Let’s talk about Steely Dan again. Aja was released in September 1977. It is certified double Platinum in the U.S., selling so well that it was the fifth biggest album of 1978. This was thanks to several hit singles: “Peg” (#11 on the Hot 100), “Deacon Blues” (#19, fittingly), and to a lesser extent, “Josie” (#26).
I enjoyed The Royal Scam, but Aja is generally regarded as the band’s magnum opus. I am not inclined to argue. The songwriting, the musicianship, and especially the production were all done immaculately. On that note, the band’s longtime producer, Gary Katz, once told a funny story about the title track (the album’s biggest song on rock radio). When they were just about finished with the mix, Gary was playing it on the control room speakers. Joining him was Walter Becker, Donald Fagen, mastering engineers Roger Nichols and Elliot Scheiner, and a drummer named Steve Gadd. When the song ended, Steve asked who played drums on it. Everyone else looked at each other, confused. Steve was the drummer on it – he had just forgotten. That certainly didn’t help to debunk any drummer stereotypes. If I played on a song with Wayne Shorter and Timothy B. Schmit, I’d like to think I would remember that. Still, you can’t deny the results.
Moving on, there was a longstanding rumor that “Peg” was written because the band needed one more song for the album, but Gary insisted all the songs were ready before they went into the studio. Also, because this was in the latter half of the Seventies, Michael McDonald sang backing vocals on “Peg.” His official recording debut, even before The Doobie Brothers, was on Steely Dan’s 1975 album, Katy Lied, so he already knew what it was like to work with them. I like to think he started the rumor about “Peg,” but I digress.
Aja manages to be jazzy and sophisticated while also being accessible and super catchy. It was nominated for an Album Of The Year Grammy, but lost to an album we’ll get to later. However, Aja did win Best Engineered Non-Classical Recording, which was deserved. So if you like an album that just sounds great, Aja might be the album for you.
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