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| Steely Dan Aja Record Album |
It was 1977. I was a senior in high school. Steely Dan released a new record called Aja, their follow up album to their critically acclaimed 1976 The Royal Scam record. Aja was a welcome alternative to the disco era tunes that flooded the airwaves. Yes kids, we listened to the FM radio for our music. We didn't have Ipod's and MP3 players.
The cover is basic black, with the title of the album, Aja, in red at the top right with the Steely Dan in white lettering below it. On the left, you have to look closely, is a picture of a Chinese woman's profile. A red and white ribbon streak down the center of the album.
Steely Dan is comprised of two music legends. Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. They are pictured on the bottom left side of the album jacket. There is plenty of liner notes written by Michael Phalen who was invited to observe a Steely Dan recording session and then to report back to a prominent European publication. Alas, things went sour as Fagen and Becker confiscated his tape recorder and notes once they learned who he was.
The liner notes continued on the right inside jacket. Oddly enough, the European publication went belly up before Phalen could publish his story. However, a year later, Fagen and Becker invited him to write the liner notes for their new album, Aja. He accepted and it is what you see here on the jacket.
Also part of the liner notes are from the president of ABC Records, Steve Diener. He touts how great and modern the album sounds.
The back cover of Aja is dressed in black with the song titles listed on the top left corner in white lettering.
Side One offered: Black Cow, Aja, Deacon Blues. Side Two offered: Peg, Home At last, I Got The News, Josie.
Peg was the song that got the most air time on the radio and made it to number 4, while Deacon Blues made it to number 11 and Josie made the top 20.
The dust cover contains all the lyrics from the album along with the musicians who assisted in creating the album.
Lyrics to the hit single Peg are below.
I've seen your picture
Your name in lights above it
This is your big debut
It's like a dream come true
So won't you smile for the camera
I know they're gonna love it
I like your pin shot
I keep it with your letter
Done up in blueprint blue
It sure looks good on you
And when you smile for the camera
I know I'll love you better
Peg
It will come back to you
Peg
It will come back to you
Then the shutter falls
You see it all in 3-D
It's your favorite foreign movie
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| Steely Dan Aja Album Lyrics |
LURKING AND ROCKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL
The good old days were good but music is better now w satellite, mp3 downloads, i-tunes, etc., and re-released recordings w/ digital Dolby that enhance this selection of masterful creativity...rated an a+ in 1977 and again in 2010.
ReplyDeleteListening to music today is by far superior to the last Millennium. Not the music itself. I remember AM radio listening to WHOT, 8-track tape players, reel to reel tape machines, and of course, the record player.
ReplyDeleteIt is a shame as I had forgotten about these records collecting dust in my basement. What brought back my interest was my original Glass Harp album, we were friends with Phil Keaggy.
Anyway, I dusted off the old Yamaha player, fired up the tuner, and plugged in the tower speakers and jammed in the basement to a few records that hadn't seen the light of day in decades.
It amazes me how few of the players in Steely Dan were actually members of the band. Don’t get me wrong, I love Steely Dan’s work for the first eight years of their career. But this group was dependent on outside talent to give flavor to their best songs.
ReplyDeletehttp://eightrackmind.wordpress.com/2010/07/25/a-band-of-session-players-steely-dans-catalog-p-1/
Thanks for the liner notes images. They are ALMOST big enough to read.
ReplyDeleteYou know you can copy that photo and then enlarge it on your screen to view the fully size.
ReplyDelete