|
|
Ghosts of Jam Bands Past
Steely Dan- A Jam band?
by Nils Hallberg
Edited by Sister Mary Carmen
Steely Dan - the outstanding wonder of skill and perfection - do they really have anything at all to do with jamming?
Early recordings by the dynamic duo Donald Fagen and Walter Becker clearly gives us a good example of how musical ideas can live and prosper within a given, static framework of a song. Later on, this ability became the trademark of Steely Dan. Vividly living ideas blooming on a restricted area, never taking off in an unexpected direction unless planned so. Although quite adventurous from time to time, the road map's always close at hand and all passengers are safely buckled up. Their music always contained extraordinary solos, but it was never built around the solos the way jam based music usually is.
Still, Steely Dan's contribution to the development of today's jam band scene is obvious when you take a closer look.
What are the two things all jam bands have in common?
1. They know how to throw an interesting jam, which of course isn't hard to figure out! But there is more to it than that. In order to make a jam band work, there has to be interaction between the band members in ways different from what's usual in "ordinary" bands. Instead of learning all the songs by heart, they have to learn how to follow the heart, and that makes the creative process much more intricate. Extraordinary jam bands even manage to set their personal egos aside for the sake of the unanimous musical mind within the band. Not only do they have to be skillful musicians; they also need to know their musical past, present and (partly) future, which brings us to number...
2. They've got to be able to blend different musical styles and ideas in order to create something new. Mind-bending solos created in the heat of the moment sure are essential for this kind of music, but the environment where these solos take place is even more important. Knowledge about, and true understanding for, different musical genres therefore is required.
When reading articles on jam bands this ability is always mentioned as if it's the easiest thing to do. Example: "On the second album by The X Band we can clearly hear how the band has improved since the last album. A wide range of musical styles, spanning from jazz to folk, are represented on this album. What really is worth mentioning however are the extraordinary solos by lead guitarist... etc".
This is where Steely Dan comes into the picture. They were among the first bands that really let a wide variety of totally different influences shine through at all times. What might seem cool, slick and uninteresting at first, usually, when given a second chance, turns out to be a marvelous mixture of vibes from all over the world. Shadows from the past combined with hints of what's yet still to come. Different musical worlds joining forces side by side in the same song. Everything always topped with a good portion of "Zappa like" irony.
The ability to mix influences is what makes a jam band stick out from the mainstream. If mainstream rock/pop music is ordinary plain potatoes, jam music is a tasty stew where opposite elements of taste, sometimes against all odds, manage to match perfectly in the end. You find that you like it, and no matter how hard you try to resist, you simply have to have some more.
Steely Dan is definitely one of the basic ingredients in that stew. They were all about mixing influences, making them work side by side in a way they hadn't done before. Today there's nothing strange about this approach, but how was it back in 1972? Steady back-beat drums, heavily dominated by a straight feeling rhythm guitar and an out of line jazzy piano - together creating what could have been described as a Latin sound - if it wasn't for a very odd bass line combined with a hard rocking solo - on electric sitar, which makes it sound more like... well...yeah! Unlike other more jazz-oriented bands at the time, Steely Dan managed to bring their music to a pretty wide audience, and they did get a lot of airtime on the radio during the 70's and early 80's. Most of their best-selling hits seem to be pretty basic mainstream productions for an unobservant ear, but behind the wall of a sometimes almost too polished sound, the groove often is fierce. Maybe its Donald Fagen's distinct nasal voice and the laid back lyrics that make it all pass so easily.
If you ever try to cover a Steely Dan song, you'll discover one thing at once: This is nothing but total confusion in a neat package. Maybe this is why their music often is described as "music for musicians". To really get it, I guess you've got to understand what these guys really do with their instruments. In that perspective, Steely Dan sticks out a lot. Far out things happen all the time.
This leads us back on track again: far out things and bands that stick out. What are your favorite arguments when it comes to explaining why the jam bands you listen to are so much better than the average no-good - best selling - top hit - lame excuse for music that usually pours out of your radio every time you turn it on? Why do you like bands that most people refer to as being "a bunch of annoying guys being unable to stick to the funky groove without losing it all of the time"?
I don't know about you, but as I see it, jam music rules because of the intense "here and now" feeling that occurs when the music is set free with the sky as the only limit. The "single mind within the band feeling", created by skillful individuals gives it the final push it needs to go over the edge.
Since jam bands usually don't hesitate to use an intricate mix of ideas and styles at the same time, there are always new dimensions to discover when you listen to them. Things aren't always what you expected them to be. Suddenly the most familiar song sounds like if you've never heard it before, simply because you've discovered another nuance in the musical texture.
Although not being a genuine jam band, Steely Dan provided that feeling as well. There's always something new to discover. A strange scale here, an odd beat there. Subtle changes where different musical styles alter in the dominant position, feeding off of each other. At first it's hard to notice anything else but the often catchy melodies and the (at all times) top of the line solos, but after a while it just cracks open, and it's all there for you.
Jam bands often work that way too. The first time you hear a new one, you're only scratching on the surface, vaguely aware of what might be hidden underneath. At the moment I'm listening a lot to Blind Man's Sun, The Slip and Jiggle the Handle - all provided by the wonderful people at the Homegrown Network/Leeway Productions. There's nothing like discovering a new band that totally blows your mind! The last time I was really blown away was when I discovered Phish in 1992. They opened a brand new world for me.
The first time I ever was blown away by a band - the first time I really experienced how a familiar song suddenly just came to me in a totally new way - was almost 19 years ago. I'd just started to realize that collecting LP's and listening to music was the thing for me. My dad used to torture us with this strange sounding band when we were going somewhere by car. What seemed to be boring at first suddenly, out of nowhere, turned out to be very appealing, and since then I haven't been able to live without it. It was the sweet music created by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, released under the name of Steely Dan. Music for all moods. Listening to Steely Dan is like taking a walk on Manhattan. Same city - different vibes - all of the time. The framework is pretty static, but there are always new things to discover.
The jam band scene oozes Steely Dan vibes - whether you like it or not! Almost every new jam band that pops up provide infectious grooves built on a perfect blend of a wide variety of influences. They all take their influences one step ahead and thereby create music that is new and interesting. This willingness to blend in different kinds of music originates from bands like Steely Dan.
At certain points Steely Dan really just did let things roll, and they created the most wonderful solos. The electric sitar solo on "Do it again", and the guitar solos on "Reelin' in the years" and "My old school" are definitely among my all time favorite solos. Fender Rhodes freaks should check out "Your gold teeth". Like in many Zappa songs, the total control suddenly is long gone and a furious jam takes its place for a while. Top that with lyrics like "throw out your gold teeth and see how they roll"! Politically correct at all times!
People who are into jam bands often claim that Steely Dan is a quite boring band "on the other side of the line" not worth paying any further attention. Still they can't hear that many of their favorite bands actually perform music not that far from what Steely Dan did 20 years ago. The influences are obvious.
If you're a jam band freak who've never heard of Steely Dan, I suggest you give them a try. Once you've managed to see through the polished surface they sometimes put up, you'll discover that they actually created parts of the foundation upon which jam bands of today build their music!
Many words of wisdom have been delivered through Steely Dan songs. I think this is one of the more important ones:
"You're never gonna do it without the Fez on"... and that's a proven fact!
Nils Hallberg, Linkoping, Sweden
nilhal@hotmail.com
June Issue: Home | Editors | Features | Columns | Photos | Regional | New Groove
Road Trip | Tour Journal | Venue | Levels | Ghosts | Homegrown | Inaudible | CDs | Charts
JamBands.Com is published on the 15th of every month. Submissions are due ten days earlier on the fifth of each month. Please contact the specific editor for the section you are interested in contributing to. For general content comments, please e-mail jambands@jambands.com. For all technical web site related issues, please contact David Steinberg