Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen discusses the “inspiring” work of Mick Jagger
Steely Dan’s creative figurehead Donald Fagen, does not dish out compliments freely. One of music’s definitive oracles, he knows what’s good. Across his career, Fagen has saved his praise for only the worthy, with he and fellow Steely Dan founder, the late Walter Becker, never straying away from their perception of the righteous path.
From testing Mark Knopfler’s resolve to criticising John Lennon through song, this unflinching attitude is one of the main reasons the band remain so adored, in addition to the undoubted musical heights that they reached in their time, of course.
Interestingly, as Fagen once outlined, he enjoys a band everyone would expect him to hate: The Rolling Stones. This is a significant admission, as the London band is the antithesis to everything Steely Dan represents, mainly because of their standing as a selection of the ultimate ‘rockstars’. However, during a 2006 interview with MP3, Fagen dispelled this notion and even went as far as to label the Stones frontman Mick Jagger as “inspiring”.
At one point during the conversation, it was put to Fagen that there’s a quality about Steely Dan’s records that manages to transcend the zeitgeist. Then, he was asked what he thinks it is about his music that makes it so “timeless”. In providing his account, Fagen compared Steely Dan and The Rolling Stones. After explaining that Steely Dan comes from “adult traditions”, he asserted Mick Jagger and his band “still pretend they’re adolescents” in their 60s yet still manage to be successful, so he’s unsure of what’s underpinned his success.
Fagen said: “Don’t know, it’s hard to say. You know, I think as far as the lyrics, I think we’ve always tried to be honest and address problems like ageing, and you know… I think we didn’t even start out pretending we were adolescents or anything like that, so we didn’t have to keep that up. You know, maybe coming out of adult traditions like jazz and literary tradition kept us honest, I think, and so… but on the other hand, the Rolling Stones still pretend they’re adolescents, and they’re in their 60s, and they survived very well, so I’m not sure.”
Fagen revealed that he had seen The Rolling Stones live in concert at Madison Square Garden just days before the interview and expressed wonder at the “inspiring” Mick Jagger, who continues to excel at his craft, despite his age. He continued: “I saw the Rolling Stones the other day. They were great. You know, I mean, Mick Jagger was in incredible shape, he was actually very inspiring… not only was he pounding around for two hours, but he seems to sing just as well doing that, as if he was standing still, which is quite miraculous.”
The connection between Steely Dan and The Rolling Stones ends there. For anyone thinking that there might be some great relationship behind Fagen giving kudos to The Rolling Stones, there isn’t. The interviewer questioned Fagen if he’s friends with The Stones, to which he said: “No, I met Keith Richards a couple of times, but I’m not really friends with anybody, no.”
“With anybody?” the interviewer followed up. Slinking back into his misanthropic shell, Fagen clarified: “Well, with any, you know, any like celebrity-type people for the most part.”
