With the fantastic music and playing, one almost forgets the sad tale of woe conveyed by Steely Dan’s Walter Becker on “Upside Looking Down.”

<<< BACKWARD (“Downtown Canon”) ||| ONWARD (“Upside Looking Down”) >>> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** Walter Becker’s Circus Money covers a wide music landscape. The song, “Bob’s Just Not Your Uncle Anymore” appears — at least on the surface — to be a simple reggae track. You May AlsoRead More

<<< BACKWARD (“Door Number Two”) ||| ONWARD (“Bob Is Not Your Uncle Anymore”) >>> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** I have a deep love for Walter Becker’s second solo effort, 2008’s Circus Money. It’s a love that far surpasses any other solo effort to date by Donald Fagen orRead More

<<< BACKWARD (“Mary Shut The Garden Door”) ||| ONWARD (“Downtown Canon”) >>> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** It’s strange: I like Donald Fagen records for how much they sound like Steely Dan and I like Walter Becker’s records for how they distance themselves from Steely Dan records. You MayRead More

Stress. Fear. Their tentacles grip us around the neck and chest, slender ribbons slithering into the brain. You May Also Like: Donald Fagen, “Walk Between Raindrops” from ‘The Nightfly Live’ (2021): Steely Dan Sunday Steely Dan, “Carey” (circa 2001): Steely Dan Sunday

<<< BACKWARD (“Security Joan”) ||| ONWARD (“Mary Shut The Garden Door”) >>> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** Steely Dan, ever the perverse band consisting of the duo of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker plus crack musicians, were ensconced in the studio by the mid 1970s, yet became consistent roadRead More

<<< BACKWARD (“The Great Pagoda Of Funn”) ||| ONWARD (“The Night Belongs To Mona”) >>> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** Maybe Donald Fagen’s Morph the Cat is better than I remember; I still feel that the production is dry You May Also Like: Walter Becker, “Hard Up Case (LiveRead More

<<< BACKWARD (“Brite Nitegown”) ||| ONWARD (“Security Joan”) >>> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** Track 5 on Morph the Cat is an enigma; “The Great Pagoda of Funn” ranks with songs like “Maxine” and “On The Dunes” You May Also Like: Steely Dan, “Carey” (circa 2001): Steely Dan Sunday

<<< BACKWARD (“What I Do”) ||| ONWARD (“The Great Pagoda of Funn”) >>> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** Did Fagen hit his high water mark with track number four on Morph The Cat? You May Also Like: Donald Fagen, “New Frontier” from ‘The Nightfly Live’ (2021): Steely Dan Sunday

<<< BACKWARD (“H Gang”) ||| ONWARD (“Brite Nitegown”) >>> *** STEELY DAN SUNDAY INDEX *** While the album Morph The Cat represented the conclusion of Fagen’s musical trilogy, it was hardly an end. In fact, the album may represent the most productive stage in Fagen’s career. You May Also Like:Read More