Steely Dan burst onto the music scene in November 1972 with a platinum-selling debut featuring the radio favorites “Do It Again,” “Dirty Work” and “Reelin’ in the Years.” But there was always more to ‘Can’t Buy a Thrill‘ than the hits. Here’s a look at a handful of deeper cuts that you might not know:
‘ONLY A FOOL WOULD SAY THAT’
This is probably my favorite deep cut from Can’t Buy a Thrill, which was on the flip side of the Steely Dan’s “Reelin’ in the Years” single. More than any other track from this album, “Only a Fool Would Say That” points the way to what Steely Dan would evolve into: mocking lyrics, a fondness for Caribbean styles (most exemplified on The Royal Scam) and, of course, jazzy overtones.
Most of those overtones come courtesy of Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, whose breezy octaves might be something close to a first for what is technically a rock song. But even this early on, Steely Dan was already cross-genre dressing their songs in a carefully crafted way. Unusually airy and cheery as far as the melody goes, that didn’t compel Walter Becker and Donald Fagen to make “Only a Fool Would Say That” into some love song or some other uplifting topic like any other songwriter would do.
Oh no, this is about putting down some delusional young dude for “talking about a world where all is free.” That’s actually the perfect kind of topic for 1972, when the hippie generation’s hopes and dreams came crashing down to reality in that post-Woodstock hangover called the early ’70s.
Later on, Becker and Fagen would go on to write many cynically viewed tales of deviancy, debauchery and other failings of the human race. But it’s here where Steely Dan sets forth the credo that drives the plots for those songs:
Anybody on the street
Has murder in his eyes
You feel no pain
And you’re younger
Than you realize
We may all agree with this sentiment but at least back then, only Becker and Fagen would (come out and) say that.
‘MIDNITE CRUISER’
Aside from the pre-Can’t Buy A Thrill promo single “Dallas,” here’s the only Steely Dan song drummer Jim Hodder sang lead on. It wasn’t the first and only time he took the lead mic on a recording, though: his prior band Bead Game made one record a couple of years earlier and he was the primary vocalist on all the tracks.
His middle-pitched, nasally warble is a bit of a contrast to Donald Fagen’s higher nasally warble, and while Hodder wasn’t going to scare even David Palmer, he’s a great fit for this song.
“Midnite Cruiser” is one of the better deep cuts on Steely Dan’s debut, combining the genteel stroll of country with a syncopated, piano-driven harmonic structure that’s sort of a folk-jazz hybrid. The frustration and anger from an opportunity lost seems to be the theme of this tune, and Hodder’s delivery does a decent job of conveying the feeling of disappointment and resignation.
Hodder also drums well on this song, and his tasteful licks were consistently good throughout his time in Steely Dan. Ultimately, that wasn’t enough for Walter Becker and Fagen, who also wanted a drummer with more flair. As everyone would soon learn, the drummer often had the toughest assignment in a Steely Dan recording.
Hodder stuck around through Pretzel Logic, but he wasn’t asked to drum on any tracks on that record. He saw the handwriting on the wall and left Steely Dan soon after its release. From there, he did many session dates until he drowned in his swimming pool in 1990. He was only 42 at the time.
Fate wasn’t too kind to Steely Dan drummers in general, but that’s another story altogether. For this particular drummer, “Midnite Cruiser” remains the song he is most remembered by. And it’s a fine way to be remembered.
‘FIRE IN THE HOLE’
Not long after Skunk Baxter played octaves on “Only a Fool Would Say That,” Steely Dan offered perhaps another first for a rock song: “Fire In the Hole” features Donald Fagen playing piano in a ragtime style …
… however, I’d like to end my specific thoughts about the song here and switch gears to the guy who put it to tape.
Roger Nichols, the engineer for every Steely Dan album, passed away in April 2011 after fighting pancreatic cancer. He was 66 years old. The credits list on Steely Dan albums have changed a-plenty over the years, but aside from Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, the one constant on that list has been the chief engineer Roger Nichols, referred to in the album credits since this debut album as “The Immortal.”
Much as George Martin became known as the de-facto “fifth Beatle” for his inventive, brilliant production, so could Nichols be considered the “third Steely Dan member” for his determined dedication of pursuing flawless recordings – a dedication shared by the two principal members. Nichols won six Grammys for his work on Steely Dan records. In winning a seventh for a John Denver record, he proved that the commitment to perfection wasn’t a response to notoriously demanding clients: It came from within.
Nichols, as we now know, wasn’t really immortal, but his recordings most certainly are. From “Fire In the Hole” up to Everything Must Go more than 30 years later, it all sounds so perfectly recorded. In this way, the Immortal Roger Nichols will live on forever.
‘KINGS’
Here’s an early indication that Steely Dan wasn’t going to dwell on romantic themes in their lyrics. Songs about love, in fact, soon became the exception, not the rule. But a rock song about a late 12th century English ruler?
Before you think that maybe the references to Richard the Lionhearted’s foreign military adventures was meant to draw a parallel to the Vietnam War still raging on at the time this song came out, there’s a short note about it in the album sleeve that states “No political significance.”
Nah, it was probably just Donald Fagen getting something useful out his then-new English Lit degree from Bard.
Elliot Randall, who immortalized himself with a memorable lead on Steely Dan’s “Reelin’ in the Years,” actually made his first appearance on Can’t Buy A Thrill in the instrumental break of this song. Though it’s not as epic as his “Reelin'” solo, Randall again goes for the jugular, starting with descending, slightly dissonant chords, then chasing notes down rapidly in an almost Chet Atkins fashion. Guitar leads that took some chances and avoided overdone rock phrasing became a Steely Dan hallmark regardless of the soloist.
The performance by Randall is easily the best thing about “Kings,” though I like the ladies’ backing vocals in the chorus. Still, all of it is flawlessly done – and that would become another Steely Dan hallmark.
‘BROOKLYN’
Jeff “Skunk” Baxter not only made his mark with some memorable guitar leads for Steely Dan. He was also very adept at working the pedal steel guitar into rock, not making it sound hick in the least.
Just put an ear on the Doobie Brothers’ “South City Midnight Lady” sometime to understand how he can add a subtle mood to a song and make it deeper. He first picked up this instrument (a Fender 400) while in Ultimate Spinach in the late ’60s and brought that skill with him into Steely Dan.
I would argue that Steely Dan got better overall after Skunk left in ’74, but that was in spite of his departure – not because of it. When he played the steel guitar for couple of tracks on each of their first three albums, it brought out the folk/country elements in Walter Becker’s and Donald Fagen’s songs. In retrospect, those songs were surprisingly well developed by guys who obviously knew the stuff inside and out.
When they got into that mode, you could tell that the Boys from Bard weren’t just listening to Charles Mingus and Sonny Rollins records in their formative years. After Skunk, that part of Steely Dan died. Baxter’s pedal steel first appeared for the band on “Fire in the Hole,” which became a requiem in the wake of engineer Roger Nichols’s death. Now it’s time to give the droopy ‘stached dude his due.
I never really understood the lyrics (“Brooklyn owes the charmer under me”?) nor do I need to, but this time I have to give the guy who sang them – David Palmer – his due, too. That smooth, unforced croon didn’t have a whole lot of R&B soul to it, but its easygoing manner was better suited for country music, and Steely Dan’s “Brooklyn” is an easygoing, country-type tune. I couldn’t see Fagen pull it off nearly this well, and even he would have to concede that point: After Palmer left the band, others like percussionist Royce Mills sang it in concerts.
I don’t know how many people who are Steely Dan fans are also country music fans, but “Brooklyn” is one of those early songs where two seemingly opposed passions co-existed quite nicely.
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