DTE
Stevie Winwood
Meets Steely Dan
Wednesday June 7th
2016
It’s not a stretch to imagine how good music can be when you
are listening to the masters of popular music.
Whether it is jazz, blues or rock n’ roll Winwood, Becker and Fagan are
masters of their craft. They cannot be readily put into one genre or another
when they blend so many diverse elements seamlessly in an earthy brew of funk,
jazz, blues or rock. They are master lyricists who can blend the cerebral with
the whimsical. At first glance, teaming Stevie Winwood with Steely Dan may not
be a good fit but when you dig deeper into their collective catalog it looks
more like a perfect fit as both Winwood and Fagan can deliver the poignant
lyrical themes with their distinctive vocals. Becker and Fagan learned from
life on the road with Jay & the Americans. They earned $100 per show but
then the tour manager cut their pay in half. It was as dastardly as it was
instructive. Winwood joined the Spencer Davis Group at the tender age of 14 and
by the end of 1965 Winwood help blast the band into orbit with a cool R&B
single entitled Keep on Running followed by Somebody Help Me and the incredibleGimme
Some Lovin’. Becker and Fagan in founded Steely Dan in 1972 and immediately
enjoyed critical acclaim as well as commercial success with their first two
albums Can’t Buy a Thrill and Countdown to Ecstasy. I absolutely loved Reelin’
in the Years and Do it Again. The rest is history or so they say…
But the truth is more complicated. Steely Dan toured only
from 1972 to 1974 and by 1975 they became a bonafide studio band releasing
records until 1981 and I gained even more respect for them when they
entertained the idea of offering Howard Kaylan (of the Turtles)the job of lead
vocalist for the band. Kaylan (Flo) would not agree to the terms unless they
also hired his partner in crime Mark Volman (Eddie). It was another missed
opportunity for the singers until they joined forces with Frank Zappa and the
Mothers of Invention.
In 1967, Winwood helped create Traffic with Jim Capaldi,
Dave Mason and Chris Wood. This writer was present during Traffic’s 1972 show
in Detroit. It was a listless, drugged out performance. Winwood never addressed
the fans or acknowledged our applause. He walked off stage and never returned.
Capaldi came back and riffed on his drum kit but after several minutes he gave
up and left the stage. We were stunned, there was no applause. We just stood up
and walked out silently. The gig was immortalized by Traffic’s 1973 double LP
album entitled On the Road. In 1997, I saw Stevie Winwood at the Royal Oak
Music Theatre with my good friend Scott Seeburger. It was an incredible
showcase of Winwood’s vast catalog of music that spanned his entire career. He
was in great form, switching from guitar to keyboards; his singing was nuanced
and powerful and he was still able to reach the higher registers of his
voluptuous tenor.
I also attended a Steely Dan concert at DTE about 15years
ago on a frigid September night. They performed several incredible jazzed up
big band tunes and including the East St. Louis Toodle-Oo and Bodhisattva
before the bitter cold swept in and convinced me to leave early….years later I’m
back to DTE and excited to hear and see these legendary performers once again.
I’m pumped!
Stevie Winwood started the show early before many of his
avid fans assembled. It seemed curious that he started at 7pm, though all was
forgiven when he opened with Pearly Queen from his Traffic catalog. It included
a extended jam with syncopated percussion, flute, bongos and organ.It was
simply exquisite. Stevie’s portion of the show was entitled No Retreats, No Regrets. Winwood was in
good form. He is thin and he’s aged but he’s aged well.He has a stripped down 5
piece ensemble and they are all excellent; the polyrhythmic percussionist, drummer,
guitarist, bass player and Winwood, a multi-instrumentalist who is at ease with
guitar, organ or piano, anything. Can’t Find My Way Home from his Blind Faith
era meanders a bit he and the band brings it home like a big band on steroids.
The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys lifted the crowd to another planet with just
the right amount of power and nuance. At this point in the show Stevie’s vocals
are picking up steam and the band comes in with just the right amount of nuance
and power. His guitar work is incredible. I forgot how Winwood can jam with the
best, using bass strings and occasional e-string excursions. At this point in
the show, Winwood addresses the audience, “We’re going to take an excursion
back to the seventies.” He then proceeds to play Buddy Miles greatest song,
Them Changes with a soulful, funked-up rhythm. Winwood’s organ serves to
replace the funky horns of the original. This segues to a verse or two “You got
me running; you got me hiding. The guitarist winds it up and lets it rip,
incredible rapid fire riffs and the crowd loved it. Next is Higher Love from
his solo LP (?). His voice is an incredible instrument and the rhythm section
is working over time with perfect syncopation. At this point Winwood straps on
his guitar and does a blistering guitar workout that pierces the night and
explodes with power as Stevie sings “Please Mr. Fantasy.”Winwood ended his one
hour set with soulful and off the hook rendition of Gimme Some Lovin’. Rolling
Stone Magazine has Winwood listed as the 33rd of all time best
entertainers in music. Yes!
Steely Dan is another matter altogether. Billed as “The Dan That Knew Too Much Tour” the
musicians were in a playful spirit. It was a big band extravaganza with eight
musicians and three incredible female singers. Music and musicianship was the
early emphasis in the show as illustrated by jazz motifs, rotating basslines
and piano trills followed by the introduction of alto and soprano saxophones,
trumpet, guitar and bass guitar. A trombone solo fed the syncopated
poly-rhythmic beats laid out by the drummer. At times there were 13 musicians
onstage including the founding members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen and they
were able to recreate the studio sound perfectly. Black Cow opened the show and
it was well received. Aja was up next, it’s a sweet ballad with nice harmonies
but a bit drawn out. Fagen’s squeaky clavinet saved the day along with the
explosive drumming and an incredible alto saxophone solo. DTE concert goers are
notorious for being loud and sometimes obnoxious but on this night everybody
was sitting down, providing a clearer view for everyone.
Hey Nineteen was
perfect from the low key piano trill to Fagen’s shout out to Aretha Franklin
and the Soul Survivors. At this point Becker walked over to the edge of the
stage and said, “I remember the 70’s, I remember the song Brandy, You’re a Fine
Girl. I think the 70’s were together ‘cos there was so much music then. Amen,
Amen – that’s why I come here every year. One good tune – BAM; Another good tune
– BAM; a third one – BAM. I was road hard and put up wet. Then we go back to
our own domiciles at the beach. Tell me babe, is that great fucking music. We
can go back to the room. I’ll give you a cigarette and a little bottle of
something, a little line but I lost a little brain cells.” Then Fagen and the
singers begin to sing;
The Cuervo Gold, the fine Colombian
make tonight a wonderful
thing!
A trombone solo buys some time even though it drags just a bit before it
collapses on itself just before an awesome one minute light show brightened the
sky. Steely Dan has a great catalog of songs that deserve attention like Show
Biz Kids, Fagen dropped a few lines from the song;
Poor people sleeping
by the shade of the night
Poor people sleeping when the stars come out at night
The band resurrected Dirty Work which
was sung by Davis Palmer from the Can’t Buy a Thrill LP. In this incarnation of
the song the three female singers each get a verse, surpassing the craft of the
original vocalist with a more soulful sound.
During the latter part of the show I noticed that Fagen had a striking
resemblance of Bernie Sanders…could this be a sign for enlightenment? Toward
the end of the show Walter Becker takes on the lead vocal…he probably shouldn’t
but he is a monster guitarist and can jam up and jelly tight with some tasty 12
bar blues. At the end of the night Becker proclaims, “This is the best band
I’ve ever played with.”
maybe…but no more ganja for you
Bo White
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