Doing It In California

First off, I’m not going to address whether the CD is officially sanctioned by the band or not, or who may be receiving profits from it. Other reviewers have already commented on that topic, and I have no real knowledge of it. Nor do I want to search the internet for a download of the concert (and the computer virus and/or spyware often accompanying such downloads). So, with that said:In 1974, Steely Dan undertook what would be its final concert tour of the 1970’s (the band would not play live concerts again until reunion shows were performed in the early 1990’s). Along with the band’s primary members of this period, namely Donald Fagan, Walter Becker and guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, the band had added vocalist-percussionist Royce Jones, vocalist-keyboardist Michael McDonald, and noted session drummer Jeff Porcaro. All were incredibly gifted musicians, but reflecting the era, the live performances often featured the guitar work of Skunk Baxter. At this point in time, the band was definitely more rock oriented than jazz/pop, unlike its later work.This CD is a compilation of various performances from Steely Dan’s 1974 tour. Tracks 1 to 9 are taken from a FM broadcast of a show at the University of California (per the CD tracklist; I realize another reviewer has questioned that), tracks 10 to 16 are from a show in Memphis (the full concert recording of which has been separately released), and the final track is from an appearance on the “Midnight Special” TV show. The University of CA material is the best, as the sound quality of the recording is superior to the rest of the material and the band is in excellent form. The opening track, a great extended version of “Do It Again” is for me worth the price of the CD alone. The rest of the CA show is very good as well, with Baxter taking extended guitar solo’s on several of the songs beyond the studio versions. I just wish there were more than 9 songs from this show included.Unfortunately, the sound quality of the rest of the recordings included, which makes up about ½ the CD, is of average quality at best. The tracks from the Memphis show, just like the separate cd release of that concert, are not as good as what one would normally expect from a FM broadcast source. The sound quality of the final track from the “Midnight Special” TV show is also not as good as I had hoped it would be.After the 1974 tour, Fagan and Becker decided not to tour anymore, which led to the departures of Baxter and McDonald to join the Doobie Brothers, while Porcaro left to help form Toto. Fagan and Becker retired to the studio and pursued a more jazz/pop based style in later releases. If you are looking for something that sounds like that - pristine Sunday morning jazz pop - this cd is definitely not for you. If however you like the early phase of the band and want to hear them blazing away behind Skunk Baxter in his prime (and even guitar legend Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin was quoted in Rolling Stone as being a fan of Baxter’s playing), this CD, despite its sound quality deficiencies, is worthwhile. It’s just unfortunate that the sound quality of the whole CD is not better.

Being a HUGE "DAN", and having seen this version of them at the old, sadly defunct LONG BEACH AUDITORIUM(this show was the very LAST NIGHT of the building), I was kinda hesitant to buy this, brother, it *&^%$ KILLS, this brought back so many great times, imagine in today's scene of terminal LAMENESS that music this clever, and like TEN CC as well, could ever sell tones of albums, it ain't gonna ever happen, actually, now that I'm 63 it seems like it was a dream state or something, so when younger folks say that people my age are some how "jealous", sorry, you got off at the wrong train stop, true TITANS bestrode the earth at this time, you could see bands of this power for five bucks, yeah, you read that right, I saw CREAM at the L. A. FORUM for the price of a Big Mac today. As for this platter, man, just BUY IT, it's tremendous, I am SO GLAD that I saw this live, but if you did not fear not, here it is in all it's ragged glory, live, WITHOUT a net, so for the "ear buds" crowd, this isn't perfect by any means, but to me it sounds great, so many great tunes that many will never have heard done live, and certainly by fewer still who ever heard them, so soak this up, tighten up your wig, turn the lights down low, and you;ll be transported back to a different, and dare I say it, BETTER time. This IS well worth the dosh, buy or die as we used to say!

This is early Steely Dan with 9 songs from an FM radio broadcast at the University of California, followed by 7 songs from an FM broadcast at the Ellis Auditorium in Memphis. The album closes with the same song with which it begins - Do It Again, the final version from the old television show The Midnight Special.To my ear the California broadcast seems to have a much lower fidelity, but it includes Rikki Don't Lose That Number, Any Major Dude, My Old School, Pretzel Logic and Reelin' In the Years. Hearing these songs live, alone makes the album worth having.The Ellis Auditorium in Memphis had really good acoustics as I remember from the concerts I attended there. Don't know how I missed this one or how I missed recorded the FM broadcast - I got Billy Joel and Barry Manilow as well as some others - too bad they were on reel to reel tape and who knows where those tapes are now.The sound quality of the radio broadcast is better and includes a couple of don't miss songs Brooklyn and Dirty Work. I wish they had included the entire Memphis performance, but it may be available elsewhere.A good album for Steely Dan fans to add to their collection.

The complete Memphis show is available now so you're buying this not for those tracks but for the University of CA portion which is great! The Midnight Special bonus track is cool but that version is not as great as any version on the 3 recently released Dan 1974 concert CDs. The sound is fine. These are all 42 year old radio broadcasts, not multi track studio recordings, so although it is possible to tweak the sound they are most likely sourced from radio station archives and although there's a chance that some post production was done at some point before original or repeat broadcast, the sound is not fantastic. This is a good thing. This is rock and roll Steely Dan. Raw and real. And it should also be noted that for a band that people assume wasn't much good live that is completely erroneous. This is one of the best touring bands ever assembled. Fagen, Becker on bass (where he belongs, not on guitar - at least not live), Jeff Skunk Baxter of Doobies fame, incredible drummer Jeff Porcaro absolutely smokes here, original Dan guitarist Denny Dias, the one and only Michael McDonald (are you kidding me already?) and singers/percussionists Royce Jones and Jim Hadder. None of these '74 live CDs are to be missed. Btw, the best of the 4 known pro recordings has not been issued yet but is easily found for download - Record Plant in L.A.

Ace super. Aa+++

Not what I was expecting.