Rock and Roll, Billy Joel, and the Gas Left in the Car
Steely Dan – Katy Lied (ABC Records – ABCD-846, 1975 🇺🇸)
It’s funny—strange, not ha-ha—to think of Steely Dan existing in the same musical universe as Elton John and Billy Joel. Not that their work overlaps much, but if there were ever a place where their influences might brush up against each other, Katy Lied would be it.
This album is the last stop before The Royal Scam launched the band into a different stratosphere—one with plenty of gas in the car (yes, there’s gas in the car). My original pressing could be in better shape—it’s a little crispy—but that doesn’t bother me much during the rock and roll of this rock and roll album. Plus, Fagen rhymes “Hackensack” with “paper sack” three years before Billy Joel paired it with “heart attack-ack-ack.” So, there’s that.
I’d love a fantastic reissue, but I’m not going the 45 RPM route. The rim hits on “Dr. Wu” are already so detailed and intimate—do I really need an upgrade just to see if it improves that crash cymbal in the left channel?
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