Book Review: ‘Major Dudes: A Steely Dan Companion’

Major Dudes: A Steely Dan Companion, edited by Barney Hoskyns (2018, Abrams Press).

Major Dudes is a compilation of old interviews of Steely Dan duo Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, sometimes alone but usually together. There are also old Steely Dan album reviews and live show reviews (not that there were many of those!) and a look at the secretive duo’s solo releases.

This is a book for diehard Dan heads – not your casual listener. There’s repetition because the source material is from a variety of writers – so they all pretty much have to do their setup explaining how Fagen and Becker met at Bard College, etc. Still, there are nuggets of information in each little piece for the reader to pick through and digest.

The best thing about Steely Dan for me is their cryptic song lyrics. Fagen and Becker were jazz and literature nerds and used obscure references in their tracks. There are double entendres, rhymes and riddles and so many subversive drug references that the censors missed back in the day. The appreciation of the complex musical arrangements and jazz backstory of many tracks is a great fountain of knowledge here as is also the use of so many session players to make their wonderful 70s albums. I always knew that Steely Dan were perfectionists in the studio and used only the best musicians money could buy – but I didn’t know the fade out of “Babylon Sisters” (Gaucho, 1980) alone took 55 takes.

I deeply enjoyed every mention of guitarist Larry Carlton throughout the book. He is one of my favorite guitar guys and so much more than a sideman. He has laid down some of the best solos of all time, including Steely Dan’s “Kid Charlemagne" (from my favorite Dan album, The Royal Scam) and “Third World Man” (not to mention turns with Christopher Cross, Michael Jackson and even the Hill Street Blues theme).

So, do you need to read Major Dudes? If you don’t get the title reference, probably not. If you are a Steely Dan obsessive, you probably already have – but if you are a Dan head and journalism geek like me, this book is right up your alley. It’s an easy read and entertaining too.

Covers Songs In Surprising Places

Today I learned that “My Maria” is a cover song.

Now, Allyson, you might be asking “Why are you mentioning a country song on BBG! – especially when you despise the genre?”

The answer, young grasshoppers, is that I was intrigued because of a past life.

“My Maria” was a big hit for Brooks & Dunn back in 1996. I know this because I grew up in farm country and people at my high school were always playing Brooks & Dunn. I was in tenth grade at this time. (You might recall Brooks & Dunn won a 1997 Grammy for their version too).

Fast forward to the year 2000. I was in college and doing a broadcast internship at the local radio station. I went to college in a small town – also in the “holler” – and the broadcast format was (and still is) country. I write all this to say that I heard “My Maria” constantly.

Like, the song was many years old by the time I was on the microphone and it was still in regular rotation in the Audio VAULT system.

Fast forward to today. You know, 23 years later. I decided to work in-office today, so I’m driving down the highway and flipping channels on my satellite radio. 70s on 7 is playing “My Maria.” I was confused and glanced down to see the track was really by B.W. Stevenson. The song was a single in August of 1973 – and was a top 10 hit then, too. The guitar portion features my beloved Larry Carlton even! You might recall Larry recorded some of the best guitar solos for Steely Dan. Remember – I’ve said before I think his work on “Don’t Take Me Alive” is among the best rock guitar solos ever!

After I googled “My Maria” and learned the roots of the song, I had to look the song up on Amazon Music and listen more closely to the guitars. I do prefer Larry Carlton’s noodling (shocker) – but the Brooks & Dunn version is pretty true to the original.

Now I want to hear a metalcore version of this song – and no, I’m not kidding. There could be a great breakdown in the middle of the song at around the 2 minute mark. I’m always amazed at how artists can approach cover songs – either completely rip them apart and make them unique or stay true to the original as a nod of respect. I’m just saying, I think Upon This Dawning should reform and do a cover. I mean, look what they did with this pop hit: