Steely Dan Pretzel Logic

These two concerts come from a period when the band were at the point of headlining their own concerts but shortly after these concerts the band decided to concentrate on studio recordings rather than concert performances.

Partly because of Donald Fagen's reluctance to sing onstage, partly due to he and Walter Becker's perfectionism, and partly because the pairs' compositions and arrangements were so complex - requiring all manner of studio hardware to reproduce - Steely Dan played very few live concerts during their early career, indeed by the middle of 1974 they had given up touring entirely. The one album they did promote on the road however was their third masterpiece, the enigmatically titles 'Pretzel Logic', released in the USA on February 20th 1974. The tour started on March 9th, and this CD features the complete second show played by the group, at the University Of California the following night.

The entire original KSAN, KMET, WBCN and KLLT FM Radio Broadcasts. Covering live performances from California & Tennessee (1974) and Missouri (1993).

This 1978 ABC set was issued to bide time between Aja and Gaucho. Despite the generous 18 tracks covering the 1972-1977 work, this didn't take on mythical proportions due to the fact that the band's separate albums all remained strong and the group's better moments weren't always the biggest hits. Despite the cavils, some great work is here. "Do It Again" and "Reelin' in the Years" both broadened what listeners expected from singles as Donald Fagen's ironic vocals were instantly singular and made all of the lyrics stick.

Most rock & roll bands are a tightly wound unit that developed their music through years of playing in garages and clubs around their hometown. Steely Dan never subscribed to that aesthetic. As the vehicle for the songwriting of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, Steely Dan defied all rock & roll conventions…