A common theme in my reviews of Donald Fagen’s The Nightfly Live and now 2021’s Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live! is the difficulty with improving on perfection.
The Nightfly Live, as concert recordings go, isn’t perfection. It’s just too similar to the studio release, and one song – “Green Flower Street” – is actually vastly inferior to other live versions. Steely Dan’s Northeast Corridor features some notable musical twists and turns, offering something new for the obsessive geeks out there in Dandom.
Unfortunately, that’s not the case with this version of “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.” Surprisingly, the song was not played on the ‘92 and ‘93 tours when they had vibraphonist/percussionist Bill Ware III as a touring member. Ware came equipped with a marimba too, and could have easily duplicated the sound of the flapamba from the initial recording played by the great Victor Feldman.
When “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” was added to the set list in 1996, the intro was deleted. The Steely Dan band boldly rearranged the solo, however, utilizing Ari Ambrose on tenor sax instead of attempting to duplicate Jeff Baxter’s iconic and unique guitar solo. Quite frankly, I love the rearrangement, but I’m probably in the minority.
Northeast Corridor gives a good collage try at duplicating the original’s feel. It falls short with the distracting synth/marimba by Jim Beard and an uninspired attempt, presumably by Connor Kennedy, at the guitar solo. In all fairness to Kennedy, I’ve seen Larry Carlton attempt the solo from “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” when sitting in with Steely Dan, and have been equally unmoved.
The version from 1996 was bold in concept, even if you loved the original solo. Vocally, Donald Fagen is at the top of his game here and the Steely Dan choir is precise, though I missed the 1996 version which featured Walter Becker providing harmony vocals along with Michelle Wiley and Carolyn Leonhart.
I know I’m in the minority, but occasionally I’d like to go to a concert and be surprised by a performance and arrangements. Perhaps that’s why “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number,” Steely Dan’s most popular single, isn’t one which consistently makes it on the set-list. Was Steely Dan bored with the song too?
