Steely Dan: The St. Louis Toodle-Oo

Legendary jazz rockers Steely Dan had a tremendous run of albums in the ‘70s but by the release of Gaucho Fagan and Becker had had enough and the breakup of the duo occurred shortly thereafter. The intervening years had the artists putting out a few solo albums and by the early ‘90s the duo had started to get along again and after Becker had played on and produced Fagan’s disc Kamakiriad they decided to go on tour. This two CD set chronicles the FM broadcast from the Riverport Amphitheatre in Maryland Heights, Missouri on September 1, 1993.

This set does have its faults, most notably the production flaws that occur every so often. The sound occasionally drops out or other flaws come to the surface but overall, if you crank up the volume, it is easy to hear why Steely Dan were such an important band. The band has always played with great musicians and this tour was no exception. The full band is:

Walter Becker (guitars)
Donald Fagan (Rhodes piano, keyboards, lead vocals)
Warren Bernhardt (piano)
Drew Zingg (guitar)
Tom Barney (bass)
Bill Ware (percussion, vibes)
Peter Erskine (drums)
Cornelius Bumpus (sax)
Bob Sheppard (sax)
Chris Potter (sax)
Katherine Russell (backing vocals)
Diane Garesto (backing vocals)
Brenda King (backing vocals)

The first disc has some great choices like the all instrumental trio of “Royal Scam/Bad Sneakers/Aja�, the smooth glistening melodies of “I.G.Y. (What A Beautiful World)� and “Hey Nineteen�, the funky groove of “Josie� and the great saxophone solo in the Becker solo track “Book of Liars�.

On the second disc we have the rocking “Reelin’ In The Years�, the smoothly iconic “Deacon Blues� and its irresistible chorus, awesome female backing vocals and fabulous sax solo, the jazz pop of “Babylon Sisters� with Fagan’s classic Rhodes piano melody and the utterly classic “FM (No Static At All)�.

I had always wanted to catch Steely Dan live but alas it wasn’t meant to be. This is for all you out there who never got that chance. A highly recommended live document from one of the greatest bands in rock.

*R.I.P. Mr. Walter Becker. You will be greatly missed.*

Track Listing:
Disc One
1. The Royal Scam/Bad Sneakers/Aja (Instrumental) (7:56)
2. Green Earrings (5:25)
3. Bodhisattva (5:29)
4. I.G.Y. (What A Beautiful World) (6:12)
5. Josie (7:15)
6. Hey Nineteen (6:29)
7. Book Of Liars (4:32)
8. Chain Lightning (6:34)
9. Introductions (3:45)
10. Green Flower Street (3:57)
11. Home At Last (6:51)
12. Black Friday (4:15)

Disc Two
1. Deacon Blues (8:11)
2. Tomorrow’s Girl (6:40)
3. Babylon Sisters (6:48)
4. Reelin’ In The Years (7:27)
5. Fall Of ’92 (6:12)
6. Peg (4:40)
7. Third World Man (6:29)
8. Countermoon (13:37)
9. My Old School (8:17)
10. FM (No Static At All) (6:33)

Added: August 3rd 2018
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Band's Official Site
Hits: 2212
Language: english

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