World Famous Comics: Steely Dan: The Complete Guide To Their Music (Complete Guide to the Music of...)
Steely Dan: The Complete Guide To Their Music (Complete Guide to the Music of...)
By: Brian Sweet Publisher: Omnibus Press Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Omnibus Press Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 96 Publication Date: December 01, 2004 Release Date: December 01, 2004
Product Description: Updated and redesigned editions of the classic guides to the music of the world’s best known acts. Written by experts, each book examines every song in a given artist’s recorded repertoire, making it an invaluable guide for collectors and fans alike.
Not bad, but disappointing I think I've figured out why I found this book disappointing: it's not worthy of the works of Becker and Fagen. SD fans are a discriminating bunch, especially those of us who continued to follow them through the years. When we see a book with this title, we expect something pretty substantial, and this doesn't quite cut it. I devoured it, of course, being the SD fanatic I am, and enjoyed it, but even as I was devouring it, I couldn't help but notice: 1) a sometimes-amateurish writing style; and 2) a less-than-penetrating intelligence at work.
Then there's the fact that, as a musician, I'm really more interested in the music than the lyrics. I would have preferred less analysis of the lyrics (which, frankly, aren't always worth the bother of analysis) and more about the music and the musicians who made it. (Sure, SD's lyrics are several cuts above the norm, but even they have admitted that often they were more concerned with coming up with words that SOUNDED right with the music, and not all that concerned that they made a lot of sense.)
So, again, not a bad book, but the field is wide open for somebody to come along and write a definitive "Complete Guide."
Interesting but questionable. I bought the book, one: because I am a die hard Steely Dan fan, and two: it got me over the $25.00 mark to get free shipping, so I said what the heck. The author is on the mark on some things and on others I am amazed at his pomposity at writing as if he had been a fly on the wall while Becker and Fegan wrote some songs thiry plus years ago. Conjecture and fact are definitely blurred, but for the money it was a fun quick read.
A Superb Guide I liked this book, read it all in one evening. I recommend it heartily.
But, what gives, Omnibus Press, with the format? Was a working title for this Complete Guide series "the Complete Tiny Pocket Guide?" This is a mass-market paperback, sure, and not an exquisite leather-bound library volume, but why so small? Saving on paper stock and materials? And why when I open it up is the print so tiny? I mean, I'm a slowly aging hipster like most SD fans, but we're talking some seriously small print here. Note to editor: up-size future editions.
Author Brian Sweet knows his subject, his tiny bio on the back cover saying he's written the only SD bio in print and is an SD archivist and collector. I liked his smooth and familiar writing style, easy to read.
This book is the 2004 update to the original 1998 printing. This book goes up to Fagen's Kamakiriad, but doesn't cover Morph the Cat.
As others have made clear, this book is not really a complete guide. It's got all of the albums, in order, and track titles, but no full lyrics sheet. No full formal bios of exactly who did what on each track, but more than enough narrative on the principal musicians, especially the soloists. You've got a comprehensive vinyl and CD discography, with full catalog numbers, to include re-issues. And more than anything, every album track has its own paragraph. "Showbiz Kids," "Kid Charlemagne," "Peg," and "Gaucho" seem to get the longest write-ups, but without spoiling things that doesn't mean that author Sweet necessarily says these are the greatest-ever SD recordings. Some of my favorite tracks got disappointingly short attention, but Sweet was not dismissive of any of the work--he's a massive fan, and it shows.
I liked the chronological format, from Can't Buy a Thrill thru Everything Must Go. But wait, there's more! You get a rundown of Fagen's and Becker's solo projects, then following sections entitled "Miscellaneous/Compilations," "Early Material," "Live Albums," and finally "Outside Projects," outlining what Becker and Fagen do when they're not being SD (to include a list of Water Becker productions).
There's a nice intro on the front end, and a poorly executed index in the back. It's really a song index, that's all. These days, when all book drafts are digital, how hard is it to execute a comprehensive index? Especially given all of the locations, studio names, and musicians listed here, a real index would be some serious value-added for a small amount of effort and cost. Note to editor: do a proper index for the next edition.
The book reads easily and quickly, moving fast through a general introduction of each album, then notes on each track. You get details on producers and techs, musicians per track, and interesting philosophical and background snippets, such as how lyrics came to be, and where song ideas originated. You get the words to the repeating chorus of "Showbiz Kids," the meaning of "squonk," which song is a "love dope triangle," and which song is SD's "Stairway to Heaven," among a host of other delightful tidbits.
My favorite bits were the almost toss-off comments Sweet made about specific tracks, like saying how you never want "Black Cow" to end, or how Becker "decorates [What A Shame About Me] with serpentine bass lines and guitar noodles." As a fan reading the book, it was nice to read the compliments and enthusiasm of Sweet as another fan, and a seriously knowledgeable one at that.
And photos. There are two sets of photos, with a total of 29, which include color repros of all of the mainstream SD albums as well as disc 1 of Citizen Steely Dan: 1972-1980, Alive in America, Android Warehouse, and Showbiz Kids: The Steely Dan Story 1972-1980. There is a surprisingly good quotient of color photos, and they are good quality, glossy on good paper. Good on you, Omnibus, for decent photos.
Bottom Line: If you really dig Steely Dan and want to get to know a little bit more about how the band and the music came to be, this is a perfect way to do so. You can jump right to your favorite albums and tracks, and read up on how they came to be, what they were based on, what that instrument is in the right speaker background, and just what in the world they were saying in the board fade. Or you can read it chronologicaly and get the band's story as well as that of their magniificent work. This book is a great reference for the price, and is small and highly portable to boot.
Not quite what I expected This is not quite a 'complete guide' to Steely Dan's music. It does cover all of their songs and albums up to the pub date but I was hoping it would reveal the hidden meaning of many of the songs. It does for many but for many more it simply describes the musician who performed the more difficult or unusual piece within the song with no mention of intent or meaning (perceived or real). This is still a must get for Steely Dan fans but it is not quite as much as it could be. On the other hand it is a tiny, concise little thing and it IS about Steely Dan so what more can you say?
Every Steely Dan song treated like it's something special! As a huge Steely Dan fan, I was happy to see someone cover all of their songs in detail. The book covers the material chronologically, from the first album (Can't Buy A Thrill, 1972) up to the most recent, and possibly, last album (Everything Must Go, 2003). There is even an explanation of mysterious/unintelligible lyrics (the opening chorus from the song "Show Biz Kids") and a section on what Fagan and Becker were doing during their 20 year album hiatus (between 1980's "Gaucho" and 1999's "Two Against Nature"). Also covered are Fagan's solo albums (The Nightfly, 1982; Kamikiriad, 1993) and Becker's 11 Tracks of Whack (1993). I feel this book is the perfect compliment to Steely Dan's musical library!
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
