The reason why Steely Dan briefly had a different lead singer: “Fortunate to be there”
Some singers completely inhabit the entire band. Can you imagine anyone singing The Rolling Stones instead of Mick Jagger, or Red Hot Chili Peppers being helmed by anyone but Anthony Kiedis? Equally, it’s nearly impossible to imagine someone else singing Steely Dan songs other than Donald Fagen.
The keyboardist and songwriter has one of the most recognisable voices in rock, bridging the gap between R&B, jazz, and pop. However, whether they know it or not, most fans have actually heard what Steely Dan sounds like without Fagen behind the microphone.
That’s because, for a brief period during their initial formation, Steely Dan had a different frontman. That would be David Palmer, who joined the band at the behest of the band’s label, ABC Records, in 1972. Fagen was still developing as a vocalist and performer, and while he was able to sing most of the band’s songs in the studio, he had a reticence when it came to singing on stage.
Palmer was the lead singer for two songs on Steely Dan’s debut LP Can’t Buy a Thrill: ‘Brooklyn’ and the well-known classic rock staple ‘Dirty Work’. When Palmer sat down with writer Peter Kurtz in 2016, he had no illusions about his role in the band.
“Donald and Walter were The Dan,” Palmer explained. “The rest of us were fortunate to be there. Brilliant writers both, and yes, demanding, but the result is on the record.” The band are notorious for their somewhat difficult attitude within the studio. Famous for sending session musicians into the insane asylum for their meticulous approach, being a part of the Steely Dan experience is not for the faint-hearted.
Fagen increasing confidence, plus his and Walter Becker’s burgeoning desire to make Steely Dan more than its core members, pushed Palmer to the side by the time they recorded 1973’s Countdown to Ecstasy (Palmer contributed backing vocals to the album). However, Palmer found additional success when he wrote the top ten hit ‘Jazzman’ with Carole King.
“Since Carole was so prolific, I doubt if she was even aware of sounding like earlier tunes,” Palmer said about the similarities between ‘Jazzman’ and King’s earlier hit, ‘It’s Too Late’. “I mean, it’s hard not to ‘resemble’ yourself when it’s your style. And, yes, (John) Coltrane was the inspiration (for the song).”
Palmer continued to write and record, both solo and with the rock band Wah-Koo. In the early 2000s, however, Palmer switched his focus over to photography, largely leaving music behind. According to Palmer, it was an immediate realisation that his music career was done.
“I woke up one day and, literally, couldn’t write and knew it was over,” Palmer explained. “And yet I also knew I needed a way to be creative. I fell in love with the process of creating images – from the initial camera work to the post in Photoshop. There seemed to be no limitation. And I didn’t have to ask the band what they thought!”
The song ‘Dirty Work’ would leap out of the band’s work as one of their finest tracks. Gilded wigth the kind of sonic grace Steely Dan planted into the soil of all the records, Palmer produces the flowered perfume with a truly inspired vocal. It feels timeless and, with a few more decades, it might be easy to call it that.
