vinyl LP, front cover
photo by Styrous®
Walter Carl Becker died yesterday, September 3, 2017. He was an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was best known as the co-founder, guitarist, bassist, and co-songwriter of Steely Dan.
Of all my Steely Dan albums, Can't Buy a Thrill, the group's first album (1972), is my favorite. And my favorite song from it is Do It Again (of course). Released in 1972, the song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 18, 1972, and reached number 6 on the US charts in 1973, making it the second highest charting single by Steely Dan.
The original version of Do It Again is in the key of G minor, with Donald Fagen on lead vocals. The song uses a large amount of syncopation in the vocal melody. The tune features an electric sitar solo by Denny Dias. The "plastic organ" solo by Fagen was performed on a Yamaha YC-30 with a sliding pitch-bending control. In 2017, Lydia Lunch and Cypress Grove covered the song on their album Under the Covers.
vinyl LP, back cover
photo by Styrous®
Becker met future songwriting partner Donald Fagen while studying at Bard College. After a brief period of activity in New York, the two relocated to California in 1971 and formed the nucleus of Steely Dan; they had a commercially successful 10-year career.
photo by Styrous®
The album cover features a photomontage by Robert Lockart. It includes an image of a line of prostitutes, standing in a red light area waiting for clients, chosen because of its relevance to the album title.
vinyl LP, front cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®
Becker and Fagen commented on the album art in their liner notes to the reissued, The Royal Scam, saying that the album possessed "the most hideous album cover of the seventies, bar none (excepting perhaps Can't Buy a Thrill)." The cover was banned in Francisco Franco's Spain and was replaced with a photograph of the band playing in concert.
vinyl LP label, side 1
photo by Styrous®
Becker was born on February 20, 1950, in Queens, New York. he met his long-time musical partner, Donald Fagen, while attending Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. While at Bard, Becker and Fagen formed and played in a number of groups,
including the Leather Canary, which also included fellow student Chevy Chase on drums. At the time, Chase called the group "a bad jazz band."
vinyl LP label, side 2
photo by Styrous®
On September 3, 2017, Becker's official website reported that he had died. No cause of death or other details have been announced. Musicians such as Julian Lennon, Steve Lukather, and John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats made public statements mourning Becker's death. Rickie Lee Jones, whose album Flying Cowboys was produced by Becker, recalled her long friendship with him in an editorial she wrote for Rolling Stone.
Fagen issued a memorial letter praising Becker's talent and remarking that he was "smart as a whip, an excellent guitarist and a great songwriter... He was cynical about human nature, including his own, and hysterically funny." Fagen added that he "intend[s] to keep the music we created together alive".
Tracklist:
Side 1:
A1 - Do It Again - 5:56
A2 - Dirty Work - 3:08
A3 - Kings, Backing Vocals – Clydie King, Shirley Mathews*, Venetta Fields - 3:45
A4 - Midnite Cruiser - 4:09
A5 - Only A Fool Would Say That - 2:54
Side 2:
B1 - Reelin' In The Years - 4:35
B2 - Fire In The Hole - 3:26
B3 - Brooklyn (Owes The Charmer Under Me), Backing Vocals – Clydie King, Shirley Mathews*, Venetta Fields - 4:20
B4 - Change Of The Guard - 3:28
B5 - Turn That Heartbeat Over Again - 4:58
Companies, etc.
Recorded At – The Village Recorder
Credits:
Bass Guitar [Electric], Vocals – Walter Becker
Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Jim Hodder
Engineer – Roger Nichols
Engineer [Assistant] – Tim Weston
Flugelhorn – Snooky Young*
Guitar – Elliot Randall*
Guitar, Sitar [Electric] – Denny Dias
Guitar, Steel Guitar [Pedal], Acoustic Guitar [Spanish] – Jeff "Skunk" Baxter*
Liner Notes – Tristan Fabriani
Percussion – Victor Feldman
Piano, Electric Piano, Organ [Plastic], Vocals – Donald Fagen
Producer – Gary Katz
Tenor Saxophone – Jerome Richardson
Vocals – David Palmer (4)
Written-By – D. Fagan*, W. Becker*
Notes:
Released with black/silver labels in a gatefold cover.
On the labels:
"ABC RECORDS INC., New York, N.Y. 10019 - Made in USA" at the bottom.
There are different label designs with the same cat#:
- Can't Buy A Thrill "℗1972 ABC Records Inc." at the bottom, cat# to the left
- Can't Buy A Thrill "℗1972 ABC Records Inc." at the bottom, cat# to the right
- Can't Buy A Thrill block label
Recorded at The Village Recorder, Los Angeles, California.
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Matrix / Runout (Side A): ABCX-758-A 1B
Matrix / Runout (Side B): ABCX-758-B 1A
Steely Dan – Can't Buy A Thrill
Label: ABC Records – ABCX-758
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefol
Country: US
Released: 1972
Genre: Rock
Style: Classic Rock
Net links:
Steely Dan discography
Walter Becker website
LA Times 1993 interview
NY Times obit
New Yorker obit
Npr obit
Rolling Stone obit by Daniel Kreps
Rolling Stone Rickie Lee Jones tribute
YouTube link:
Do It Again
Styrous® ~ Monday September 4, 2017
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