Sunday Spins: Steely Dan, 'The Royal Scam'

Happy Spring Forward Sunday! As we look forward to more sunlight in the evening hours, another week is in the books. It's hard to believe we are headed toward the middle of March.

For this week's Sunday Spin vinyl review, a look at Steely Dan's The Royal Scam. I found my original 1976 pressing at my beloved antique store for $6. What a steal! The cover has edge wear, but I am not concerned about that - I only care if the album plays clear and mine does! The Royal Scam is a brilliant effort by the "Dan" and ranks right up there are one of my favorites from the band. Well, one of my favorite albums, period. Songs like "Kid Charlemagne" and "The Caves Of Altamira" are very special to me. "Sign In Stranger" is in my top 5 Steely songs and "Don't Take Me Alive" has one of the best guitar solos ever recorded. Larry Carlton was pure genius here! Thanks to Larry's work, The Royal Scam has the most guitar-forward songs of any Steely Dan release. Probably another reason why I love it so much.

The thing about Walter Becker and Donald Fagen is that they were studio perfectionists. They were absolutely obsessed with creating songs with perfect sound. This means any good quality vinyl of Steely Dan is going to sound great, whether an expensive audiophile remaster or just a fun bargain find like my copy of The Royal Scam.

But back to the songs here. Seriously, if you don't own a copy of The Royal Scam on some format, please rectify that immediately. The guitar work and horn sections are just impeccable. The groove on songs like "The Fez" will have you tapping your foot, I swear. Then there's the amazing "Haitian Divorce," largely regarded as one of the finest efforts by the band.

Most critics regard Aja as Steely Dan's most important album, but I would argue The Royal Scam shows an elevated songwriting ability and slickness that proved that Aja was even possible.

The Royal Scam is one of my most-played albums of all-time, and I don't just mean on vinyl format. I know I've listened to Aja more, but I think The Royal Scam will surpass it at some point. The songs are just that good. They never get old to me.

'Northeast Corridor - Steely Dan Live!' -- Vinyl Album Review

On the heels of yesterday's book review of Eminent Hipsters by Donald Fagen, today comes a Steely Dan album review. Northeast Corridor - Steely Dan Live! was released in in July of 2021 (Universal Music). I have the 180 gram vinyl version of the release.

Right up front, it must be noted that Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker died in 2017 and is thus not on the album. In fact, the album is dedicated to his memory. The songs were taken from a few different shows from venues around Philadelphia, New York and Connecticut during 2019. Fagen is the only original member of Steely Dan these days.

Like all Steely Dan releases, this live album is sublime and has just about perfect audio. There is no stage banter but crowd applause remains. Without the banter, it is hard to get a sense of where the shows took place, but that's ok - you can always read the liner notes. The female backup singers are superb and really add a lot of emotion and excitement to the release. Of course, all the instrumentals are excellent.

The most surprising song on the album to me is "Things I Miss The Most" which is from the 2003 release Everything Must Go. It ended up being the last studio album to feature Fagen and Becker together. Just about every other song is expected from a Steely Dan live set, including "Peg," "Aja," and "Rikki Don't Lose That Number." I think my favorite performance track on this one is "Kid Charlemagne." 

I am not sure why the vinyl wasn't released as a gatefold. There are two discs, each in their own picture sleeves. I did notice quite a bit of dust on the records the first time I pulled them from the sleeves - I assume these were little "paper bits" from the factory after the sleeves were cut and the records inserted. Still, both records played beautifully after a quick wipe-down. I got the two-disc set off Amazon for like $26, which is crazy cheap for records these days. If you are a fan of the Dan, go ahead and get this release, especially on vinyl if you still have a turntable!

'Eminent Hipsters' By Donald Fagen -- Book Review

Eminent Hipsters is a 2013 book by Steely Dan co-founder Donald Fagen. It was published by Penguin and thus a major-market release.

The book is short at just 176 pages and it is mostly hilarious too. Fagen is a curmudgeon and I think he was that way at birth. Eminent Hipsters gives a look at Fagen's early childhood, his obsession with jazz music as a kid (he would stay up all night and listen to the radio, pissing off his parents), his awkward way with girls, his time at Bard College where he met his Steely Dan partner Walter Becker and his road journal from a tour with Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs, known as the Dukes of September. (Walter Becker died in 2017). 

The tour journal is eye-opening, scary, silly and sad. It really shows the toll a tour takes on a person, in both their mind and physical body. The rigors of the road have been well documented in books, movies and songs themselves. Fagen's journal is very honest about the hatred of touring, buses, hotels and boring crowds. He notes how the acoustics of most venues suck and how the crowds are all full of "grey hairs" like himself. He makes commentary on "TV babies" which is anyone he believes to come after the graduating class of 1968. That's because Fagen says television became a ubiquitous babysitter of sorts for American kids, allowing crap entertainment to eat the minds of entire generations (he isn't wrong).  Fagen loathes people who attend concerts and then watch through their cell phones (AMEN!) and also folks who don't know any songs other than a radio hit.

Basically, if you are a Steely Dan fan, nerd and surly like me, you will love this book. If you are an eternal optimist and have only ever heard "Reelin' In The Years" this one probably isn't for you.

September 2021 New Music Playlist

Holy crap! I just happened to look at the notifications in my Amazon Music account and I realized that Steely Dan dropped a new album! It is called Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live! This is Steely Dan's first live album in 25 years. It is also the first Steely Dan release that does not feature genius Walter Becker. He died in 2017. 

In honor of the new album and my love for the band, the September new music playlist will just be this entire album. Yes, it includes all the hits like "Black Cow," "Aja," and "Peg." You can buy as a stream or get the recording as a double-vinyl (click the image). Listen below: