Throw together a funky, faux-reggae pulse, some dancehall horns, a delectably angular Becker guitar solo and his light-hearted humor about a relationship based on desperation, and you have a “Hard Up Case.” You May Also Like: Walter Becker, “Hard Up Case (Live at Slim’s 1995)” (2024): Steely Dan Sunday

Don Henley says the Eagles are in the early planning stages for a possible world tour — though “it very well could be our last.” He is also readying a new solo project, his first studio effort since 2000’s Inside Job. You May Also Like: Following no trends, the Eagles’Read More

A romantic, tear-jerking ballad is the last kind of song anyone would expect from Steely Dan’s Walter Becker.

A slight modification of the surfer’s variation on the “no guts no glory” credo, “Surf And/Or Die” is a eulogy of sorts to a real-life young friend or acquaintance in Becker’s home environs at Hawaii who perished in an accident. You May Also Like: Walter Becker, “Medical Science [Demo]” (1994):Read More

The co-architect of Aja comes out with a song fit for Tonight’s The Night. Well, OK, so maybe Neil Young didn’t use a drum machine or production that shimmered quite so much, but there’s that same desolation You May Also Like: Walter Becker, “She Was Good” (early 1990s): Steely DanRead More

Next to Lennon and McCartney, Becker and Fagen is, in my view, the highest quality songwriting partnership in rock. You May Also Like: Walter Becker, “The Dopest Cut / Down In the Bottom” (1992): Steely Dan Sunday Walter Becker, “Medical Science [Demo]” (1994): Steely Dan Sunday Walter Becker, “Three SistersRead More

With the exception of Fridays and the holidays, I don’t normally put on music based on the situation. But as 2012 drew to a close, I found myself listening to Neil Young’s Psychedelic Pill quite often, probably every couple of days. And why was that? You May Also Like: HowRead More

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNCbJY5647o&w=420&h=315] <<< BACKWARD (“Confide In Me”) ||| ONWARD (“Down In The Bottom”) >>> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** Another Fagen rarity, first appearing as the B-side to the “Trans-Island Skyway,” and finally finding a long-player home on the Nightfly Trilogy in 2007. No, wait, it actually first appearedRead More

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_olU7is4jE&w=420&h=315] <<< BACKWARD (“On The Dunes”) ||| ONWARD (“Confide In Me”) >>> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** And so we reach the conclusion of Kamakiriad with a funky horn-drenched number. You May Also Like: Steely Dan, “Reelin’ in the Years [Live]” (2021): Steely Dan Sunday Donald Fagen, “NewRead More

Part 2, Mainstream and Modern Jazz >>> For the sixth straight year, it’s time to look back on the year in music to recollect which albums I really, really liked this year and make a list. You May Also Like: S. Victor Aaron’s Best of 2015 (Part 4 of 4,Read More