Wednesday, June 29, 2011

who is the gaucho, amigo?

My Facebook friend Mike Doughty has me thinking about Steely Dan - apparently someone was attacking the Dan and Doughty was defending the Dan - as well he should.

There are so many reasons why Steely Dan is great. Here's just one reason: "Gaucho" the title track from their 1981 album.

The Dan is known for perfectionism and that reached its peak in Gaucho. According to Wiki:
Even though the session players hired for Gaucho were amongst the most talented from both the East and West Coast session fraternities, Fagen and Becker were still not satisfied with the basic tracks for some of the songs, particularly with regard to the timing of the drum tracks. In a 2006 interview for SOS Magazine, Donald Fagen stated that he and Becker told recording engineer Roger Nichols:

"'It's too bad that we can't get a machine to play the beat we want, with full-frequency drum sounds, and to be able to move the snare drum and kick drum around independently.' Nichols replied 'I can do that.' This was back in 1978 or something, so we said 'You can do that???' To which he said 'Yes, all I need is $150,000.' So we gave him the money out of our recording budget, and six weeks later he came in with this machine and that is how it all started."

According to Ken Micaleff in an article in Modern Drummer, the title song's drum track was assembled from 46 different takes. The drummer on the session, Jeff Porcaro, is quoted as saying:

"From noon till six we'd play the tune over and over and over again, nailing each part. We'd go to dinner and come back and start recording. They made everybody play like their life depended on it. But they weren't gonna keep anything anyone else played that night, no matter how tight it was. All they were going for was the drum track."


Steely Dan's horn arrangements do occasionally get a little brassy for my taste, and the opening of Gaucho is a case in point. But the melody of the song makes up for it and it's the piano that really drives the song.

Apparently Gaucho was "intended as a tribute to Jazz pianist Keith Jarrett." Jarrett sued, claiming Becker and Fagen ripped off his "Long As You Know You're Living Yours." And if you listen to it on Youtube you can definitely hear the similarities. Becker and Fagen settled out of court for a million dollars and co-writing credit for Jarrett.

But as much as I like both the Jarrett and the Dan tunes, what really makes this quite special is the subject: a gay casino owner's jealous relationship with his boyfriend.

Lyrics from the Steely Dan web site
Just when I say
"Boy we can't miss
You are golden"
Then you do this
You say this guy is so cool
Snapping his fingers like a fool
One more expensive kiss-off
Who do you think I am

Lord I know you're a special friend
But you don't seem to understand
We got heavy rollers
I think you should know
Try again tomorrow

Can't you see they're laughing at me
Get rid of him
I don't care what you do at home
Would you care to explain

Who is the gaucho amigo
Why is he standing
In your spangled leather poncho
And your elevator shoes
Bodacious cowboys
Such as your friend
Will never be welcome here
High in the Custerdome

What I tell you
Back down the line
I'll scratch your back
You can scratch mine
No he can't sleep on the floor
What do you think I'm yelling for
I'll drop him near the freeway
Doesn't he have a home

Lord I know you're a special friend
But you refuse to understand
You're a nasty schoolboy
With no place to go
Try again tomorrow

Don't tell me he'll wait in the car
Look at you
Holding hands with the man from Rio
Would you care to explain

Who is the gaucho amigo
Why is he standing
In your spangled leather poncho
With the studs that match your eyes
Bodacious cowboys
Such as your friend
Will never be welcome here
High in the Custerdome


So a straight male song-writing team got a song about a gay relationship onto Top 40 radio in 1980. That's just one example of Steely Dan's subversiveness.

Of course the Beatles had already pioneered this sort of thing, with the "tit tit tit" backing lyrics of Girl and "four a-fish and finger pie" of Penny Lane. But Gaucho is an excellent continuation of that tradition.

Listen: