Product Description

In 1975 after an extraordinarily successful run of releaseswhich culminated in that "steely" masterpiece, PRETZEL LOGIC, the Dan shifted direction a bit and opened their music upon KATY LIED. The sound is warmer, the already sophisticated harmonies somewhat richer, a little bit closer to combo jazz. It's as if jazz pianist Bill Evans collaborated with BobDylan.
KATY LIED contains Steely Dan's most emotional, even passionate music up to that point, matched only by the brilliant AJA a few years later. Donald Fagen's acerbic vocals forgoe the double tracking of the previous albums, the sarcasm melting into something close to vulnerability in a songlike "Doctor Wu", maybe the greatest single tune Fagen and Becker ever wrote. KATY LIED is also notable for the appearance of vocalist Michael McDonald, whose grainy baritone blends particularly well with Fagen's unique sound.

Track Listing

1. Black Friday
2. Bad Sneakers
3. Rose Darling
4. Daddy don't live in that New York City no more
5. Doctor Wu
6. Everyone's Gone To The Movies
7. Your Gold Teeth II
8. Chain lightning
9. Any world (that I'm welcome to)
10. Throw Back The Little Ones

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3814 in Music
• Released on: 1999-06-28
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Running time: 35 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The last of the truly classic first four Steely Dan albums, the 1975 Katy Lied also sounds like the best. While retaining a solid rock foundation, the music finds Walter Becker and Donald Fagen engaging their jazz influences more successfully than ever; Fagen's piano fills alone are some of the most impressive music laid to tape in the 1970s. The songs, too, rate with the team's very best, whether coolly anticipating global financial collapse ("Black Friday"), celebrating the legacy of a mob-hit victim ("Daddy Don't Live in That New York City No More"), or letting the Dan's guard down with a pained three-minute survey of life on Earth ("Any World [That I'm Welcome To]"). --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews

A 1975 Classic!
"Katy Lied" is one of Steely Dan's great classic albums ( OK, they all are!) from when they were still a real band, and not "just" the Becker/Fagen duo.

The Becker/Fagen aim for perfection is very much apparent here. Great production and playing. Inspired songwriting and dark thought-provoking lyrics.

Most tracks are incredible catchy and melodic; especially "Rose Darling" and "Everyone's Gone to the Movies" are likely to "hit" you the first time you here them.

The opening track "Black Friday" is a surprisingly heavy track ( for Dan!!) that sets the scene right from the very beginning.

Like always there is a great variation in rhytmths and styles, but this is never a problem because everything is done with great artistic skill.

My first version of the album had a slightly "woolen" sound, but on the 1999 re-mastered version the sound is perfect.

A 1975 Classic!

Katydid
Containing none of their most famous hits, 'Katy Lied' is nevertheless Steely Dan's most gorgeous collection of songs. There is perhaps less invention and more commercialism in the music, but this is deceptive, for the invention is in the writing. 'Bad Sneakers' features attention-grabbing twists in both music and lyrics, as does the lovely 'Doctor Wu', though, like many of the band's songs, its meaning is elusive. The opening image of suicide on the strident 'Black Friday,' by contrast, is stark. 'Everyone's Gone To The Movies' shows them in buoyant mood. One of the strokes they pull off here is the low-key sinister melody on vibes that lies beneath the jaunty main theme. 'Your Gold Teeth II' points the way toward their jazzier moments. Every track on here is a winner, right down to the emotional final track, 'Throw Back The Little Ones.'

A Revelation
I bought Katy Lied over 25 years ago and was a bit disappointed. After Can't Buy a Thrill, Countdown and The Royal Scam I found it a bit dull and 'muddy'. It was the Steely Dan album I played least. It was only years later that I learned Becker and Fagen were so depressed about the sound of the album even they would never listen to it.

The remastered version is a revelation. It's like seeing an Old Master that's been restored after gathering centuries of dust and grime. The colours are suddenly vibrant and the scene full of life. The sun has been let in, making Katy Lied sound much more like the precursor of The Royal Scam.

Despite its roll call of drug dealers, gangsters, paedophiles, pimps and prostitutes, it represents some of the most beautiful music ever created, by one the most underrated partnerships in rock.