Walter Becker, one-half of Steely Dan gone at 67

Heaven saw a need for an A-list bass guitarist and songwriter, preferably one with a literary bent, and decided that the guy for the job was Walter Becker of Steely Dan. We were sad to learn that Walter, one of rock music’s most gifted stars, who was also a thinker, philosopher, existentialist and a lot of other things that often added up to weird, accepted the gig last Sept. 3.

No details of his demise were released by his family. But it was probably because of the same unspecified illness that kept him away from the recent Steely Dan tours where his bandmate Donald Fagen had to perform alone. Then maybe he breathed his last in the retreat he built in Maui where he once retired to grow avocados to get away from the rock star fame he never courted but was dumped with so much fanfare on his lap.

Named after a sex toy in the William J. Burroughs’ novel The Naked Lunch, Steely Dan has sold over 40 million albums and is considered one of the greatest bands of the ‘70s era. It was fronted by Becker and Fagen who met while students at Bard College, where they got the literary proclivity. They wrote those strange songs about sex, drugs, death, etc., for Steely Dan and recorded with studio musicians after the original band line-up disbanded. They must be the only big selling band of the ‘70s who never sat for portraits, let alone comb their hair.

If I am not mistaken, Steely Dan recorded nine studio albums and each one of which proved to be a showcase of their extraordinary talents. These are Can’t Buy Me A Thrill, the debut in 1972; Countdown To Ecstasy; Pretzel Logic; Katy Lied; Royal Scam; Aja, the landmark big seller in 1977; and the unfinished Gaucho. Becker went into retirement in 1981 while Fagen went solo.

They reunited 12 years later for some very successful gigs and 20 years after Gaucho in 2001, returned to recording with Two Against Nature (which won four Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year) and Everything Must Go. All of their albums were critically and commercially successful, particularly Aja, which the magazine Rolling Stone named one of the greatest rock albums of all time. There are also several bootlegs, live recordings and compilation albums.

Steely Dan is best appreciated in the entirety of the original albums. They adhered to the true concept of a studio album where words and music and various rhythms come together as a cohesive whole. Their songs showed an ironic approach to living set against a fusion of rock, pop and jazz and presented in perfectly arranged and engineered recordings. I think all bands should take time to listen and learn from the work of Steely Dan. These guys were magicians in the studio. 

Becker’s death has brought the era of Steely Dan to close but the music the band created remains. Check out their songs in the excellent collection The Best Of Steely Dan, a two-disc set that includes Aja, Any Major Dude Will Tell You, Babylon Sisters, Bad Sneakers, Black Cow, Black Friday, Bodhisattva, Chain Lightning, Deacon Blues, Dirty Work, Do It Again, Doctor Wu, The Fez, FM Here In The Western World, Hey Nineteen, Josie, My Old School, Peg, Only A Fool Would Say That, Pretzel Logic, Night By Night, Reelin’ In The Years, Rikki Don’t Lose That Number, Showbiz Kids, Third World Man and others.

For a happier change of pace, check out Road To Ultra Philippines at the MOA Concert Grounds on Sept. 15. This is another presentation from Ultra Worldwide, the world’s top international music festival brand brought to Manila by Blackwater and Ovation Productions. The one-night-only event will feature an all-star line-up of EDM acts lead by Hardwell and the German hitmaker Zedd, plus Getter and Rezz together with Sam Feldt.

Now on its third year in the country, Road To Ultra Philippines is one of eight major events that Ultra Worldwide is set to host in Asia for this month and which also includes Ultra India Mumbai yesterday, Sept. 7; Road to Ultra New Delhi tonight; Ultra China, tomorrow, Sept. 9 and 10; Road to Ultra Taiwan, Sept. 10; Ultra Beach Ball, Sept. 14 and 15; Ultra Hong Kong, Sept. 16; and Ultra Japan, Sept. 16 to 18.

Tickets are priced at P5,500, P3,500 and P1,500 and are available at smtickets.com and Ultraphilippines.com. Please call 532-8883 or e-mail [email protected] for VIP tables.