Not everything must go
Steve Lalla
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Steely Dan: Open for business
photo: Danny Clinch
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The strains remain the same as Steely Dan defy fans' expectations of a demerger
A 30-minute conversation with Steely Dan's Walter Becker and Donald Fagen is as complex and multidimensional as any song in their extolled catalogue. Subtle innuendos, pinpoint jabs and taut humour pepper the duo's dialogue as they repeatedly complete and embellish each others' ideas, adding to the popular perception that Fagen's and Becker's brain structures are innately complementary, their unison forming a whole perhaps greater than its parts. "Was this one of those back-to-back interview days for you?" I asked.
"We did a few," responds Fagen. "We evolved the simplest possible, most streamlined answers to the questions."
"Actually," Becker interjects with a chuckle, "we pretty much shot our wad with the last guy, the French guy, something about that joie de vivre."
"I don't know how you can compete with that, really," offers Fagen with a touch of sarcasm.
"The point is, Steve," Becker tells me reassuringly, "don't be discouraged. If you feel like the thing is not going the way you want it to, just hang in there. Like we told the French guy, if at first you don't secede, try, try again."
Using noteworthy musicians such as Wayne Shorter, Mark Knopfler, Michael McDonald and Jeff Porcaro for specialized roles on their finely conceived albums, Steely Dan abandoned touring after a Fourth of July show in 1974, not returning to the stage until a 1993 reunion.
"We were kids basically," recounts Fagen of the '74 tour, "and the rest of the guys in the band were very enthusiastic and had
a lot of energy. Walter and I wanted more control over what everybody was playing. The sound systems were generally not very good. We were staying in nasty hotels and the travel conditions were very poor. For most of our touring life in the '70s we were opening for other bands. It wasn't what either of us had imagined.""We had improved it to the degree that we could," Becker adds, "but by that time we were burned out on that and we really wanted to do something else - we wanted to make records and write songs." Which is exactly what they did, penning timeless platinum LPs Katy Lied, The Royal Scam, Gaucho and 1977's Aja, to be performed in its entirety by Steely Dan on Saturday night.
Steely Dan's 2003 album Everything Must Go was interpreted by attentive fans as a swan song, an indication that the band was "going out of business," as Fagen sings on the title track. They've continued to tour nevertheless, and each has released solo efforts since 2006.
"It was a swan song," Fagen responds, "just not for us. It was meant as, 'They're out of here,' and I think it was kind of prescient considering what's happened in the business world since."
Steely Dan
At Place des Arts's Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Nov. 28
