In The Wall Street Journal this week, my essay on Steely Dan's first album, Can't Buy a Thrill, appeared in the paper's Arts in Review and online Opinion sections (go here). By the way, Universal will be reissuing all seven of Steely Dan's albums for ABC and MCA, remastered from the original tapes (in most cases) by Bernie Grundman. The first release, Can't Buy a Thrill, is out now on vinyl here.
As I wrote in the WSJ:
Released 50 years ago this month, “Can’t Buy a Thrill” features 10 songs salted with rock, soul, Latin, country, gospel and jazz influences. Despite not fitting into a specific music category, the eclectic LP with quirky solos and enigmatic lyrics climbed to No. 17 on the Billboard album chart. Now, Geffen/UMe has reissued the album remastered from the original tapes on 180-gram vinyl and CD. There are plans to do the same with the six other ABC and MCA albums by the band, now a favorite of millennials.
The album’s two hit singles—“Do It Again” and “Reelin’ In the Years”—reached No. 6 and No. 11, respectively, on Billboard’s pop chart, and the LP sold a half-million copies by May 1973. The record also launched a sophisticated jazz-pop sound that profoundly influenced rock producers and musicians, and upgraded adult-contemporary radio. Giving “Can’t Buy a Thrill” a boost in late 1972 and ’73 was a shift in demographics and technology. Higher college enrollment and the rise of FM radio and stereo stores transformed dorms into hives of new-music exposure. The band’s songbook about frustrated loners and scorned neurotics connected with students. Hippie bohemianism was out and underground hipsterism was in.
Here's Turn That Heartbeat Over Again, one of the album's most complex songs complete with jazz chords and as many melodic twists and turns as Horace Silver's Ecorah...
Also in the WSJ this week, I interviewed actress Annaleigh Ashford for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Annaleigh can be seen in the Hulu series Welcome to Chippendales as the wife of the male strip club's owner. In February, she will be co-starring and singing in Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd on Broadway.
Here's Annaleigh's amazing performance as Paula Jones in the FX TV series Impeachment...
Tuesday's the day. My new book, Anatomy of 55 More Songs, will be published on Tuesday, December 6. Please buy the book for yourself and as a gift for others. I promise you'll flip when you read it. There's so many mindblowers in there about the making of songs you know well. In addition to the secrets behind 55 songs, I've written new introductions to each one that sets the stage tells you what was going on at the time, why the song is important and how well it did as a hit. Go here.
While you're at it, my 2021 book, Rock Concert: An Oral History, will be out in paperback on the same day next week. So consider buying both and make someone's holiday season truly exciting and nostalgic. Go here.
SiriusXM. If you missed me on SiriusXM's Feedback last week with Nik Carter and Alan Light to talk about my new book, Anatomy of 55 More Songs, now you can listen for free here...
In Arizona in March? Come hear me speak at the Tucson Festival of Books on March 4 at 1 p.m. on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson. I'll also be doing a mass signing, so please stop by and say hello. I'm in great company, since some pretty amazing authors will be speaking at the festival. Go here for the authors list and here for more information about the festival.
Oscar Peterson. Following my post last week on pianist Oscar Peterson, I heard from Les Block.
Hi Marc, In 1982 or '83, I was playing piano at Charlie's Cafe, one of Minneapolis-St. Paul's top restaurants. All the out of town celebrities ate there. While I was playing, I noticed two tall men walk in and get seated. I couldn't see their faces from the piano bench. After my set and a break that followed, I returned to the stage and started my next set. About 15 minutes in, the captain of the waiters came over and whispered in my ear: "You might be interested to know that you've been playing for Oscar Peterson for the past hour."
I couldn't believe it. I went over to Oscar's table after my set and apologized to him for spoiling his dinner. He gave me a big smile and said, "The dinner was very good" He then said some nice things about my playing. As you can imagine, I've never gotten over that evening.
Sometime later I went to see Oscar with his trio at Orchestra Hall after his stroke . After his set, he took a break and returned to play the same set. He had no idea that he was repeating what he had played earlier, and his musicians had no idea what to do. They kept looking at each other, but the set went on until the end. I guess he might never have known. That was the last time I saw Oscar.
And this from tenor saxophonist Don Rice...
Hi Marc, I go back a long way with Oscar. In the 1950s, when he came to Omaha, Neb., to work a club, I was performing at a different club across town. On the first night of his run, I went over to hear him play with Ray Brown on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums. We all hit it off.
During the trio's run, they spent a lot of free time at our house. My wife cooked many late night goodies for us. On Sunday that week, they spent the day at our place watching football games. The relationship continued for many years.
On one of his tours through Omaha, his trio rehearsed at our house and Oscar taught me great changes on "Here's That Rainy Day." Whenever I play the song, I think of him. He could not have been more encouraging, complimenting me about my playing. My wife and I stayed in touch with Ed by mail, but at one point he moved to Europe and we lost contact.
Ray and I became very close. He and his wife, who I still talk to several times a year, came to the California desert to visit us. Ray and I would slip off to play golf before we all had dinner. Some years later, Ray came to play at a jazz club in Palm Desert. I played in a group that performed between sets, and we had dinner with him before he started. The next day, Ray called from the road to tell me I sounded really good. Such wonderful times.
I had a chance to see Oscar when he worked the Hollywood Bowl in one of his last appearances. My wife and I were given permission to go backstage after the concert. In my den, I have a great picture of Oscar and me taken by my wife. There was only one Oscar.
Here's Don playing When Love Disappears...
A bunch of photos...
Joe Lang sent along the above photo of Maynard Ferguson, left, followed by Willie Maiden and Jimmy Ford, with Maynard's band performing at Birdland, circa 1959 or 1960.
Photo above of Bud Powell at the piano with alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley looking on. I'm guessing this was taken during the recording of Don Byas's album A Tribute to Cannonball in Paris in December 1961. Give a listen to the alternate take of Cherokee, with Adderley working through the song accompanied by Powell (p), Pierre Michelot (b) and Kenny Clarke (d)...
Photo above of Shelly Manne at his jazz club, Shelly's Manne Hole.
Gilles D'Elia in Paris sent along the post-card photo above of Django Reinhardt on guitar and Fernand Clare on the clarinet that he found in Nice, France, among his grandparents' papers.
Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. Last week, Bill Kirchner sent along the following track of Wayne Shorter's Lester Left Town, with a handsome arrangement by Mike Crotty and solos by Ed Neumeister on trombone and Ralph Lalama on tenor saxophone at New York's Village Vanguard in 1988. [Photo above of Mel Lewis] Go here...
Wes Montgomery. Last week, after my post on guitarist Wes Montgomery, Kim Paris of the FM Radio Archive sent along the following...
Hi Marc. Thanks for your post this week on Wes Montgomery's 1965 performances in Europe. Wes was one of my favorite jazz guitarists. I happen to have a 1966 radio broadcast on the FM Radio Archive. The broadcast featured Wes with the Wynton Kelly Trio at the Penthouse in Seattle in 1966. These two, half-hour sessions were recorded for Jim Wilke's weekly jazz program, which was broadcast on KING-FM. Wilke would later join KPLU-FM, the local NPR jazz and blues station in the Seattle-Tacoma metro area. Jim hosted Jazz After Hours on KPLU for over 30 years. Go here.
Terry Teachout. Bill Kirchner sent along a link to a talk given by our late friend, critic and author Terry Teachout, in 2008. Go here...
Fishink, a British design blog, just re-posted about Helen Foster, an illustrator who heads a U.K. company called Rollerdog. Fabulous artist whose works appear on a wide range of products you can order. To read Fishink's Q&A with Foster, go here.
Ramsey Lewis—The Beatles Songbook (Steele). The last album that Ramsey Lewis recorded before he died in September was a tribute to the Beatles. He recorded it solo at his home in Chicago in 2020. Normally, I steer clear of Beatles songbook albums, simply because the Fab Four's music can't be duplicated. The energy and flavor of the originals are lost, and the result often sounds very bank lobby or cruise ship. But Ramsey's Fab Four album has a different feel, more interpretive and deconstructive with end-of-life rumination. There's a lot of blues here as well, which gives the music a fresh mood. Go here.
Here's Here's Ramsey's version of Rocky Raccoon...
Oscar Pettiford radio. On Sunday, from 2 to 7 p.m. ET, Sid Gribetz will host a five-hour radio tribute to the career of bassist Oscar Pettiford on WKCR-FM in New York. To listen from anywhere in the world to Sid's Jazz Profiles show, go here.
And finally, here's Britain's Hank Marvin and the Shadows playing Apache in 1960...
