The spigot of posthumous Walter Becker material remains opened wide, prompting a rare, recent appearance of a shiny new installment of Steely Dan Sunday.
Right on the heels of the official release of the “This Is My Building” demo comes another candidate for inclusion in the Circus Money song cycle that didn’t survive the primaries. “Couchriders In the Sky” has obvious allusions to the 1949 Vaughn Monroe cowboy hit “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” a song that was probably heard by a childhood Walter Becker as sung by Monroe, Bing Crosby, Burl Ives or Marty Robbins or any of a number of other crooners of the day. But Becker’s ‘riders in the sky’ tune contain a drug reference or two, it’s way more contemporary and hip than that mid-century classic.
This recording wasn’t finished but it did make it past the demo phase, tracked by a crack crew of seasoned vets from the Steely Dan touring band: Keith Carlock (drums), Ted Baker (electric piano), Jim Beard (piano) and Jon Herington (guitar). Walter Becker handles bass and vox, and it’s the bass I want to point out first because it’s real beaut: check out the deep groove he creates with Carlock’s high-hat.
Becker’s singing this without the support of background singers or double tracking and such, and here’s where your WB fandom is tested. There are parts where he’s having to hold a note and that’s tough sledding for any singer but especially for a fella whose many musical blessings didn’t extend to his throat. In that department, he does deserve some credit for working well within his limitations but in this instance, he went just a little outside of them. That challenge could have been worked out with song co-composer and producer Larry Klein had they chosen to go further with this song but for whatever reason, they didn’t.
The warbling is actually one of the very reasons to give this song a listen or two; you get to hear a music great venturing outside his comfort zone and though he falls short, he’s not as far off the mark as I might have expected.
At any rate, of Walter Becker’s “Couchriders In the Sky” is certainly worth a free, high quality download.
- McCoy Tyner and Joe Henderson – ‘Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs’ (2024) - November 21, 2024
- Lydia Salnikova, “Christmas Means a Different Thing This Year” (2024): One Track Mind - November 19, 2024
- Darius Jones – ‘Legend of e’Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye)’ - November 15, 2024
