Vancouverscape, a Vancouver based blog covering travel, tech, and lifestyle

Steely Dan, a group of musicians fronted by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, were a fixture on the radio in the 70’s and into the early 80’s. Their jazz-infused tunes were easy on the ears and the duo were amongst the biggest-selling musical acts in the world. The two cynical New York jazz fans debuted with Can’t Buy a Thrill in 1973, and went on to record eight more albums before their split.

Brian Sweet, former publisher/editor of Steely Dan fanzine Metal Leg, offers a comprehensive biography of the band in his book, Reelin’ in the Years.

[Fagen and Becker, 1979]

As well-loved as they were by both music fans and critics (for the most part) alike, Steely Dan were different than the rest of the big rock and roll outfits of the era. They rarely agreed to interviews, awards shows, and touring in general, following a few bad experiences on the road. Their fans would anxiously await news of a tour, especially with a new album release, but these were few and far in between.

Their reasoning was that touring would take away from precious time writing and recording albums. They weren’t even a proper group as they simply utilized a revolving door of session musicians, and worked them hard. The Dan were fanatics when it came to every nuance of a track. This, coupled with their brilliant multi-award-winning sound engineer, Roger Nichols, added up to many recording delays, often leaving the record execs annoyed and frustrated.

[Fagen and Becker, 1978]

During 1980’s Gaucho recordings, Steely Dan employed no less than 40 musicians and singers, and worked on one tune for so long – and listened back to it so many times – that the oxide was worn off the tape.

The duo rarely posed for photos either, so those who didn’t see them on tour rarely knew what they even looked like! Their music did the talking, as they hired some of the best in the business to appear on their creations.

Fagen would often come up with the musical idea, be it a chord sequence or chorus, then Becker would join to kick some ideas around, smoke some Turkish cigarettes, laugh a lot, then develop the story. The two were inseparable when it came to the process of writing songs. Becker attributes their joy of listening to jazz as the key to their intimacy in song creation.

[Playing the vibraphone, 1993]

I was surprised to learn that Fagan lacked self-confidence in his ability as vocalist. He didn’t believe that he could sing a note, to the point of ABC Records’ A&R man Steve Barri and publisher Eddie Lambert trying to persuade Fagen that he was the group’s sound.

After their eventual split in 1981, Fagen went solo and Becker produced a handful of albums, including Rickie Lee Jones’s Flying Cowboys (with a co-writing credit on The Horses) and China Crisis’s Flaunt The Imperfection (where he contributed synth and percussion).

[Fagen during Steely Dan’s reunion tour, 1993]

Their story isn’t your typical typical sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll lifestyle read (though Becker did have some problems with substance abuse, and was later accused of his girlfriend’s drug overdose and slapped with a $17M lawsuit).

What readers will discover in Sweet’s book is a LOT of audio geekery. The book is a treat for audiophiles and is peppered with intricate technical recording details throughout.

Unfortunately, neither Walter Becker nor Donald Fagen agreed to be interviewed for the book, but Becker did advise the author over a late night phone call to “carry on as if Donald and I were dead”. And in case you’re wondering how the band got their name, the book mentions that too (page 59).

Through the years, the duo kept a keen sense of humour and continually honed their music as analog turned to digital, again due to Nichols’s stunning sonic technology wizardry.

Reelin’ in The Years includes several black and white photos within its 346 pages and an extensive discography at the back. Pack a pair of reading glasses for this book — the typeface is tiny!

Available via Omnibus Press; CAD $33.95/USD $22/GBP £14.99