. Once again he nailed the essence of this guestbook on the HEAD:

"I don't think *anybody* "gets" this GB the first time they try to become part of it. There's lots of inside jokes, unspoken punchlines, cliques, etc. It takes a while to figure it out.

Sort of like Steely Dan itself. "

Read the last line closely people. It's what I've been saying all along.

StAl

Innocent One, Don't get discouraged, Its refreshing to
see new schools like yourself, KD, and others
Diggin the Dan. In this era of In-Sync and
Britney Spears, These groups are Hot today
but when you guys look back 20 years from
now, only the real musicians, will survive.
Besides, its up to you guys, to pass the
torch to the next generation.
Keep the faith Lil Sis!

You Zombie... Be born again my friend.
Won't you sign in stranger...

CHI.

Razor, Im feelin, Ya Bro.

Chere, Thanks for the shoutout, Hope you're feelin better.

chere-- thank you so much! I'm glad that someone likes my posts! I was getting a little discouraged!! How are you by the way?? Hope everything is going well!!

Hello everyone! The time has come today, TIME! The Great Lakes Trifecta is offically under way!

See yall later!

Peace love and DAN! DAN! DAN!

Razor

ole....e-mail me with the when and where on dinner and Raleigh and I'm sure that we'll be there! Looking forward to the jam but not the heat.

MC

David-just thought I'd let you know that I had "Clockdrive World" playing over and over yesterday at work. I especially love the title track. Thanks for taking the time to document "an inconsequential life" so beautifully. (By the way, you beat 3 million:1 odds just by being here; no one's life is inconsequential!)

chere-good luck with the migraines. You have my complete sympathy-the few I've had have made me miserable. Hang in there with the physical therapy, too. I've been doing some moderate exercise and my back is getting stronger, so I'm optimistic for yours as well. Enjoy St. Augustine-it sounds beautiful!

Razor Boy-wonderful sentiments! To all going to the Trifecta: have a spectacular time, dance your hearts out and take lots of pictures. Remind D&W about their promise of "next year".

I've got a triathlon Sunday (chere-see what good therapy can do!) so wish me luck-I've been having a terrible problem with panic attacks in open water, but I think I've got it licked this time. I'll bring my Steely CD's to the race and dance away the anxieties before they get to me!

Aja

Tried again for Dan tickets today at the Tweeter in MA. They're now selling lawn seats for full price. I'll keep trying until the very end and hope for a release of good seats/tix. Promoters sometimes hold on to the best seats until the very end.

Mu: Is the soundtrack for Me, Myself and Irene out yet?

I now return to the wonderful world of publishing....

Chere--first a moral compass, then an angel--there's some SERIOUS delusion going on here. Thanx anyway. I'm working on the book.

RS--Then I'd better watch what I'm about!

Bye all, see you in a week or so.

Chere- Thanks for listening to my CD...I hope you and anyone you play it for enjoys it for what it is...a documented slice of time in my inconsequential life.

StevieDan- above is my E-address and you can also e-mail me from
www.davidmooremusic.com

Not only are they all playing basses during Big Bottom, but the incomperable Derek Smalls is playing a very rare B.C. Rich Mockingbird double neck bass (4 string and 8 string as I recall).

Speaking of the Tap, evidently their movie will be re-released in theaters this summer. The DVD version will have an extra hour of footage. VH-1 will also have an entire "Where are they now?" episode devoted to the Tap. Could a late summer tour be far behind? Maybe they will open a few SD shows! Or perhaps more appropriately, SD will open for the Tap. After all, they are England's Loudest Band...(with a similar "more selective" audience)

Could you imagine Becker and Fagen sitting in on "Jazz Oddesey"? Or how about the horn section playing on "Hell Hole"? The backup singers lending a voice on "Listen to the Flower People".

Somebody better warn Ricky Lawson not to sit in though...

J$ : The evaluation of a guitarist is too subjective to adequately defend in words. (Someone on this site once said that writing about music is like dancing about architecture.) But I must say that Black Friday and Bad Sneakers were two of my favorite guitar solos before I was analytical enough to know or care who the guitarist was; and the WOH solo kicked me right in the mommy-daddy button despite the massive weight of my expectations.

Oleander: Two posts ago, you, the wordmeister, ended a sentence with a preposition. The rules say that if you do it two more times and I document these violations, that you're required to dance at the Virginia Beach show in apparel (or lack thereof) selected by the documentor.

Steely Dan: Please keep Denny Dias on the payroll, through the east coast shows. Some say Clapton is God; I say DIAS ES DIOS.

RS

Mademoiselle - You really work for Microsoft? In what capacity (besides minion but that goes without saying)? Funny thing is, this comes up after our discussion on the email issue. That Big Boss of yours had a few e-mails made public during his trial vs us.gov.
How private can we feel about Hotmail, for example? How far can you go with this anonymous tracking business on the Net before you have to break privacy laws? And which body of laws apply? It's all a blur for me but from your vantage point, maybe you can enlighten us a little. How's the pay there? Any stocks thrown in?
A network dude with time to kill...

babes calls me 8:54 a.m. here at my ofice. Says to me..I'm gonna put you on hold so you can listen to Steely Dan" It's Cousin Dupree playing. On the radio (104.3 FM). I fear Steely Dan-itis has struck my better half. All is well.

Rockin' and Reelin'
Aussie

Folks... if you're looking for decent tix to the Saturday, July 8th show, TicketMonster just released some seats in Orchestra Section H.. low rows.

Now's the time to snap them up.

Good Hunting

WHAT A GLORIOUS DAY TO BE FREE!

RAZOR

Good morning to all and happy summer Friday! As June winds down and the Dan approach the Atlantic Ocean I can tell you that the excitement is mounting, exponentially. It being "casual" dress Friday around these parts, I also took the liberty to be "casual" about bringing Steely Dan's brand new scalding hot effort 2Vs.N to the office. I plan to pop it in the cd-rom drive of my work station and rock steady to 9 diffrent tracks of sonic brilliance. I must tell you the reviews I've read have me convinced I'm in for a treat of epic proportions, and I promise to reciprocate in this very forum with a posting of coments from my show here in New York. The raging debate about Mr. Becker's guitar virtuosity(sp ?)or lack thereof has certainly been interesting to say the least. Regular posters, I've noticed, really show their passion in these pages...good reading, always.

Blasting big shout out back to you Chere. Have a great weekend all.

"The Summer-this could be the cool part of the summer"
Aus

Hutch - I heard of formal logic and even pretzel logic but informal logic? It's what you call it when it's loose, I guess.

Renee - That was not me, heckling you. I wouldn't go through the trouble of changing keyboard to add a few french accents and needless to say i write better in french, better than that anyway.

Worm - You should re-read yourself this morning. You read like a little kid getting cotton candy. It was funny.

Can you say East Coast after Midwest, boys and girls? It's here.

This worked yesterday... as they came out of their respective hidey-holes. Today's "missing in action" segment includes:

Ruby Baby
Mark B.
Mark Buckingham
wonderwa*if
Q

crossing my fingers and taking bets...

It's me just popping in to say hello! Looking forward to the coming postings about all the other shows attended thus far and in the near future. This tour is soooooo exciting! I can't wait for my turn. Can't wait to own a Steely Dan t shirt. My life will be so much more complete, once I have witnessed the magic and the music live.

Welcome David! This is THE place, one of the ONLY places besides any fellow Gbers websites here in fandom, to come to on the internet. The creme de la creme I tell you. Some of the best people in the world come right here to share, agree, disagree, share and show love for all things Steely Dannish, including music inspired by the Dan. Stick around and you'll get hooked!

IO- Hey dawlin! How is everything. Summer school IS so a boring experience. But you can never learn too much. It may sound really cliche but "Knwledge IS power". For real sister. It is always so refreshing to read your posts and the young and fresh attitude you posess with your words. Keep it coming chile'.

Ole- How are YOU? Have you figured out your new dance routine yet? HaHa. I have decided you are the MAIN angel of the GB. Always positive and funny as hell! Speaking of angels and the love they give, I have been checking my mailbox. I hope someday we can hook up and I can give you that tarot reading. Maybe we could phone eachother or something, the reading? Gratis of course love! Give me a holler! K?

Aja-Is everything alright with JW Malibu? I could not really figure out from this week's postings, exactly what IS up with him. Going to any other shows? You seem to really be travelin' it like a gypsy spirit. I had a nerve block proceedure done for my migraines today. My neuro is a god! I was so scared but I kept thinking of you and your concern about my back and stuff and tried to be really positive about that HUGE needle going into my occipital region. Yeah, it hurt like hell, but maybe the next month's bout of migraine hell, will be not so frequent, severe, or maybe not at all. I sure hope so. The back matter is still running on Gospel Time. I am going to St Augustine, my former place of residence for like ten years, for a wedding and some much needed away from the city karma. I will take my girlfriend's Rottweiler Cacious Clay, for long walks along the beach and the marina and steal flowers from the best gardens. I am the flowr theif extraordinare. cant aford to but them , but they sit there so pretty amongst so many others, I simply cannot resist allowing the gardner to share. I ask permission of course, if I see the owner, but if nobody is around well, Cashew and I have it down to a science! Her house is one of only three left in original condition that was built before the turn of the century. The first African American deacon in St Augustine built it. There is a beautiful stained glass window at the top of the stairs (I detect the el supremo......) Sorry, I breathe Steely Dan! Hopefully this little hiatus will bring me some healing. I will also get to see my madrina (godmother in Cadomble/Santeria)- she can work wonders with the herbs and baths for relief and sppiritual cleansing. After St A, I go back to the orthopod to figure out what I am gonna do with this back situation. So that's that. Have an awesome weekend girl!

Steviedan- Hey baby Boo. How are you? I sure cannot wait till I make it up NC way.Your great posts have filled the void from soout's departure somewhat for me. He is just such a cool writer, But then dear, so are YOU! I only wish I understood more clearly when some of you folk here talk musician shop. It's is all learning for me, but that IS a great thing. Thanks for showing a sister love and addressing me from toime to time n your posts. The first thing I do when I sign on here, Is look to see if ANYONE posted ANYTHING to ME! You almost ALWAYS come through bro. Love ya fer dat! Take it easy and stay loose.

David in the Florida room- I am going to St A as I told Aja. Artimus from Lynrd Skynyrd is a very close friend of mine and I am seeing him when I get there. We spoke on the phone today actually. His kids are sure getting grown! He is a super guy and I am going to give him a listen of your CD. He occcasionally plays with this band called THOSE GUYS. They play alot of the same style music you play. Although he's been doing this solo gig and another priject with his son's band these days. Nevertheless, I WILL see that brother. So when we sit back on his porch and have a fattacious tater, we will listen to YOU! How's that? Thanks again for the CD!

LaPage- SOOOO glad your'e still here. A blessing indeed.!

Special shout outs to Chi Riv, KD, Miz Ducky, MU, Q,Gina, Diane, RB, Aussie, StAl,Hoops, Soout (if your'e out there!), Hutch, JW, and the rest of the crew I cannot remember by name right now.

Instant Karma and all that good stuff to you ALL- Your friendly resident JUJU chile' -chere

Just letting everyone know that I have added some soundfiles to my site at:

http://www.geocities.com/the_el_supremo/steelydantracks.htm

Included are :

Canadian Star
Cash Only Island
Ruby Baby (live)
Springtime (live)

Sorry, but no 2vN tour 2000 soundfiles will be appearing on my site.

Enjoy!

El Sup

..while overhere it's 10.25 A.M. ...last working day of the week...

Steviedan, I will try to get to Breuker or his management, that'll be fun, who knows the package comes with a personal touch, that always makes things special, no promises though, but I'll try!!
Tick-tack-tick-tack...

Now we say Oh-my-Ray!!! if we follow up on Hutch and his revelations..

Gottogetbacktowork ...

Any new topics to hang out with this weekend???????

Bye for now, Gina

cara mia--oh no! I'll be in Atlanta Mon. night, not Tues. If you'll be pulling in Mon., let's get together after the show. Lemme know.

Q--you be there Monday?

Midnite--So can you all get to Raleigh in time to join us for dinner Fri.?

Hutch--Bummer. No, no Va Beach for me. What would it take to get you to Raleigh?!?

David--how about Binky?

"Spinal Tap" was on tonight. I hadn't seen it for, oh, a decade or two. It still makes me snicker. Anybody notice that during the song about bottoms they're all playing bass?

Along those lines, anybody listen to Marvin Gaye's "One More Heartache" lately? It's "Do It Again."

Holy sactified Jesu Christi I have mis-spelled Todd's name !!!
I told you it was reconstructive surgery.

Welcome David: I am intrigued with your e-address: ariarug. Is it operatic carpet ? Is your last name Riarug ? Give us more detail on the Demento connection. You will be pleased to discover that many of us are demented.

It's great that the last post connected. Twice would have KILLED me.

Gina was asking me where steelynicks was hanging out. With steelyrayvaughan. Where else ? See Gina, never reveal your uncopywrited material to me. I will steal it and embellish it to your complete embarrassment !

D&W's instrument is the BAND & the charts (BTW band members use them on stage so as a practical joke, they can insert centerfold photos & laugh at bandmates reactions when they get to THAT tune. An irrepressible tradition.) Oh yeah...where was I...YEAH. Woody wasn't the greatest clarinetist. Ellington's piano was functional and tasty, providing the key stylistic accents. These guys are the boss. They don't need to overwork themselves. They've earned their spot. They brought the genius. Zappa & Rungren often doffed their instruments and CONDUCTED. Like Miles, D&W flavor with pointilistic stabs. As YGK stated, in Donald's case the true composer style is operative. Non-virtuosic mostly, but critical to making the music SD music. Arguably, the most recent material could better define the true duo than any of the past efforts.

THAT was the yapping feral dog part.

Oh Hutch, I thought that your example was leading to a FALSE conclusion.

DIFR: Thanx for infiltrating my system here, Dave. I forgot to write down your site address. I tried to search on what I could remember but just wasn't hitting it. Could you please post or e-it-to-me. My kids could retrieve it in two keystrokes but I'm too embarrassed to ask them. They're just like the computer service guy on SNL.

MC: Believe it or not, that G'boro store is not ours. I hear they sell BAD CDs. That's just what I heard. Our's are VIRGIN aluminum, man.

I have just reconstructed this entire post as it was somehow lost in the tranfer. It was either a labor of love or like ballah sez...hold the mayo.

checked out the new Me, Myself, and Irene Soundtrack - the best cover this year is certainly Joe Jackson's King of the World. Ivy and Ben Folds Five sounded quite nice though. I was particarly captivatied by Ivy's vocals. Wilco and Push Stars were alright in a hippie kind of way - they kept the beat. I kinda like Setzer's farily faithful big band Bodi...ambivalence is swallowing me considering Smashmouth and Billy G and Marvelous 3 just plain reeked - ones to skip...Finally hear Greg Philanganes cover of Lazy Nina - awesome.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I have drawn one conclusion...KD hates me!

oleander- Thanks for the welcome. I promise to parody SD only if it's good. Can't wait for the Me, Myself, and Irene flick to hit the multiplex tomorrow, as the soundtrack will engage the "Hey, this is great music" flywheel in the brains of the P.M.s in FM & AM land. 2vN can only benefit in chart positions.
Dylan plays Ventura June 30th, so if you missed Irvine, check out SD's muse- Zimmy's always phenomenal live up until the THC kicks in & he forgets his lyrics.
I especially love everybody's moniker on the GB as a kind of inside-knowledge of all those lyrics, and will come up with one for myself, save for that the obvious ones are taken- can St. Alphonzo list all the taken ones? And, does the F.B.I. ever hassle Mr. La Page to see his collection of eight? Later...

For anyone going to the Steely Concerts in the next few days, i hope that you have a BLAST!! The San Diego Show RULED so i know that any show by Donald and Walter will RULE!! So i wish you the best of luck and tell us all about it when you get back!!

Michelle

Some collected thoughts from the Denver show whilst getting ready for Chicago:

almost made it home from Colorado w/o mishap... 30 miles from the house my alternator went out... my passenger's wife brought us a battery and we limped home...

At noon on Wednesday we were at the top of the world in Rocky Mountain National Park throwing snowballs and at 5:30 p.m. we were at the pre-show Danfest... not as many showed up as RSVP'd... got that Hoops?

Loved Cynthia's belly button ring... Vicky's see through dress??? OUCH!!! Heard a cut off of Carolyn's new CD from the Denver PBS affiliate on the way out of town... sounded great!!!

I lost count of the number of times that Donald asked if it was dark yet... apparently the venue in Denver has a curfew... so they start early... hell, it wasn't dark until a couple of songs into the second set...

No Gaslighting... I enjoyed the way the girls get to share duty on Dirty Work... 8 bars each, before sharing the spotlight with a cohort... I believe the set list was the same as that I've seen posted for the Gorge and also in Concorde, CA...

I didn't hear a "see ya next year"...

I'd sure like to know what the little white box (with a brand name of Avalon) is that Tom Barney has in his rack... and why can't he play these tunes without sheet music??? for that matter, why do the horn players need sheet music?? Don't our boys deserve a little memorization from the troops???????

It was good seeing Michael Leonhart playing keyboards on a tune...

When will Donald buy a Rhodes that isn't held together by tape?

Enough for now... I've gotta unpack from the mountains and pack for Chi-town!!!

I am dancin' on a cloud here! About this time tommorrow night, it'll be half time and i'll be mingling with the crowd. The Great Lakes Trifecta is here BABY!!!!!! We should have between 60 and 70 fans at the lakefront for the pre-show wing ding. I can't wait to meet 'em all. I tell ya, after reading everyone else's posts about the shows, it's going to be great to finally be there.

Not being a musician, I don't know that any of my thoughts on the Walter or Donald subjects will have any bearing but here it goes. I love Walters playing. As has been noted, he has gotten better with every tour and the new album features some awesome work. It certainly doesn't match some of the stuff Carlton, Parks, etc. did BACK in the 70's, but it is good solid work. He deserves some credit for being a consistantly good player. Donald is much the same. You don't hear any real raves about what a fantastic player he is but you also don't hear that he's a hack. Good consistant solid work. Isn't that the goal of any musician? Also, as to the 'leader of the band' thread, Tony and I have discussed this quite often. By the way, Tony is one of the co-hosts of the first leg of the Trifecta. Though Donald is certainly the 'front' man, we believe that the 'conductor' is Walter. He appears to be more of the 'Okay, let's try that one more time, except bend the third note only an 1/8th of an inch' kind of guy. Walter's the one you don't want watching you intently as you play because you know you'll screw up if he does.

I have to finish packing up now, starting to get the shakes again.

Peace. love and DAN

Razor

After catching three shows recently and watching the PBS special right now that I taped last night, I have two words to sum these guys up for me, at least at this particular moment in time...ruthless precision.

where is everybody???

we had hot discussion and then poof

glad the radar tower is working at Mt. Belzone and I'll second blaises welcome back DJ MITCH

where is everybody else?

it must have been some lucky thursday ;-]

Blaze: Thanks for asking about my whereabouts........What are the crowd numbers averaging, 12,000 or more..........got the steely video that was released last week and am very pleased.......Ballah gets the biggest reaction ive seen here in 3-half years......even more than the intoxicated Swede Claus .....love the playlists, maybe the boys saw some of our posts......this edition on tour i think is the best so far...Cleveland next week and Pittsburgh on July 2......BANG,BOOM

Renee: I believe we are speaking of the same Very Large Evil Empire, er, I mean Software Company out in Redmond WA. In fact, I recently became an official Minion of said Em\\Company, blue badge and all.

It gives me great joy to have my 2vN poster up on the wall of my office. Every now and then when I'm grinding through my day gig, I look up into Donald's long-suffering eyes, and let Walter's smirk shine down upon me, and all is well with the world again--for the next ten minutes or so.

/The Mam'zelle
who is still working on the novel and is NOT about to quit

Wow

thanks for the input on the additional released seats

although I did not do spectacular I am quite happy

I tried for the Atlanta tickets but that was a tough one
my son would have to be in tow and a bit of complications and extra vacation days weekday driving (too much too fast)

instead I opted for Raliegh - not much farther from New Orleans (still a days drive - but a weekend where I do not have the kids and I am off that friday (so at least a 4 day event)

so I will get to meet the NC contingent and see the Dan!

I plan on doing some camping, Blueridge, and maybe some whitewater - psyched is not the word for it
and can't wait to meet the east coast contingent

a concilation prize for missing Diego, but what a prize

anyone else who is along the way to Rayliegh via New Orleans or shorter I could swing by if you are interested (gas is on me (a nice oil field bonus we were given this year))

yes, yes, Yesssss!

tom

Great newws:! 2vN has jumped on the charts this week from No. 101 to No. 78 ! I guess the touring is stimulating sales, right? It's one of the albums with the biggest sales gains this weeek.

I went for one ticket to Atlanta

row d 17th seat 23

18th row a seat 62

how far off to the side
isn't the pit the first 30 rows or so
or is this really close

thanks

have to make a real quick decision

Tom

i just purchase seat 21 in the first row, center section at camden! i went back to check and there are still seats available on either side of me.
for those of you in within driving distance of this venue, this is your opportunity to get up close and personal with the boys.

Look at. www.surf.to/ricky-dee

Look at www.surf.to/ricky-dee LETS ROCK: ALL THE BEST

check out the offical steely dan page, there are good seats aplenty still available. just found 1 in the first row, seat 21 for the camden show. there's also primo seating still available for columbia, md, and jones beach.
i haven't had time to check other venues but i assume there's still great seats that have recently been released by ticketmaster.

parti si je vous avais avec bonjour puis que diriez-vous de plus
nous pouvons discuter le Dan une certaine autre heure si vous êtes l'cOh si vulnérable dans
un genre blessé de chiot de voie

something I most love about Fagen's keyboard playing is not only the restraint but the syncopated hesitation around the beat

a simple example

the intro lines to My Old School

the hesitation makes the thing move

RE: Agreed, and one must also consider the format, if you will, of the musical product. I think Fagen approaches it more from a compositional perspective, whereas he doesn't necessarily NEED to use and/or show chops, but rather to apply what he considers the right use of the instrument in the setting with rhythm section, horns, guitar(s), etc. All pieces in the masterful puzzle of arranging/composition.

Exactly. It's all in the context.

Don't bludgeon me. Seduce me.

Fact is, he's just a great pocket player. If you watch the Aja DVD, you'll see this demonstrated beautifully. The guy has an awesome sense of time and space.

something I most love about Fagen's keyboard playing is not only the restraint but the syncopated hesitation around the beat

a simple example

the intro lines to My Old School

the hesitation makes the thing move

Thanks, MC. There should be some new pictures up fairly soon. I had to move the feeder away from the house (it was only about 5 feet from the window) to a spot about 25' away for the summer. Insecticide application around the foundation...

Anyhow, I'll be putting up some rose-breasted grosbeaks (beautiful!) and some common house sparrows.

The summer crowd is rather boring. Grackles, cowbirds, red-wing blackbirds, and sparrows. I also removed the trays and hung the A6s from the wire wickets in order to provide less space for the big birds who don't like to perch. Pretty successful.

I was playing Steely Dan music while I did it.

Edd (owner of a monster all tube Ampeg B25-B)

Edd....went back to your page yesterday and was enjoying the pictures at the feeder again. The pics are great and the anecdotes are hilarious. We've had similar battles with the rodents here but we just let them have their way and keep plenty out for the birds too. We have most of the same species that you have although the timing seems to be a bit different. Guess that's just the difference in location. Keep up the good work and keep up the nice additions.

Hutch & ybtodd....I'd love to have a Bogner or for that matter a Mesa-Boogie Mark IIC. I've played a lot of tube amps and that particular Boogie thorough a 2-12 3/4 back cabinet is the best rig I've EVER played though. I have a pre-CBS Princeton that cranks out a really sweet tone and a non-master volume 50 watt Bassman head with the really big 2-12 cab that sounds good but has to be incredibly loud to sound it's best. That's the thing with tube amps, it's not about overdriving the pre-amp for fuzz, it's about saturating the tubes in the power amp for that full, fat tone that most people prefer. Given that, the POD is perfect for recording a very good approximation of that sound onto tape/CD. I don't gig anymore so having the killer live sound isn't as important to me as it once was. Being able to get that good tone recorded is what's important to me. In all fairness to ybtodd, you did say that it depended on the situation. So in my situation the POD comes through with flying colors. Still, these little boogers sound awfully good through a clean, cranked amp live. For the money and the variety, I think I'm where I want to be. Thanks for the input on this subject guys.

Zeke....Opti (my wife) and I are driving down the day of the show and don't know if we'll be staying the night or not. We're less than two hours away so we may spend the hotel funds on concert Tee's and head back. I'll let you know as we get closer to the date.

Following the Becker as guitar player thread I'll say this: I watched the '96 Manassas tour on tape yesterday and then watched the PBS special afterwards. The man has been woodshedding the past few years. He's always been an adequate guitar player and will always be on the subtle side but his playing has improved dramatically the past few years. I think he's just getting comfortable being the main guitarist in a band known for awesome guitar talent. Not to mention the fact that he's a killer bass player. Most guitarists think they can play bass and most bass players think they can play guitar but the reality is that very few people can actually play both instruments and play them well. Walter Becker is such and individual. Hats off to you Walter, things will only get better.

steviedan....we go to SchoolKids in Greensboro all the time. Good prices and good selection....we'll be sure to stop in at Cary the next time we come down.

Mu: Agreed, and one must also consider the format, if you will, of the musical product. I think Fagen approaches it more from a compositional perspective, whereas he doesn't necessarily NEED to use and/or show chops, but rather to apply what he considers the right use of the instrument in the setting with rhythm section, horns, guitar(s), etc. All pieces in the masterful puzzle of arranging/composition.

I've never heard of Fagen doin' a straight up jazz gig, with a few supporting players and the piano as the focus of the melody and lead improviser - that would be one test of chops. However, chops don't make a song - they are merely tools in the many ways of rendering musical ideas.

With all the space in 2vN (the track), it must have been tempting to overplay, but sometimes, many times, less is more. There he gave us some tasty boppish keyboard work, but not overdone - and, of course, that Stravinsky passage.

As my buddy Alex noted - "Fagen got it perfect here"

ygk

Pre Concert from Rocky Mountain news:Wish there was an after concert review I could find. I'll be offline now until Sunday night - so I'm sure someone can find the reviews for this weekend's shows. Have a great time. Hartford is right around the corner.
http://rockymountainnews.com/concerts/0620dan.shtml

not=now

MrLa Page: There was an article in Jazziz about 1990 which not only delivered propers to the NYR&SR, but also lauded and compared Fagen's piano stylings to Bill Evans. I personally think he is more reminiscent of Monk. Meet if you will: Fire in the Hole. Does he have Omartian's piano chops? mebbe not. But what cool things he has done with keys such the Fender Rhodes, organ, and synth. Sure I could give examples, but I'd have to list virtually the whole discography. Well OK - how about the synth harmonica of Home At Last? - an nice counterpoint to Walter's guitar - one of the finest moments in recording history. In both W & D's cases, the better argument is now what ya got, but what do ya DO with it.

Mr LaPage - Had this lengthy response, went to submit it and it vanished. Oh well, technology... To make a long story short, maybe the fact that his playing does not end up on record (although it does, will research and get back) has more to do with a self-esteem problem than anything else.
Anyway, like worm thomass said, some of the best songwriters are not necessarily virtuosos and the best session guys, more often than not, can't write good songs, it's a known fact.
I tend to believe that there's more than money involved in the numerous partnerships with the cream of the crop but, then again, what do I know?

I thought the interlude played by Baker (in FunDiego, only show I've seen) was most excellent. Little bit of Monk, dash of Copeland, some Gershwin, and maybe some Hancock for good measure. One of the high points of the show for me.

WIth Fagan, I think his playing prowess lies in the voicings he uses, and more importantly, his timing. Much of the funkiness you feel comes from his staccato lines bouncing off the bass and WB's guitar work. He may not be a great soloist, but he could play in my ensemble anytime...

squiggly--yes, I'm doing Tues for the Dan show and will definitely party the night before if enough antendees make it worth my drive the 200 miles.

the rubycam was...shall we say...a bit dead from battery impotence. "We got lots of pretty girls" on dig. stills. Maybe you will see them if you show up in Hotlanta.

JWMalibu--you are a doll. So glad to meet you in Irvine. Thinking of you and sending wishes your way.

Geoff and Wonderwaif-Amanda---have a great time in Chicago this weekend. Sorry not to make it up there to meet your tall Brit friend, but I gotta rest up for our Southern hooteries.

cara mia

Red Blazed made a comment about Ted Baker looking up to Fagen in response to the 'instrumental chops' thing. I'm curious. Is Baker quoted as saying he looks up to Fagen because he's Fagen, a great songwriter and composer or because of his prowess on the keyboards?
I'm not doubting that Fagen can play the piano with excellence, but there's very little in the written or recorded record to support the claim that Fagen is indeed a world class pianist.
In fact, can someone bring to mind some of the quality keyboard solo pieces Fagen performed in past efforts. If I'm not mistaken, almost all of the soloing was done by a session man.
Also, I don't recall anyone mentioning Fagen's talents on keyboards in any interviews I've read. I may be wrong.
Most of the intricate live keyboard work has almost exclusively been performed by session men.

Jmoney, Walter can play GUITAR! But I think I get your point?

Craig

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

oh goody - more cultural ballet this morning

cara mia and ole - you are doing the second night atlanta?
gee, I might have to make that one

still waiting for my RubyCam

pork chops - one can never have too little pork
and one always gets a bone when one gets chops
I'll stick with a nice light aural dinner of fine Don and Walt
severed elegantly in thin wisps with a touch of studio flare for presentation waiter, this will do

88 segments of thy worminess, at your disposal

I can see it on your face, and a certain lack of grace

Wormster: re, my "debâcle'96" on the Donald chops thing.... yes, don't I remember. Not my finest hour.

What I said came out all wrong and I paid the price for being 'over-glib'.

Still, forgive and forget - which is more than I can say for the England football team. (A Springsteen gig would provide more enjoyment then their recent performances!)

Contraversial speak is king on this GB.

Where is Clas?

Laters

SFK

dearest h'edd, it must be challenging having to summit that big ego you carry around like the map of sudan upon your brow.
lighten up twinkle toes and show us all your mata hari, coootchie-coo up-and-back number when the band rips into gaslighting this summer.
the real question being: do you prefer lace or chiffon when selecting undergarments?
thesaurus indeed!

Just received the lovely prize from the bumpersticker contest all the way from Sweden to my Tennessee mountain home. Thank you very much, Clas! I love my
"That Steely Dan--he is so cool!"
and will dislay it proudly. Enjoy the Dan coming to your hometown in September. YOU are so cool. :-)

Blaise, blazer, etc.---mr. YGK is enjoying the West Coast these days and is probably not thinking about us.

Hoops--thank you very much, and your gesture is kind. I shall email a batch of hooterie pics to you tomorrow.

Oleander--I know I owe you a shout. I am bad. Are you still attending both nights in Hotlanta? I will base my decision about the first night (Mon) on your plans. Every time I saw oleander on my trip to CA (blooming profusely this time of year) I thought of you and that particular Dan line/tune repeated in my head too much.

Oh, mr. chimp--are you going to do it right, rent a suite at the Ritz in Buckhead and have me and Ole and the rest as your special Steely guests????

Aja and I.O.-glad you all like your pics. More coming down the pike. Mr. Hoops is going to post them for all to adore.

cara mia

Gina - Ballah types with 1 finger on his non dominant hand

he sings to his other 'sorry I'm busy" hand the song Rose Darling
over and over and over again

see Ole's fever Dreams on this if you are confused

stopped using KY in junior high. i find mayonnaise much more viscous and conducive.

all together now; BLT ON WHOLE WHEAT!

"I find you all so tiresome..."

...and yet, like a beaten dog, you keep coming back hoping maybe *this* time you'll please us.

Edd

Greetings all!

I don't have anything of any substance at this time, just wanted to comment on the excellent discussion going on. If I can wake up a bit I may throw a penny or two in. Thanks for stiring this up JMoney!

Any one got a review of the Denver show last night?

Only one more day till the start of the TRIFECTA!!!!!!

I'm going back to sleep...at least in my mind.

Peace, Love and DAN

Razor

Hey Ballah, I wonder, do you type with two fingers as in one from your left hand and the other from your right, or do you use two fingers, occasionally three, five, hm..if I look at the words you've typed all ending with -ion, that must create a nice sense of rhythm. Have you ever tried playing drums, forgive me if I picture Animal from the Muppets here ..

Anyway..you just love this GB and it's temporary inhabitants as much as I do, even though you express your feelings a teensy bit different..I understand.

But seriously...you like the music of Steely Dan?

Gina

ballah - so your thesaurus is working overtime this a.m.

so how much oxygen deprivation were you experiencing when you posted this? - you really must stop torturing yourself
KY is available at most finer drug stores

Hi everyone--Summer school sucks! I'm getting ready to leave!Wish me luck :( BORING BORING BORING!!! oh well it's only 4 hours...*sigh*

Talk to you all later

i.o.

you know i'm through with buzz yes i'm through with buz...

hey ballah - you left out pompous and pretensions

please take the beam out of your optical oar a face

and better yet - get off the chair, take the tie off from your neck and stop looking the mirror

so you haven't responded well to that increase in your medication

sorry to hear that

you bombastic, pretentious, didactic, sollipsistic, self-absorbed, fulminating, ego-centric, conceited, close-minded, prejudiced, self-important, intolerant, xenophobic, boorish, braying, self-congratulatory, coquettish, sycophantic, fanatical bunch of fools!

mr. philly big $ j comes on spewing his little cloistered take on things and you pack of feral dogs take him apart.

fuck you guys!

you'd all be better off with a little self-flagulation, auto-erotic asphyxiation and copious mastrubation. (rubbing one's mast can be very gratifying if performed with vim & vigor!)

I guess it's an Unfortunate fact of life that we'll never really know what any of the previously mentioned guitarists and musicians in general are capable of. All we know is what we've heard them play on recordings and brief moments of live work. It's a fact that many of them are well versed in many styles and as pros , do what they're called upon to do.
Last year I was listening to The "Burning for Buddy" CD's that Rush Drummer Neil Pert Produced and was amazed at How well A drummer like Matt Sorum from Guns n' Roses plays Big Band Jazz. The Buddy Rich Big Band plays on the CD with Drummers from all over the Musical Spectrum. A diverse group of Drummers playing Buddy's Catalog. When you thirst for knowledge on an Instrument,
and your personality is such that you like variety...you end up with a Very Deep Well from which to draw.
JosieDanFan- Welcome Back...Glad you finally got to see the Boys.
StevieDan- Nice talking to you
Everyone- Nice reading You

sorry Hutch - my Kurzweil doesn't go up that high
I'm missing 12 keys but can easily push it to higher octaves

Edd - a woprm is like a sign wave or a wave breaking just west of hollywood - it oscillates at what ever frequencies suit it's fancy - it must hide it's radiance underground in the nectar of topsoil - if it ever surfaces and revels an underlying soulfulness it is simply left as sidewalk smatter

fast fingers and technique magna cum Julliard does not thy music make

one note wonders - Yes Pete and Neil have those delicious solos that fit the piece

ever notice how alot of great/grate songwriters also usually have rudimentary instrumental skills

Dylan, Petty, Van Morrison, Peter Gabriel

the Beatles were never virtuoso's either

but something about a Dan melody or Neil Young's chords hits the soul, it reaches where mere technique could never dare tread

wormy

the sparkle of your china, can you show me

Worm - 88 keys on a standard piano. And they like to be tickled.

This whole "Walter's no good, Donald's no good" thing is truly hilarious. I've certainly met more than one guitarist whose thought processes fall along the lines of Mr. Money.

I remember some courses in Informal Logic that I took in college. The idea of certain premises leading to a logical conclusion is interesting. A faulty premise leads to a faulty conclusion. I could say that since Pete Townsend played a one note solo on "I Can See for Miles" and Neil Young played a one note solo on "Cinnamon Girl" then neither one of these guys are any "good". But that ignores other factors. The real question is what is Money's definition of "good"?

Here's one for ya.....

Premise #1 - God is Love
Premise #2 - Love is blind
Premise #3 - Ray Charles is blind
_____________________________________

Conclusion - Ray Charles is God.

"did you know worms have 82 segments to go with the 82 keys on a standard piano"

Which 82 keys do the segments line up with?

humm

blaze asks in all his crimson glory

how does Don gain all the respect?

simple, one bows when one isn't wearing garlic

but seriously folks

I think Don tends to underplay at the shows and in the studio embellishes his own work

the dan has always had sparse but engaging ivory aural pleasantries

Don has that "sparse almost drunk" playing style
where he whips up some very engaging chords and progressions

and if he laid it on too thick or to virtuoso the piece would die musically

those holes and space convey the music

is Don a Keith Jarrett or Rick Wakeman - no
and I am quite content with that

did you know worms have 82 segments to go with the 82 keys on a standard piano

are you crazy, are you high, or just an ordinary guy?

Me, Myself & Irene sondtrack gets critical aclaim - and I liked it also - so did my 10 year old son:
http://www.kcstar.com/item/pages/fyi.pat,fyi/37748cd2.620,.html

Enjoy the concerts this weekend. I'll be on/offline for the next two weeks, so I'll stop by when I can.

Official Dan page down?

Don's main instrument is his voice and I'm happy with that. He barely tickles the Lynx and I'm happy with that. Nevertheless, how do you explain the respect from the community?
Ted Baker looks up to this guy, no question.

JMoney - I'll consend that no Dan song since Scam has so dominated with guitar shred regalia
now it's your turn to admit that indeed Walt's chops although not Larry's are certainly musical

perhaps Gary Katz or one of the GB studio wizs could send you master tapes with all Walt's contirbutions removed and you could jam to your own content over them

then again the insuing vacuum (without walt) might pull you vortexedly through the front grill of your speakers
(yes don't mess with time space continue umms)

San Fran Knight - you took a ribbing for saying Don didn't have the total chops either. I said it in a post yesterday
It's no cut against him, what he has to offer fits it all tastely and when the call is for more Don also knows just what he wants

Stevie Dan - yes the old artists never had that huge mid career crisis - maybe because they were into the music not trying to keep up the legend
liked your comments on the acoustic nature, thanks for the embellishment

KD abd Dr Mu - you are right on with your soul classics posts
damn, I wanna break into the Stax vaults

Thelonius my new friend - that post deserved to be up there twice

Red Blaze - good morning

wormy

honey I will be there, yes I'll be there

...So if any of you should ever come to The Netherlands, roam on the Dutch network Libertel, your cellular will be you best pal ...

I hate myself for doing this, but hey, I'm only human...

14.15 A.M. in between green tea and licorice,
Gina

Edd, that's really you. No e-mail adress, NOTHING (btw, how do you do that?).

IMweknowhowHO, you will remember the WOH solo just as well as FM's or Carlton's or Dias's. Time will tell. Lots of great guitar work on the new one guys, sorry.

Sometmies I like to go back and re-read, and I stumbled on this gem...

"I challenge anyone here to present a Steely Dan song since perhaps Gaucho(that too is questionable)that has had guitar chops that CLEARLY rival the work that I mention above."

Well, the boy's got a point. In the 20 years between Gaucho and Two Against Nature Steely Dan didn't release anything that would clearly rival those works.

Everything released under the Steely Dan moniker prior to "Can't Buy A Thrill" is clearly second class also.

worm tom, I clearly hear the sound of a guitar unplugging at the very end of WOH... Setlist of the dream sequence? Most of 2VN plus Wetside, 2nd A (please), some of Don's solo stuff - and maybe even Walt's - thrown in with Dr.Wu, Show Biz Kids and a few tasty oldies. Maybe the next time this wave comes around... we can dream, can't we?

In the "whatever happened to" department:

DJ Mitch
YGK
and the real brain dead dawn (who are you, lady godiva? the chilling anonymous emailer).

Thelonius my old friend, the rookie, don't fret and let me shake your hand.

Roy - Did you catch the movie? Is there a sensible Dan touch added to the storyline or is it a peripheral thing? Does Carey contort to the tune of Barrytown? Is the music integrated at all?

Yes KD, the obvious chops display, while it still finds a limited audience, has run its course a while ago. It is something that was a characteristic of both progressive rock and the furry years of heavy metal. First mocked by punks, it started to die out around the time Phil Collins couldn't hurry love and we all got sick of the same power ballad, both hands on the fretboard, 1/32 note barrage. Hence the grunge.

Dr.Mu - Rest assured you can always stand out in a crowd, recording device or not . Yes, that unresolved phrase of yours concerning instrument communication rang true. It reaches Chi-Rival's point on WOH's lyrics if you include vocal arrangements to the equation. Feel over prowess, tasty licks are always more memorable, fast or not.

Here's why I still think Edd, in his economical writing style, like the Walter Becker equivalent that he is, was right on:

"Steely Dan has uncannily been able to make music that reflected what I want out of music at that particular time in my life. I no longer give a damn about world-class shredding and actually PREFER not to be subjected to yet another round of histrionic excess. I now prefer something more laid back, simple, clean, etc..."

Ditto here.

Gina - Spare me a trip to the archives, please, and show me your I.D. again. I remember g.vodegel@nl...something.

Could it be we're not through with the Tan Sessions and there's more to come? Whatever happened to Wetside Story? What does "see you next year" mean?

I'll leave you with that. At this hour, I'm fishing without bait.

Forgot the E-mail addy

josiedanfan1@prodigy.net

Thanks

Hey GB! Long time, no see.

I just wanted to give a quick shout out to anyone who saw the Irvine show on the 16th. I flew half way across the country to see it. It was my first Steely show, and it was everything I'd hoped for and then some.

If I can make a request, I'd like to ask anyone who sees this post and was there, please e-mail me or post to me. I'm having some memory lapses about what songs from the new one they played at the show.

Thanks again,

JDF

Hey Chi-R ..no need to apologize for what runs through you, I don't mind "lurking" back and see that "shoptalk" go back & forth ...it's less harmless than when females fly on their hormonal wings...and we get a little wiser, don't we?

I'm really into the Wormtroduction about acoustic SD ...
The original compositions, arranged for vocals and percussion ...
Not bad, not bad at all!!!

Back to work,
Bye, Gina

JMoney: so a Chinese parliament is opened!

Your opinion is of course valid, but I once stated that Donald should support a major keyboardist and not seek glory on stage, as he didn't have the chops either (this was about 4 years ago!).

It came out completely wrong and I was subjected to 3 weeks worth of debate and general wankerdom right here.

Personally, D & W clearly are not that into trail-blazing on their own tracks. However, they are undoubtedly 2 of the greatest writers / producers / harmonists / quantum physicists the modern world has ever born witness two.

Perhaps they just fancied a change from 'BIG-SOLO' driven work and chose to focus on more demure tones with 2vN.

If a grandstanding 16 or 32 bars is required, I would assume that they would be on the phone to 'Rent - a - Riff', Amex in hand.

Lets not overly praise the session men either. A lot of them play what is written for them damn well, but ask them to write their own stuff.... it really does suck quite often!

Laters

SFK

I'm sure that by now there have been enough posts about the show in Mountain View on 6/17, but I have to say it was GREAT! Especially hearing the Dan perform The Boston Rag, The Royal Scam and Kid Charlemagne - They really stuck to their choice material, and weren't trying to push the new CD (not that its bad) I've seen them 3 times since '93, and this show was the best.

I had a realization half way through the show, watching one of Walter's guitar solos - mellow, relaxed, kind of hunched over, looking down through his spectables - he is the new Jerry Garcia.

I just bought the new soundtrack CD to Me Myself & I - It has 8 Steely Dan covers out of 15 songs - notable goodies are "Any Major Dude.." by Wilco, "Barrytown" by Ben Folds Five, and "Only A Fool Would Say That", by Ivy.

Cheers

Let me see if I can connect some threads. Some GB macrame'...

Wormy, old er vie uh bull artists ? Definitely a Rock N Roll perspective. Nobody ever talked that way about Pablo Casals, Ben Webster, Stephane Grappelli. The better the musician, the deeper the well of creativity. Dan unplugged ? Man, I could hear Keith Jarrett's Trio doing this material. D&W's music is in NO WAY dependent on electricity. Harmonically brilliant. Stand alone musically. Melodically not dependent on even LYRICS or....virtuosity...KD is on your Money J. What is BB King ? Chopped liver ? He doesn't play alot of notes. All this talk of amps, tubes, tones. Sacrilege boys: I play through the board with a digital effects processer (an old one too). Tone is in your hands. Walter's hands understand SD music. If you don't get that, you don't get it.

MC, you bettah' give me a call sometimes. Schoolkid's Records in Cary. Ole will vouch for me in that I seem FAIRLY normal.

Chere: Stretch pay refers to checks viewed in reverse on a glass wall...OH MY GOD. No really, it refers to you re-e-mailing (wow double hyphen) your mailing address so I can stretch it across a shipping container of some sort.

Hey where's Clas ? Even the defiling of the great Jackson Browne did not bring him out. No I didn't do it. I couldn't.

Ole - Sorry, darlin'! I'm making the Va. Beach and Manassas shows but not Raleigh. You're doing Va. Beach aren't you?

JMoney--Thanx for starting a fascinating thread. I don't see vilification at all, but respectful disagreement with an axeman (you). No axes to grind. I am terribly noncritical and love both the soaring solos and Mr. Becker's low-key stuff.

Zeke darlin'--Looking forward to seeing you in Raleigh! Are we sitting anywhere near each other? I won't be there till the pm Fri.--how much of the weekend are you staying? MC, Opti, Hutch, jOker, the Permasqueeze, lisa, Sam... yes, they'll be there! And there WILL be parties.

David D--welcome. A Dr. Demento star, eh? I am not worthy. You already have me cringing parody-wise.

Mu--Of course you're not! Jumping my case doesn't make you 2D, just fun. Very nice Muisms. So the THIRD Royal Scam in the song is the dealing of drugs, especially in minority communities.

SFK--mazel tov, daddy-o! Um, I'll go with you--when the Guardians let me fold space to get over there!

tom--I think hearing them as a traditional acoustic jazz group would be just delicious.

Hutch--I love kd lang's voice too. I wish she would choose some different material--I listen to her country stuff for her incredible pipes, but the form is hard for me to get around. Looking forward to seeing you in Raleigh.

Wild things at work--I've spent a lot of time in hospitals, so I've seen some really wild things I probably will spare you from.

Edd, you're the only person I can imagine smug looks good on.

Nice chatting briefly with folks Sun. nite.

Thank god for you guys & gals. Yes, getting a bit geeked about this weekend. Working a bit too much lately and feeling antzy. Concert should be just the thing.

LISTEN UP!

Anyone remember the ridiculously trivial little discussion a couple months back re: Paula Cole? I had mentioned seeing her at a club in Pontiac and was bowled over by the whole show and got alot of hilarious feedback.

The most fun, of course, and the issue that probably caused the most noise was the impression people had of the length of the girl's armpit hair at grammys. ANYWAY!

I found that she's touring this summer and bought tickets (via web) to Fort Wayne show so I could drag my mildly reluctant spouse to this particular concert I've been raving about.

FIRST THING THAT MET THE EYE ON THE WEB PAGE WAS A FULL SCREEN FROZEN IMAGE OF PAULA HOLDING UP GRAMMY AT P0DIUM. OH MY GOD.

Jeez, when they blow it up THAT big it does give one pause and a bit of culture shock. I couldn't help thinking of all the comments on the GB regarding this and was cracking up. I was admittedly a little defensive of Paula's choice of hygiene habits when discussed before but NOW, I gotta agree that Paula finding her razor is a "good" thing (as Martha would say). (*whew*)

That picture was distracting (in a disturbing way). Sorry Paula. I hope she doesn't sport that look in IN cuz my spouse will have a field day! I'll never hear the end of it...

GB'rs are a crack up when playing toss the topic. Great for a grin when I need it. Again, thank god for ya's.

loo

Mz. D: I may have contracted at that very same software company. Was it very, very LARGE, by any chance? Ordered to split itself in two? Hmmmmm. One wonders.

Almost Gothic Negative Linda: I can only imagine the stuff you've seen. One of these days, when things get really slow, you simply MUST share at least one story (not involving yourself, if you prefer) - and I will do the same.

My (briefly stated) opinion on the current issue of WB's chops: A large part of greatness is good taste. He's got it.

I also have nothing against Larry. The only thing I've played along to in the last week is this great Freddie King album ('Freddie King is a Blues Master,' speaking of Atlantic soul...) and Jazz Crusaders 'Southern Comfort.'

Great funk/soul/jazz. Easy and fun to play along to.

Roy: I post now just so I can see my name when I scroll and becalmed

KD, Thelonius: Excellent. Now we're talking. Walter has shown that he can play a broad array of styles. The classic solos on Black Friday, Bad Sneakers, Home At Last, Josie, Snowbound, Junkie Girl, and I would add West of Hollywood demonstrate a rare ability to adapt to the needs of the composition and production scheme. Would you throw these away?? - I certainly would not. Is Dias technically better? Perhaps, but he really only plays that no bend bop style.

If the Gaslighting Abbie solo drives you batty - then it has succeeded in it's singular purpose. I have to admit that I was looking for a few more Snowbound-like solos, but that does not fit into the style of TvN, which is essentially funked-up Atlantic Soul with bop and occasionally Mancini up front - no LA jazz this time folks! Great pick-up on Booker T & the MGs connection. That's the core of the sound and groove: Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, Booker T, James Brown, 60s Aaron Neville, that Carolina Beach Music. For those puzzled by the drums - listen up to those R&B classics!

Yes, there's a sheen like Gaucho or Aja and those Fagen/Dan/China Crisis horn charts, but structurally the songs remind me more of Ecstacy, Katy, and Pretzel with a little Nightfly and Kama thrown in. Anyway, as alluded the role of the guitar is different, more rhythm and much more integrated in a complex way with the other instrumentation. This is where I believe TvN excels above the 70s/Gaucho recordings. The communication and integration of instrument voicings as if they are talking with each other brings amazing life to the. You can hear glimpses of this strategy in the instrumental bridges of My Rival or Century's End or the Bernhardt/Erskine exchange during the IB of AiAs Book of Liars. This is indeed a benefit of the extensive ;) (for SD) touring in the 90s. I can really hear it on What A Shame About Me, the title track, Janie Runaway, Almost Gothic, and Negative Girl.

Sure, the linear to die for solos were... well...to die for, but welcome to non-linear Dan.

are just a bunch of titty babies.

Sorry I posted twice by accident (geez what a rookie). It''' never happen again. I promise!

Okay fretheads, I can't hold back...

It's clear from TVN, the new band arrangements and the tour that both Walter and Donald have become much stronger and better players since they began touring again in 1993. Their new work is far more ambitious and daring and incorporates a whole range of guitar work that moves into uncharted territory for SD.

I personally believe that Walter can play anything and virtually any style he damn well wants to and that he can match chops with the best of them. I believe that Walter is looking beyond the conventional and striving to create something that uses the guitar and in particular, his parts, in each SD composition in a whole new way.

SD weaves complex and beautiful (at times mystical) sonic tapestries. Far more beautiful and complex than almost any other players ever have. Walter's skills and abilities as a guitarist are a fundamental cornerstone of each composition. The phrasing, the guitar voicings, the textural colorings, the bass lines, and accents are Walter's unique style and genius and show me a guitar player that's in a league of his own and that is concerned with redefining how we use the instrument in "popular" music without comprimising musical inegrity.

You don't think Walter's got the chop's or a strong signature style, try to play the rhythym guitar chord voicings to Deacon Blues or TVN (with Walter's voicings and variations). Walter's style is to glue together the whole and add the unique Steely Dan textures and colorings that we love. I think he cares more about the whole tapestry than he does his status as a center stage player. I'm glad Donald and the others have kicked him in the ass to take center stage and show off a little more. I for one love every solo I have heard him play, and when you hear them you certainly know it's Walter playing.

What more could we want?

Okay fretheads, I can't hold back...

It's clear from TVN, the new band arrangements and the tour that both Walter and Donald have become much stronger and better players since they began touring again in 1993. Their new work is far more ambitious and daring and incorporates a whole range of guitar work that moves into uncharted territory for SD.

I personally believe that Walter can play anything and virtually any style he damn well wants to and that he can match chops with the best of them. I believe that Walter is looking beyond the conventional and striving to create something that uses the guitar and in particular, his parts, in each SD composition in a whole new way.

SD weaves complex and beautiful (at times mystical) sonic tapestries. Far more beautiful and complex than almost any other players ever have. Walter's skills and abilities as a guitarist are a fundamental cornerstone of each composition. The phrasing, the guitar voicings, the textural colorings, the bass lines, and accents are Walter's unique style and genius and show me a guitar player that's in a league of his own and that is concerned with redefining how we use the instrument in "popular" music without comprimising musical inegrity.

You don't think Walter's got the chop's or a strong signature style, try to play the rhythym guitar chord voicings to Deacon Blues or TVN (with Walter's voicings and variations). Walter's style is to glue together the whole and add the unique Steely Dan textures and colorings that we love. I think he cares more about the whole tapestry than he does his status as a center stage player. I'm glad Donald and the others have kicked him in the ass to take center stage and show off a little more. I for one love every solo I have heard him play, and when you hear them you certainly know it's Walter playing.

What more could we want?

Blaise-your post is the last word on why we should be able to put whatever we want in the e-mail space! lol

IO!!!!!! I know I've told you this before-the show is at the Del Mar Racetrack. It won't be on the schedule until August when it is confirmed. Also, a. lovebob is out of town, and b. he rarely answers e-mails anyway because he is so busy. BTW, cara mia has a very cute picture of you and ruby baby-hope you got it.

Aja

Gina, Sorry for the sudden burst of testosterone
but its in our nature.

Now for my final post today, JMoney What a drag it is getting
old? But i'm feeling you on the guitar work. and maybe one
day pat metheny George Benson and Larry Carlton will come
out with a rock N roll album. Hell maybe Zepplin will tour
again. Somethings are good just the way they are.

2 MORE DAYS!!!! and I will be sitting against the blackened
wall at the Allstate Arena thinking I've died and gone to heaven.

CHI.

Ive always felt there was a solo of... something missing from Time Out Of Mind. But I have to admit that, in the end, cutting through all that "Walter can't play" bull with serenity, Edd was right on, of course.

Gina - email soon.

I can tell by "chops" that some of you, as always, mean "fast." Most of these cats were wankers, trying to fit eight scales in at a time, making a "solo" truly a "solo."

This is bullshit. If there's one musical style that has creeped into Steely music since "Kamakiriad," it's the 60s Memphis soul sound. The Booker T organ. The tight horn arrangements. Thump bass and crisp guitar. Carlton or Graydon or Denny playing over this would be awful. To say nothing of the other guys you mentioned, not gonna drop names, who I can't even listen to doing their own stuff.

Becker is pushing this 2000 Steve Cropper shit, and I love it. Just like you know you're body better than anyone else, Walt and Donald know what looks good on their songs better than anyone else. To be honest, the only thing that saves "Home at Last" for me is the two solos.

It's one thing to not enjoy Becker's solos, it's another to call us disingenuous for showing our appreciation to what is my favorite Steely guitar album. That's right. It's not my favorite album, but I'd take three songs off TvN to a desert island with me before I'd take "Royal Scam." The fast stuff dates real quick. The pickings with soul last forever.

By this same line of reasoning, all the electric blues before 1970 is crap. I can't handle that. I guess it's frustrating to some that guitar lines that are easier to play than some of the 70s wankings have managed to trump those insular, self-absorbed licks (and I'm not talking about Steely solos).

Gina-- thank you very much! Sometimes there is just soooo much to read, i'll be honust sometimes i just read whatever is posted for me! But i think everyone does that when they are busy! Talk to you later!!

..Some topics tend to be for men only. I must say some issues have a more masculine ring to them ..are they like that by nature?
Or is it a cultural thing ..even in music ...

Hello Innocent One ...we've got lurking, posting and scrolling as very active working verbs here I guess ...I sing scrolling 3x on the tune of Rawhide, so ...
Let's be selfish for a change and post whatever's on your mind and read other comments afterwards ...
You're a Decent Innocent One ...it suits you!
Bye, I'm turning in early (22.50 P.M.)
Gina

PS. Blaise, ou est tu? Still a friend of mine ...

Who has an accurate set list of the 6/18/00 show at the Sacramento Valley Amphitheater?

jmoney - yes your Walter statement was a bit bold
and definitely looking to toxify the tank here at GB fish bowl
but hey I like controversy - I just don't think you need the "agree with me or you are not being honest with yourself" response

I like Walts playing
if I wanted in your face guitar I would buy Steve Vai discs
no thank you
yes a rip it out song with solo would be nice from time to time but that doesn't lower Walter's great contributions to the whole of things

ROyScam thanks for the Irene input
to build myself up to sitting through a juvenile Jim Carey escapade I rented Jerry McGuire last weekend
Don't Walk Away Rene indeed

Rene Z is oh so beautiful, and I am not talking that lovely black dress but her damn sincere vulnerable pouty look, damn it
I love full out till it hurts vulnerability, heart strings in snap mode. So is she able to act in a serious mode or is she merely a punching kick down foil for Carey?

send a gal like her into my garden of topsoilantries anyday

ouch

T

Chere-- Yeah i'm still around, but like Roy Scam Said (and i'm giving you ALL of the credit) "It's finally happened. This guestbook has gotten so popular that I can no longer, with my limited brain size and reading speed, keep up with it all. This is not a complaint , rather an excuse."

Everyday i try to come on but there is just SOOOO much stuff that it's a little hard to keep up with so, hopefully I will get a little better!!! it's just sooo hard to keep up, especially when everyones posts are personalized. When something says someones name i don't always read it because it's not to me!

Aja-- i e-mailed LoveBob but i don't think that he has got it, When is the next Steely Damned concert? You told me that it would be Aug. 2nd but where is it going to be etc.? Please let me know, it is not yet on their website.

Reading your responses to this guitar thing, I'm amazed that any of you woould question why the collective Steely Dan fanbase sits on their collective fucking asses during live performances.

Edd you're right, that was the 70's and are you trying to say that the solos on Don't take me Alive and Haitian Divorce can be described with adjectives like histrionics and shredding.

You've all grown old. The past is no longer alluring. Guitar solos are a thing of yesteryear? Where did that come from?!

If Fagen & Becker have moved closer to their jazz roots, then what of jazz guitarists like Methany, Benson, Jordan?

I knew you guys would hold true to form and vilify me on this. It's so predictable!

another aspect of WB's playing is his *rhythm* guitar work. One of the most amazing things about SD (both live and in concert) is that you can hear all of the instruments...a 10 piece band results in a wonderful mix, not a wall o' sound. WB plays lots of great subtle lines following/supporting the keyboards and horns, and also lots of whacka/whacka funky hits....all with great timing. This is a skill that is missing from quite a few guitar "monster"s bag-of-tricks.

Roy, what's so wrong with my argument? Is it my point that Becker's not as good as Dias, Carlton e.g. or that the guitar work has not been as good since circa Royal Scam/Aja?

J.

Jmoney, Royal Scam was a guitar solo masterpiece.
no question about that Aja and Gaucho both have great guitar
work as well Home at last, Peg, Josie, Third World Man, My Rival
Time out of mind. I also think they did move in a different
direction with AJA. If you start with RS and go backwards those
tunes were primarily found on Rock n Roll stations, Aja and Gaucho were heard on Jazz,lite rock and R&B stations.
These guys are avid Jazz fans, I think that this change was
a labor of love. They still kept the solo's in the albums
because that had become their style, and we as the fans loved it.
They were also able to inject some of their passions into the
work without losing the true fan. This kills two birds with
1 stone. How many of us would like to get paid to do whatever
we enjoy doing?

CHI.

"Can't any of you be fucking honest enough to agree with me..."

If we don't agree with you we're liars? Maybe even SMUG liars?

The 70's are gone. Get over it. That was then.

Steely Dan has uncannily been able to make music that reflected what I want out of music at that particular time in my life. I no longer give a damn about world-class shredding and actually PREFER not to be subjected to yet another round of histrionic excess. I now prefer something more laid back, simple, clean, etc...

Walter satisfies that just fine.

JMoney-yes, I do miss unbelievable guitar solos (I still stop whatEVER I am doing when Larry Carlton is about to strike that first note in the Kid C solo), but what I love more about this band is the progression they show. No CD sounds like any other; each one is an evolution from the one that preceeded it. Guitar solos have faded and exquisitely complex horn solos are now prominent, and I'll take evolution over cranking out the same style tunes over and over again (how many bands can we name that do this?). Would Kid C sound so great if there were 10 spinoffs of it?

Aja

ybtodd, Thanks for the response. I look forward to seeing the guys live when thehit the east coast next weekend.

J.

J.Money: Your essay on Becker's guitar playing is well stated and courageously against the grain. I respect your opinion and would hasten to defend it if it just wasn't so wrong.

Hutch: When you get new amps are you considering passing the old amps down to lesser guitarists on the way up? (he said hinting amplessly.)

The soundtrack to Me, Myself and Irene is, IMO, very likeable. None of the Steely Dan covers are as good as the originals (surprise surprise!) but most of them are worthy and made me see the songs in a different light and like them even more than I did before. Some observations:
* Leon Redbone's version of "Chain Lightening" is not included. That was disappointing.
* The bridge in "Barrytown" exceeds the original. Not the whole song, mind you, that would be asking too much of anyone, but the " In the beginning..." part is arranged and performed very creatively. Ben Folds is a master of rude vocal harmonies like that (see "Jackson Cannery" from their first album.)
* The "Reelin'.." and "Do It Again" covers didn't blow my skirt up (That's just an expression; I'm a guy and I was not actually wearing a skirt at the time.). In fact they created nary a breezy ruffle. In truth, they pretty much sucked, but Barrytown, Major Dude, Only a Fool, etc sounded good.
* Brian Setzer's version of "Bodhisattva" is competent and fun but is almost too faithful to the original to be really noteworthy.
* The selections leaned obviously toward the early Steely Dan catalogue. I don't know if this reflects a) the tastes of the Farrelly brothers, b) the tastes of the musicians , or c) the capabilities of the musicians.
* The movie looks sophomoric but funny, and Rene'e Zellweger had me at "Hello".

It's finally happened. This guestbook has gotten so popular that I can no longer, with my limited brain size and reading speed, keep up with it all. This is not a complaint , rather an excuse.

Mr. Lapage: Your poem (the serious one that alluded to Deacon Blues) was poignant and painful. I assume and hope you got over whatever was killing you inside at the time.

RS

hutch: yes, mine is the most recent review on harmony central. I was down at Bogner yesterday playing some other amps (Ecstasy and an old Caveman), and I decided to still stick with the Shiva....best for my situation (although if I had a spare $3K lying around there'd be an Ecstasy in my room...and I'd be sleeping on the couch for awhile!).

Re: WB guitar playing. Different strokes. It's funny because the live solo on GA was about 3 different notes...the interest in the solo was all attack and timing. I guess some here don't think that is real guitar playing, but I thought it was pretty cool, and our drummer, who has one of the most critical ears I've ever heard (he picked up a number of clams from the band that night) raved about it. I've listened and stolen licks from almost everyone, and have a number of favorite players...but I think Walter's playing on this tour is VERY good. No, he doesn't to 10K notes per minute, but I think his phrasing and tone are right in the pocket of the music. And note that he doesn't do the solos on Kid C, MOS, etc. He knows when to play, and when to let someone else have their turn. That is something a lot of guitarists could learn.

Yes Worm; that is exactly what I'm implying and your post, as well as countless others, bears this out.

As I said, I like the guitar driven stuff. (I'm a guitarist in a Philadelphia/Jersey Shore band.It comes with the territory!) I also like the more subdued jazzier stuff on Aja, Kamakiriad, 2 Against Nature. I enjoy basslines, sax solos, rhythm charts.

But come on! They have completely eschewed the cutting-edge solo ala Scam.

Every song needn't been guitar-centric but perhaps a token tune or two could be cut for us purists.

What can I say; my rock&roll bloodlines run deep.

Chi-Rival, I agree with you. Becker is a fine bass player. He's a tremendous songwriter and composer. He's 1/2 of the best musical duo since Lennon/McCartney. I was speaking to his gifts as a world class guitarist, nothing more.

I was not trying to imply that Walter should be the pre-eminent member of Steely Dan. I was simply stating that Walter is not as good a guitarist as many of this guestbook's contributors would have us believe. It's just not happening!

I don't want to hear the bullshit about 'that was then; this is now!" A great guitar solo is as viable today as when Becker and Fagen labored tirelessly with Carlton, Parks and Graydon over such timeless classics as Don't Take Me Alive, Haitian Divorce, Kid Charlemegne, & Peg.

I challenge anyone here to present a Steely Dan song since perhaps Gaucho(that too is questionable)that has had guitar chops that CLEARLY rival the work that I mention above.

Please don't say that they've given up biting solos and kick-ass chops for the more laid-back tasty feel ala Becker. If that is the case, then I rail against that decision.

I loved the world-class guitar solos on Dan albums. These solos were what drew me to the group initially. I miss them. Can't any of you be fucking honest enough to agree with me or are all of you going to go gently into that goodnight?

hey Jmoney

nobody claimed that Walter was a virtuoso guitar ace

the man has nice soulful understated playing

and yes maybe he lacks in speed and dexterity
but makes up for it in the mood he conveys and feeling

Walter always brought in hired guns to flesh out a certain sound they were going for when he didn't feel his work would quite capture it

but he also had the vision to spell it out to the players just what he was going for

I'm glad he took over most of the guitar duties on TaN
I for one like the feel of songs by the Dan that are less guitar driven

Don isn't exactly the most virtuoso keyboard player either

I'm glad that they both are able to make real vibrant music with the pallet that they have and know when to go shopping for a certain sound.

so are you inferring that we are a bunch of mundane followers here, losing objectivity in the throws of idol worhip

wormy

Jmoney, I agree with you when you say walter does'nt compare
to past featured guitarists on previous albums, BUT I don't
remember the band being called STEELY DAN featuring Walter Becker. Was'nt becker originally hailed as a bass player?
I think JR is a real sweet bassline, and I think Walter did most
of the bass work on the album. So not only is he the jack of speed he also seems to be the jack of all trades! and before
you add "the master of none of them" If you personally own any
Steely Dan albums then You have felt the glory of the ROYAL
SCAM.

CHI.

I'll be smug if I want. I've earned it.

OK, so I'll portaray the little kid who shouted "The king's naked!"

Walter Becker has NOW suddenly become a quality guitarist?

Where did this bullshit come from?

Who put the whisper to this lie?

Becker is an adequate guitarist at BEST! He was never the lead in Steely Dan for a reason. He doesn't have the chops! His one string/one note solo on Gaslighting Abbey is deplorable yet you guys are fauning over it like it was played by George Benson.
He's gone from noodlishly loose during the 90's shows to painfully spare in his new mellinnial incarnation.

Now the words 'tasty' and 'clean' are bandied about to describe his playing. Tasty and clean are two adjectives that are employed as apology for his lack of world class chops.
Granted, I do like his work on West of Hollywood but that one quality offering is a meager representative of what was once a fine guitar-friendly band.

For my money, give me Parks, Derringer, Carlton, Baxter & Dias any day. My mind boggles at the thought process that went into annointing Becker the guitarist-supreme of this new ensemble. We're now to believe that the last 30 years did not happen. That Becker always had chops that equaled the gifted band members and session men that graced former albums. 'He was just being shy and gracious. Holding back a bit. He's finally emerged as the guitarist we always knew he was. I don't even miss Carlton. Larry who? I just loved Becker's solo on Black frday; didn't you?'

Man, that's fucking bullshit. At what's more ironic is that you sycophants have bought into it.

And by the way, Edd's descriptioin of Springsteen's music and odd appeal is eerily similar to conversations I've had with unbelievers about Steely Dan.

Don't be so smug.

Jay Martin

Zeke - Robert Palmer huh
how about if his backup band - (well not the Meters but) George Porter's Running Rebels does it? Did you catch their set at Jazzfest with Sneaking Sal?
It smoked

I want to hear DR WU!

I would like the boys to do a cover of Van Morrisons "Tuppelo Honey" then somehow break it into "Bohistava"

you can take all the tea in china
the shine of your Japan

BD Dawn, its so ironic how just as you mentioned WOH's lyrics
there was a recent discussion about the royal scam. Both songs
are similar in theme (go with me on this) That theme is the smile
that hides the frown. Deception, this is what makes these guys so
@#$%&* cool! Royal Scam in just the title alone is a play on words. When you think of the term Royal you see elegant, perfect.
flawless, etc. but the scam is dark, deceptive and so on. Another
credit to SD and their sublime actions is displayed in the music.
Listen to RS how the tempo rises and falls throughout the tune.
It reaches its highest whe Don says "See the glory" then the backups take it even higher and hold the note till Don chimes in again and says "Scam" as though he just lost his days wages in
a game of 3 card monte on the subway. WOH rises and falls as well
Like? The crest of a wave? Hmmm. This is not coincidence. to prove my point check out the part: Meet if you will Dr.
War(higher) ren(higher)kru(higher)Ger(crest,highest) the wave
breaks, next line I'm way deep into nothing special. and if you
notice the next part after they sing just west of hollywood
there's a little riff where the music goes up (higher) and
then a legato slide into the bridge (middle of the song) which
is lower and it starts walter's solo. This happens throughout the song with the music and lyrics. Lyrically they (kid clean, and Ann) were exact opposites he described the good and bad
in every line. It started out good then it got much better (higher) Breakin all the rules as we went along (higher) BUT
with a business like this(business IMHO refers to the business
of doing whatever you want with no regard for the consequences
be it SEX, DRUGS, or Whatever) There's a gnar(higher) Ly(Higher)
Down(higher) Side(Crest highest). Just imagine a wave at its peak, and then imagine ebb tide. They are exact opposites.
Dont you love Port Blanc" A weekend of bliss (higher) Then the
rainy season.

CHI.

Have surfer server problems, but the JW Malibu went fine..

Oh and Aussie..I'll try and locate that Fishing with John video..

Why not get Bobby McFerrin to do some cheek-ish beat with his vocal chords and make him shuffle with a Fez on ...

Midnight: WoW! I didn't know Raleigh was so popular. Let's try to hook up before the show. I plan on getting there a day or two early.

Worm:At the Hard Rock in Orlando, there's a beautiful, white Ovation hanging on a wall. Claims it was used by a session player for the Dan. Ya know, I think the boys could pull off an acoustic set. Maybe not the entire show, but a good 4-5 solid tunes. I think Sign in Stranger would be perfect for that.

I can take dancing at a show. I could stand a little chatting from someone beside me, but do not let a damn cell phone ring in the middle of a show. Let's face it, there are times you just cannot be reached.

Don't know if the Raleigh show will have a warm up band. If I was in charge of booking for the Dan, my vote goes to Robert Palmer, could stand to hear a little "Sneaking Sally thru the Ally".

I didn't infer that they would only do those more acoustic numbers like With A Gun that obviously transfer well

I mean take something and throw a totally new arrangement on it

Babylon Sisters with stand up bass and hollowbody Gretsch electric and just brushes and bongos

anybody like SWR amps?
I have a California Blonde and love the rich warm textures it produces - then again I run keyboard, mike and guitar through it at times

wormbrain

and leave you lying in the rain

...I'm real curious about all those music stuff on http//... so I'll be checking that out after this posting...

Hutch:
It's my last weekend of my vacation and maybe I'll stay near R'dam after the SD concert the 15th ...hm...could do that, you know..fly over for some tea, would be fun...I'll recognize you in an instant..the one next to the door..which door??????
We'll GB (get back) on that one, ok?

I'm in the midst of major changes in my life and people tell me not to lock myself up ..but they don't know about the Banyan Trees and some real old friends that came back into my life after 15 years..going through divorce, separation..there's always a silver lining, right?

and the music. OK. I'm ready to surf some beat.
20.00 P.M. Maybe later,
Bye, Gina

Worm- I'm not sure that an 'unplugged' would really work well. A few songs like Brooklyn, Pearl and a few others might transfer well but IMO most of the songs would probably lose a little something in the translation. Not that I'm against the idea, I think it would be great, a chance to do alot of improv.

Doc Kelly- Enjoy the show tonight and see ya on Saturday in Chicago.

I want a name when I lose...

Peace love and DAN

Razor

ybtodd, appleborer: How about With a Gun? That's actually a blatant acoustic geeeetar with a slide for the Western Movie feel. Nice tambourine at the end. Is Parker's Band, also from PL, the only song with dueling drummers?

Did ya catch the LA concession celebrators showing DanFans a new step: the cop car hot foot two-step?

anoraks R us!!

next it'll be vinyl -vs- acetate and MC -vs- MM

soldering irons at the ready!

ybtodd - Is this your review?

http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data/Bogner/Shiva_Combo-01.html

hutch/mc: You want tubes? I got tubes....mmmm...tubes.

I can't say enough good things about my Bogner Shiva. Incredibly dynamic amp, wonderful clean tone, and the sweetest dirty channel you've ever heard. WB plays Bogner (an Ecstasy 3-channel head...truly amazing instrument but $3K for the head...ouch!). Also the 1-12 combo sound like a 2-12 or even 4-12 cabinet...no fooling. The only downside is the 1-12 combo weighs about 75 lbs. I'm actually swapping for a head/cab.

Line6 is cool, but it ain't tubes. The biggest problem with that (and SansAmp) is the lack of dynamics...they just can't "bounce" like tubes do. But then again, it depends on what you like and your application...

Acoustic guitar in SD? Well, Any Major Dude comes to mind. There are others, but it is subtle. Instead they do more interesting things with electrics...they serve as percussion instruments and fill out horn and piano lines with 1 and 2 note forays.

Oh, Springsteen really is a twat of the highest high-end of sonic mal-nutrition!!!

SFK

Wormster: I seriously want to see Jean Michel Jarre do an unplugged set.

Guaranteed satisfaction!

Sorry about the Springsteen dig. Just a little fun.

Laters

SFK

Edd - "His jingoistic red, white and blues-based tunes bore me silly."
Couldn't agree with you more. And finally someone has put together in one sentence what I've been trying to say for years.
I just never could understand the fascination. His "working man, die on the street with you" melodramatic shtick bored me from the very beginning.

Saw K.D.Lang on the Today Show this morning. God, that woman's got a great voice! She's up there with Anita Baker and Christine McVie on my top female vocalist list. Okay... top four. Chrissie Hind has to be right up there as well.

Midnite - Yep... the Line6 pod is pretty impressive. The SansAmp units are real nice also. I'm sorta shopping around for a new amp. The '64 Bassman head and cabinet I've been using for a while sounds good but it's all a bit bulky to carry around to gigs. I'm leaning toward a Marshall tube combo amp. Something relatively small. Whatever it is it's gotta have tubes!
I'd love to hear some of the stuff you're putting down with the pod.

JWMalibu - The new Bryce stuff is beautiful. Great work!

Hi Gina! I'll be in London the week of Sept. 23. Shall we meet for tea?

Hutch

hey guys - I bought the two springsteen tickets from a scalper trying to get rid of them and offered them to my friends pro bono

Hey Springsteen isn't my favorite cup of tea but he has done alot of endearing work (still can't forgive him for the Born in USA Sellout), but he sure puts on one hell of a show

unfortunately of all the big acts to have graced new orleans only U2 and Bruce were worth seeing, nobody comes here in the summer even though we have a first class indoor arena now and the best after the concert digs this side of manhattan

why is there so little acoustic guitar in Dan songs?
not even much as textural embellishment

I'd like to here the Dan do a one off "Unplugged"
with stand up bass, marimbas, acoustic piano and hollowbody guitar

well?

tom

the things that pass

Here's a little write up for Friday's show from my hometown Rag.

http://www.jsonline.com/enter/music/tianen/jun00/steely21062000.asp

Nothing spectacular but very nice.

Peace, love and DAN

Razor

$20 for 2 tickets to Springsteen? I would have turned that deal down also.

Actually, I'm wondering how much someone would have to pay *me* to attend.

Bruce does nothing for me. His jingoistic red, white and blues-based tunes bore me silly, and the "on your feet for 3 hours" shows aren't my idea of a good time at all...

The good side is nobody will *ever* hear me complain about people standing up and blocking my view of Bruce!

What's JWMalibu been up to? Have a look at these!

http://www.thekatbox.com/casellastudio/NewBryce.htm

Look at the incredible detail of "The Mystic". The man is a true artist in so many senses of the word. Kudos to you JDub's, you da man!

Zeke...my wife and I are going to Raleigh. Oleander is going also. A whole shitload of folks I've never heard of are signed up on the list-bot for Raleigh and everyone is still formulating some sort of get together and possible transportation party barge. See ole for more details.

steviedan....we were in Raleigh yesterday. Would have stopped in to see you but I don't know the city that well. I can get to Walnut Creek and MARS on Capitol Blvd. We went to MARS yesterday so I could pick up the Line 6 POD v2.0 that I've been lusting after for a while. Man, talk about some killer tones to tape/digital recorder, this thing is the BOMB!! We get down there every couple of months and will be there next month for the concert. Maybe we can stop in and say Hi some time.

Hutch....you've already got killer tone but if you've got some time to kill, go to www.line6.com and check out the POD sound samples they have. Very good simulations of all those amps you always wanted but never could afford. Somebody finally got it right! They even have a tone library where you can search by artist or song for settings to duplicate the tone. As someone mentioned earlier, this month's Guitar World had the tab to Kid Charlemange in it. The Line6 ad in the same issue has the settings to all the tones of the songs they have listed, including Kid Charlemange. Very cool unit. Great for recording and you can get the Line6 foot controller with two wah type pedals and a bunch of presets (yours or theirs) for gigging live. It's worth a look.

MC

What's JWMalibu been up to? Have a look at these!
http://www.thekatbox.com/casellastudio/NewBryce.htm
Look at the incredible detail of "The Mystic". The man is a true artist in so many senses of the word. Kudos to you JDub's, you da man!
Zeke...my wife and I are going to Raleigh. Oleander is going also. A whole shitload of folks I've never heard of are signed up on the list-bot for Raleigh and everyone is still formulating some sort of get together and possible transportation party barge. See ole for more details.
steviedan....we were in Raleigh yesterday. Would have stopped in to see you but I don't know the city that well. I can get to Walnut Creek and MARS on Capitol Blvd. We went to MARS yesterday so I could pick up the Line 6 POD v2.0 that I've been lusting after for a while. Man, talk about some killer tones to tape/digital recorder, this thing is the BOMB!! We get down there every couple of months and will be there next month for the concert. Maybe we can stop in and say Hi some time.
Hutch....you've already got killer tone but if you've got some time to kill, go to www.line6.com and check out the POD sound samples they have. Very good simulations of all those amps you always wanted but never could afford. Somebody finally got it right! They even have a tone library where you can search by artist or song for settings to duplicate the tone. As someone mentioned earlier, this month's Guitar World had the tab to Kid Charlemange in it. The Line6 ad in the same issue has the settings to all the tones of the songs they have listed, including Kid Charlemange. Very cool unit. Great for recording and you can get the Line6 foot controller with two wah type pedals and a bunch of presets (yours or theirs) for gigging live. It's worth a look.
MC

Has anyone seen the John Lurie series "Fishing with John"? It's absolutely hilarious. Airs intermittently on the Independent Film Channel carried here on our local cable operator TimeWarner. The series consists of circa 7-8 diffrent episodes featuring Mr. Lurie with a variety of big screen weirdos like Tom Waits, Dennis Hopper and a motley crew of other colourful souls....each episode takes the intrepid pair to phantastic and remote areas of the world bumbling along the way trying to catch fish...doesn't matter that Mr. Lurie does not know the first thing about fishing, noe does he pretend to....and as it turns out his celebrity guests are equally clueless...very funny. The series is very well done and I imagine one could probably obtain a vhs tape or rental from a local video store. Highly recommended.
Aus

John Lurie and Tom Waits and "wacky" Roberto B. ...
Know that movie?
It's great.

Gina - It's 15:49 AM over there? Good worming.

Once again, I have to say that Edd was right on, as usual.

hey blaze - never worry if you tread on something else
you are too creative to worry about stepping on toes
so change your mon a ker at will

as for having to work - I set up a quick job on the workstation, while it yanks and cranks I kick out a very quick post

gina - some speak from the heart and some try to guess what the audience wants or try too hard to make it or keep it viable

in the relm of things what other older artists are still viable??

few very very few

hats off to Don and Walt for not being just a longue lizard review

toodles

thomass

Not much to scroll so I'm ready to write, "n"roll...

Sometimes one doesn't make an album you may expect, but it does represent the state of mind at that time, even if the music/lyrics don't thrill that much ...and then it's a matter of how you listen to the music and how involved you are with the artist(s).

It also depends on the kind of creative abilities one has ...some can write songs like they have a factory inside their heads with men and women working syllables and nouns and vowels and do-re-mi's ...others take their inspiration out of life and simply go with their creative flow that sometimes just isn't there ..

Stuff goes in and out. If it goes out all the time, it might become like a dried-up well ..(is that correct?)...

Gotto go back to work.
15.49 A.M.
Bye, Gina

I knew I saw that name before. Ooops, sooorry.

Big Fan - Where did she get the Concord setlist, I wonder?

Wormy - don't you have to work? OK. My answer: put it out when
you feel it's good enough, I guess.

I knew I saw that name before. Ooops, sooorry.

Big Fan - Where did she get the Concord setlist, I wonder?

Wormy - don't you have to work? OK. My answer: put it out when
you feel it's good enough, I guess.

(brain dead) Dawn- Are you trying to filch my handle??

the true, original Brain Dead Dawn

Okay

a quest or question

hypo thet a cull of course

if given the choice
would you rather have had the dan kicking out mediocre albums constantly with a fe4w jems (lets say every 3 to 4 years) after the Nightfly or have the few and far between 19 year hiatus with NF, Kama, Whack

many artists who continued to kick out product lost their message

Bowie - on the top of his game from Alladin Sane to Thin White Duke basically sucked after Scary Monsters in 80

The Who - should have stopped after Who Are You, although Townsends solo albums were mostly redeaming

Yes - so many different lineups and some good stuff but too much banal 80's and 90's material

McCartney - a few gems sneak in to his mostly fodder filled work after his mid seventies gems

those that have kept the course but with a few shoddy things thrown in

Neil Young, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan

stellar but too long in between

Peter Gabriel

so long absence or take the good the bad and the ugly but keep putting it out?

discuss?

Tom

Chere: One of my all time Jethro Tull favourites. Reading your lyric posting has prompted me to put Stand Up(?) on the compact disc carousel for listening tonight....thanks.

Aus

Hangin' tough in Union Square, NYC

Nigel: woooahh there, my man. My auditary flow is pristine.

I realise that AG is a fairly spiritual number and that it is very very, popular (which no doubt lends it that 'classic' kudos).

But taking spiritualism as the mood (as opposed to the slick groove of JoS or GA) I would say that Negative Girl is a better cut. I am especially fond of the guitar work on NG (Dean Parks lends an extra edge there).

I just feel that JoS, apart from being damn fine (as is the whole album) has all the essential timeless-ness that is the Dan themselves.

I never said that AG was crap. Just not the best (IMHO).

Laters

SFK

Review from the San Jose paper about the Shoreline concert:
http://www7.mercurycenter.com/premium/ent/docs/steelydan20.htm

Q, Welcome back - email me when you can.

creature non-chordata: It is wierd when people turn their noses up at a good gig-deal. Which probably explains why it wasn't that wierd when your mates said no to Springsteen. (he he!)

However, this Dan-apathy is really pissing me off.

a. I don't really want to go sans-amis
b. I won't be able to talk to these guys ever again, because I won't relate to the non-comitted.

My wife came up with a good solution: f*ck 'em.

Laters man

SFK

San Francisco Knights- Take the shit out of your ears mate! You just don't get it.

San Fran Night - your friends apathy doesn't puzzle me
I wound up with 2 extra tickets for the Springsteen / E STreet show for $20 for both (face was $66) and I couldn't give them to 5 sets of friends I called on the phone from the venue,

they missed out, plain and simple

StevieD - Alan Holdsworth - there's a name I haven't heard in a while - ah

and speaking of H named guitarists - the more I watch the Plush TaN DVD the more I revel in Jon Herrington - nice chops to complement Walter's laid back fun ventures
virtue oh so without one ups men ship - nice pairing

I was looking for the multi angle option on the Dan DVD,
but they don't have a Carolyn's navel setting - Damn

Blaze I'll get to WOH after I get a little work done,
last I knew I still get paid to work not play on the computer

wormy

mother in tears, look at that trail of sorrow

hjkl

Oleander: Hi and cheers for the nod. A lot of fresh posters around these days who I have to get to know.

The 'Steelybaby' (ie. Chloe) is doing cool. As is 'Steelynewbie' (aka. Max) who is busying himself wrecking my hi-fi, thus I am limited to headphones at present.

Good to read the positive vibe coming from the US gig-goers. Bodes well for the Wembley, London date.

However, my own Dan-circle of 'soon not to be' friends are showing a distinct lack of commitment at present. Shitty statements like...

"I'm on holiday..."
"It's my nephew's 18th birthday that weekend..."
"I'm starting my MBA that week..."
"I've been invited to Buckingham Palace..."

What the f*ck is that all about???? Any suggestions as to how I get these arseholes to re-assess their priorities?

2vN is good. JoS is by far the best and is worth a track load of grammies on it's own. Personally, can't understand the raves about AG or WoH. Maybe someone could inform me as to what I have not heard. (I do enjoy GA quite a lot).

Clas: hallo dere my good man.

Cheers

SFK

really suck?

-- Swingin' so hard
We burned right through the summer
Till the axis of pain/pleasure sheared the arc of desire
From the Rebus affair
To the streets of Culver City
Places and events slip below the horizon line --

This part evokes touring for me; a rock 'til you drop
or 'til we decide to stop summer concert series
in the past, but of course, it will still apply in the near-future.
These guys tour 'cause they like it,
It's their new philosophy of road life they present here, I think.

As well as there, maybe:

-- Don't you love Port Blanc
When Hooterie is over
When the girls get easy and the crowds are gone
A weekend of bliss
Then the rainy season --

I'm not saying this is the main theme of the song.
I do believe that Steely Dan songs present, generally speaking,
different themes at once. They definitely stray from
the straightforward pop songwriting formula. WOH is the ultimate
example of this.
Lines put together mainly for their musicality which can still make sense in a subjective manner for the listener. This is how
I see it, although that meaning may not have been
intentional on their part.
Isn't it poetry in its essence, though?
That plurality of meaning thang.

Finally found that old article refered to in the song:

"Fagen exudes seriousness. He talks slowly, he LURCHES ACROSS THE ROOM laboriously. He looks like Victor Mature reflected in a funhouse mirror that widens and elongates. He speaks in a slow, laconic New Jersey drawl(he was born in Passaic), and when his wide mouth smiles, the grin resembles a sneer."
Source: Granatino/Readings/New Times article 1977.

The rest of the song probably refers to different personnal events taking place around the same time as this work on the road, or more generally, in the past.
My view, for now. Still working on it.
Ball's in your court, guys. I'll follow whoever picks up on this.

Everyone worried about spelling - Jackson Browne is a celebrated
wordsmith and even he forgets to spell his name right.

One you all miss contacted me yesterday asking what was up with me. Although I think it is possible he mistook me for someone else here.
His second email mentionned a web site I supposedly run and all kinds of stuff I can't really relate to. I haven't put up a web page. He did come across as a friendly guy. It didn't seem like he was ready to come back just yet judging from what I could figure out.
If you don't reveal too much about yourself on this page, how can any cyberattack hit home so much, you decide to leave?
Especially when you're appreciated by so many. My 2 cents.

Stevie Dan - Some nights, you come up with the funniest stuff...
Getting sensimental?

And again Edd is right on.

Clas?

Okay, I made a few spelling errors, I am SURE you got it though.
BTW I DID catch the sunset and ate Bing cheries on the beach, that was sort of when the epiphany came. It came in , rolled in right onto the shores of Yeya's ocean and blew softly across my face as I watched the sun go down.

Also, THE WILDEST thing I have ever witnessed at work? Don't freak on this straight up descrpition okay?...We ARE adults after all, and I mean no offense.....

I had a mutual crush with a guy I worked with when I worked for a golf resort in Palm Coast Fl. We finally put an end to the aching hunger for eachother, and well, really HOOKED up. We snuck into a large banquet room during the close of a late shift and consumated everything. I opened my eyes and saw US in the mirrored wall. It was WILD!!!!!!!!!!!!!Talk about passion..... My piece.

I really do love you guys and gals. Thanks for everything!

LOVING the inside! Can't wait to sit in the magic of this concert! -chere

Hi all in fandom! So MUCH going on in the GB.

Io- Hey girl, glad to see your'e still around.

David in the Florida room- Your CD is great Bro. I already called my friend in Venice to hook up and of course, catch your gig. Certainly this summer SOMETIME I will bear witness. Thanks for the note on "King Harvest".I noticed on your webpage that you did "Brandy" I have ALWAYS loved that song and never hear it enough on the radio.

Steviedan- Hey baby! Thanks also to you for the King Harvest and 70's music info. Someday. Money is too tight to mention right now for Cherebi. What IS stretch pay? Sure hope I get up NC way sometime- maybe when the air fares go down. I'll get to hang with my uncle and meet you and check out YOUR gig and the store. You da bes Boo!

Diane- Is Souout not a dreamboat? I LOVE him. We have become very tight.( From the Begining....... Emerson Lake and Palmer.) We were supposed to speak by phone on Monday, but I know he just returned from the west coast and is probably still getting back into the NYC Penn swing of things. FYI to ALL I have almost convinced him I THINK to come back "Home AT Last". He is a passionate brother, and made a very dramatic exit. His wisdom, sparkle and shine have been truly missed, and I think I speak for many folk here when I say that. My stupid ass was SUPPOSED to be chatting in the chatroom on Sunday, but I got slammed with much to do and ran out of time. I shall try at a first attempt to go there again maybe this Sunday.

Aja-What's up with JW Malibu? Is everything alright? He is another sweet soul from the GB. Is there a need for me to send some of that healing Special JUJU from my REMEDIES? An e mail perhaps? Lord knows, he has e mailed me more than once when I have been down. Let me know okay?

La Page- Craig dawlin', I am SOOO glad you decided to stay. Soout does not need Company out there, he needs to come back INSIDE here. I especially liked Your recent postings regarding Wormashun's inquiry about "Royal Scam". It was VERY enlightening and facinating. Stuff I really did not know that much about. You'd think I would, being 31 years young. Whateva, anyway, it was good reading.

About the recent negative and unpleasant karma on the GB..... I had an epiphany that sort of described how I feel about ALL of you folk here and the great feelings and smiles it all brings to my life and my heart....Speaking of "INSIDE".....
All the places I been make it hard to begin..
To enjoy life again on the INSIDE, but I mean to.
Take a walk round the block
And be glad that I've got some time
To be IN from the outside, and INSIDE with YOU.
I'm sitting in the corner feeling glad
Got no money in my pocket, but I can't be sad
That was the best cup of coffee i ever ha
And I won't worry bout a think
because we've got it made,
Here on the INSIDE, outside so far away...
And we'll laugh and we'll sing, get someone to bring
our friends here for tea in the evenoing
Old Jeffrey makes three
Take a walk in the park, does the wind in the dark
sound like music to you?
Well I'm thinking it does to me.
Can you cook? Can you sew?
Well I don't want to know
That is not what you need on the INSIDE
to make the time go.
Couonting lambs counting sheep we will all into sleep
And we awake to a new day of living
And loving you so........

"Inside" by Jethro Tull one of the most beatiful songs ever written, imho....feeling sentimental.
Here on the INSIDE with the souls on the GB!
The "INSIDE" is a priviledge for ME!
Thanks for listening and reading my stuff and puffin on it. Sorry it was so long.

Instant Karma, JUJU and a white flag for peace up in the air next to the torch......- chere

steviedan's album of the week...

Chad Wackerman's new one. With a guitarist that's listened to alot of Holdsworth and a vibist in tow. Five Stars.

Greetings & Salutations fellow S.D. fans!
It's soooo weird to own a computer...my first week with this thing, folks...I've figured out GB is short for guestbook about a minute ago after reading the ongoing text.
My claim to SD fandom includes quoting the final stanza of "The Caves of Altamira" in my H.S. yearbook (nothing here but history...),as well as owning some rare stuff not available on this website (The Original Sound Track- "You Gotta Walk It...).
Others of you know me as Mr. Saddam from a parody of Mr. Sandman I did that got on Dr Demento & Armed Forces Radio. I'm still working on SD parody stuff you all seem to be so (and I add "irreverently" here) frigging fond of. And as such, with apologies to Aja, here is my "Ajax"...
Down in the sink
Dishes growing hair
It's mouldy fare
Chinese teacups under crockery
Here at the Kitchen of misery

Ajax

When all my dish washing is through
I run out of you...

HELD up the torch

Oleander: You know I'm not that 2-dimensional...and since my forebearers on both sides of the family arrived in this country just over 100 years ago taking a tack past that Statue, I think I can speak to this. It was a sad situation for many years. Each wave of immigrants who came into the port of New York whether they were Irish, Italian, Slavic, and later Puerto Rican ended at the bottom of the pile and had to scratch and claw their way out and it was a slow climb at that. They received little help from their "neighbors" outside their community. Neighborhood bonds were strong, but the ethnic group at the bottom of the totem pole were squashed...sort of a Welcome to America hazing. Poor ethnic group was pitted against poor ethnic group...gangs formed, organized crime etc. as a way to get out or to fight back. Those who were successful did so by hard work, grit, strong family ties and connections, and good fortune. Many others slid into despair. As soon as many people could eek out a living or build a business. Then the Great Depression came!! Anyway, the irony as I see it is that the country has espoused liberty for all coming in, but the reality has been harsh for each wave of immigrants compressed at the bottom of the Big Apple like sedimentary rock. As the Dan saw it 1976 was a particularly harsh in the bicentennial year for immigrants as it was in the late 19th Century. The environment in a sense was worse. The streets were filthy, crime ridden, formerly tight ethnic units and neighborhoods were fractured. But notice the song does not leave the protagonist(s) blame-free and heap all of the blame on "society." The protagonist(s) contribute to the horror with self-destructive behavior and luring unsuspecting sheep from home. As you would know it's those who can beat the external locus of control mindset that overcome these circumstances. I think that there's some truth in the sad irony that Lady Liberty might not have just help up the torch, but could have lent a hand. It is also true that a) this were even worse where they came from (Ireland and Italy in our case) and b) their children or children's children would be better off - at least that was the hope of those who got off those boats. Another sad truth was for many years, the bottom rung immigrant group shared that position with many African-Americans...but it's very late now. There was also a quite wealthy but small society of African-Americans scattered among the Northeastern cities which unfortunetely did not interact with the large, destitute African American community - an interesting story for another time and venue...

I have recently accused some Capt. Bringdown of being tightly puckered but I have fretted all day over having said "awashed" as opposed to "awash", even though I KNOW that no one remembers or gives a tinkers damn about it but I NOW FEEL BETTER.

Clas, the dog chewed my paper but I can just make out the critical information about Jaco's Holiday for Pans. Actually I now have the genuine articles in front of me. Bass-ically they represent sessions done at NY's Power Station Studios between 1980-82. The pans refer to Othello Mollineaux and Leroy Williams on steel drums. Included on the sessions were Wayne Shorter, Don Alias, the marvelous Toots Thielemans, Kenwood Dennard, you get the picture. Not exactly a one off deal with some students for dope money. While controversial in regards to the travel of the tapes, these are apparently not bootlegs, at least not in Japan. I'm almost sure that the boxsets (Sound Hills SSCD-8098/8100) have totally sold out, I have not checked recently on availibility of the single disc (Sound Hills SSCD-8001). Among other tunes, the disc contains an adaptation of Hovhaness' "Mysterious Mountain", another adaptation, David Rose's "Holiday for Strings (or is it trumpet) obviously retitled. Shorter's "Elegant People", Trane's "Giant Steps", and also L & McC's "She's Leaving Home". Worth hunting down if Jaco's music is a passion. If it's not, you should make it one. You can probably find them on E-bay, along with Duane Allman's DNA certified used condoms and everything else you never knew was worth so much money to so many people. I'm hearing stretch pay again.

Someone said down heah in North Carolina we dance under the sheets. Shit, we got Stomp and Riverdance goin' on. We'z Lordz of the Danze !! All hoodless, of course. Not to say we don't still have SOME Good 'Ol Boyz in the Hoodz, however.

steviedanoverandout

All this discussion about the new arrangement of "Do It Again" has made me ponder the question: what would "Can't Buy a Thrill" sound like if it was released in 2000?

We have the aforementioned "Do It Again" and the re-arrangement of "Reelin' in the Years" from the previous three tours. Walter did a wonderful job with "Midnite Cruiser" in 1996 and our ladies are doing the same with "Dirty Work" this time around.

I imagine that "Kings", "Only a Fool Would Say That", and "Brooklyn" would be pretty easy. "Fire in the Hole" and "Change of the Guard" might pose a bit of a problem (espically "Change of the Guard").

And I would LOVE to hear a re-worked version of "Turn That Heartbeat Over Again".

I think it would be a fantastic CD.

Can't Buy a Thrill Revisited or something.

Any thoughts on this?

El Sup

The Steely Dan Track Listing
http://www.geocities.com/the_el_supremo/steelydantracks.htm

scout--hmmm... you're right there. That gets a little sticky sometimes, too....

f#--that answer your question? BTW, the answer is yes I said yes.

Mu--alas, that sort of shit doesn't respect state lines.

SFK--hey man! Glad you're around and get to see the Dan! How's your little girl?

Diane--I trust St. Al and his intuitive wisdom. People sometimes come here and try to tidy up, like my mom when she'd see my digs at college, instead of accepting it for what it is, grokking the flow, and developing an internally consistent way of dealing with it. It takes a lot of patience and a back like Miz Ducky's. And is, I believe, deeply worth it. In other words, no, I don't think people should be carded at the door. (But they can show it if they want.) As has been said before, preference for a given format is just according to temperament. It would be boring for them all to look alike.

slide--I've read your posts on the Digest and dig them, but that was one of the more patronizing things I've read here. It's certainly fine to want more specifically Steely talk; that itself is a recurring thread. Go right on. There are many richly Dan-lore-soaked denizens who will jump right in. I find the great majority of what goes on here, whether directly Dan or not, to be right on the subject--complex, multilayered, compulsive, dealing with the dark side, human struggling to be more, creative, tangential, sometimes abstruse, but in a way that frees the reader in unexpected ways.... Sound like any music you know?

Mr. La--Those lyric thangs were so well put. Way better than what I said in the case of RS. But I think THE Royal Scam has always been the US give me your tired, your poor persona--when those who come with their desperate dreams end up like the guy in RS. It's always been a conscious means to bring poor people here to do the scut work for the spawn of the race of fallen kings--they had to do something when slavery was outlawed. But in true Steely fashion, there's another layer of royal scam, which is the scammed passing on the scam to other potential scammed--the family back home. Now Mu, before you jump all over me, of course I know that the US is also a place of unprecedented opportunity for people fleeing oppressive regimes everywhere, but there is a lot of hypocrisy in the Statue's grave welcome.

GB Noncom--that about summed it up.

Stevie--So now I know how to recognize you at the concert!

Re: cell phone in JOS--I couldn't hear it, but that's probably because 1) I can't hear stuff like that, and 2) since I'm listening through headphones, it's hard to imagine a cell phone wedged somewhere between them and my head. Did anyone hear the guy this weekend on NPR who was checking the pitch of machines at work and home? Pretty cool. Made me want to get a pitch pipe. Is that what the cell sound was? The real thing or just the same pitch?

Renee--now there's a topic with a lot of entertainment potential. Craziest thing I've seen on the job: a really wacked-out party thrown by a department head of the Seattle-area software company at which I was then contracting. Party featured a jello tug-of-war, held smack-dab in the middle of the otherwise tastefully-appointed atrium of the department's nice modern building, the competing teams captained by the department head and his second-in-command. Much beer was consumed and much merriment was had before and during the contest. But afterwards, I was forced to beat a hasty retreat from my vantage-point in the balcony when various co-workers began contemplating the aerodynamic qualities of handfuls of raspberry jello. Upon my return the following morning, I noted that although the cleaning crew had obviously shampooed the carpeting within an inch of its life, there was still a faint pink stain in the middle of that expanse of ivory pile.

And that's the truth, as Edith Ann would say ...

/The Mam'zelle

Boy, did I have a Monday! About the book, "Reelin' in the Years"...it will be available July 30th, according to the gal in England who says they are printing more books now that they have run out. I forgot that she was in England, thus the date 30/03/00 means July 30th...sorry, all:-)

To those of you who are sending your awesome insights to me at my email, thanks tremendously! You really should post on the Guestbook instead of just blessing me with with all the danchat. Previous postings are correct...we are so lavishly lucky to have a place to share about the drastic duo!

Question: Does anyone remember being on here years ago when Walter was accused of being the anonymous negative writer? LOL What ever happened with that?

You will be who you are just the same,
Almost GOthic Lisa

"This does beg the question (or lead to begging): Live album from this tour?!?!?"

Well ybtodd, I was thinking the same thing myself. Does anyone know if the sales were decent for AIA? That would probably be a major factor in this decision.

Now as to the topic re: craziest stuff you have seen on the job, as someone in the beverage hospitality industry for twenty years, I've got some interesting images running through my mind's eye right now, but I'm gonna definitely have to take the fifth. (Which is pretty easy for a bartender to do...)

linda

Wow. People are goin' off! Time to change the subject!

So the other night I finally watched "Lush Life", and I was particularly impressed (not necessarily in a good way) by the scene where Jeff Goldbloom's (sp?) character walks off the bandstand in the middle of a tune, has his way with the attractive female club (or whatever that place was) owner, and gets back in time to play the ending head of the tune with the band.

I have been in the music business for 24 years. I have seen a lot of things (some I will share here, by request), but I have never seen any musician do that.

Then I got thinking this might be a fun place to trade gig stories. I know a lot of people here have regular day gigs - so I'm not talking about music exclusively. What's the wildest thing you've witnessed at work?

Makes me wonder what W & D have witnessed. (I also wonder what they've done.)

(This will quite possibly go nowhere, but hey - I had to try.)

Well, Bill Cooper, sometimes we Knoxvillians have to go to the Dan. Try it sometime. You'll be glad you did. :-)

cara mia, getting over PDT jet-lag

I too liked the new arrangement of Do It Again. Instead of pedaling on Em for the whole verse, they do a C9-D9-Em progression (I think-might be maj7 chords...I tried to work it out from memory...if anyone else really figured it out please post it). I really liked it, but two of my fellow musician buddies had more mixed reactions. They said it was less menacing and too "light jazz". I actually thought it moved the song from angry to more of a subversive tone.

This does beg the question (or lead to begging): Live album from this tour?!?!?

I just wanted someone to know that despite being in the south....steely dan has many fans ,in particular,myself in the knoxville tn area....would absolutely love it if they would venture this way in the not so distant future.....

Ajax, Thelonius: I hear the bells in the right channel in the outtro. But how about the muffled voice/voices at the 5:55 mark of the title track?...don't have quad or DTS, but it sounds BEHIND me and to the left. How the f**ck is that possible??? Scared the bejeez out of me a number of times! Then there's the modem sound (she's on the phone) and train "whistle" (she's on the train) during Negative Girl.

Hey Zeke: FEAT ALERT!! They have a new album called Chinese Work Songs! Just heard parts of all the tracks. Although it may not rate up there with the Lowell George stuff or Representing the Mambo is seems real solid. Eula, Just Another Sunday, a cover of The Band's Rag Mama Rag really jump out. Shaun Murphy's voice does sound strained on a few songs unfortunately. Personally, I rather here Paul Barrere handle all the vocals. Also, a cover of Dylan's It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry wraps it up.

Thelonius-
I heard it too. Not in my car, but on my big rig in the den. I had the amp set on prologic theatre, and it sounded like a phone was buried under a blanket in the house somewhere. It's hard to put your finger on.

Peace everyone!
I attended the SD concert here on the 17th at the Shoreline Amphitheater and, to understate things quite a bit, it was an EXCELLENT show! But of those of you who have seen them on this tour, did anyone check out their new arrangement of "Do It Again?" IN-FUCKIN-Credible!!!! New chords and chord changes - a whole new vibe underneath the same vocal melody. They should re-release this!
Donald and Walter, if you ever read this, you should do a studio version of this and PUT IT OUT!! PLEASE!!!! I would really love to hear it again (and again, and again, etc...)

Regards

ybtodd - You're right. Walter's guitar playing has gone from great to greater. And the tone he gets is really rich and full without too much high end. His phrasing is ultra cool.
And, IMHO, Jon Herington sure ain't no slouch!
Last night I was watching all my Steely video tapes from TV appearances... Letterman '95, Letterman '00, VH-1 Storytellers, Today Show, etc.. And I have to say Herington impresses the hell out of me. The solos he's done on Peg and Kid C on recent appearances are a perfect blend of doing his own thing and making a nod to the album versions at the same time. His improvisational skills are pretty formidable!
Clas - Sounds like you got yourself some great seats for the show. My seats for the Virginia Beach show are almost in the same position as yours.
Aja - Glad to hear that you saw JW. Is he doing okay?

Obviously there was some material from Aja. Otherwise we wouldn't have heard Deacon Blues. But I totally agree that the concert highlighted some material which I never paid great attention to that I now see differently. You have to listen to everything carefully. The guys are sneaky as well as talented.

Received this interesting email on the Irvine, CA concert and thought I would share it:

Dear Ivan,
I read your review of last friday's concert. The musicianship was
incredible. I never realized before that an album cut like "Monkey in Your
Soul" had such exquisite dissonance and sharp lyrics. I think the
different voicing used live as opposed to the album version gave me a new
appreciation. Its too bad that Walter didn't sing the album version.

Yes, I too was disappointed that nothing was played from Aja. But man,
what a great version of "Dirty Work" and "Kid Charlamane"! I used to be
a recording engineer. I worked with Victor Feldman, who played piano on
"home at last". Victor played percussion on I believe nearly every Dan
album. Victor told me a simple truth that no one can play Steely Dan
music like Steely Dan.

I also worked with Abe Laboriel, Dean Parks, and Jim Keltner. Abe told
me that it took 7 hours to do the bass track on "New Frontier". He also
told me the story of the one song that was accidently erased, and how
they spent so much time and money trying to recreate what had been lost.
But since they couldn't recapture it, they didn't release the remake.

If you were at the concert early, you could see Roger Nicoles checking
the monitors. Roger mixed all the Steely Dan records. He developed a
computer called "Wendel" that can duplicate all the dynamics of a
performance. He came to the studio I was working at to give a demonstration of
a rack version of Wendel. What a genius!

Take care,
Todd

So is it just me, or has WB's guitar playing gotten *alot* better since the 93-94 tours? I've been listening to Alive in America recently, and saw the FunDiego show. I'm struck by the fact (opinion) that his current guitar work is so confident, tasteful, and sublime. This compares with somewhat more noodlishous work in 93-4. Not that is was bad back then, but rather that right now he is really playing some damn tasty stuff.

Could the co-guitarist have some effect? I know my playing often depends on who's sitting next to me. I'm warming to Harrington, and find that he seems to be a better *fit* as opposed to Wadenius or Zingg (sp?). I still pine for Erskine on drums though...

steviedan-amen to that, brother (I can say that with certainty :) Maybe an el supremo session is what this board needs.

cara mia-I can't wait for the pix, and thanks so much to you and The Stranger making Irvine such a blast! I was worried that it was going to be a little lonely going by myself, but you guys (and Amaris and others too numerous to name) made it a joy. What luck to be sitting next to The Stranger, who kept me rolling with his jokes.

Q-why didn't you stop by? I would have loved to have met you and said thank you properly.

Aja

Are we awashed in pettiness here or WHAT. I can't help myself, but I read every single post. Some more carefully than others, some as a blur. Many of my favorite GB participants are ones I may have NEVER responded to personally. Cliques are only as perceived. I love you all for your love of SD. I love to see new blood. I've enjoyed being new blood. Today I have entered my correct info above. It really got redundant doing it every time after posting for months and clever set-up lines are so much more fun. Changing the GB would really SUCK BOLDLY. I have noticed in the past that if someone poses as someone else, StAl might give notice to clarify. There is alot of self-policing operative. Some may merit being filtered out for EXCESSIVE profanity, insultive qualities, or banality (Oops strike that, don't kill MY posts). To me, Bill & Hillary material, well that shit is pure Hennie Youngman at this point but if someone wants to pound that mule...have at it. Can we please get back to our muse ?

Clas, I'll come back later tonight with more 411 about Holiday for Pans. Right now I've got to pan fry the little ones.

Really folks, TACT, POISE, & REASON. Now gently SEIZE them.

thelonius

actually your mom is calling for you to take out the garbage

the call has rotated around the milkyway and come back to you

Jack of Speed - must be the sleighbells

Okay, Im glad the kids are getting along now.

Call me psychotic, but everytime I listen to Jack of Speed I experience this thing where I think my cell phone is going off and like Pavlov's mutt I move for the thing.

I think it's just Donald playing mind games with that Lynx Keyboard of his but it could actually be cell phone tones dubbed into the tune (after watching the Aja DVD and hearing the garbage can lid track I won't put anyhting past these guys).

Anybody else experiencing this effect or should I seek psychiatric help?

Mr Lapage - thanks for the indepth treaty very nice

yes I follow exactly the idea of the letter meant to encourage their native countrymen to follow to the promised land

as for the pain /pleasure I too felt I understood this one in that type of light which Craig so eloquently stated

by why must she have aids
where do you read this in the song?

wormbrain

almost got there, almost got there

...So Diane, Gil ..no more bickering then?
And yes, Blaise ..that's how I feel.
Gonna go back to the scrolling crowd.
22.16 P.M. goodnight for later,
Gina

Gina, yes, in many of the drug houses of the wintery world, they build little sterno-can fires to keep warm during the long cold nights of the soul. These actions could indeed be the cause of the blackened wall they speak of.

Tom, "How they are paid in gold
just to babble in the back room all night
and waste their time"

refers to the content of the letter that the 'old man back home'
read to his people. It is the crux of the scam. Those that have made the voyage on 'the rising tide' to New York City' send letters telling those remaining in San Juan that life here is indeed 'sweet.' As a matter of fact, things are so incredibly cushy here that 'we are paid in gold just........" Lazyness and waste are rewarded here!
Read the lyric, you'll see how this narrative flows.

"Till the axis of pain/pleasure
shears the arc of desire"

depending on what school of thought you're proceeding from:
~the LA drug wheeler/dealer with female sidekick scenario
~the LA-niceguy-meets-decadent-Anne-De-Siecle-who-gives-him-AIDS scenario

The axis of pain/pleasure refers to points A-B along a graph with the verticle axis representing pain and the horizontal; pleasure.
The arc of desire is the connecting point between these two extremes.
Our desires are generally what initially spur us to action along this axis and we're constantly balancing these desires with
our insatiable pursuit of pleasure and our natural aversion to pain.
Generally the pain we experience in regards to the pursuit of pleasure (physical, monetary, morning hangover, drug jones, crashing, relationship conflict)is a deterrant to our unbridled desire to feed the Freudian Id within each of us.(Satisfaction and Satisfaction NOW!)
They 'burned right through the summer' till the pain they were experiencing to feed this incredible jones became overwhelming and sheared the natural arc bridging the chasm between pain and pleasure.
If their particular jones were drugs, this pain would have been manifest in deteriorating relationships, employment problems, money issues, physical ailments, legal ramifications.
If the jones was love/sex and the protagonists discovered that they had contracted HIV or AIDS, then the ramifications are indeed obvious.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
NAH NAH NA NAH NAH!!!!

Craig

Focus everyone,focus.

checked out the lovethisgig page. Wish I was 21 again.

Since there's so much crap around here, I'll throw out some more.
For the Feat fans, there's a new video out of a 1977 show with Lowell in the mix. I have it ordered and will report back with the results
Also, checked out a site, www.vinyl4ever.comm. This site has sheet music and music books for just about anyone you care to play. (including the Dan)

Who's going to the Raleigh Gig? Would like to do a little pre and post gig toasting. Don, Walt, if you care for a little cajun backstage food, I can make it happen. I mean the real stuff!

Checked out the DAN concert on Fri. nite June , 16 00
at the Verizon Amp. and it was most excellent.
Took the girlfriend and she loved it also.
She's been a fan over the years like myself and it was her first
time seeing SD.Two hours of old and alot of the new.
HOPE IT'S NOT ANOTHER 20 YEARS BEFORE NEW MATERIAL COMES OUT.
Keep up the great work!

...Could it be the wall was blackened because of the fire to keep warm during the night ...?

Diane - Who insulted who?

Gina - That was not necessary. But if that's the way you feel...

K.D. - Don't you have a final to cover? It ended yesterday. Hah... Welcome back then.

Mr Lapage - thanks on the Royal Scam phrase "by the blackened wall"

I always tinkered with a vision of a proud graffitti artist admiring his work with that line - I think i put too much emphasis on the "blackened" part, assuming the song's narrator must have done the blackening himself.

the heroin fix fits it perfectly

the druggy high his only escape from a harsh reality

so the line "now they are paid in gold just to bable in the back room all night and waste the time" must refer to drug dealers? no

I somehow thought that was a play on the religous hypocrits who milked the systems funds while supposedly reaching the lost immigrants

the theme of the song we certainly see eye to eye on

now the following from WOH

Swingin' so hard
We burned right through the summer
Till the axis of pain/pleasure sheared the arc of desire

any comments?

MY CONTROVERSIAL POST OF THIS MORNING THAT UPSET GIL SO MUCH:

Name: diane
take my email, please
Location: give me a cookie,
Date: Tuesday, June 20, 19100 at 07:08:58
Comments:

I'll bet you've discussed this before, but I have to ask: How would people feel (pro and con) about St. Al having the sort of guestbook software that captured people's emails when they wrote posts? It would certainly reduce the anonymity factor, and how. All the other Steely venues essentially require that if a person wants to post, he/she must include an email address (or it will be included for him/her).

Might separate the kids from the kidders.

Whot?

love and kisses

diane <-- sneaked into the Experience Music Project last night with Tim...

Gina, I don't care if you don't like me. You don't know me at all. I don't care if anyone "likes" me who I don't know from Adam. This guestbook is a highly insulated, often parochial place. I'm not the first to say that, and I won't be the last.

If the people who know me didn't like me, then I'd be worried.

That dancing/not dancing thread was interesting, and I think it brought out the best in people. Today, the GB is back to sniping and insulting, anonymously and otherwise. Who needs it?

Not me.

love and kisses to the excellent souls here
diane

I'm watching, B/ub, I'm watching.

I'm also promoting. Myself. And Me. I mean, blow, me. Promo. Go.

Moi.

Tom, "By the blackened wall he does it all
he thinks he's died and gone to heaven."

refers to any number of 'spike houses' that were so prevelant in the Bronx and Spanish Harlem throughout the seventies. These gutted and abandoned buildings are now generally referred to as 'crack houses' in many urban neighborhoods.
This particular narrative refers to one of Royal Scams' 'fallen kings' who's just done a 'smoker,' a mainline shot of heroin while he's propped up against a rutted, smoke stained wall within the abyssmally depressing depths of one of the 'dark city's' lonely drug houses.
The euphoric feeling that is enjoined by heroin users is ironically the closest this displaced and thoroughly scammed soul will ever get to heaven on this earth.
New York's not Canaan, it's certainly not the land flowing with milk and honey. There are no good-jobs-aplenty here. The living is not spacious and plush.
His grandfather, who incidently was the only member of the family from the homeland who could read english, used to read them letters sent by aunts, uncles, cousins and such about the 'sweet life' in the new land.
They buy it! They leave the tropical splendour of their island home in their 'boats of iron' for the cold, harsh streets and tenements of Uptown Manhattan, Brooklyn, The Bronx.
Their life on the island may not be glorious, but it is home. It is natural. It has the feel of family, safety, belonging.
The family has perpetrated this lie on them. That is the glaring travesty of this con.
This is the Royal Scam as I see it.

Craig

Diana ..sorry, but I don't like you. I've tried to ignore my gut feeling about how you respond to some of the GB-ers, I've even tried to give you the benefit of the doubt because you obviously have a dutch name, maybe you are, or your ancestors are, in the first case, why not have some discussion in dutch then..
I'm sure it's just a matter of personalities colliding and we don't have to be polite about it...so I won't.

I've read your comments and I've also roamed somewhere else and read your reviews, but I miss something, Diana. I've also sensed some kind of rivalry towards men or women who come close to what you think is your playground. Learn to share and not pretend that you do, 'cause you don't. And don't be so defense if someone criticizes you or something you wrote. Where's your sense of humor? Don't take things that seriously. Really.
I also agree with mr LaPage that you've started a real nice set of comments on the dancing issue. But please, try to see things in perspective, who gives a ..if anyone posts anonymous or not ...take it as it comes (thanks Jim Morrisson and Hutch, you're at every door now, how can that be?) and lighten up a little ..don't take yourself too serious...or this GB or the ones that Signed In..

Have just opened another window to see the actual Guestbook and guess what...your most recent posting only confirms what I've been writing this very moment, probably before or maybe even simultaneously..(I luv the way this friendship evolves, Gil)

I rest my case. Don't want to be hostile, but Diana, for your own sake, try not to take things that personal and please...open up your heart and soul and keep that ratio under your thumb..

Gina

Dr. Mu: Paying money to have one's intellectual property reviewed and then again to have it disseminated? I'm curious to know what area you work in. A reasonable person would agree that imposing levies on a person's IP work would have a chilling effect on the person's drive to be inventive and introduce novel ideas into our marketplace. And if not the person's drive that's thwarted, then certainly the person's willingness to place the novel idea/work into the public domain...which would ultimately penalise all of us.

Aus

gee, you seem fascinated by what i write, but you just can't seem to agree to disagree and move on. strange.

these bitter, petty little grudges are what makes a forum welcoming or rejecting.

so, are you saying that every time i make a comment here, you'll pick it apart, because you have some impression of me and you don't like me, and you (and, like, three other people) just want to keep on bringing up your version of the past, ad nauseum?

it's getting easier for me to see why sooutrageous left.

"But what is it exactly turns you off?"

so long
diane

to the tune Home at Last

Meaningful to Pass

I know there's a superhighway of information son
I guess that I'm the lucky one
Who found this St Al Guestbook, folks post from shore to shore
You think you've heard this one before

(chorus)
Well the dangers for one to post are surely past
who could be singled out guilty in this cast
could it be one has nothing meaningful to pass
meaningful to pass

sometimes it's smooth net surfing
sometimes it without form
it's just the calm before the storm
those who post without hesitation
you know who you are out there
why must your laundry always air

(chorus)

who makes the traffic lighter
who strays from an unstated norm
who incurs a most impending storm

caught with no reservation
sails off with a new thread
conversation's better left off dead

well the danger on the rocks in surely here
but who's to blame and who's to steer
could this actually be averted with some cheer
not welcome here, no not here

CHI: Hey, how do ya like the AiA Sign in Stranger? I LOVE that version. The horn chart, especially that sneaky bridge near the end...Bernhardt is very lively without trying to replicate note for note the genius of the original. The AiA version really swings - one of my fav Steely recordings of all.

Gil: I'm always in favor of freedom unless a) you make a profit without consent and appropriate payment to the author/artist or b) the action interferes with the ability of the author/artist to make a profit or intellectual property rights - this gets sticky and the bar varies from field to field. In my area, I must PAY to have written original intellectual property reviewed, and must PAY again for publication and dissemination. Then peers and public photocopy and partake of the information for FREE. Generally no $$ changes hand if a state-of-the-art white paper is produced which determines policy and concensus at a national level. Only if I compile OTHER people's intellectual property and put it together largely on the employer's time and sell it through a for-profit publisher can I make a PERSONAL profit...go figure!

Hi IO!

Ole: If I remember correctly, in North Carolina dancing is allowed in the sheets, but in South Carolina it must be UNDER a sheet (of the hooded variety)

Hey Gil ..been trying to visit your page, just a few minutes ago but there's an error each time, so I guess I'll wait???

Maybe I'll get back to you out of this range, first I'll scroll the Chardonnay out of my system ...

Bye, Gina

Slidestrangler(Ms. Lennon) If you scroll through this guestbook, you'll see that a number of the people who ocassionally engage in inane bullshit on this forum are the same folks who add credible commentary on any number of serious Steely Dan topics.
Your comments are welcome here.
Last week, Diane had some cyberwords with a few of us on the GB about some small thing or another. I kiddingly suggested that if she wanted to start a 'credible' thread that I would back her.
Diane then proceeded to begin a discussion about 'dancing or sitting on ones' ass' at Steely Dan concerts.
The thread was fantastic and kept us all enthralled for over a week now discussing dancing, concert etiquette, the demographic of the fandom, a musician's reaction to audience response etc.
This discussion also spilled over to Jim McKay's Digest where many non-GB regulars chimed in.
If you're interested in creating a thematic discussion point; have at it!
We don't need to be discussing euthanasia, campaign finance reform, or the pros and cons of capitol punishment here.
For that matter, we don't need to continually discuss our love of 2vN, Gaucho, the chord progression on Royal Scam, the Steely Dan Chord on Nightfly, The use/non-use of a drum machine on West of Hollywood, the selection process for this year's touring ensemble, the background singer's demeanor and how it effects their performance......................
Sometimes we just wanna hang out. Check with our gracious host, St. Alfonso when he's back from his camping excursion. He continually ensures us that this forum is for DanFans to share their ideas, no matter how eclectic and remote.(Hoops also addresses this exact issue in a GB post a few weeks ago)
Incidently, we all remain true to the Steely Dan theme. It's never far from our thoughts.
Probably just a stereo switch away.

Craig
Just a few days back from a three week Steely Dan jaunt

1)I forgot "chicken-shit" is actually a term of endearment. Sorry.
What a fool I am.
2) "I've been to enough concerts in my life--including at the Gorge--to know when
something is different. I've listened to enough of those mp3s from Japan and
San Diego to hear the difference. Something happened that night, a
transfiguration on a truly high spiritual level, and it didn't surprise me
one bit." Source: Hoops.

You're right, I'm wrong again. For the record, I did not inhale either.

I met Sooutrageous in the chat room the other night. He seems like a nice guy. He did indicate to me that he's coming back, eventually. I guess it's up to him to tell you all when.

love and kisses
diane

1. I wonder why the Me Myself & I soundtrack didn't include three songs that SD expected to be on there (based on their news page): the Leon Redbone "Chain Lightning" especially would have been neat to hear.

2. Didja see that the Gorge show turned up on the top-10 "biggest concert grosses" of that week even though they only sold about 9,000 of the 13,500 available tickets?

Gil wrote:
"Funny... love and kisses... and the occasional dirty
name-calling."
Excuse me, Gil. Could you be more specific here? Please give actual examples.

Gil also wrote:
"I have no problem with that. If you had paid attention to anything other than yourself and your clique, you would know my email address. I left it many times, got tired of it 'cause,
basically, noone seemed to care."
Me and my clique? Again, what are you talking about? I wasn't looking for your email address, or anyone else's. I merely asked a simple question: How do people feel about the idea of having guestbook software that registers email addresses (thereby making anonymous posting difficult).
I'm still having trouble catching on to who is who here, trying to get some kind of cyber picture I can use to identify the people I've never met or had email contact with.
"Didn't I read that you have downloaded all of those illegal sound snippets yourself?"
No, you didn't. I wouldn't waste my time downloading stuff like that. And it would take a GREAT deal of time to do it. I have heard some of those snippets because other people have downloaded them and put them on CDRs--probably Steely Dan's worst nightmare! A bad recording of a Steely Dan concert, recorded on inferior equipment, with no post-production, out there floating around! Yeow!
I think, Gil, that you are just as confused as I am. Obviously you are mixing up impressions you have (some incorrect) with the people here (me, apparently).
What can I say? This is the sort of post that discourages wo/men's souls.
love and kisses
diane

;)

Hi Nerdium! Sorry, I'm not irritated at my beau anymore so I don't need you to kick around today, but thanks anyway! You're almost as good a punching bag as ballah (and you take the bait so easily-you genius, you!)

Which brings me to my next point-laugh at the losers here that like to flame-and give it right back. I tell you, it's a great way to release stress. I value the comments of the people that I've come to know here, but the anonymous flames of losers just bounce off me. Why should I give a damn? Why should anyone?

sooutrageous, please come back! We need you, and your input here.

Mr. LaPage-that's the spirit. How about an "I'm back, fuck you if you don't like parodies" little ditty?

As far as this page being exclusively Steely Dan, sorry, but that would be boring. There's only so much to talk about. When something new comes up, it will be discussed, when something of interest Steely comes up, that will be discussed as well. If you're of the exclusively Steely ilk, just keep checking back when the discussion veers (temporarily) off the SD track. Or start a new SD topic and see if anyone else is interested.

Aja

re: slidestranger

I don't think *anybody* "gets" this GB the first time they try to become part of it. There's lots of inside jokes, unspoken punchlines, cliques, etc. It takes a while to figure it out.

Sort of like Steely Dan itself.

What a Steely Dream Come True...

Do I really have to wait another 27 days and 7 hours to be Alive in America with the Dan again????? Going through withdrawal now from the great West Coast shows. Good thing I have this riotous scrolling backwards at the speed of light Guest Book to keep me amused and amazed.

In these touring times the challenge of having anti-social farting "fans" come out of their holes and be real with us at pre- and post- concert gatherings is such at hoot. It does separate the wheat from the chaff and makes it easy to know who to laud and who to dismiss here. Generally I like the anonymity of this forum. I like the spontaneity and humor and sometimes biting wit/sarcasm and mostly the connecting and kindnesses shown, which are ever more powerful than cowardice. I like putting real faces (but only by our choice to identify ourselves) to talented and consistent individuals here and having relationships (OK so they are in parking lots and show venues :-) that are part of the benefits of this Internet
connecting. There are other sites where moderation and control are available and appropriate for those who need it and feel vulnerable. So I think this cacaphony and connecting is all right as it is. I go elsewhere when I need something else.

Hoops--Thanks to you and Stranger and Aja for your efforts at real connections for us. If I have some performance photos, do I have to keep them private and send via email to interested hooterie attendees, or will posting on some benevolent person's website get us in trouble with the boys upstairs? I assume visuals are almost as verboten as audios?

Mails going out today/tomorrow/manana with your pretty mugs, you party animals.

cara mia Marsha

slide strangler - GB hierarchy?
I haven't been around here very long and never felt a strain from above. If you have something to say, by all means post it, better yet post your heart.

I admit that sometimes we seem to get to low levels, but as Craig has stated, we all seemed to have some rather heavy discussions on just about any topic deemed steely and occasionally the threads run cold and in the dead space of the "serious post" we fill the air with a little light heartedness

if you think this group is adolescent in it nature, please go check out a few other music group web forums.

as for post moderation with web addresses - no

for the most part this group functions well on it's own
and those who are abusive or downright cruel usually go away if ignored

as for my own conduct - which I will take responsibility for
anyone has a gripe , sorry I do post a little too often here - I'll gladly listen to some constructive criticism bergeon@shellus.com

wouldn't want to wear out a welcome

cheers

tom

are you really just a shadow

LaPage, You have been a bright spot to this GB I know that I am a new addition but your insight among others has made this journey an enjoyable one. This book is reserved for our opinions
and unfortunately sometimes we all se things differently. So with that Mr LaPage, keep doing what you're doing and to hell
with anyone who doesen't like it, and for those who don't like what I said, Meet me out back behind the Allstate Arena, after
the show and "I'll settle up your bill".

CHI.

After a couple of months of reading and attempting to post on this gb, it seems apparent that the forum is not open to anybody but the gb hierarchy. Anyone else coming in from the 'outside' tends to be ignored or insulted. Worse, the dominant posters determine the nature of the gb proceedings. In the resulting anarchy, there's no free speech to speak of, and certainly less and less interesting discussion.

This is the only permanent floating Steely Dan discussion page on the net (unless you count the Usenet group, which tends to be dull, or the other one on Yahoo which is primarily made up of Gen X'ers who seem to think the Dan is a quaint 'dinosaur' rock group like Yes or Genesis). Evidently mine is a minority opinion, but I think the gb should be a forum for discussion of Steely Dan and their music. Most Dan fans tend to be around my age (I'm 45), or a little younger, but you wouldn't know it from the postings here. When I check in only to find that virtually every post that's come in during the last 48 hours reads like a note passed around in a high school home room, I can't help wondering how many other potential readers in search of an informed, intelligent Dan forum are also being turned off.

In all fairness, there are some sharp people posting here. I've found stimulating discussions, great links to other sites, interviews, and pictures, etc. But the general tendency, at least lately, seems to be toward the absolute lowest common denominator -- something Steely Dan has never been about.

-- Nigey Lennon
(aka Anne de Siecle/Slidestrangler)

Mr Lapageian Craig - I knew you were not going anywhere
I certainly enjoy the healthy interaction (a very nice diversion to the daily grind) many thanks

like you I don't parodize to impress, simply to have fun
and the verbage one spits in a wormian persona isn't intended for anything more than light fodder of topsoilian descent

steviedan - don't wait buy the cheapest dvd player you can now
(very odd statement coming out of an audiophile snob)
the read write ones will be much lower in price later
(I bought a $300 toshiba and am more than happy with it, rarely rent anything on VHS and love buying music DVDs for in home concert feel)

anyone want to make a stab at

"on the blackened wall he does it all
he thinks he's died and gone to heaven"

worm brained tom

but where are you tommorrow?

In the words of the immortal Michael Jordan.......
"I'm Back"
Hello fellow GB-er's, with only 4 days remaining till the CHI-Town show, I can honestly say this is a countdown to ecstacy!
I just wanted to throw a little Sumin Sumin in to the group.
One of my favorite songs, is Sign in Stranger. Also one of my favorite drummers is Bernie Purdie. Do you think D&W wrote this
song around the Purdie Shuffle or do you think the shuffle just
fit sign in stranger perfectly. The timing of the two fit great.
Let me know folks!

Pepe has a scar from ear to ear.........

CHI.

I not leaving! I'm never leaving! I've been visiting this site for quite some time and I fucking like it here. I'm not going to be run out by a few nay-sayers. Ballah, Nerium, Anonymous Assholes; bring it on!
If i have offended anyone with my poems or song parodies, I apologize. It certainly was not my intention.
I do not consider myself highly intelligent so I did not compose them to regale people with my acumen or quick wit.
I was simply trying to entertain myself by fooling with lyrics I've come to enjoy over the years.
if I am to be completely honest; I also enjoyed parrying with tom over the past week or so.
If serious dicussion is warranted, I'll add my thoughts and feelings as I'm wont to do. though I do feel that some of us get a bit bombastic and pretentious here from time-to-time.
now, with that said:

"THERE WAS WAS THIS BAND FROM NANTUCKETT....................."

Craig

Any comments on the backup band from this weekend??????

I only caught about 5 minutes of Tom Chaffee and the Saturnalia at Shoreline, so my opinion is based on that alone. They didn't do much for me, but they didn't suck, and they didn't skew the schedule, and that is all I ask when a second band is added to a night like this...

Dr.Mu - Sorry for the slip. I meant Chris that evil boy who got so disgusted, he abandonned his web site. My question is: what's the big deal with a four minute live preview that happened to sound great (for a hidden tape job)? We're not talking about that double-album bootleg you're hiding in your cupboard here.

Aussie: The ONE thing I learned in college was that education, intelligence. success, and even occasional good taste (faux or real) do not protect us from the dark and twisted side of human nature. A case in point: those in the "upper crust" on AVERAGE give a far LOWER percentage of their earnings to charity than lower income families.

As to the assholes, do what works best for you psychologically: ignore, scroll, or flame. But there's no need to take it with you - it truly is Any Minor World. The silicon curtain works both ways: We can't see them and they can't get to us. They can't mug you, harass your loved ones or children, or access your bank account (such as it is). Once personal information becomes mandatory - then that's a different story. It's a risk/benefit assessment. I think this venue as is allows for better comedy...

Gil: Did you say something?

BTW, it is entirely possible that certain people post here without having any email addresses of their own. That's not what you're envisionning here. It is capturing our IP addresses, which usually, are assigned dynamically by your provider.
That would be quite a task to perform, costly and time-consuming, but possible.

Funny... love and kisses... and the occasional dirty
name-calling.

I have no problem with that. If you had paid attention to anything other than yourself and your clique, you would know my email address. I left it many times, got tired of it 'cause,
basically, noone seemed to care. Being either Ballah nor Nerdium, what do I have to fear? Someone looking up my hard drive for sensitive material? Didn't I read that you have downloaded all of those illegal sound snippets yourself? Should you and I worry? Ask Dr.Mu.

I guess the real surprising thing is that even among Steely Dan fans, who clearly have good taste in music, there arise a few "tainted" souls who feel compelled to spew negative energy onto this wonderful forum, which I feel lucky to have found and participated in. That is the price people ALWAYS pay when there is a vermin hole for those few to squirm through...I'm referring to the earlier post which suggested that posters' e-mails be captured so as to eradicate the anonymous heckler syndrome. Of course, being a newbie to these pages, I just assumed that was the case and thus posted, truthfully, all the information I was prompted with before authoring a comment. As long as this loophole exists we shall all be at the mercy of these inane souls.
babes at home is calling my obession with the new effort (2vs.N)an obsession. Nevertheless she too is jumping up and down inside when we get our chanse to see the boys when they make their way to the Atlantic Ocean.......a watched pot never boils.

Rockin' very hard
Union Square, Manhattan
Aus

Chere-the Band was "King Harvest" that did "Dancin' in the Moonlight".Looking Glass did "Brandy"(I do that one and people ask me If I'm the Guy who sang it..LOL. I say "yeah, I sang it about 10 minutes ago"

Thanks so much for the Comments on My CD "Clockdrive World". By the way, I'm Giving them to anyone who attends Q's Tampa Danfest.
Seeing how we don't have Walter to give us Mouse Pads.

Yes it's Sharky's on the Pier on Venice Beach in Venice ,Fla. and I'm there every Wednesday year 'round...Love to see you there.
David

I'll bet you've discussed this before, but I have to ask: How would people feel (pro and con) about St. Al having the sort of guestbook software that captured people's emails when they wrote posts? It would certainly reduce the anonymity factor, and how. All the other Steely venues essentially require that if a person wants to post, he/she must include an email address (or it will be included for him/her).

Might separate the kids from the kidders.

Whot?

love and kisses
diane <-- sneaked into the Experience Music Project last night with Tim...

Gina - You know leaving this place is dying a little... I'll
be damned if I let ANYONE spoil this for me. I've been a HUGE fan
since the eighties and basically had to speak to myself for over a decade. That is until I found this place... Welcome back.

Hello

Been away for a while.

Could anyone confirm for me as to whether the boys will be playing Wembley Arena, London on Sunday, 10th Sept as the mail-list suggested.

I can only seem to get tickets for the Saturday 9th at present. Is there a careful marketing strategy "due to popular demand...." kinda thing going on.

I think we should be told.

Anyone gonna be in the front row? If you are 'Kinky', please don't make the trip to the UK.

Cheers

SFK

Worm tom - Most of West Of Hollywood, I can't comprehend. Anyone
have any idea? Deconstruction time?

About Almost Gothic:

Did anyone tape that tune in New Mexico and if so,... euh...
Strike that, Your Honor!

...........................................................................

there is rage among us

I will do my part

no parodies for a few days, GB doctors self monitored orders

although I will be totally defenseless to Red Blase and MR Lapage's exceptional wit

new thread

what steely dan lyric do you least understand?

perhaps others can discuss and shed light on these

my choice is from Royal Scam

"
On the blackened wall he does it all,
he thinks he's died and gone to heaven"

in the context of the song this one really puzzles me
then again I am only a lowly invertebrate

tom of wormness

one of these surely will screen out the sorrow...

Big Fan - Lou Reed a r'n'r survivor... Steely Dan and the Who
for dinosaurs. Has the Who come up with a brand new studio effort
that I'm unaware of? What bull...

I really enjoyed the little interview with Walter you linked
yesterday. His thoughts on sampling remind me of the discussion
we had on this subject recently. If he had joined in then, K.D.
would have gotten it straight. Anyone noticed how Walter is handling
the PR duties more and more? Donald hasn't changed, it's reassuring.

Another proof? Consider this:

Rose Darling: "Although I could be wrong"

Almost Gothic: "Unless I'm totally wrong"

The more things change...

I haven't heard any of the Me Myself and Jerry Lewis soundtrack and look forward to it [my daughter works part-time in a CD store. good golly! how propitious. It's a block from her dorm, a block from campus and just two pushes on a skateboard from where i work... i'll be skating over later to give a listen].

WHAT is the connection to Steely Dan Music???

Last night I saw a commercial for the movie which appears to be a showcase for the talents [and abnormally developed muscles of facial expression] for Jim Carrey who plays a police officer?
Please elaborate.

this i gotta hear
F#

Oleander: what *is* that stuff under there?

Still brathing to heavily to speak coherently......

LV Good

LA I Very Good

LA II BETTER!!

Irvine - kicked ass!!!!

Didn't get the 40 foot banner out front of Mandalay - 6 radio stations own it - try getting 6 radio stations to agree on something.....

Now for Hotlanta.........

Q

Dinosaur act? College students what do they know?
http://news.excite.com/news/uw/000619/entertainment-music-17

Getting ready in Denver:
http://www.denverpost.com/scene/steely0616.htm

Any comments on the backup band from this weekend??????

JM: Schroll back to last week for a complete discusion on the t-shirt scene.

Ida: Thanks, No cash, just a couple of backstage passes to the Hartford show, oops, nobody tied into the band reads this stuff, bummer.

Dr mu - yeah, it's a hockey rink, we call it "Hovet" ("the Court")

I've seen many great band there; Supertramp, Paul mc Cartney, Bruce Springsteen (yes, I danced, I was drunk), Frank Zappa (he had two outstanding singers, they played "I am the walrus", so good).

Roy Scam - so you think mr Fogel will bring his camera then?

Stockholm howdy and audi,

dr van Helsing

Stevie Dan - "Holiday for Pans was a controversial unfinished album by Pastorius."

Never heard of it. Would you care to tell me more about it? Can one buy it?

Chevy van Chase

Well, I don't believe that's exactly true dear.

Mr LaPage-- don't you even leave! You have been here WAY longer then any of the people who try to put you down!! We all support you here and we think that you are great! So fuck what every one else says!!

Dr. Mu-- hey how are you?? Haven't heard from ya! How are your kids??

Chere--I have been a little more busy than usual. Not that I don't have the time to post anymore, it's just that there hasn’t been the usual conversations!! That’s ok though. Once all the concerts are over everyone will be back ranting and raving. A lot of people aren't home right now because they are traveling. But that’s OK. A lot of anger on the GB too!!

Can't we all just get along??

I happen to like the Parodies and I know that they are hard to write so I support anyone who writes one. However, don't let this consume the conversation, say other things, don't always write in parodies. I don't know that’s Michelle's opinion!! And that’s all I have to say about that ;) (Forrest Gump)

Thanks everyone. How are all of you?? I hope that everyone and their families are Well!!--Good night--

Oh and Chere, that song is by King Harvest and was mentioned multiple times on our last ever popular 70's thread. You can get it on one of Rhino Records Have a Nice Day: Super Hits of the 70's comps. Collect 'em all. Dancing in the Moonlight is the first tune on Volume 17. Among other 70's AM fodder/masterpieces on there: Rings by Cymarron, Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues, Dance With Me by Orleans (any Orleans fans here ?), Smokin' in the Boys Room, Rockford Files (!), Love Hurts by Nazareth, & if that's not enough, four OTHER super hits plus FEELINGS by Morris Albert. Now you might expect to pay...

Anyway it's cheap, phone lines are open, we got stretch pay on this one.

Wow, I just finished watching the Aja DVD. It floored me to see the great ones dissect and talk about the music.

I just got my DVD setup and I now.see the light

Hallelujah

First Two DVD Purchases (although I am waiting for the affordable recordable format long story short I don't have a player yet) Day.

I'll leave it to you to just guess what they were. There will not be a contest or prizes.

Guys, you are being SCANED (?). If you can figure out what that is then be imperiled.

LaPage get your ass back here. The parodies and rewrites are for those who want to read them.

Wormsy, as far as sensimental...damn I hit the wrong key AGAIN. Holiday for Pans was a controversial unfinished album by Pastorius. Master tapes stolen...questions about how much Jaco actually played on it...whatever. I consider it an essential for any Jacophile. The Jap single disc version is probably representative enough for most, but the set is a labor of love. The complete sessions in great sound, cool book, & a large size (that's Japanese large which is teeny) T-shirt. If you see it used, for GOD'S SAKE SNAP IT UP !

AGNG: I love reading your posts. Your wisdom is apparent.

ybtodd: it's all about charlie freak...sleighbells in full effect...I'm going to yell for it obnoxiously from the front row 7/21. CHARLIE FREAK MAN, C'MON. That will be my appearance on the live album.

Would the mean-spirited egocentric trogs please stand up, enter the aisles, and move your big asses to the lighted exits at the rear of the GB. I just can't wait for you to start in about your sexual capabilities. You're nearly there now and you might as well go ahead so we can LAUGH SOME MORE AT YOUR SOCIAL IGNORANCE. Go ahead and drink your Ballah Lite and get outta heah.

Chere: Good evenin' dear. You are so sweet to offer. However, just in case we are being "Scaned", there is NO INTERSTATE TRAFFICKING GOING ON HERE...testing one two test one...

That's rite, you herd me, phuck af!

Guest Book Poets be warned!!!, you are being scaned! So FUCK OFF!

Sweetums: Gratitude is best expressed not in gratuitous, cliquish backslapping, but in undertaking to SURPASS your MERE satisfaction with something OTHER THAN still MORE satisfaction...

A student repays a teacher badly if he remains a student...

Music owes Life, not the other way 'round -- and if you care about WHO you are, and who you WILL BE (which, of course, is to say, care about something OTHER THAN YOU AND YOURS), neither music, yo' momma nor marijuana is an excuse for forgetting it.

*Fart*

I mean... I plan on getting a "PROPA SWERVE ON!"
I just know it is gonna be as good as a JUJU mass. Very hot and peppery, and steamy. Very Fun and Positive!

Outrageous!!!!!!!!

Hello Ducky!

Just popping in to say hi, whassup and all that stuff. Right ON Almost Goth Neg chick.

Another departure? What's up with that? I will NEVER leave. This place makes me smile, laugh, feel love, peace, and share a moveable feast of Steely souls and Babylon Sistas at a picnic under a Banyan tree. Not to mention the great regular pals I have from this here GB. And EVERYTHING Steely Dannish, even metaphorically.(spell?) Can't think of another place I would want to go on the computer. Not regularly anyway. Well I DO have a secret friend I trade fours with REGULARLY here. Hmm Hmm Hmmm Rock Steady... Rock Steady..... Forced manual fantasy switch off.

I will be dancing, smoking, grooving, singing, for this WPB show. And I will enjoy every single second of the magic and the afterglow........

David in MY florida Room- I LOVE your CD! Got it, and THANK YOU!!! I have a friend who lives in Venice, Fl, is that not near Sharkey's where you gig alot? I would love to come and catch a show sometime. Shit I may even drink a shot of Cuervo 1800 chilled and with slice of lime. It will not be immediately, but soon I hope. Let me know if that is the same area of Florida okay?

steviedan baby- You want me to send you a fatty? NOOOO problemo mijo. A little monkey in your soul? A little herbal gerbil? Some buduma? Some o dat kindness? How's every lil' thang anyway? I miss e mailing with you- we must start that up again sometime. SOON...

IO- Como estas tu?? Que pasa? Mucho estudia? nNo horas para escribe a el GB? Today was BUSY for me. El dia de los espiritus, mucho trabajo para mi guerreros. Tu sabes, dulces, candles con acieta, agua, jutia, las flores, you know. La brujita fuerte. Yo necessito para abrio camino meng. Ha Ha. "meng". Cuban Slanglish. Besos chica!

Craig- What's up with the stoic GB posting on the 18th and then the sudden departure?

Wormashun dayglo freakazoid smelling liKe pistachio- Your dittty CRACKed me up.
Everyone's did. FUNNY FUNNY!!!!!

Can anyone clear this up for me? Who sang that song "Dancin' in the Moonlight". Kinda sounds a little Van Morrisonish but I KNOW it is not. WHO is it? Looking Glass? HELP!! PLease? It is in my head and making me crazy I dunno who does it. Thanks in advance.

Ole- I say Just Flow With It sister friend. People who cannot handle dancing and grooving, AT A CONCERT for Christ's sake, should stay at home and watch it on TV. You bought the seat for that moment of magic in time, use it to it's full tilt mama!MHO that's all. I plan on getting my SWERVE ON!!

JUJU chile' who decided in the bathtub tonight she will be going to the beach to catch the sunset and eat bing cherrries tomorrow night.......
Babylin Sista, JUJU extraordinare- chere

Linda/Almost Gothic Negative Girl: Amen! Preach it, sistah! That came out just exactly right by my reckoning.

/Mam'zelle Daphne Canard
always driving toward the light
(and that's a groovessential fact)

Ole: now calm down... it'll all work out...

Scout: see ya in Denver... are you going to the pre-show activities at Pizza Uno? I'm leaving in 8 1/2 hours...

Oleander -- Can you *learn* to dance lying down?? Don't you already know how?? LOL!

I don't think of wishing for more dancing as needing "validation," although it is an interesting point to ponder. I long for more dancing because I would like to see these incredible, genius musicians receive all the exultant adulation for which they, as false idols, are so richly deserving! LOL!

Since it is highly unlikely that I will have the opportunity to shake their hands, high five, hug, or fall at their feet exclaiming "Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing," dancing is my way of saying, "Thanks." (as well as the fact that I can't help myself, hopelessly lost in their groove)

I am definitely more aware now of non-dancers and will strive to exercise even more control in Denver than I successfully managed during SD's Duke City appearance. But, I unashamedly will always long for more dancing. When they alight the stage with unveiled faces, let Donald and Walt find us gyrating like the Hebrew children! LOL!

Oleander again -- I'm fished in, fished in! Now, see what you've wrought? :0)

Whatever I say here is going to come out sounding wrong--I have not had much sleep in the last 4 days, due to Steely shows and other things, but I'm goin' for it anyway...god damn, I feel like I got to at least give it a shot. Flame shields going up.

Let's see. The Dan is currently touring right here in these good old united states of america, and by all reports, it's going swimmingly. They have put out an amazing new CD that never leaves my head for more than a few moments....And people are bailing from the guestbook because of a little bit of bullshit that goes down here on a regular basis? You got to be kidding me. And those of you trying to stir the shit? Shame on you. I just don't get it.

If you are checking in here at all, you probably have the good sense to be a fan of the incredible endeavors of Mssrs. Fagen and Becker, and that means that you, unlike %95 of the population, can actually claim to have excellent taste in music, and be correct about it. That is a gift. Why do you want to fuck with that, and do a disservice to yourselves and the Dan? DO YOU PEOPLE KNOW HOW FUCKING LUCKY YOU REALLY ARE???

Sorry, but I just don't understand. Life is good. Real good. Maybe try keeping that in mind, and attempting to spread that feeling to others here in cyberspace. Our government sucks. Big corporations suck. A lot of things suck. But Steely Dan doesn't suck, and they don't deserve the negative energy that is expended here sometimes. Send that crap where it belongs. Give these gentleman losers the respect that they deserve. Aaaarrghhhhh!!

Okay, I feel better now. Carry on.

linda

OK, I watched the Plush VHS Saturday night for the first time since I watched the PBS special, and now I'm very worried. How am I going to sit still at the concerts? How can I not respond with every fiber of my being to these tunes? But how can I get up and dance when the Massachusetts linebacker will be sitting behind my imagination? And wouldn't it be impolite to get up and go back to dancing territory during a song? Not to mention disrespectful? How could I turn my back on them for even a second? Wouldn't the ushers forcing me back into my seat distract other concertgoers? But how am I supposed to control myself? Is controlling myself good? Isn't that giving a bad message to the band, that I can control myself while they're unleashing the Steely tsunami right in front of me? Can I maybe learn to dance on my knees in the next month? Can I learn to astral-project in the next month up to dancing territory and have it both ways? Maybe they will only play the songs during which I can control myself. But what are they? I can't think of any. If I lash myself to my seat, will they play "Home At Last" to thank me? Can I learn to dance lying down under the seats in the next month? But then I'd have to get a periscope. But would that block people's view? And wouldn't I get really sticky?

Okay, as much as I hate lists...

In no particular order:

Kings
Show Biz Kids
Your Gold Teeth
King of the World
Night By Night
Rose Darling
Daddy Don't Live in that NYC No More
YGT II
Don't Take Me Alive
Caves of Altamira
Haitian Divorce
Aja
Gaucho
My Rival
Third World Man
Maxine
Snowbound
Hat Too Flat
Two Against Nature
Almost Gothic
Jack of Speed
Negative Girl
West of Hollywood

Also, I think it's time to retire FM. Am I wrong, or have they played this at almost every show (in some form) since '93? I could name 30 songs I'd rather hear.

-Andy

LOL, but-of-course!!!... Letseeeeee... 6'2", 205#, former college quarterback, 18" biceps, 44" pec, 34" waist, bench my weight for reps, shoulder press even more than YOU weigh, cholesterol 167... AND a Harvard MBA (well, okay, Wharton)... Keeeeeep runnin'...

And then -- a nice relaxing hand of slumataire...

Razor B: See ya at the Chi-fest...

I sure am glad that I now know "what going to a Steely Dan concert is all about". Thanks for clearing that up for me.

YEAH DUUUDE- PARTY DOWN!! JUST FEED OFF OF THE ENERGY DUUUDE!

Q,
Thanks for giving a ticket to Aja for a seat next to mine. Is this a small world or what? 2 seats down were two friends of mine. Somehow we didn't know we were going to the same concert. Ended up in the same row of a 20,000-seat stadium. Does Dr. Jung know anything about this?

Just when I say, Boy, we can't miss...
Email came from the publisher of the book, "Reelin' in the Years". The price is $10.95. (Very well worth it!) However, they are making more...none left...IMAGINE! BONK-BING! THE BOYS MADE A NEW ALBUM!!!!!! Anyway, the letter said the books would be ready on this date: 30/07/00 What is that? 6-7-2002? I wrote back...we'll see what date they send next. Somebody was really having a Monday. The # on the book has also changed. Email me if you want the info.

Thanks to all of you who write to this Guestbook! There is great comfort in knowing I am not as far gone as some of you! All of you who are reading and not posting, remember, he has a scar across his face. He wears a hearing aid. What are you so afraid of? Sure, they are nasty schoolboys with no place to go. Try again tomorrow to let us know what you like about these great songwriters, Donald and Walter! Don't leave the Guestbook to the rivals!

Don't the moon look pretty?
Almost Gothic Lisa

 

"ahh Such a Thing We are"

I'm outta here. SoOut needs company.

Craig

Deacon Blues, West of Hollywood, Home At Last?

please post a complete setlist where does bad sneakers come in

how many t-shirts? how much? how do they look?

OK...enough whining about the tunes in the setlist. Time to roll your own. In no particular order:

Kings
Only a fool would say that
Bodhisattva
Boston Rag
Parker's Band
Pretzel Logic
Charlie Freak
Monkey in your soul
Bad Sneakers
Doctor Wu
Your Gold Teeth (I and II)
Don't take me alive
Hatian Divorce
The Royal Scam
Home at Last
Josie

The "world" medley:
Any World
Third World Man
King of the World

Add in your favorite 2vn songs such as:
Gaslighting Abbie
Two Against Nature
Jack of Speed
Cousin Dupree
West of Hollywood

Shaken, not stirred...

Of all of those the tunes I'd *really* like to hear live are Charlie Freak (sleigh bells!) and Dr. Wu.

Amateurs. Both of you.

No name? That's my move! Please select a moniker from the catalog and return.

There once was an Asshole so glaring
who's two-cents were biting and flaring
said we're sad and we're crass
as they talked out their ass
'bout the ditties we're shamedly sharing

Mr. LaPage-I'll second your vote-and you're the best parodist around. Decadent Nature will be hard to top.

Aja

Welcome Midwest newbie!!! Today must be a slow newsday or something. Ususally there is a little more 'converstaion' of things Dannish. The parody has become quite popular here as a way of expression for some. Some are good, some are bad but in between there is usually some good topics and disscussions. I'll be attending the Chicago show and both the pre- and post-parties. If you'd like some info on them go to this page-
http://dandom.com/danfests/trifecta/index.html

Glad to have you here and just check back every day, there is always something worth reading or talking about.

Peace, Love and DAN

Razor

Hey 'Down the Toilet', Fuck You! We've all talked ad nauseum about 2vN, the PBS tapings, the Aja DVD, the recent SD shows we've seen, the danfests we've attended, our plans for upcoming stops, the drum machine thing, the bare-midriff section's dental plan, Herington's solos, Worm-Tom's skating accident, Aja shaking butt, Ballah's ballast,Fagen's fangs, Cousin DuPree's oedipus complex, St Al's pregnancy, Hoop's M-pegs, the unenthusiastic concert crowds................................
We're now trying to have alittle fun with some of the lyrics. If you don't like it. Feel free to scroll. When it comes time for serious discussion, I'll join the fray. As for now, we're just chilling.

Craig

Yeah, I agree! This stuff is getting real old. Can't you talk about the shows?

YOU ARE NOT CLEVER OR FUNNY. ONLY ANNOYING AND SAD!

I am a bit puzzled by this guestbook

is it a channel for things on Steely Dan
or the only place where certain jingle writers get their opportunity to humor others?

who are these characters anyway?

I don't get it

how is the tour going so far?
I am going to the CHicago show with my boyfriend
who is even more crazy about them than I am

peace and love

midwest newbie

Thanks, MC.

Yeah, I was a bit bumbed because I didn't have the tickets in hand. I had a couple lines on the first 5 rows so I'm pretty sure I would have been there at some price, but these came along at face value and they're actually pretty good.

I can use the savings to buy a tank of gas for the Corvette...

Al G.

to the tune of Josie

Were gonna get rid of foul mouthed interns and strippers
when Al G comes home
only one key to presidental zipper and it's tippers
when Al Gore comes home
when Al G. comes home to Pennsylvania Ave (rhymes with have)
we're gonna worship the fattened calf
when Al Gore comes home

there'll be no Ken Star controversy
when Al G comes home
cause there's no whitewater in that thar Tennessee
when Al babe comes home

when Al Gore comes homes, you'll see
he'll make you worship his favorite tree
a stiff roboto with a lobotamy
when Al Gore comes home

we'll have a pork barrel left wing my way
when Al Gore comes home
he's already gave us the Information Superhighway
yes Al Gore comes home

when Al Gore comes home, we're toast
he'll cut oil exploration from coast to coast
our cars will run on farmer compost
when Al Gore comes home

Edd....congrats on the tickets....you seemed a little bummed out earlier about not making the show this season so I'm glad you were able to score some tix for the show. Have a blast, we're still looking ahead to Raleigh in the heat of a sweltering North Carolina summer.

It upsets my tummy...
You know I ate too much
Yes, I ate too much
Oh-oh-oh yeah-ah
All right, uh-huh-uh-uh

T'was the Easter Bunny...
You know I ate too much
Yes, I ate too much
Oh-oh-oh yeah-ah
All right, uh-huh-uh-uh

Maybe he's a fairy...
You know I ate too much
Yes, I ate too much
All-ll right,
Oh yeah-ah, uh-huh-uh-uh

Nerdium (I like that!)-yeah right, and Harvard Med School is banging down my doors but I'm too busy modeling for Vogue. Now for something true-yesterday I did 4 hill repeats on a 1 1/2 mile hill, 8% grade in successively higher gears-eat shit, wimp!

Sorry, I couldn't resist. I just love a man I can run intellectual and physical circles around. Take the bait, sweetie, please!

Aja

Hilary's Campaign Theme

Bad news breaking, election day
Mizzus Clinton turn inside out she say
Little Rock Willy and that whole crew
cross the country that redneck lear jet flew
all the sweet voters, dey crash the polls
quaking in their respective pantyhose
everything's tasted in this wet dream
not a one of them left to drop their jeans

Decadant Nature
don't you know
who's gonna plug the hole of things to go
decadant nature
wait their turn
we're gonna sit right back and watch it squirm
(watch it squirm)

Ah, Madam Lewinsky, she come last night
scabb you silly but leave a nasty bite
there on your desk top
there's such a mess
panatella and brand new navy dress

call your lawyer, call a cop
make darn sure that loquacious intern stop
call in the feebees
but we'll hang tuff
apsitively gonna watch me beat dat stuff

Decadent nature
big and fat
we're gonna eat the cheese, they smell a rat
Decadent nature
giving head
we're gonna bang the socks off things undead

Suzie McDougal- she champion liar
Terrible Tripp she wear a taping wire
Jennifer Flowers, she give good 'C'
sprinkling shoo-shoo money gonna hush all three

powderkeg housewife in low-cut dress
specially dis one gonna help me give my bess'
Decadent nature, we sling dat pork
good things happening when we come to claim New York

Deadent Nature
born and bred
we're gonna pass da bill called 'damn good head'
decadent nature
after dark
we're gonna spring dis thing on Central Park
Decadent nature
stand alone
we're gonna ply our trade from our new home

Craig

Razor Boy ~ I believe that Bad Sneakers replaced Do it Again.

Catholic school sisters
(to the tune of Babylon Sisters)

Drive west down St Charles near first street
LePage is in for great dispair
gawks at school girl's underwear
under those tight catholic school dress code plaid green skirts
his intention not to harm but to flirt
but when he's caught looking, boy his knuckles hurt

Catholic school sisters - shake it
ruler in hand, they'll make sure you understand
Catholic school sisters - shake it
so old so stern, man how those damn rulers burn

he sits in showful content
waits for girls leaving in the mom's pickup line
his camera clicking overtime
and we all know that he doesn't go for no big confessions
acts ignorant till they catch him
"sorry but you've got the wrong guy"
but those polariods in the trunk don't lie
as his knuckles are beat, out he cries

Catholic school sisters - don't break it
my hands they cringe
help me stop this deviant binge

looks like he's been off and taken to the deacon
from his lips come painful sounds
"get this man off of our grounds"
he should have just waited till little girl becomes an older belle
first schmuck they meet and it's off to rebel
with some knock up and lock up stories to tell

Catholic sisters - shake it
keep those fine girls pristine
they graduate then a down hill latrine