Steely Dan Ready to Hit the Road Again

From The Los Angeles Times, written by Richard Cromelin

More often than not, the news on Steely Dan is no news. Compulsive recordmakers Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, the group's creative core, are usually ensconced in the studio, rejecting the conventional wisdom that a band must perform to survive. Finally, though, the first Steely Dan tour in well over two years appears on the horizon, and if the performing-makes-hits theorem proves true, it could give Steely Dan its first big-seller since '74's "Rikki, Don't Lose That Number." Not that Becker and Fagen care that much.

"I really thought that single was gonna go. It didn't." Fagen betrays only mild disappointment at the near-miss of "Kid Charlemagne" and a trace of amusement at the followup, a disco parody from "The Royal Scam." "They've put "The Fez' out, hoping they could get a disco hit... Well, you can dance to parts of it, you just have to stop in the middle once in a while."

Fagen, pacing the studio floor prior to putting the vocals on the latest Steely Dan tracks, inadvertently sheds some light on why he and his partner Walter Becker have trouble fighting through the welter of "Boogie Fevers" and "Shake Your Bootys" that occupy the Top 10 these days.

"There's this song we've been thinking about writing," he announces in his thick New York accent, "about the Congress of Vienna, which sealed Napoleon's tomb, so to speak. Which would be working from the angle of Napoleon being the reincarnation of the spirit of ancient Rome, the Roman state which wanted to unite the world, and the Congress of Vienna going back to the divisive thing.

"In translating that into a pop song, of course," he adds, "you have to really get down to the bones of it and simplify it so much that probably no one will understand what it's about anyway, so..."

Becker and Fagen, viewing the pop scene with a mixture of bemusement and contempt, aren't the sort to compromise their peculiar muse. Steely Dan having become a proven quantity with a steady following, they can count on enough album sales to insure that they'll be allowed to make another, which is really their primary concern. Fagen, between bites on his pre-session hamburger, discusses the current state of Steely Dan's jazz-influenced rock.

"Before, we used to knock off two in an evening and that was that, but now it's really hard. Now when we come into a session the sheets are like this" - he stretches his thin arms to maximum wingspread. "We're not trying to be more complicated or anything. They're still almost pop song forms, but there's little things you can do to make it interesting by way of development of the themes that are stated in the 'popular' part of the song.

"That's where the interest lies. Once you state your theme, then you have to do something with it or it's just static popular music. That's what's interesting about classical music and jazz Jazz music is spontaneous - the guy's making up notes on the spot, you've got lots of knowledge and experience behind it. Rock 'n' roll is just how much energy you can put into it. Most of the guitar work you hear, the hard-rock things, there's no thought behind it."

The Becker-Fagen personality is such that News-week headlined its Steely Dan story "Recluse Rock." Fagen protests, calling the label an exaggeration, but the team's long absence from the performing stage has furthered its somewhat contrary and mysterious aura. Actually, they were ready to start rehearsals with a new touring group after "The Royal Scam," but were forced back into the studio by a new two-album March deadline. The albums (after which, Fagen suggests, a new, more sophisticated Steely Dan style will emerge) will fulfill their contract with ABC, and the industry rumors have it that they'll follow their producer, Gary Katz, to Warner Brothers.

"We'll go out on tour eventually," Fagen promises, "as soon as we get all this business stuff straight. Do maybe 20 dates. I don't like to travel, but I'd like to do 20 dates. We'll see how it goes. If it's a good band we'll probably take it out again. It depends on how sick I am after the 20 dates."

Steely Dan Shows Its Mettle (July 3, 1974 concert review)

From The Los Angeles Times, written by Richard Cromelin

Any doubts about Steely Dan's being America's most inventive band were resolved by the group's Wednesday Santa Monica Civic concert, which also took care of lingering reservations about its ability to excite as well as beguile (it packs a punch that could wake any nearby dead) and about its stage personality (subtle but intriguing, once you find it).

At every level, from Jeff Baxter's screeching, throaty rock 'n' roll guitar through Donald Fagen and Walter Becker's wry, enigmatic lyrics, the Dan effortlessly covers every possibility as it smashes out its sophisticated, highly personalized (and flawlessly amplified) jazz-flavored rock. The musicianship is incomparable, the interaction among the players nearly telepathic, and there are countless moments of uncanny exchange.

Rather than settle for mere musical accomplishment, Steely Dan uses it to powerfully express an attitude. Be it through venomous appraisal of past love affairs, a biting, sarcastic (and even moralizing) look at the California scene or a panorama of Dylanesque imagery, the persona (embodied onstage by the emaciated Fagen as a mad musical scientist) that grows from the music is uncommonly tangible and entire, aware and affecting.

Beyond that. Steely Dan is funny (both lyrically and musically), spoofing pop conventions as it creates exquisite pop songs. It's that humor that finally lifts Steely Dan above all but a very few working bands and which made the concert one of the year's best (and it happens again tonight).

Opening is Kiki Dee, a singer with the rare ability to make the pop ballad a genuine emotional experience. A lively, engaging performer, her brisk, solid set received a deservedly enthusiastic response.

Steely Dan Brings Brains to AM Rock (September 2, 1973 concert review)

From The Los Angeles Times, written by Richard Cromelin

Steely Dan, America's answer to the Guess Who, headlined its first local concert Sunday at Santa Monica Civic, and it appears that the band, which sounded like an expendable commercial commodity when it first emerged, is about ready to assert itself as one of the country's most versatile, listenable and downright brilliant ensembles.

Like Canada's premiere hitmakers, Steely Dan injects an uncommon degree of intelligence (if not sheer intellectualism) into its music without diluting any of its AM appeal. Perhaps the key to the group's genius lies in the fact that it sounds almost like everything else on the radio, but always throws in a little something that could be from no one but Steely Dan.

Highly derivative (its influences, from the Archies to Yes, are easily spotted) in rock's finest tradition, SD's ability to hang a broad spectrum of authentically touching emotions on that strictly commercial framework is its strongest forte. In performance the group sacrifices some of the cleanness of its recorded sound for an invigorating muddiness that flirts with but never succumbs to distortion, The addition of two women singer/dancers has livened things up considerably, and while their "Hullabaloo" go-go gyrations are at first distracting, it soon becomes clear that it's all a part of a carefully calculated and ultimately successful master plan.

And any group that encores with "My Boyfriend's Back" obviously has a lot going for it.

Opening the show was B.W. Stevenson, whose time would be better spent in the studio and at the writing desk than on the concert stage.

Whisky a Go Go December 8, 1972 concert review

From The Los Angeles Times, written by Richard Cromelin

It's too bad that Steely Dan (at the Whisky through Sunday), a band that is capable of producing some appealing, energetic and intelligent rock 'n' roll, chooses to be so neglectful (or simply tasteless) in matters of appearance. Live rock 'n' roll is supposed to be a show, and how long can one look at a pair of denim overalls without becoming utterly bored or downright repulsed?

That self-imposed disadvantage should be correct-ed quickly, because if it presents a visual aspect that complements rather than detracts from its musical impact, Steely Dan has a chance to become an outstanding mainstream rock group.

Its tunes are simple and catchy, and the arrangements, led by keyboards and two guitars and stabilized by a solid rhythm section, are richly textured and constantly varied.

The band's style incorporates several elements, the most prominent being a British-sounding heaviness and concern with nice melodic phrases and strong chord progressions.

Also in evidence are traces of L.A. country-rock and a good deal of basic, commercial rock 'n' roll.
Steely Dan's stage manner is moderately energetic if not terribly original, and while the lead singer's moves are largely unimaginative, at least they're there. The memorable selections on opening night were "Do It Again," "Brooklyn" and "Boddhisattva" (the line "Boddhisattva, won't you take me by the hand" delivered over a vintage rock 'n' roll figure is evidence enough that there's some degree of consciousness at work in the group). If only they can find some time to go shopping.

Second-billed Woodpecker also exhibits considerable commercial potential. It makes no bones about its similarity to Three Dog Night (seven members. three lead singers, a rendition of a Randy Newman song), and there is every chance that a bit of tightening will result in considerable, if not quite so phenomenal success.