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Official Steely Dan AJA thread


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<>I was asked about my impression of the new release of AJA. To tell

you the truth, it is on its way, so I have not heard it yet. Until it

arrives, I thought I would give some history on this classic album. As

to why is it one of my favorite of all time albums: personal taste,

music I grew up with, incredible arrangements, and

recording that I've actually grown more fond of and appreciative; as my

music knowledge has expanded and grown in depth and understanding.

1) Black Cow

This track features memorable solo performances by the late, great

Victor Feldman (fender rhodes) and a young Tom Scott (tenor sax). Its

also worth noting that Tom Scott wrote ALL of the horn arrangements on Aja,

the first time his unique phrasing and styling were heard outside of

his solo releases. Trivia fact: drummer Paul Humphrey made his mark on

the old TV show Name That Tune.

2) Aja

The title track is part jazz and part rock structured almost like a

three part symphony; musically speaking, it has a head and chorus, but

what would be the bridge features some of the most virtuoso free-form

Tenor Sax (Wayne Shorter of Weather Report fame) and Drum (all-time

great session drummer Steve Gadd) solos ever recorded. In fact,

studying the transcribed Steve Gadd drum solo this was one of those

performances you learn how to play your instrument from. Trivia fact:

if you listen carefully, you can hear Timothy B. Schmits (of Eagles

fame) high backing vocals in support of Donald Fagen.

3) Deacon Blues

This track became an instant classic for both its lyrics and solo tenor

sax performance by Pete Christlieb. In fact, you can still find this

big band jazz arrangement in the performance books of many high-school

and college jazz bands. This was the lone track featuring Walter Becker

on bass, quite a departure from the bands early days where he was the

featured bassist. Trivia fact: remember those screaming sax solos you

used to hear from the Tonight Show band coming out of commercial

breaks? That was none other than Pete Christlieb.

4) Peg

This track was one of the two hits (along with Josie) from Aja.

Its been described as one of the most densely layered Top 40

recordings ever, again featuring a famous guitar solo in what is

essentially a 13 bar Blues. It also featured a very memorable Michael

McDonald falsetto refrain, coinciding with his emergence as a driving

force (and Grammy winner) with the Doobie Brothers. Trivia fact: guitar

soloist Jay Graydon (another Grammy winner) later went on to write and

produce for such notable performers as Al Jarreau, George Benson, and

Earth, Wind & Fire.

5) Home At Last

A clever re-telling of Homers Odyssey (Fagen was actually an English

major in college), this track is best known for Bernard Pretty

Purdies driving beat that became an instant classic among drummers (if

you can lay down the Home At Last groove, you can play drums!). Purdie,

who also played on Deacon Blues, was nearing the end of a career as a

first-call studio musician that began in the 50s and included some of

the most famous R&B hits of the 60s. It is also the only track on

this release to feature solos by both Donald Fagen and Walter Becker.

Trivia fact: careful listening will once again reveal Timothy B.

Schmits perfect backing harmonies.

6) I Got The News

While arguably the weakest track on the release, it never-the-less

features a solid groove and steller background vocals by the now

instantly recognizable Michael McDonald.

7) Josie

The other big hit off the release, this track is considered by some to

be a rock classic. It combines typically cynical lyrics with

outstanding guitar solos over yet another unique drum groove provided

by Jim Keltner, another first-call session drummer from the 60s &

70s (who played with members of Cream and the Beatles to name a few).

While the steady Chuck Rainey played bass on nearly every track, Aja features 6 different drummers on 7 tracks, unique even by todays standards.

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The versions I own:

US
1977
ABC
AA - 1006 - A
gatefold cover, lyric sleeve

US
1977
ABC
9022-1006-AX

Canada
1977
ABC
9022 - 1006 - A
red vinyl

Canada
1977
ABC
9022 - 1006 - A
yellow vinyl

Portugal
1978
ABC
MP9001

US
1980
Mobile Fidelity
MFSL-1-033-A 4 SR/2 ORTOFON 141 27-May-80
original master recording

US
1980
Mobile Fidelity
MFSL-1-033-A 4 SR/2 ORTOFON 142 27-May-80
original master recording

Germany
????
MCA
25046 A-1 /77 S

UK
????
Simply Vinyl
SVLP 0030 A-01-01-1
180g vinyl

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Hi Luther,

I have searched for months for the Simply Vinyl pressing and it is nowhere to be found. Please let me know how this pressing stacks up to it. I have the original pressing as well as the MOFI, so I will be curious of your impressions.

Mike

Let me get back to you this evening. I want to do some back to back of the MOFI and Simply Vinyl.

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I have a couple MOFI copies (one NM copy I found for a buck at the thrift shop a few weeks ago!) and I can't imagine any version sounding better although I've only owned that and the original. The album was HUGE when I was a senior in high school although I wasn't too fond of it back then.

I doubt I'd ever buy another copy but please let us know how the new one sounds. I've seen the ads but it never crossed my mind that it would top the MOFI (to my ears anyway).

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Luther,

Nice analysis. I can see you really appreciate Steely Dan. I always thought they were ahead of the recording curve way back when. I have all their albums...but on CDs. I also have several of Walter and Donald's solo albums which are excellent. Donald Fagan's NightFly, and Kamakiriad stick out. I always thought Kamakiriad was at least as good as any Dan album. Better than some.

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Great tjead Luther, you have always had great taste in music.

It came out in '77 when I would have been a Jr. in H.S. I seem to recall it came out in the summer because it is one of the first lp's I remember getting major pre-release promotion by way of TV ads. I mean there were TV commercials for KTEL Hits of the '60's, the original songs by the original artist, but I don't remember seeing tv commercials for an upcoming lp being released. That was the first lp I can remember them doing that on. I am sure there were others, but that is the first one I actually saw.

Another bit of trivia, the LP won a grammy, but not for the artists. As mentioned above, it was a technical masterpiece, it won a grammy for Best Enginer. It was recorded in the same fashion as Pet Sounds, in moduals at something like 5 seperate studios. It was super expensive to make, they would get 10 different people to track on guitar and pick one.

As far as editions of LP, I would think the MOFI would be best because of the vinyl quality, and then a really good original edition. If Simply Vinyl did not mess things up to much I bet that one is good too. The reason why I think a reissue would not be that much better is that Aja was mastered by the Genius at A&M. How hard to you think it was for them to get ABC to let them go to A&M to pay Bernie to master it for them? The thing was, as complex as that recording was, and layered as it was, he was probably the only guy in the country who could pull it off.

I doubt there is going to be much improvement in the mastering, there might be a tweek here or there with better equipment available now, but it is not like taking something that was mastered pourly to begin with that is going to see major improvement if someone else had another crack at the studio masters.

I am going to have to dig it out and play it tonight.

Travis

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Interesting timing. I came home from running errands on Saturday and my better half tells me a package arrived via UPS while I was out. Inside, were 4 new albums, one of which was the new AJA release. Although I don't own 9 copies like Wardsweb, I do own the original ABC release from 1977 and a copy of the CD. I only recently got back into vinyl and own a very humble Musichall MMF 5 table along with an even more humble record collection. I went to the man-cave to give a listen. Just then, my college student son came in and we decided to do a little A/B comparison. We played the original copy. Still in good condition and sounded great. A classic album with some of the best session players ever, as noted above. Next, the new copy. Not for anything, but the album cover is absolutely brilliant. Very heavy and the art is beautiful. Dropped the album on the TT and away we went. Even though the older copy may have some degredation from a thousand playings, the new release is...Outstanding. It is almost worth the price for the title track alone. The Wayne Shorter / Steve Gadd dual solo is simpy wonderful. We ended up listening to the whole album twice in a row. Overall impressions; bass is tight and focused, the horns are amazing, the soundstage is huge and background is dead black. I was reminded of why I got back into vinyl in the first place. If you like this album, IMHO...get a copy of this pressing.

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I was reminded of why I got back into vinyl in the first place. If you like this album, IMHO...get a copy of this pressing.

Based on that review, I think I just might. I would love to hear a comparison between that reissue and the MoFi. I thing the major improvement from the ABC original is going to be in that better raw materials are going to be used in the vinyl and the pressing is going to be better then the original. I can't wait to hear what Luther says between the latest, the MoFi and the Simply Vinyl

Travis

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One of my all-time faves as well. I've been trying to track down the new pressing on the local shelves but haven't found it. My iPod's name is Bad Sneakers by the way. And once again for all those who have never witnessed the awesomeness that is Yacht Rock HERE is the link once again. One of the funniest things I've ever seen. Watch 'em all...they're only 5 minutes each. Just click download or view next to each episode. Just a warning that there are curse words of the dirtiest kind.

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Just remembered! If anyone is familiar with the fantastic 33 1/3 series of books they have recently released one for AJA. I haven't read it yet but I have read about a dozen of these and every one(except for Led Zeppelin 4) has been excellent. I hear that the one on AJA focuses a lot on studio techniques and music theory but I'm sure there's a little bit of something for everyone in there.

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