What does it sound like?:
Well, like a good bootleg (indeed, apparently these recording have been out there since broadcast) but here they’ve been cleaned up and mastered and they sound fantastic. This is the original Dan plus Michael McDonald on piano and occasional vocals (no David Palmer – good, for this punter). Baxter and Denny Diaz play like mad men, and it must have been great to see them back then. Dan and Walt hated touring but the audiences must have loved it based on these examples. There’s a radio show from Boston (not a college town..) and the Record Plant from March ’74, right before “Pretzel Logic” came out.. Jim Hodder swings like a bastard and Don is terrific on keys as well as issuing the Fagen sneer throughout.
What does it all *mean*?
It won’t convince any non-fans, but anyone who likes the Dan, especially those who maintain that anything after “Aja” was worthless, will love it. I have been playing it on heavy rotation and continue to marvel at the sound of great players playing great songs, live. The songs benefit from a looser feel and a spot of jamming, belying the idea that the Dan are all about studio sheen induced perfection. There are plenty of cock ups here and they are all terrific.
Goes well with…
I’ve been playing it in the car, singing along with Twang Jr at the tops of our voices. DO IT AGAIIIIIN etc.
Release Date:
Might suit people who like…
Err, the Dan. Good music.
Often wondered what these recordings of quite a few bands which suddenly seem to have become available actually sound like. This review suggests it’s worth investing in a prudent selection. Presumably some loophole in US copywright law allows their release now?
Yes, there certainly have been a lot of those live radio recordings coming out in the UK (but not the US) in the past year.
Has any Afterworder bought Joni Mitchell’s “A Woman in the East – the 1983 Tokyo Broadcast”?
Is it any good? I’m rather tempted…
The second disc of this 2-disc set is the widely booted “Metal Leg” set recorded at the Record Plant, LA.
DISC 1. LIVE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA (MARCH 10th 1974)
TRACKS:
1. Do It Again
2. Rikki Don’t Lose That Number
3. Any Major Dude Will Tell You
4. King Of The World
5. Barrytown
6. My Old School
7. Pretzel Logic
8. Reelin’ In The Years
9. This Is All Too Mobile Home
DISC 2. LIVE AT THE RECORD PLANT LOS ANGELES (MARCH 20th 1974)
tracks: 10. Intro
11. Bodhisattva
12. The Boston Rag
13. Do It Again
14. Any Major Dude Will Tell You
15. King Of The World
16. Rikki Don’t Lose That Number
17. Pretzel Logic
18. Your Gold Teeth (Jam)
19. Reelin’ In The Years
20. This Is All Too Mobile Home
That second disk might well be the same as the ‘Going Mobile’ CD.
It is.
Great review. All I need to know. My Dan obsession leans much more to this era than later. I just think they wrote better songs on those first 2-3 albums. Plus, I love the real feel that they were a band on that first album, an ensemble, rather than a collection of Musos Du Jour (much as I love those guys.)
Purchased!
Should suit you nicely then Niall!
Nice review. Sounds like a purchase. I love this era Dan but for me it was all leading up to Aja (and Gaucho is a fine album).
I am with Niall – first 5 superb, Aja was the biggest seller but slightly too sanitised for me.
Cant buy a thrill, Countdown to Ecstasy and Pretzel Logic are just unbelievable good.
I have a Dan 2cd broadcast which is excellent but its not this one – East St.Louis toodle ho??