(antiMusic) Some news for Steely Dan fans. First the band will be touring this summer but also Walter Becker has a new solo album coming out. Here is the PR: With the June 10th release of Circus Money, his trenchant and tender new solo album on the 5 Over 12 imprint, Walter Becker returns to stand-alone status for the first time in fourteen years. "It is," the artist acknowledges, "a unique career strategy." It was in 1994 that 11 Tracks of Whack, Becker's debut solo outing arrived, with conclusive proof that the songwriter, multi-tasking musician and studio habitu้ had more to say and more ways to say it than could be contained in the epochal oeuvre of Steely Dan. And that itself is saying something, considering the storied career of the estimable duo, with all the masses of platinum and multiples of Grammy amassed by Walter Becker and his teammate Donald Fagen over the last forty odd some would say very odd -- years. Yet there was evidently a lot more where that came from, music so idiosyncratic, iconoclastic and ingenious only one artist could rightly be held accountable.
"When I write a song, it matters very much whether it's intended for me," Walter explains. "If it is, I can do what I want, within my own frame of reference. I take full responsibility."
Yet, even allowing for such a forthright admission of liability, the dozen tracks that comprise Circus Money were very much a collaborative endeavor. Aiding and abetting the artist over the nearly three years of the album's creation was Larry Klein, who both produced Circus Money and co-wrote all but one selection.
Klein, of course, brought a wealth of experience to the job, most recently helming Herbie Hancock's 2007 Grammyฎ winning Album of the Year, River: The Joni Letters. But it was hardly his resume, however impressive, that drew Becker to Klein. "We met originally in 1990," Walter recounts, "and over the years became friends. These songs are very much an outgrowth of that friendship: the gags, the stories, the inside references. But, at the same time, we had to depend on each other to make sure things didn't get completely obscure."
"It was all very fluid," Klein agrees. "We'd be having a conversation and it would just naturally drift into writing. But at the same time, we kept pushing for a higher level. Writing songs with Walter Becker is like playing tennis with John McEnroe. It keeps you on your game."
Also at the top of their game was a heavy hitting roster of sidemen assembled for the Circus Money sessions. Among the names familiar to Steely Dan fans are drummer Keith Carlock and guitarist Jon Herington, both of whom have toured widely with the band, while keyboardists Ted Baker and Jim Beard were recruited especially for the occasion. "These are smart, diligent musicians," Becker observes, "and, with Larry, we had the added benefit of a producer who actually waits to make a suggestion until one is needed. That's a kind of genius all by itself."
Walter himself handled all the lead vocals as well as playing bass, a decision that had direct bearing on the album's point of origin. "The bass gave me a more powerful position to define the direction I wanted the music to take," he explains. "As much as anything, that direction had to do with the fact that, for years before I started this project, I was listening almost exclusively to Jamaican music. I even became something of an expert on various sub genres, such as songs about motorcycles and/or featuring motorcycle sound effects; songs about the barbers versus the dreads, and songs about various judicial procedures. I initially had the idea of writing lyrics directly to some of the dub instrumental tracks I was hearing, but, as I got further into the process with Larry we instead used reggae as a sort of stepping-off point. You can hear it, especially in the rhythm section, throughout the album, which is one of the reasons I wanted to be back there working with the drummers."
