Can't Buy A Thrill - Steely Dan (1972)
As with the last band I looked at, a debut is as good a place to start as any.
Walter Becker and Donald Fagen had played together for some time before they moved to LA and formed Steely Dan. At this point, it still resembled a traditional band setup, with a set number of members playing particular instruments.
The duo had apparently never intended Dan to be a touring concern, and when plans started to be laid to tour, they rushed singer David Palmer into that band to be the full lead vocalist for the live version of the band despite the fact that this excellent debut record had featured Fagen as the primary vocalist. Two tracks–Dirty Work and Brooklyn–had Palmer vocals added after everything else was in the can.
This first album would show Fagen and Becker’s intentions for what they were: this was to be a band that rocked hard, but always in the confines of something a little classier, a little more sophisticated than its peers.
Steely Dan would spend most of the decade making this brainy, jazzy melange of pop and rock and fusion. But while the end of the 70s saw the end of the band’s first phase, they weren’t nearly done.
