When I used to live in the "German Studies house" -- it used to be the "Southeast Asia house," until it got overrun by Stanford grads who read Habermas day and night -- my housemate Mike would scoff at me for listening to Steely Dan. "Look at them!," he'd say, pointing to the photo in the Columbia House catalog of the long-haired musicians in a studio. (Mike listened to the Stone Temple Pilots, so what did he know.) At any rate, Steely Dan was one of my first conduits to jazz, believe it or not (except for a recording of "Budo" on a record my folks owned); their version of Duke Ellington's "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" -- made me seek out the original.
But back to the song on my list: "Kid Charlemagne" sounds like it's starting in the middle -- a little instrumental passage between stanzas, or the middle of a drug bust. Whatever it is, it works: the song drops you right into a seedy, sun-soaked, coke-fueled, sour-tasting hangover of a scene, populated by "Day-Glo freaks" and "low-rent friends."
What makes the song most memorable for me are the two all-too-brief soaring guitar solos unleashed by Larry Carlton (and drums by Bernard Purdie!), particularly the one that still echoes in the ears of the listener on the way out. That and the unforgettable couplet, bracketed in the last verse (and sung by Donald Fagen with a half-faltering note that makes it sound like undisguised joy) for maximum effect:
"Is there gas in the car?
Yes, there's gas in the car."
Sometimes it's just the slightest detail that turns a song into a masterpiece.
Posted by the wily filipino at August 31, 2003 09:07 AMI always thought KC was a shot @ Owsley and his acid production, it was the best in town, with all the references to SF, alchemy, etc.
Posted by: Pat on February 2, 2004 01:11 PMIt is about Owsley!!! I just had that particular epiphany last night watching a performance of it on VHI, and it clicked, and the lyrics are brilliant! They're shaved down to just enough of the bare essence necessary to deliver the entire scope of a generational legend with perfect poetic precision. Even sometimes when the slick jazz fusion of Steely Dan's sound gets to be a little too much, I continue to be inspired by Fagen's lyrics. Don't get me wrong, I still dig the band, but I think the lyrics are the bacon in their BLT.
Posted by: Dan on May 6, 2004 01:59 PM