TS: Donald Fagen Vs. Steely Dan

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Just thought of the fact that, out of all the Steely Dan/Donald Fagen albums, there is only one that Walter Becker wasn't involved in the making of at all.

Even though I love "The Nightfly" more than every Steely Dan album I'll still probably go for Steely Dan overall here, mainly because "Kamakiriad" was possibly the least satisfactory thing he has done, with of without Steely Dan, but Fagen's solo career has certainly not at all been bad, with the excellent "Nightfly" and this year's effort being quite nice too.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 2 October 2006 15:10 (eighteen years ago)

Err, Becker wasn't involved in 'Morph the Cat', was he?

― Baaderonixx in the year of the locusts (baaderonixx), Monday, 2 October 2006 15:18 (eighteen years ago)

i'm glad even geir hongro agrees on the 'donald fagen is awesome, steely dan is even more awesome' truism

― gear (gear), Monday, 2 October 2006 16:20 (eighteen years ago)

nope. becker was only involved with 'kamakiriad.'

um, both classic. i'll take steely dan, though.

― derrick (derrick), Monday, 2 October 2006 17:42 (eighteen years ago)

"The Nightfly" still suggests that Donald Fagen is the definite musical genius in Steely Dan (after all, he is very much involved in all of the Steely Dan albums too).

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 2 October 2006 20:00 (eighteen years ago)

Morph the Cat is the closest thing to an album utterly without interest released by a major artist I've heard this year (ok, the Janet might qualify).

Oh - I luuuuuv The Nightfly ("Ruby Baby"!) but c'mon: the Dan.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 2 October 2006 20:09 (eighteen years ago)

beck is the sweet fagan is the sour

― chaki (chaki), Monday, 2 October 2006 20:15 (eighteen years ago)

You think? The Nightfly's charm said otherwise.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 2 October 2006 20:21 (eighteen years ago)

Even on "The Nightfly" there is a sourness to everything Fagen does, in spite of the playing and production being so perfect he and Becker have become favourites of all hi-fi-enthusiasts.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 2 October 2006 20:23 (eighteen years ago)

Is there gas in the car? Yes there's gas in the car

― def zep (calstars), Monday, 2 October 2006 21:17 (eighteen years ago)

morph the cat didn't seem to impress anybody, but about half of it is really good, esp. "h gang". listen to the wonderful chords in the verse!

― derrick (derrick), Monday, 2 October 2006 22:08 (eighteen years ago)

i listen to it alot

― chaki (chaki), Monday, 2 October 2006 22:11 (eighteen years ago)

it's good!

― gear (gear), Monday, 2 October 2006 22:19 (eighteen years ago)

about half of morph is seriously good!

― real savage-like (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 2 October 2006 22:28 (eighteen years ago)

(i.e. what derrick said)

― real savage-like (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 2 October 2006 22:28 (eighteen years ago)

"Morph The Cat" is great. As a matter of fact, I'd say it's the best thing Fagen has done since "Nightfly". Including those two Steely Dan comeback albums.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 2 October 2006 22:56 (eighteen years ago)

what exactly is becker's job in the band? i know he plays bass and sometimes gtr. does he write? is one of them a words guy and one of them a music guy? is one of them the arranger? do they split everything down the middle? does fagen write everything and becker does something else?

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 2 October 2006 23:11 (eighteen years ago)

i think they share the lyric-writing somewhat, and the music becker writes tends to be more straight-up blues or groove-oriented than fagen's pop-jazz songbook stuff.

― real savage-like (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 2 October 2006 23:13 (eighteen years ago)

i believe becker is also primarily responsible for the dan's occasional letter-writing campaigns

― gear (gear), Monday, 2 October 2006 23:18 (eighteen years ago)

becker did bass in the early '70s, before they started only using session players(chuck rainey et al). he did some lead guitar on 'gaucho', and then did most of the lead guitar on the two new albums, as well as fagen's kamakiriad. i don't believe we've ever had an official breakdown of the writing/arranging duties, but you can draw conclusions, a la JBR, from their solo albums.

morph is good, but inconsistent. i really like 'what i do' and 'h gang' but i also don't ever feel the need to hear 'security joan.'

― derrick (derrick), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 02:13 (eighteen years ago)

the bizarre letters seem to indicate that becker is more responsible for the "tone" of steely dan (for lack of a better word) than people give him credit for. fagen solo is, like, sincere and shit.

i love morph the cat, but yeah, only half of it's really classic.

― a|ex (Pareene), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 02:20 (eighteen years ago)

ts: fagen's "ruby baby" vs the drifters' "ruby baby" vs dion's "ruby baby"

― a|ex (Pareene), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 02:21 (eighteen years ago)

so maybe, for example, becker wrote "pretzel logic" and "black friday," and fagen wrote "rikki don't lose that number" and "doctor wu"? something like that? i've never known any of this stuff!

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 02:23 (eighteen years ago)

(above guess based on jbr's musical breakdown, not on anything to do with tone.)

(but now that i look at those particular songs, maybe it actually does have a lot to do with tone!)

(assuming any of this is right, of course.)

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 02:26 (eighteen years ago)

they write together. they are partners.

― chaki (chaki), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 03:18 (eighteen years ago)

Maybe you should read the 'Reelin' in the Years' bio, which kinda suggests that the SD sarcasm comes mainly from Becker. IIRC Fagen even says so and his solo stuff kind of confirms that.

Anyway SD > solo DF by a long shot.

I liked Morph when it came out but feel absolutely no need to hear it again.

― Baaderonixx in the year of the locusts (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 07:06 (eighteen years ago)

seven months pass...

...mainly because "Kamakiriad" was possibly the least satisfactory thing he has done.
-- Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 2 October 2006 15:10 (7 months ago)

Um, what exactly is wrong with Kamakiriad?

― iago g., Friday, 18 May 2007 01:52 (eighteen years ago)

Geir doesn't like it.

― David R., Friday, 18 May 2007 02:03 (eighteen years ago)

IT KINDA SUCKS

― chaki, Friday, 18 May 2007 02:04 (eighteen years ago)

nice use of all bold

― iago g., Friday, 18 May 2007 02:34 (eighteen years ago)

WAHT IS ALL BOLD?

― chaki, Friday, 18 May 2007 04:26 (eighteen years ago)

THIS

― David R., Friday, 18 May 2007 04:52 (eighteen years ago)

nice use of all bold

― chaki, Friday, 18 May 2007 04:59 (eighteen years ago)

'kamakiriad' is really good. i love 'snowbound', 'on the dunes', and 'trans-island skyway'. granted, its an album that i really loved at a young age, which is obv a factor. it stands out in the dan discography, i think, which is probably why it is often discounted, unfortunately.

― derrrick, Friday, 18 May 2007 06:02 (eighteen years ago)

OK, OK! all caps, i was high, ALRIGHT?

― iago g., Friday, 18 May 2007 19:49 (eighteen years ago)

I love "Snowbound" too. And, sure, I have nothing against "Kamakiriad", just I don't find it as nice as all other Fagen/Steely Dan products.

― Geir Hongro, Friday, 18 May 2007 22:38 (eighteen years ago)

I find Kamakiriad to be the perfect weekend afternoon record.

― calstars, Saturday, 19 May 2007 01:41 (eighteen years ago)

ten years pass...

Well, this is depressing. http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/legal-battle-over-steely-dan-continues-walter-beckers-estate-responds-to-donald-fagens-lawsuit-1202623435/

― Dan Worsley, Monday, 27 November 2017 17:43 (seven years ago)

six years pass...

Kamakiriad is pretty good! I picked it up on cd for a couple bucks. Love The Dan, haven’t messed with their solo stuff apart from The Nightfly. Had no idea there was more treasure out there. Are the other solo albums good?

― Cow_Art, Wednesday, 22 May 2024 13:14 (one year ago)

Morph the Cat is pretty decent but more moody than memorable as far as catchiness. Sunken Condos is a lot better, his best outside of The Nightfly for sure.

― omar little, Wednesday, 22 May 2024 16:12 (one year ago)

I like both, love “the h gang” off morph the car

― brimstead, Wednesday, 22 May 2024 16:19 (one year ago)

cat

― brimstead, Wednesday, 22 May 2024 16:19 (one year ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=689rdElEGRA

― brimstead, Wednesday, 22 May 2024 16:20 (one year ago)

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