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My Old School: UMe Reissues Steely Dan's "Countdown to Ecstasy"

May 22, 2023 By Joe Marchese 6 Comments

Steely Dan Countdown to Ecstasy

BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM

Following the recent release of Steely Dan's debut album Can't Buy a Thrill in vinyl, audiophile vinyl, and hybrid stereo SACD formats, the jazz-rock heroes' second set will be receiving the same treatment.  This Friday, May 26, Countdown to Ecstasy will be issued by Geffen/UMe on 180-gram black vinyl as remastered by Bernie Grundman at 33-1/3 RPM.  A 200-gram, 45 RPM version on Ultra High-Quality Vinyl (UHQR) is already shipping from Acoustic Sounds with the SACD (playable on all CD players) due soon.  All formats have been overseen by Donald Fagen.

Countdown to Ecstasy, produced by Gary Katz, arrived on ABC Records in July 1973.  With the departure of vocalist David Palmer, the LP found the Dan operating as a tight five-piece band led by Fagen on lead vocals and keyboards, Walter Becker on electric bass, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter on lead guitar, Denny Dias on guitar, and Jim Hodder on drums and percussion.  (Palmer was still credited on the album for his background vocals.)  Becker and Fagen wrote in the liner notes to the 1998 reissue, "Countdown to Ecstasy is unique amongst the Steely Dan albums in that it is the only one written and arranged for a working ensemble. For this reason, the arrangements were influenced for the better by the known instrumental textures and musical personalities of the band itself, and also for the worse by the horror and prolonged ennui of the odious weekend outings forced on us by our manager during the very recording process itself."

Despite the songs being road-tested and written for the core band unit, the album nonetheless welcomed such guests as vibraphonist/marimba player Victor Feldman and string bassist Ray Brown (both of whom can be heard on the jazz/bossa-inspired "Razor Boy"), Rick Derringer on slide guitar (featured on "Show Biz Kids"), saxophonists including Ernie Watts and Johnny Rotella (showcased on "My Old School"), and background vocalists Sherlie Matthews, Myrna Matthews, and Patricia Hall; the trio added mightily to both "My Old School" and "Show Biz Kids."  While Countdown to Ecstasy isn't as overtly jazz-influenced as later albums such as Aja would be, Fagen and Becker's love of the genre shines through whether via the subtle textures of "Razor Boy" or the updated bop sound of "Your Gold Teeth."  The Dan could rock out, too, as on the showstopping "Bodhisattva" or the sly "My Old School" with its jagged guitars, but their lyrical wit, quirky worldview, and expansive musical sensibility always won the day.

Though critical plaudits were quick to come, Countdown to Ecstasy wasn't an instant commercial success; it was eventually certified Gold.  "Show Biz Kids" and "My Old School" both charted in the 60s on the Hot 100 but are today among the Dan's best-loved songs.

Bernie Grundman has mastered from the original analog tapes.  Lacquers for UMe's standard 33 1/3 RPM 180-gram version will be cut by Alex Abrash at AA Mastering from high-resolution digital files of Grundman's new masters and pressed at Precision. The LPs will be housed in reproductions of the original artwork.  The UHQR version is housed in a lavish box set and pressed at Analogue Productions' Quality Record Pressings on 200-gram Clarity Vinyl.  It includes a booklet delving into the process of making a UHQR along with a certificate of inspection. Each UHQR is pressed using hand-selected vinyl.

UMe's 180-gram reissue of Countdown to Ecstasy is due on May 26, with further Steely Dan releases to follow later this year.  You'll find the track listing and pre-order links below.

Steely Dan, Countdown to Ecstasy (ABC LP ABCX-779, 1973 - reissued UMe, 2023)

180-gram LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
UHQR 200-gram LP Box Set: AcousticSounds.com
Hybrid Stereo SACD: AcousticSounds.com

Side One

  1. Bodhisattva
  2. Razor Boy
  3. The Boston Rag
  4. Your Gold Teeth

Side Two

  1. Show Biz Kids
  2. My Old School
  3. Pearl of the Quarter
  4. King of the World

Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD, SACD, Vinyl Genre: Classic Rock, Pop Tags: Steely Dan

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Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others. Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams. Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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Comments

  1. G Steven Cleere says

    May 22, 2023 at 12:07 pm

    Well, I don't get it. As a HUGE Steely Dan fan, I find this output to be most parsimonious. Just the old record on new vinyl and a SACD? We just had new re-mastered CD's -- where are the sessions, outtakes, alternative mixes???

    Why would you bother to do all the work for a re-release - and not give me a reason to buy it???? Sorry Donald, not this time...

    Reply
    • Rob M says

      May 22, 2023 at 1:12 pm

      You will never EVER get sessions, outtakes and alternative mixes while Donald is alive, and quite possibly afterward. At least, OFFICIAL releases…

      Reply
      • G Steven Cleere says

        May 22, 2023 at 1:34 pm

        Ahhh, yes, Rob - that makes sense. That's why they do 120 takes !!!

        Reply
      • Steve Bruun says

        May 22, 2023 at 8:46 pm

        They kept the band's debut single ("Dallas"/"Sail the Waterway") off the otherwise comprehensive CITIZEN set. I think maybe those circulating gray-market CDs of their early songwriting demos left a very bad taste in their mouths. (Plus the already-noted legendary perfectionism.)

        Reply
      • zubb says

        May 23, 2023 at 8:25 am

        Do we know if they even have sessions, outtakes and alternative mixes after that blasted Universal vault fire?

        Reply
  2. Rob M says

    May 22, 2023 at 1:13 pm

    I have all the SACDs on pre-order. I hope to actually receive them all before I die, at this release rate.

    Reply

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