the early demos
NL Zwolle
About the demos: I've seen at least 4 different releases on cd of this stuff
by different, mostly obscure labels in varying quality over the last few years.
What's so odd about it is that I've picked them up in chain stores like Spec's,
usually in the budget cd bins. Haven't been discussed here lately so thought
I'd bring it up...
On at least one of the cds, you can clearly hear that it was sourced from
vinyl (little pops, & needle drag, etc.) but that doesn't bother me too much.
What true fan of the Dan could not like "Soul Ram", "There's a Horse In Town"
or better yet the early lo-fi versions of "Caves of Altimira" & "Barrytown"?
Another fave is "Sun Mountain" - on one cd I found it's actually sung by
Donald, which really threw me as on all the other versions I have it's sung by
someone else (Royce Jones perhaps?)....
One thing I can't get around is the profound feeling of melancholia I get from
listening to them... it's not a complaint, though. Is it just me or is this the
feeling that these songs bring to those of you who have heard them too?
Last time I found some of these cds, they weren't too expensive so I bought a
couple of extra copies. I'd be open to possible trades for other unusual Dan
material, particularly "Dallas" & "Sail the Waterway" on cd or cd-r. I had a
chance to get a mint copy of the promo lp that had these songs on it a couple
of years ago for $10, but passed.... (doh)!
Considering what sticklers the boys are for quality, they must hate the fact
that these demos are out there and fair game for unfair grey-area budget cd
pushers/manufacturers from overseas. Then again, without these same folk I'd
have never heard these songs that have come to mean so much to me; as much
indeed as the legit catalog! So what are ya gonna do? Play the DAn, man...
Rock
on kids,
Christopher
in Stuart, Florida
ILoveSteelyDan
Jay&The Americans fame.
eric
ti bon ange
releases, aren't they?--so I can't compare sound quality. But I
do have "Catalyst," and I think it's a satisfactory
representation of all those demos that appeared on all the other
releases.
The liner notes, prepared by our own Dave Moore, are pithy and
delightful. I can't imagine a more legitimate presentation of
the demos, even if they aren't sanctioned by The Boys themselves.
Walter seems especially vexed by the availability of the early
stuff: http://steelydan.com/furry.html It's too bad, really,
because I love having these, listening to them. Some of these
songs could have been developed into "actual" SD songs, but they
never were. Listening to Donald singing to his own bare piano
accompaniment makes all the demos essential to Steely Dan fans.
If you pick up Catalyst, there's a webpage I published with Dave
Moore's corrections to the personnel grid on it. I can't find
the link right now--dammit!--but I'll locate it and post it here
when I do.
"A Little With Sugar" haunts me.
love and kisses
diane
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Raoul Duke
ti bon ange wrote:
> I Walter seems especially vexed by the availability of the early
> stuff: http://steelydan.com/furry.html It's too bad, really,
> because I love having these, listening to them. Some of these
> songs could have been developed into "actual" SD songs, but they
> never were. Listening to Donald singing to his own bare piano
> accompaniment makes all the demos essential to Steely Dan fans.
Some of the 'unauthorized' material was conspicuously not referenced by WB.
There are two or three of these 'archival recordings ' that had their inception
as radio shows. At he very end of The Record Plant 1974 recording (AKA Rotoscope
Down) one can distinctly hear an announcer say "You have been listeneing to
Steely Dan live at the Record Plant..." I believe in radio jargon this is
called a 'bumper' (feel free to correct me if this the wrong word) and it is
used to identify what one has been listening to (thank you Orson Wells!). That
being the case (that it was a radio broadcast in the nature of a King Buscuit or
similar program), it is not a 'bootleg'. It is a 'promotional item' so it may
not be sold...but it may be distributed. It was broadcast...for free...on KMET
or KLOS or whatever.
I agree that WB may not like it. Many (or even most) artists are very well know
for being particular about control of their 'intellectual property'.
A couple of points come to mind.
These radio shows have been approved by the artists. Maybe they regret it...but
I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.
WB and DF are making a great deal of income from the re-issues, the 'elevator
music', the Steely Dan Tee Shirts, etc.
The particular shows to which I make reference feature the 1974 performing band
(which included , amoung other, Michael MacDonald, Jeff Porcaro, and Jeff 'the
Skunk' Baxter. These performances were recorded on cassette tape. The sound
quality was primitive. They were raw. They weren't tweeked in the studio.
But they really rocked! SD actually released one live song from this
period...Bohdisatva ...live from the Santa Monica Civic...1974.
I love the way Bohdisatva sounded on AIA. I saw them do it in 1993. Walter
Becker did a superb job on the second solo (Skunk Baxter;'s solo on the
original.) I don't even think about comparing the two versions against each
other.
However...
If one puts headphones on and carefully attends to Mr. Baxter's guitar playing
(all through the studio and live versions of the song), one will experience
IMNSHO the highest level of virtuoso guitar playing extant then or now.
Baxter's use of distortion/ feedback (or whatever the hell he is doing) is
masterful. He is the king of the "distorted note/screech that bleeds into the
rest(musical notation) while the band is silent [approx. 3:19 on the live
version( sorry...I don't know how else to describe this). He is also the master
of the 'pickup ' [approx. 5:08 on live version(again I am not sure of the
technical terms for this but he comes in at least one full beat ahead of the
band ) . Finally, if one listens to his ' rhythm or 2nd guitar' playing while
Denny Dias or the keyborads are playing, one will hear incredibly expressive
non--repeating riffs or phrases . They are easily overlooked if one is not
carefully attending to his playing.
On the Memphis Live version of SHowbiz Kid, Michael Macdonald's keyboard solo is
incredible.
If these 'archival recordings' were not available, one would never have heard
these incredible performances.
I do have a problem with more recent unauthorized releases. They are 'bootlegs'
and they probably should not be available.
The very early 'demo' B&F releases are the most objectionable to me. These were
absolutely never intended to be heard by the public. I'm embarrassed for them
when I hear them. They were intended to be heard only by a very select
few...not the public.
Aside from this...I don't have much of an opinion one way or the other. ;-)
I
ti bon ange
>Some of the 'unauthorized' material was conspicuously not
>referenced by WB. There are two or three of these 'archival
>recordings ' that had their inception as radio shows. At he
>very end of The Record Plant 1974 recording (AKA Rotoscope
>Down) one can distinctly hear an announcer say "You have been
>listeneing to Steely Dan live at the Record Plant
This is a very interesting take, Raoul. I agree with you, if in
fact, your premise is correct. Live at the Record Plant is one
of the boots I own, but there's no voice at the end saying it
was a radion broadcast. Probably deleted over years of being
traded, eh?
>But they really rocked! SD actually released one live song
>from this period...Bohdisatva ...live from the Santa Monica
>Civic...1974.
That live version of B. is one of the most incredible Steely Dan
performances ever, live or otherwise. They must agree, as you
suggest, because it was included on the Citizen boxed set.
I don't even want to talk about the fact that I was living in LA
when this concert happened. I have absolutely no explanation for
why I wasn't there. Perhaps I was momentarily abducted by
Bakersfieldians.
>If these 'archival recordings' were not available, one would
>never have heard these incredible performances.
I owned a version of Dylan's Basement Tapes in 1970 and was
unapologetic about it. I remember I had to go into a head shop
and ask for it, and the proprietor had it stashed under the
counter in plain brown wrapper. Funny. Dylan, of course,
ultimately released an official version, but some of the tracks
that were on mine were not on the official release.
Steely Dan should take a page out of the Book of Bob
(http://www.slopbucket.com/)and assemble those incredible
performances for a 3-CD release, culling the best of the best,
including duplicate of songs recorded at different venues and
times. I'll buy one. Hell, I'll buy 10!
>The very early 'demo' B&F releases are the most objectionable
>to me. These were absolutely never intended to be heard by the
>public. I'm embarrassed for them when I hear them. They were
>intended to be heard only by a very select few...not the public.
I respectfully and passionately differ with you here, and at the
same time, I agree completely. I'm ambivalent. Torn. Messed up.
The collection of songs on the 2-CD Catalyst release are near
and dear to my heart. Some of them are even worthy of later
Steely Dan standards for greatness.
They are badly recorded, and some of them are hopelessly naive
(I could go the rest of my life without hearing that Lewis
Carroll song again). But in some ways, the arrogance of youth
adds transcendent brush strokes to the Steely Dan continuum's
mural that are better, brighter, more saturated, more in-your-
face than anything else they ever did (short of Aja and Gaucho).
I'm glad to have them, and I listen to the Catalyst CDs with
great frequency. I was just playing and repeating "I Can't
Function," dancing around my living room, on Saturday, getting
high on the silly funky r&bness of it all.
Their musical roots might be showing a bit more with Catalyst,
so their music may seem more derivative, less original--monkey
see, monkey do--and I suppose that would be embarrassing. But
you know what they say: plagiarists borrow; great artists steal.
Whatever musical influences imprinted onto Walter and Donald's
musical souls belong to them, without question. They own their
music outright, with no debts or apologies to anyone who came
before.
Good post, Raoul. I'm now very curious to know exactly what
boots out there were released through sanctioned channels (like
radio shows, etc.). I talk way too much about bootlegs, but I'm
at peace with what I own and my karma.