Friday July 10,2020 “Black Friday” Steely Dan
You’re going to think differently about this song when you find out what Donald Fagen was writing about.
The name Steely Dan came from a sex toy referenced in the William Burroughs book Naked Lunch according to band founders Donald Fagen and Walter Becker which they claim to have arrived at quickly assuming that: a) no one would be familiar with the reference; b) like all their previous bands this one would break up shortly and it wouldn’t really matter.
Fagen & Becker always used a variety of studio musicians when they recorded albums/cds, in fact they employed more than one hundred of them over the span of seven ventures. Among the notables they included were: Jeff Porcaro (Toto), Michael McDonald (Doobie Brothers), Rick Derringer (McCoys, Edgar Winter Band), Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter, Larry Carlton, Steve Gadd and Lee Rittenour among many others.
Chevy Chase even played drums in one of their earlier college bands called, perhaps appropriately, “Bad Rock Band’. Right after the ‘Bad Rock Band’ adventure Fagen and Becker hit the road to play in the Jay and the Americans tour band, if you can imagine that stretch.
According to Fagen, today’s song is about the original ‘Black Friday’ back in 1869 when a group of wealthy investors tried to corner the gold market purchasing as much gold as they could but when the government discovered the plan they flooded the gold market collapsing the price and clobbering the investors.
Stay safe and well… and ‘catch the grey men as they dive from the 14th floor’
