“Send all the money back”: The shows Steely Dan wanted to take back
For all of Steely Dan’s musical credibility, they weren’t revered within the pantheon of live acts. In fact, anything they lack in that regard, they are sure to make up in the studio, for they have forged a reputation of being fierce advocates of perfection.
Famously ripping through several guitarists to get the solo right on their seminal track ‘Peg’, while Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler’s efforts in a session with the pair of experimentalists were consigned to the bins of mediocrity. For Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, music was a gateway into a maze of experimentalism where imagination, innovation and creativity could exist in the pockets of space.
Ultimately, the studio was always a controlled environment in which the pair could sharpen their sonic blades. They weren’t like the ancients of chaos who ruled the earlier parts of the 1970s. In fact, the everlasting anxiety of Keith Moon breaking out into mayhem or Jimi Hendrix ripping into a solo that derails the course of a song would be enough to retire them from the thought of playing live altogether.
Nevertheless, they of course made it work given their intense musicianship and massive fan base who were desperate to see the myriad of sonic textures played in a live setting. But it wasn’t their natural habitat.
In fact, in 1993 and 1994, the band invited an extended lineup of musicians to join them on stage for a tour that promised to provide a sense of musical expanse live on stage. Running through America and Japan, the band did indeed showcase their back catalogue with slick arrangements that celebrated the air-tight melody sections and soaring horn parts. In fact the performances appeared on their first live album, Alive in America which provide a comfortable soundtrack for any dinner party.
But the enjoyment of Steely Dan’s performance by a mere mortal of a fan is a reflection of mediocrity for the pair who regret the tour entirely. In an interview with Mojo in 1995, Becker said, “Well, clearly it was a mistake. We see that now.” A point to which Fagen quickly replied, “Yeah. I’m gonna rescind the whole thing. Can we recall the summer tours of ’93 and ’94?
Becker continued, “We’re gonna send all the money back. In fact, anybody who has been to one of our shows in the past two years, if you would be willing to send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to the offices of our business managers, we will cheerfully refund the price of your tickets.”
It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy for the band that famously spent hundreds of hours crafting the landscapes of their famous songs. Squeezing out every inch of sonic perfection ultimately left them with a proverbial mountain to climb when it came to creating live shows. But their lack of tour time over the course of history, combined with their general disdain for the performances provided when they did play live, is further proof of the difference between our musical idols and us mere mortals.
