Steely Dan- Katy Lied- Donald Fagen, the late Walter Becker

Steely Dan’s 1975 fourth album Katy Lied is a perfect example of a “sleeper”, but it’s not simply the passage of time that obscures its many-faceted brilliance. Even from this distant vantage point, AllMusic.com‘s Stephen Thomas Erlewine writes in his five-star review, “An alluringly sophisticated album of jazzy pop, on Katy Lied Walter Becker and Donald Fagen began relying solely on studio musicians…Immaculate sound…the songs are uniformly brilliant.” Pitchfork rates Katy Lied  a 9.1 on a ten scale, where Mark Richardson opines, “Before Katy Lied, Steely Dan were a rock band, but this is the record where they became something else…Katy Lied  is the fulcrum in this progression”.

Lots of significant changes reflected in Steely Dan’s fourth album, Katy Lied, and that’s the truth: first time recording without the band; first time without Jeff “Skunk” Baxter’s guitar; first release without a supporting tour; and last recording on the West Coast before Fagen and Becker would return to their native New York. The under-appreciated musical bridge to future glory, Katy Lied peaked at #13 on Billboard Album Sales chart in 1975. It is arguably the equal to Aja  in almost every way, with possibly the strongest set of songs since the debut including “Black Friday”, “Bad Sneakers”, “Doctor Wu”, “Chain Lightning”, and the shoulda-woulda-coulda been a hit, “Any World That I’m Welcome To”. Donald Fagen and the late Walter Becker swear to tell the truth about Katy Lied here In the Studio. –Redbeard