Babylon Sisters: Steely Dan's Masterpiece of Cynicism
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- Опубліковано 4 чер 2023
- I pulled a Walter Becker circa 1979 and got hit by a car so I made this little video about my favorite Steely Dan song. It ain't that deep and I don't want this to be considered a video essay but if people like it I may make more!
People often brush off Steely Dan as "yacht rock" simply because of the crystal sounds of Aja as well as its blissful subjects. It is such an album, yes, however Steely Dan has always been much more sardonic than to play such a concept straight. Which is why when Gaucho rolls around, though the sound is just as crystal, it feels like the yacht got set on fire, the ship sunk, and now everyone is on the lifeboats waiting. It's a wonderfully dark take on what came before and made for a more than fitting end to their catalogue until the reunion. Babylon Sisters is a perfect opener for this, but every next track follows suit even more perfectly.
I appreciated Steely Dan a lot more after Nightfly. Went back to listen to more of their less popular music… also gained an appreciation for Brubeck and 60’s jazz.
"Blissful subjects"????? Just goes to show you most people don't hear the lyrics I guess
@@JimAllen-Persona He's an artist...a pioneer
@@starving_autist Agreed - Just about the largest quantity of irony you'll hear in any lyrics ever!
“Everything Must Go” in 2003 was the true end of their catalog now that Walter has died. It didn’t receive nearly the same amount of recognition as “Two Against Nature” but in my opinion (and the opinion of most Steely Dan superfans) it’s easily as good as “Two Against Nature” and remains the most underrated album in their history. The songs on EMG are more carefully crafted and concise than on TAN, the playing is of course equally as good just like with anything these guys release, but it also has some edge to it that I feel TAN was lacking. It also saw a return of Becker and Fagen being more involved in the actual playing on the album whereas on Aja and Gaucho and to a lesser extent Two Against Nature, they were both perfectly happy to put down their instruments and have a seasoned studio pro or jazz player track the parts. The song in this video, “Babylon Sisters” is a perfect example because if you look at the credits, neither Becker or Fagen play an instrument on the song. They wrote it of course but other than Donald’s vocals they don’t participate. On “Everything Must Go” Walter plays bass on every song, something he hadn’t done on a Steely Dan album since the very first one way back in ‘72. He also plays all of the guitar solos on the songs that have one and even makes his debut as a lead vocalist on one tune. Donald participates in every song playing a wide variety of keyboards (organs, acoustic and electric pianos, etc) and takes of ton of solos himself, all on synthesizers. He’s even credited with percussion on a few tracks and he also arranged the horns on the album, a task that was usually left to a pro arranger like Tom Scott, Michael Omartian, or Rob Mounsey on all of the previous albums. I’m not sure what the impetus was for them wanting to be more involved with the playing but whatever the reason, it resulted in a really great album that not enough people seem to dive into. Sorry for the long post, I got on a roll there and just kept going
Their composition skills are simply jaw dropping. I sometimes forget to even listen to the lyrics so amazed at the progressions and melodies just rolling out from their recordings. Their music will live a long, long time, likely taking its rightful place in the great American songbook. Just timeless and brilliant.
Absolutely agree
Although I suspect they're a lot harder to play than most Great American Songbook tunes: not so many of those easy, convenient ii - V7 - I changes or hummable melodies. Or, for that matter, any straightahead "I love you" lyrics at all. For Don + Walt, I think, it was always more about Beat Poetry set to the Great American Real Book than anything in the Great American Songbook.
You're absolutely right 👌
"Tell me I'm the only one"
Is a line perfectly placed and delivered. The background singing part makes this one of the Dan's premier masterpieces.
Out the corner of my eye
I saw you in Rudy's
you were very high
you were high
I know it's the album Aja from earlier but it's just a great example of seemingly simple lyrics that convey so much emotion and so much cynicism yet so artistic and such a catchy beat.
Walter Becker you are sorely missed and we will never forget you.
It was a crying disgrace.
@@rthepunk a ha.
You got the Dan
I always thought that the middle age loser was trying to stay relevant by hooking up with wild younger chicks (so fine, so young). He was trying to prove to himself and to his friends that he still had it in him even though his friends didn't "go for that cotton candy" (sweet sticky thangs). His friends warn him "son your playing with fire" but he goes for it anyway despite the danger.
As he and the girls are driving west down Sunset Blvd. to their rendezvous point, he feels a generation gap (like in Hey 19) with their taste in music when (like the old man that he's become) asks them to "turn that jungle music down just until they're outta town." He prefers that smooth, easy music like the song itself we are hearing. Then to show us just how deep of a mess our protagonist has gotten himself into, multiple women sing in harmony and plead with him to "Tell me I'm the only one." "Now he watches his bridges burn, to the point of no return..."
Your interpretation is way closer than the narrator’s.
Self realization in writing lyrics is so important to a songwriter
@@thehypnoticdog6682uh, that’s why Becker/Fagen are songwriters who paints imaginary characters with their lyrics.
No one seriously believes JR Tolkien was writing about himself with LOTR and Hobbit, right?
Unless you’re listening to what they say is a autobiographical work (eg Becker’s solo album, “11 tracks of whack”, which also has fantasy characters (Hat Too Flat), but mostly features personal episodes in his life, eg Surf &/or Die, a lyric based on a family friend who died in a hang gliding accident in HI. Little Kawai, Cringemaker, This Moody Bastard, Junky Girl, Down at the Bottom, are also more personal, if not self-reflective).
This is exactly what I thought as well (not that it matters). Song about age gap among other things. Candy = younger ladies, not drugs IMO
That's bang on exactly how I interpret those lyrics.
I met Bernard Purdie and heard him play live at my friend’s jazz club in New Bern North Carolina. At 84, Mr Purdie is still the master of the drums! Such a cool guy too.
Was he Pretty? I'll bet he is still Pretty. (And lucky you meeting the man!)
@@raywalsh9152 he is so effervescent! When you talk with him you know his is genuine. He and his wife are just delightful people.
You done it! You done hired the hit maker, Bernard Pretty Purdie
Nobody else like The Dan.
Never has been,never will be.
Its own class and level of music .
Led Zeppelin opened up the world of hard rock to the masses and Steely Dan brought us..... well,brought us what they brought us.
Awesome amazing musicians, minds and personalities
Danism
I love when Dan commentary vids show up on UA-cam as well as the fine comments by the watchers. They were so great. Lots of good memories.
I agree. No band quite sounds like them or ever will imo. Are they more rock? Jazz? Fusion? I dunno. They just ARE. Still one of my favorites!
@@aarongoff1111 Yep.
Great music.
Babylon Sisters and The Royal Scam are my favourite Dan lyrics. I especially love this passage:
Well, I should know by now
That it's just a spasm
Like a Sunday in T.J.
That it's cheap but it's not free
That I'm not what I used to be
And that love's not a game for three.
So TJ is Tijuana I assume?
@@maddierosemusicyes
A few years ago I was in LA driving down sunset and decided to drive it to the sea (a long winding drive) and I pulled up this song and cranked it up over and over. Great time.
Sounds amazing. I, however, find myself cranking up the Dan either on my 40 minute drive to work or home, through corn and soybeans, in North Central Indiana. Not nearly as glorious a drive as Sunset to the Sea, but the music is still phenomenal!
@@raywalsh9152 I hear ya, I actually live in western Ohio surrounded by corn and soybeans. I was stationed close to LA in the 80's, have a son that lives out there so I visit a lot. Nice place to visit but I don't miss living there.
I did that in 2020!
I grew up just a mile north of Sunset (West of the 405), so ‘West on Sunset’ was the way to get to Jr. High, High School, or snag a ride to the beach. 60’s West L.A. was pretty awesome. Much different these days…
I had to do the very same thing when I was last in LA. From Sunset Boulevard at UCLA to the ocean. The languid feel of the song with an almost reggae back beat perfectly complements the snake like shimmying following the winding road down.
Have loved SD from the mid 70s. The langu
Aja is one of the few Perfect albums, and the title track is a classic that'll still be popular centuries from now.
Best album ever made? For me.....yes.
That was my first Dan album and _is_ indeed a perfect record. 👍
Yet it's more of a spectator piece that I stand in awe of; it doesn't have a distinctive "feel" to me the way the considerably flawed _Can't Buy A Thrill_ does. It haunts me _days_ after hearing.
Aja is Steely Dan at their most optimistic.. Black Cow is one of the few examples of a narrator in a SD track making decisions to improve and make a positive change in his/her life - the narrator leaving the person who’s mess they have been cleaning up for too long. He/she is breaking the cycle, they can’t cry anymore. Compare that to Babylon Sisters, where the narrator doubles down on his destructive behaviour, caught in an indefinite loop of pursuing shallow hedonism. To the point of no return.
This is top notch! Your style, your content and even your commentary, puts this over-the-top. Very professional. Keep going.
Wow, thanks! Since this got such a good response I think I’m gonna do more steely dan videos in the future!
It's off base and inaccurate.
@@15centsmedia85 PLEASE DO!!
I bought Gaucho when I was in college in 1980.
I moved to LA in 1989.
Only when I moved to LA, actually drove "west on Sunset to the sea...", and experienced those "Santa Ana winds again" did I truly understand this masterpiece.
Loved them from the 70s
Wished for a live show until ‘94
I have seen them in 4 states over 30 times!
Super job on this piece!! 🙏🏻thank you X1000
"I have seen them in 4 states over 30 times!"
In the immortal word of Napoleon Dynamite ... "Luuuuuckyyy!"
The horn arrangement is gorgeous!
Great video essay! Love the use of clips from their live outings, adds a lot to the video.
Babylon Sisters is probably my favorite Steely Dan song! Excellent analysis of this amazing song!!!
Soundtracks of my life!!
MY FAVORITE BAND
I'm a huge Dan fan. I liked your analysis, it have me a deeper appreciation of that song and it's meaning.
My favorite SD song. It just occurred to me that for at least a year, my homemade SD CD has been the only CD in my car, and every time I drive somewhere, I choose track 13, and listen to that opening Perdie groove.
I remember clearly the afternoon when I was visiting a friend (in NZ) and we sat down and listened to this record shortly after its release. Still my favourite Steely Dan record, the songs pretty much all have a sort of 'film noir' undercurrent and the arrangements and playing are impeccable. I can certainly 'feel' the cynicism that true blue New Yorkers might feel towards LA running thru it - of the 2 cities (that I have only visited a couple of times albeit for a good few weeks each time connecting with studios, record companies and so on) I loved NY and LA left me completely cold - shallow and vacuous . . . you picked my fave song to comment on!
I agree with you! LA was very underwhelming when I visited. And wow what a great story, always love hearing from people what it was like when the music was first released. Great to share those memories!
@@15centsmedia85 Cheers! It was Sept. 1981 first time round. I managed to visit the studio where Gaucho was recorded and had a nice chat with the engineer who was in there - lovely room!
People think LA is the beach. The real LA is the mountains.
I arrived in the LA basin just as Donald and Walter were fixin' to leave. Understanding their take on it helped me to keep from falling so deep into the basin I couldn't get out. I left California for good after about 20 years of it, so I'm not squeaky clean -- fifteen years in Santa Barbara, a distillation of LA that looks prettier and is a lot meaner because of how much more it fools you into believing you want to stay. Your commentary is sharp and witty, and you picked one of my Dan favorites to highlight.
Well Redrock was over the hill and Henry's Beach was the place. Lived there right after the B of A was left burning in I V.
@@tixximmi1 Hendry's, as I recall. I got to SB a lot later than you. I.V. was just a rec room for the college kids. Prolly then, too.
@@danieljulian4676 I moved there a week out of High School in '71. Parents had a furniture store there for many years. We lived across the street from Sam Basttistone. Even helped out at his place down by Stearns wharf. (Sambo's)
@@tixximmi1 That Sambo's may even have still been there when I first got to SB, but it was gone by the time I left. During my days, there was a great breakfast spot, The Cajun Kitchen, with several restaurants around the area. Top notch chile verde 'n' eggs with flour tortilla. It may still be a thing, there.
Very interesting. I've been a fan for 40 years, but the lyrics of many songs are a mystery to me.
I suspect only Donald Fagen and Walter Becker know the true meaning to all the lyrics.
I think that’s the idea, you try to understand the references and make you own decisions, they are unique
There is (or possibly was) a class at Berklee dedicated solely to the lyrics of Steely Dan. I would have LOVED to been in it!
I can remember back in the '70s being in high school trying to figure out what the songs meant fast forward a couple of decades and they released two against nature which is probably my favorite steely Dan album ever and the first time I heard it I was listening to the words trying to figure out what they mean and it occurred to me I've been doing this for 50 years
Always thought Steely Dan lyrics could be a college elective class.
its my favorite too, gets stuck in my head so often
Always felt like The Dan grew up with me, rather than the other way around. They were never my favorite band, but always right up there, making incredible indelible music that has certainly stood the test of time.
I been always amazed on how well crafted and good sounding these guys were, with the rotating cast of musicians 😊
My favorite song from this album. So much to like: rich, haunting Rhodes, lush horns, the dark poetry of the lyrics, and on and on. Enjoyed your analysis - thanks. Good luck with your recovery!
Great music. I never tire of the Dan. Unique.
Fell in love with the song when I first heard and it's still my favorite from the band.
See, I always thought cotton candy was younger girls. "Son, you're playing with fire" always caught me at that point. That's interesting. Very good take on this, though. Thanks!
It’s a beautiful track. One of my favourites.
I have all their Albums…they’re the best. Will listen to their music till my last day….👍👍
That was a great retrospective on this song. I really like the narration and how you offered your take on what the lyrics may have been about, particularly about Los Angeles.
Thank you. The great thing about their songwriting is how the lyrics could be perceived in many different ways. Just my take on it but I’m glad people have responded warmly to it.
This is very well done. About a great song that almost wasn't! So many takes!
One of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands. Thanks for the backstory. It was really interesting. And will make all future listening that much more fun
I got hit with a huge ball of nostalgia when "Reelin' " started playing; it got stuck in my throat....
This commentary is exceptionally insightful. By 1980 Steely Dan had indeed come to the end of the line in LA and they pretty much skewered the place in this song as their farewell. Many listeners don't fully grasp the subtlety of their message, but their musicianship and production standards come through with the usual Steely Dan brilliance. A real masterpiece.
Great presentation. Than you!
Was a great song always played in Sunday Jazz place i hung out in during the late 80's.
I heard this song late and it rings in my ears monthly - it has so much.
Yeah, very good. I still have my original copy, and put it on late at night. Listen to any track and it's a masterpiece (my personal favourite is Glamour Profession, for it's driving beat and sound in space). 😎
God I LOVE Glamour Profession! Absolute perfection to a noir/trash lit narrative.
when i first herd Glamour Profession it reminded me of that HOLLYWOOD ERA rediscoverd again by the La hippies in mid 70s. here in Phx az. it gave an excuse mostly women to go Babylon and get into the film and modeling but most of them got stuck slinging hash or being ask to do porn. Yes such a dreamy tune, yet we still no glamure existed only for the lucky few even in the 70s.
Awesome commentary about one of my favorite groups.
Always been one of my favorite Dan tunes. Thanks for highlighting it. I dig the entire Gaucho album as well. A shame about that erased track.
A musical reflection of a stage of life that feels like nothing but grasping for something, anything. Always found this catchy in a backdoor way.
5:40: I’ve heard it said that perhaps the Babylon Sisters are the cities of L.A. and San Francisco. Both earthquake-prone (shake it!), and that the multitude of pursuits in the song could apply equally to both cities
Absolutely love this idea as well. I hope in my video I don’t come across as selling my interpretation as the right one. The songwriting is so rich that there are so many ways to take it.
I believe your interpretation of 'cotton candy' being drugs is not correct. Given the context, it's pubic hair.@@15centsmedia85
Great review, i completely agree. Having bought every Dan album the day it was released in the UK and playing them continuously, Goucho and Royal Scam are standouts for me. Caves of Altameira never gets old. Thank you!
Very well made video, great work!
Thanks!
Steely Dan is more of a jazz band from back in the 50s like Monk or Trane's bands with Becker and Fagan being the constants. You can also see that in how they were the studio perfectionists, it was in the arrangement of the song and album order. Rush & Pink Floyd both being other "album bands" but from different genres.
When you have 4 or 6 different studio guys playing guitar on your album because each one of them is a super tight fit for a single track or section of a song.
Not sterile. Well recorded so that the 'art' is as clear as it can be.
Is that Ray Cooper playing in the background at 7:00? Very energetic!
True art always finds a way❤
Man, it's AWESOME to hear at 2:00 the demo version of I Got The News!
Haha, awesome hearing Stand By The Seawall in the background!! 😁
Also, Have you heard new release of 'The Second Arrangement' tape from Cimcie Shares All??
They already were top notch songwriters - then they took high fidelity to heights previously unheard of.
That was because of Roger Nichols, and Ben Schnee. Aja is the finest engineered album ever created on vinyl. It is as close to sound perfection as you can get.
These guys are years beyond our time now!
one of my fav hi-fi test records !...
Things I miss the most.
The talks , the sex, somebody to trust
Love STEELY DAN ❤️
Fagen and Becker were Lit Major at Bard College. They present a 2 hour movie in a 5 minute song. Gaucho seemed like a letdown after Aja, but then nothing has surpassed Aja.
I am one of those Dan Fans that prefer Gaucho to Aja. Both are spectacular and neck and neck quality wise, but Gaucho just feels special to me.
@@89Firegod My favorite of their albums is The Royal Scam. If you sort of squint, you can detect a loose concept about the Caribbean on some the songs. My favorite song of all time is on it, "Kid Charlemagne." That being said, Aja is probably their masterpiece. It's funny, but just yesterday I listened to Gaucho all the way through. Steve Kahn's solo on the ending of "Glamour Profession" is fantastic.
the lost it after Pretzel Logic. Gaucho is a classic also. Aja was to polished. No heart. And then by then they were doing 1000's of edits.. which is at that level the same as todays programmed music.
Gaucho is my fave Dan album. I prefer it to Aja. And I actually prefer Royal Scam to Aja. Nothing wrong with Aja, but Gaucho has something extra imo. It was a great way for Fagen and Becker to sign off and take a break for a few years. Even if Becker wasn't all that involved with the album.
Like a Sunday in TJ
What is your favorite Steely Dan song, not easy. Better to go with best on each album, yet mine won't be yours. It's why the Dan is so great, it's personal. If I was only given one choice it would have to be Babylon Sisters. A playlist of obscure gems is a listening joy, so here are my 'best of' picks before Gaucho:
'Only a Fool Would Say That', 'Razor Boy', "Any Major Dude Would Tell You', 'Your Gold Teeth II', 'The Caves of Altamira', and finally 'Home at Last'.
I got to see them perform at Desert Sky Pavilion in Phoenix in '93 - YES! 🤩 - and when they did this song, every time they sang "Shake It" the guy sitting next to me would stand up and shake his booty! The whole event was surreal to me because, like many, I have been a Dan fan since a pretty young age. Seeing them perform live was literally a dream-come-true. Maybe it was partly an effect of my own euphoria but the booty-shaking neighbor sent me into a case of the giggles and hard as I tried I couldn't stop laughing. So unfortunately, I missed a great deal of seeing Steely Dan perform Babylon Sisters live...just the same, it was certainly one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life! To 15CentsMedia: Thanks for the video, brought back such great memories! My only critique - and it's really just nitpicking! - maybe turn down the music volume just a tad more when you are speaking so we can more easily hear your commentary - which was excellent! I just found myself straining a bit at times to catch it all, but then I'm old - could just be I'm going deaf? 😝 I do hope you will do more, and again, a big thanks for the time you put into creating and sharing this with the Dan Fam! Hope you are healing up well!!
Thank you so much for your wonderful story and advice. I also count myself as one of the lucky ones to have seen Babylon sisters live but had I experienced what you did I probably would’ve missed some of it too! And as to more videos about the Dan… well I guess to that I’ll say I may have to Do It Again
@@15centsmedia85 hahaha...yes! Go back, Jack! Do it again! ...Good one. 😁
What a trip bands of talents collected by Becker n Fagen over centuries of time have made the sound so damn good with selection of worlds talent musicians,u just can’t get it all in one session you’ll have ta fumble through yrs to really get the piece your hung on then they’ll put up something better to attach to ,then it’s gone or at least half , Please RIP Walter you’ll have an after life forever through tones of gray sound to bright skyline tunes
I’ve loved and followed SD since the 70’s, many of my friends just didn’t “get them” and unfortunately still don’t. The complaint was usually they couldn’t classify what kind of music it was; Was it Rock n Roll, or Smooth Jazz, or just what was it? I think that’s the beauty of their music, it’s just really complex, yet masterful arrangements. The sounds Fagen and Becker put together are beautiful technical music that still wow me today when I listen to their music from 50 years ago! I’m sad that I will never again see Walter and Don on the same stage, but so glad they got to do what they loved. They’re a one of a kind band and at least in my opinion, their music will live forever.
Excellent, excellent assessment!
Thank you!
now I know why I love this song!
First time I ever heard those guys, the first line of the song goes "In the morning you go gunning for the man who stole your water" (Do It Again). Love at the first WTF.
wowwwwwww, thanks for this!!! great ideas!!!!!!
My favorite Steely Dan song ever.
This is pretty good. One of my favorites as well. You might take a listen to "only a fool would say that". Lyrically, they apprehend the working class rejection of progressive idealism we are witnessing today. "Kid Charlemagne" has been done well by others already.
If you're saying Babylon Sisters doesn't have complex chord changes, you're not listening. It's hardly a 3 or 4 chord special. The song is harmonically dense, there are quite a few chords, and it moves thru a number of key changes. It's not that different from many other Dan tunes in that regard. Maybe just a little more sneaky in the way it snakes thru the progressions propelled by that seductive half time groove, with a nice hint of chucka chucka reggae rhythm guitar.
As for the lyrics, I always thought it was about a white guy's fascination with getting it on with young women of colour. Babylon being a Rastafarian cum Biblical reference to the black diaspora, created by the slave trade. And "Don't go for that cotton candy" does not seem to be a drug reference, but a warning from friends to not mess around with these kind of girls (is the cotton candy a reference to their hair texture?) as it will probably not end well. That's my take anyway.
This has long been my choice if I had one record to have on a desert island. While watching my bridges burn ...
I am an honest Fan of Steely Dan . I have some very fond memories pinned to their music . As we recently lost Walter . Love all the Musician's that worked with Donald & Walter. Thank You Donald. I wanted to add . Can you play the entire track that your Talking about ? .
They were masters of cynicism & tongue in cheek self abasement. That's why I'll always love the Dan!
They have made so much great music, but Babylon is so good and easy listening.. Aja was amazing also... RIP Walter...
First time hearing it was at the end of the decade, in boot camp for the Air Force, on a quiet Sunday when someone's radio was playin, and I hear this song with all these chords jumping all over the place; sounding like IGY on steroids! When it gets tot he chorus, I recognize it as one of those strange titles I had seen on the albums. Yesh, this is perennially them, and like the culmination of where they had gone with Aja
1:50 “I Got The News” alternate take/demo in the background? Nice…
I saw them at River bend in 1992, i believe it was 92 ? But, I am sure i was there! My all time favorite performers.
Babylon Sisters my fav too.
Great essay! I agree with all of it.
Steve Kahn gets such a glassy tone, love it.
Credit to engineer Roger Nichols who according to legend was as obsessive about studio perfection as Fagen and Becker.
Love it bro, I always thought the cotton candy was young woman. Too young as in Hey 19. Cheers!
I want to leave a comment, too! I like steely Dan. They were intelligent musicians. Hooray for comments! We all know everything.
I always forget Donald and Walter were on the best Taxicab Confessions episode ever!
in what cavern does a cross stick sound so dry, huh?
Excellent! I am reading Quantum Criminals last night page193 about Babylon Sister to try to get some understanding about the song. It was very informative but complicated (didn't help that I kept playing Babylon Sisters over and over while reading it) But needless to say: Your presentation was so much more easy to understand, Thank You! Make More........
You can't listen to the music while reading, QC. There is too much to be distracted by. The music, story in the song, text of analysis, and contemplating the images in the song. It's too much for the mind.
Thank you! Hope you are enjoying the book though, I need to read it soon.
I've been wanting to order it but every time I check Amazon it's out of stock. Glad someone got a copy at least.
I loved the Dan! I can't imagine what it would be like to be a musician, especially perfectionists like them. Working on the same piece of music for hours and hours and hours and hours. It would drive me mad. After like the fourth take, I'd be like, "f' it, its a wrap!".
I realy like it too !
What's that song in the background around 1.55 ? That another demo i don't know about?
I Got The News demo from the Katy Lied sessions. Much different from the track on Aja.
Basically Donald and Walter are geniuses!! ❤
The volume between some of the cuts is very drastic!
Steely Dan aged like fine wine. Their early stuff is great, but their stuff from Aja onwards is next level.
Who among us hasn’t dabbled with the cotton candy from time to time?
@3:30 First mention of Babylon Sisters
@4:07 Really gets started on Babylon Sisters
Jeff Porcaro's drums is on Babylon Sisters.
Actually, it’s Bernard Purdie on Babylon Sisters.
I'm amazed the record could sound as good as it did after the tape had been run so many times for the mixes.
Whoa. Saw my video clips. Did not expect that. 7:59
Chuck Rainey and Bernard Purdy were one of the tightest rhythm sections in music history.
"The most steely Dan to become steely Dan. " hilarious
Your description of Purdie's 'Babylon Sisters' intro sounding "cavernous" almost gives me the impression that you've never heard the record before. As dry sounding 70s records go (and 1980 is technically part of the 70s), this one leads the pack. No reverb. But hey, maybe the wise guy who put all that reverb on 'La Grange' got ahold of YOUR copy of 'Gaucho' and gave it the cave. No go listen to 'When The Levee Breaks' and tell us how dry and claustrophobic it sounds.